Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road, Australian postapocalyptic science-fiction action film, released in 2015, that is considered one of the greatest action films ever made. Directed by George Miller, the film is the fourth entry in the Mad Max series, and it serves as a reboot of the franchise after a 30-year hiatus. Mad Max: Fury Road was a commercial success and garnered enthusiastic reviews, the rare blockbuster action film to win best picture awards from a variety of critics’ associations and other industry groups. The apocalyptic visuals, thrillingly edited action, and steely performances by co-leads Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron (portraying Max and Furiosa, respectively) received particular praise. A prequel film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, was released in 2024.

Background

The first Mad Max movie, 1979’s Mad Max, featured Australian actor Mel Gibson as a police officer in a near-future dystopia. In its 1981 sequel, The Road Warrior, Max had been reduced to a drifter, albeit one willing to help a small community resist attacks by bandits. Gibson played Max for a third and final time in 1985’s Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, in which Max tries to protect a group of abandoned children as they rebel against the warlord Aunty Entity, played by Tina Turner.

The Mad Max franchise stood idle for years, until film series creator Miller attempted to move forward with a fourth film in 2001, again starring Gibson. However, after the September 11 attacks, that plan fell through, and, by the time Miller was able to try again, Gibson was too old for the part, and the actor had become unpopular as a result of high-profile misbehavior. Miller considered an animated sequel but only briefly—instead the character was recast. At one point, actor Heath Ledger was the front-runner to land the role, but his untimely death in 2008 forced Miller to go another route. Eventually, Tom Hardy was cast, and the film was finally able to move forward nearly 30 years after the previous installment.

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Premise and summary

Mad Max: Fury Road is set in a postapocalyptic Australia in which the warlord Immortan Joe (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) rules his territory by controlling the water supply. Max Rockatansky, a former police officer haunted by the memories of people he failed to save, is captured by Joe’s “War Boys,” a force of sickly but brutal warriors. Meanwhile, Joe’s imperator (military leader), Furiosa, is charged with taking a tanker truck called the “War Rig” to acquire fuel from Joe’s allies in Gas Town. However, Furiosa goes off course, and Joe realizes that she has betrayed him and facilitated the escape of his five captive wives, including The Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), who is pregnant.

Joe sends his War Boys to bring the five wives back. Max is bound to a car and brought along as a “blood bag,” attached by both a chain and a transfusion line to one of the War Boys, Nux (Nicholas Hoult), to feed him healthy blood during the pursuit. A battle commences in which Furiosa tries to protect the wives and escape from Joe’s forces, while Max tries to survive and free himself from his bonds.

When Furiosa drives into a sandstorm to evade the attacking cars, Nux attempts to blow himself up to stop her, seeking a glorious death. Max manages to stop him, but their car is destroyed by Furiosa. Max survives and drags the unconscious Nux through the desert, finding the wives and Furiosa, who is repairing her damaged War Rig. Max holds the women at gunpoint and forces them to help him escape, and a fight breaks out. Nux awakens and helps Max subdue Furiosa and the wives, but Max has no interest in going back to Joe with Nux and instead attempts to hijack the War Rig himself. However, he does not know the code to allow him to drive it, so he forms a tentative alliance with Furiosa and the other women. They drive the War Rig back toward Joe’s territory, setting up a confrontation with him.

Reception and recognition

Mad Max: Fury Road grossed more than $380 million worldwide against a $150 million budget. One of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, it was lauded for its explosive, inventive action sequences and apocalyptic production design and in particular for Theron’s powerful performance as Furiosa. In a 2019 RogerEbert.com article about the best films of the 2010s, film critic Christy Lemire reflected:

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Revisiting the film now, I found it working its magic on a different area of the body: the heart. Because while it was already a moving assertion of feminine strength, it feels like an even more vital declaration of independence in the months and years following the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. This is a film about a group of women who dare to break free of the greedy and grotesque man who’d abused and exploited them for far too long.

The film won awards for best picture and best director at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, as well as the award for film of the year from the International Federation of Film Critics, the AFI, the National Board of Review, and many others. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including for best picture and best director, and won six of them: best production design, best costume design, best makeup and hairstyling, best editing, best sound mixing, and best sound editing.

Prequel

Miller continued the series in 2024 with the prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The film depicts the hardscrabble backstory of Furiosa, who this time is portrayed by, as a child, Alyla Browne, and, as an adult, Anya Taylor-Joy. Though generally praised by critics, it failed to match the considerable box-office success of its predecessor.

Production notes and credits

• Studios: Kennedy Miller Productions, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures
• Director: George Miller
• Producers: George Miller and Doug Mitchell
• Writers: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nick Lathouris
• Music: Tom Holkenborg
• Cinematographer: John Seale
• Editor: Margaret Sixel
• Running time: 120 minutes

Cast

• Tom Hardy (Max Rockatansky)
• Charlize Theron (Imperator Furiosa)
• Nicholas Hoult (Nux)
• Hugh Keays-Byrne (Immortan Joe)
• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (The Splendid Angharad)
• Zoë Kravitz (Toast the Knowing)
• Riley Keough (Capable)
• Courtney Eaton (Cheedo the Fragile)
• Abbey Lee (The Dag)
• Josh Helman (Slit)
• Nathan Jones (Rictus Erectus)