Furiosa, the next chapter in theMad Maxsaga, is nearly out, and that’s a great excuse to watch or re-watch the whole thing. It’s completely fine not to know the right order to watch the series, as the whole series is nearly 50 years old and most people old enough to remember it are also already old enough to have some memory problems.
There are two possible orders in which to watch theMad Max Saga, and there are very small differences between both. Let’s check them out.
The originalMad Maxtakes place in an undisclosed near feature (for the people of 1979) where the world was on the brink of complete collapse. The film follows Max Rockatansky, a cop who is broken after he witnesses his family killed at the hands of a biker gang and goes on a revenge spree.
Even though Max ended up effectively “retiring” the evil biker gang at the end of the original movie, he didn’t really do much for the state of the world, which is now long past the brink of collapse. Even though it takes place just around three years after the original movie, the whole known world ofRoad Warrioris but an Australia-sized arena where those who have the guns and the fuel get to make up the rules.
Thunderdometakes place nearly a decade afterRoad Warrior, at a time when people are once again trying to create something we’d charitably call society. Max finds himself in a gladiatorial arena and ends up leading a bunch of kids to a better life. It’s the least-liked movie in the franchise, but it’s still deserving of your attention.
Fury Roadcame out 30 years after the release of the previous entry in the franchise, so director George Miller wisely left the chronology unclear. We naturally assume that the story takes place after the events ofThunderdome, but the movie doesn’t feature any direct reference to that movie. That’s by design, for the record; Miller confirmed that the filmsdo not have a strict continuity, with the idea being that Max’s story is akin to a campfire tale told by survivors. So while Max’s age and design may be in flux, he’s intended to be the same character in each film.
There’s also a second release ofFuryRoad,Black and Chrome, which is howthe director intendedthe film to be viewed.
Furiosa shows us various stages of the life of the titular character, and we know that it takes place before she’s the badass adult general we see inFury Road.If you believe thatFury Roadtakes place in the same universe as the original trilogy, thenFuriosatakes place an unknown amount of time afterThunderdomeand around a decade beforeFury Road.
The Mad Max saga to date has been an entirely chronological affair. The sole exception is thatFuriosais a prequel toFury Road. If you want to watch the Mad Max Saga in chronological order, the only change you need to make isseeingFuriosabefore you seeFury Road.
