Mad Max 2 and subtitling it "the thrilling predecessor to "The Road Warrior"." Despite the title change, grosses from the US release were on par with other countries. Warner Bros. felt comfortable to keep the title of the third "Mad Max" film, "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", intact for that film's American release. "Mad Max 2" received positive reviews and is regarded by many critics as one of the best films of 1981. The film holds a 98% rating based on 42 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with and average rating of 8.4/10 and with the consensus, ""The Road Warrior" is everything a bigger-budgeted Mad
Mad Max the film polarized critics. In a 1979 review, the Australian social commentator and film producer Phillip Adams condemned "Mad Max", saying that it had "all the emotional uplift of "Mein Kampf" and would be "a special favourite of rapists, sadists, child murderers and incipient [Charles] Mansons". After its United States release, Tom Buckley of "The New York Times" called the film "ugly and incoherent". Stephen King, writing in "Danse Macabre," called the film a "turkey." However, "Variety" magazine praised the directorial debut by Miller. "Mad Max" grossed A$5,355,490 at the box office in Australia and over US$100 million worldwide. It