Mad Max

The Mad Max franchise is based on a series of futuristic films, taking place in the "Mad Max Universe". The first Mad Max was an Australian action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and Byron Kennedy, released in 1979. It was followed by two sequels, Mad Max 2, also known as The Road Warrior, in 1981 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. The series has had a lasting influence on apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction ever since.

In May 2009, it was reported that location scouting was underway for Mad Max 4: Fury Road. However the production was delayed until June 2012, for a 2013 release date. It was also revealed the film will be immediately followed by a fifth entry, Mad Max 5: Furiosa, and may in fact be a reboot.

Films

Mad Max

Main article: Mad Max

Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and Byron Kennedy. It tells a story of breakdown of society, murder and vengeance. The film, starring the then-little-known Mel Gibson, was released internationally in 1980. It became a top-grossing Australian film and has been credited for further opening the global market to Australian New Wave films.

Mad Max 2

Main article: Mad Max 2

Mad Max 2 (also known as The Road Warrior in the U.S., and Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) is a 1981 Australian post-apocalyptic action film directed by George Miller. This sequel to Miller's Mad Max was a worldwide box office success that further launched the career of Mel Gibson. The film's tale of a community of settlers moved to defend themselves against a roving band of marauders follows an archetypal "Western" frontier movie motif, as does Max's role as a hardened man who rediscovers his humanity.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Main article: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is a 1985 film, the third installment in the action movie Mad Max franchise. The film was directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, and starred Mel Gibson and Tina Turner. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. George Miller, director of the first two Mad Max movies, lost interest in the project after his friend and producer Byron Kennedy was killed in a helicopter crash while location scouting. Miller later agreed to direct the action sequences.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Main article: Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller is directing the fourth Mad Max film, Mad Max: Fury Road. Shooting was originally scheduled to begin in 2011, but rare high levels of rain in the Australian shoot location made flowers bloom, which detracted from the post-apocalyptic feeling that Miller was going for. Instead, shooting began in July 2012 in Namibia, Africa. Tom Hardy stars as Mad Max, with Charlize Theron as costar. Mel Gibson has a small role as "The Drifter."

Cast and crew

Recurring cast

• Mel Gibson starred as Max Rockatansky in the first three films. He did not return for the fourth film, which stars Tom Hardy, beyond a small role as "The Drifter."
• Bruce Spence appeared in the latter two films (as the "Gyro Captain" in Mad Max 2 and as "Jedediah the Pilot" in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). There is some debate as to whether these are the same characters or not, since they are both pilots and, in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Max recognizes the character.

Crew

Film	Year	Director	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Music	Cinematography	Editing
Mad Max	1979	George Miller	George Miller Byron Kennedy James McCausland	Byron Kennedy Bill Miller	Brian May	David Eggby	Cliff Hayes Tony Paterson
Mad Max 2	1981	George Miller	Terry Hayes George Miller Brian Hannant	Byron Kennedy	Brian May	Dean Semler	David Stiven Michael Balson Tim Wellburn
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome	1985	George Miller George Ogilvie	Terry Hayes George Miller	Terry Hayes George Miller Doug Mitchell	Maurice Jarre (score) Lyle/Britten/Knight (songs)	Dean Semler	Richard Francis-Bruce
Mad Max: Fury Road	2014	George Miller	Nick Lathouris Brendan McCarthy George Miller	George Miller Doug Mitchell P.J. Voeten	Marco Beltrami	John Seale	Margaret Sixel

Future

Mad Max: Furiosa

Mad Max: Furiosa will be shot back to back with Mad Max: Fury Road. "We started with Fury Road, but we then started to do a second story and a third, we’ve written the script for the second and almost finished the third."

Sixth film

George Miller announced yet untitled third part of his Mad Max revival.

Anime

At one point, Miller was looking into developing an anime version of Mad Max, but no news has emerged since then.

Merchandising

See also: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (soundtrack)

A wide range of Mad Max items have been produced over the years, including videos, books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, board and video games, action figures, car models, and also souvenir magazines, t-shirts, and stickers.

Video game

Main article: Mad Max (video game)

Mad Max is a 1990 NES game that is based on the film Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. The object is to survive life after the end of the world by battling survivalists and collecting valuable food, water, gasoline and money. The game is similar to Outlander released in 1992 for Sega Genesis and SNES.