How to watch the Mad Max movies in order

Key Takeaways

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, showcasing the backstory of the character Furiosa, played by Anya Taylor-Joy.
George Miller, the creator of the Mad Max franchise, returns to write and direct Furiosa, ensuring continuity and maintaining the series’ unique style.
Below is a chronological list of all the Mad Max movies, which will help you get ready for the Furiosa spin-off and determine where it fits in your rewatch schedule.

The Mad Max movies have been a cultural powerhouse ever since the first one hit theaters 43 years ago.

That trend has continued with the release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. George Miller has returned to bring us the fifth film in his Mad Max universe, after writing and directing the previous four entries. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a prequel, which makes an already confusing timeline more jumbled. If you want to know exactly where the newest Mad Max movie timeline fits, check out our guide below. Here’s our chronological breakdown of the Mad Max universe.

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If you’re looking to avoid any and all Mad Max spoilers, we’ve included a spoiler-free list of our Mad Max chronological movie order as well as a Mad Max release date order at the bottom of this guide.

1 Mad Max

Where it all begins

Mad Max (1979)

In a dystopian Australia, Max Rockatansky seeks revenge against a biker gang who killed his family and left him for dead.

Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, James McCausland
Starring: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Run Time: 88 minutes

The original Mad Max hit the screens in 1979, thanks to the creative genius of George Miller, who both wrote and directed every film in the series. Despite being filmed on a shoestring budget of just $400K, it went on to earn a Guinness World Record for being the most profitable film of all time, raking in over 100 million dollars worldwide.

The movie centers around Max Rockatansky, played by Mel Gibson, a police officer in a dwindling force during a societal collapse caused by fuel shortages and ecological disaster. To keep Max on the force, he’s given a supercharged V8 Interceptor police car, but he eventually contemplates leaving the job altogether. However, during his vacation, tragedy strikes when his wife and daughter are brutally murdered by a violent biker gang led by Toecutter, played by Hugh Keays-Byrne. Max is consumed by rage and embarks on a relentless mission to track down and take revenge on the biker gang, using his V8 Interceptor as his weapon of choice. Hugh Kears-Byrne would return to take on another important role later on in Mad Max films.

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2 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

Max meets a gang of psychopaths

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Max is the only thing standing between a peaceful settlement and a bloodthirsty gang of psychopaths.

Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Terry Hayes, Brian Hannant
Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Vernon Wells
Run Time: 96 minutes

Mad Max 2 picks up years later after society has totally collapsed following a nuclear war. Water and fuel are in short supply, but Max still has his V8 Interceptor, along with a new dog, so he’s doing pretty well, all things considered. He still needs gas for his car though, which leads him to link up with another survivor, played by Bruce Spence, who uses an old gyrocopter to scout for supplies. The gyrocopter pilot leads Max to a settlement with lots of fuel that is under siege by a band of marauders in football pads.

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3 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Apocalyptic gladiator matches

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Max is on a mission to fix his V8 Interceptor that leads him to fight to the death inside the Thunderdome.

Director: George Miller, George Ogilvie
Writers: George Miller, Terry Hayes
Starring: Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Bruce Spence
Run Time: 107 minutes

Beyond Thunderdome is the least popular film in the Mad Max series, which is a big reason why we went 30 years without another entry in the series after it was released. George Miller has said in the past that he was dealing with the grief of losing his producing partner, Byron Kennedy, as he filmed Beyond Thunderdome, which led to him asking George Ogilvie to help direct the film.

The film picks up with Max as he’s traveling across the desert with camels dragging his broken down V8 Interceptor. When his car is stolen, he chases the culprits to Bartertown, which is ruled by Aunty Entity (Tina Turner). Entity promises Max he can have his car back with all the provisions he needs – if he just helps her kill someone.

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4 Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

A prequel to the 2015 hit

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)

Set before the events of Fury Road, Furiosa will show how she was taken from her home as a child and rose up the ranks of Immortan Joe’s army before betraying him.

Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Nico Lathouris
Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke
Run Time: 148 minutes

The next chapter in the Mad Max Saga hit theaters on May 24, 2024.

It’s a prequel that tells the story of Furiosa and what led up to the events of Mad Max: Fury Road. The younger version of Furiosa is played by Anya Taylor-Joy, while Chris Hemsworth plays her foil, a warlord named Dementus. The trailer for Furiosa revealed she was taken from her home 45 years after the nuclear war that ended civilization. Considering the first Mad Max film takes place before that nuclear war, the timeline between the two new films and the older Mad Max trilogy isn’t exactly clear.

Max would probably be around 75 years old in Fury Road if he’s the same exact character from the original film. The easiest way to explain this is that outside the first film, the three sequel films all feature narrators that tell a different story of one of Max’s great accomplishments. So, like any old story, the facts might not be 100 percent accurate. There’s another theory though, that says the Max we see in Fury Road, isn’t the same person from the original Mad Max trilogy. More on that in our next entry.

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5 Mad Max: Fury Road

Max faces off with Immortan Joe

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

After being taken prisoner by a warlord named Immortan Joe, Max is forced to join up with one of his lieutenants named Furiosa.

Director: George Miller
Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico Lathouris
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Run Time: 120 minutes

Three decades after the last film, George Miller delivered what many consider the greatest Mad Max installment to date. The story picks up with Max, now played by Tom Hardy, falling into the clutches of the ruthless warlord Immortan Joe, who controls the region’s vital water supply. At the same time, Imperator Furiosa, portrayed by Charlize Theron and one of Immortan Joe’s top lieutenants, seizes an opportunity during a routine trading mission to stage a daring escape for five of Joe’s captive wives. When Immortan Joe discovers the escape, he deploys his entire army in relentless pursuit, with Max literally tied to the hood of a car.

Hugh Keays-Byrne, the actor who led the biker gang that killed Max’s family in the original film, returns to play Immortan Joe in Fury Road.

There is a fan theory surrounding Tom Hardy’s Max in this film. The idea is that the Max we see in Fury Road is actually the feral child from The Road Warrior. There’s quite a bit of evidence to support this, starting with the fact that the Max we see in Fury Road has the small music box we see Max give the child in The Road Warrior. Max also doesn’t introduce himself by name until the end of the film, and even then it’s a bit off, as if he’s deciding at that moment to take on the mantle of the Max from his childhood. The time also suggests that Gibson’s version of Max would be way too old to be the same guy in Fury Road. Furiosa, which is a prequel is set 45 years after the nuclear war that destroys the world. Gibson’s Max would’ve experienced that in between the first and second Mad Max films, when he was already a middle-aged man.

Mad Max: Fury Road received 10 Academy Award nominations, including a nod for Best Picture, and ended up winning six Oscars in total. The film also made a significant impact at the box office, grossing $380 million.