Rank the Mad Max Films

Should be another easy one, but I find it kinda tough. As much as I know Fury Road is the best, I have a spot for Beyond Thunderdome and its cast of colorful characters. Additionally, I can watch it with my son Road Warrior or Mad Max....not so much yet. Of course, Road Warrior is where the franchise was really born and it's a straight up classic, not replaced by any of its sequels.

I guess though if I had to pull the lever:

1) Fury Road
2) Beyond Thunderdome
3) Road Warrior
4) Mad Max

Damn...this franchise gets _better_ with each flick.

1) Fury Road
2) Mad Max
3) Road Warrior
4) Beyond Thunderdome

Light me, Johnny.

JEM wrote: Light me, Johnny.

...and that quote alone makes me wanna rank Mad Max higher...

Truly a great franchise. 4 films in and even the weakest (I'm assuming most will say Thunderdome) ain't too bad.

Mad Max was the first that I saw. Imagine my horror when years later I bought the DVD and heard terrible American dubbing. Hooray for "second audio" selection on the DVD menu. Phew!

I loved the "kind of normal, kind of clearly not at all normal" very 1970s Speculative Fiction style of the first movie. I'm guessing all because of (lack of) budget. I loved the cars, the bikes, the sneering 70's machismo of the villains. The Toecutter, The Goose. All in the before-times, telling tells from the long-ago in history-back. OOooOOOooooh.

1. Road Warrior
2. Fury Road
3. Mad Max
4. Beyond Thunderdome

1. Road Warrior
2. Fury Road
3. Mad Max
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10. Beyond Thunderdome

1. Road Warrior

2. Fury Road

3. Mad Max

614. Beyond Thunderdome.

Sorry, Thunderdome sucked hard. It started off promising, but completely fell apart once Max encountered the fucking whiny kids in the cave.

Msample wrote: Sorry, Thunderdome sucked hard. It started off promising, but completely fell apart once Max encountered the fucking whiny kids in the cave.

I'd like to hear a little more elaboration on how they were so terrible.

When running through multiple stories you've got to inject a saga with some new ideas so the air doesn't go stale, and I thought this little tribe of Lost Boys/Lord of the Flies looking for their savior was ok and their new civilization ultimately gives the one light of hope in this world that was ruined by the previous generation. Tripe? Maybe, but the acting by the kids was fine with no wooden performances ruining the picture, IMO. Plus, the end with Savannah reciting their story and about the man who saved them adds credence to the idea that these films are retellings by tribal leaders of the legend of the man called Mad who wanders the wastelands.

Beyond (heh) the kids, the other characters are great. Max's relationship with Aunt Entity is fun, there's Master Blaster, Dr. Dealgood, Jedediah and son, etc.

I disliked Thunderdome specifically because of the kids. No, there weren't any wooden performances from the kids, just plenty of shameless mugging, scenery-chewing, and desperate appeals to Look At Me! Me! Me! The movie was already on shaky ground with the cartoonish antics in the Thunderdome, and then these damn kids started hogging all the camera time. And these kids are inexplicably better than the adults at every turn. It was like somebody emptied a dumpster load of silly Mary Sues into the third installment of a serious trilogy. I get the idea that these kids represented a hopeful future for a grim post-apocalyptic world, but they didn't earn their place in the series, they barged in and trampled over what most people liked about the first two movies.

Shellhead wrote: The movie was already on shaky ground with the cartoonish antics in the Thunderdome

Didn't like the Thunderdome? I don't know what to say. Even Ebert gave this film a full 4 stars and that was almost on the strength of the Thunderdome action itself.

3 out of 4 MM movies involve highway dueling and car chases as their set pieces. BT even includes some, but I think exploring the idea of new, unique communities was worth doing. It added depth to this universe that RW, for all its action glory, didn't and paved the way for Miller to set up Fury Road to provide a perfect blend of the two.

Road Warrior
Fury Road
Thunderdome
Mad Max

The first two are so close, and I'm apparently in the minority with much love for the Dome, but Mad Max, while it started it all, was overlong and had way too many quiet moments where one could take a short nap.

Sorry, the kids in Thunderdome are the Ewoks of the Mad Max universe.

Yep, Ewoks. And I disliked the action in the Thunderdome bout with Master Blaster, because it veered over the top into slightly silly territory. That's my overall problem with Beyond Thunderdome: there was a deliberate tonal shift in the direction of silliness, and I didn't like it.

This is pretty easy to do.

1. Fury Road
2. Road Warrior
3. Thunderdome
4. Mad Max

When I first watched Fury Road (and loved it) I didn't think it topped Road Warrior. However, after watching it 4-5 more times since then I can easily place it on the top of the list. It's not just the best Mad Max movie...it's one of the best films to come out in the last 15 years or so.

Road Warrior is a classic that is so ingrained within pop culture that most people don't even realize stuff they like is heavily influenced by it. It is still the go to "playbook" for post apocalyptic stuff...even all these years later. It doesn't hurt that that the film is a timeless classic.

I've never understood the hate towards Beyond Thunderdome. It's the "Hollywood" version of Mad Max. You can tell the grimy wasteland had to be cleaned up a bit for mass consumption. If the movie wasn't so much Goddamn FUN I'd have a problem with that. This thing is a riot and just incredibly entertaining. It's more of a live action Mad Max cartoon and I love all the crazy stuff going on. Still the world building is there...we learn more about Max..the action is great. And yeah, I don't mind the lost tribe children stuff.

Mad Max is one that I WANT to like more than I do. Each time I revisit it I'm just kind of underwhelmed. Still, I'm convinced that there is going to be this one time where I pop it in, watch it, and come away from it with a new found appreciation. That just hasn't happened yet.

1. Road Warrior
2. Fury Road
3. Thunderdome
4. Mad Max

I waffled a lot on 3+4. Mad Max is mostly over after the first ten minutes, but those first ten minutes are some of the best ten in the series (or in action movies). Thunderdome's world, especially in Bartertown just seals it. I don't even mind the kids. I like Mad Max, and have re-watched it recently, but it's really a scene-setter and not the grim wasteland we all want to see. Close, but Thunderdome by a slim edge.

Road Warrior is the critical movie of my childhood, so even batshit-crazy Fury Road can't topple that one.