How to watch the Mad Max movies in order (and where Furiosa fits)

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

This trend is bound to continue with the upcoming release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, slated for release in May 2024. This new installment is all about the character played by Charlize Theron in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. In Furiosa, Anya Taylor-Joy takes on the role of a younger Imperator Furiosa, who’s snatched from her home as a child and spends her life fighting to return.

George Miller, who helmed all the previous Mad Max films, is back to write and direct.

What’s also interesting is Furiosa breaks from tradition by not centering around Max Rockatansky, the character who transformed from a family-man cop into a reluctant hero for the surviving communities in the apocalyptic wasteland depicted in the first four Mad Max films.

Mad Max chronological movie order: Full timeline explained

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.

1 Mad Max

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.

2 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

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.

3 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

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.

4 Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

The next chapter in the Mad Max saga will hit theaters in May 2024.

It’s a prequel set to tell 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 a character named Warlord 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.

5 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

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.

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.

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Spoiler-free version: Mad Max movies in order

Mad Max movies in chronological order

OK, so here is the at-a-glance version of the guide above. It’s free of spoilers.

1. Mad Max (1979)
2. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
3. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
5. Mad Max: Fury Road (2014)

Mad Max movies release date order

1. Mad Max (1979)
2. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
3. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
4. Mad Max: Fury Road (2014)
5. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)