Mad Max (franchise) Mad Max (franchise) Mad Max is an Australian dystopian action media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with "Mad Max", and was followed by three films: "Mad Max 2" (1981), "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" (1985) and "" (2015). Mel Gibson starred in the first three films and Tom Hardy took over as Max in the fourth film. The series follows the adventures of Max Rockatansky, a police officer in a future Australia which is experiencing societal collapse due to war and critical resource shortages. When his wife and child are murdered by a vicious
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