15 Movies To Watch If You Like Mad Max

Fans of Mad Max’s post-apocalyptic vision of a wasteland covered with tribal gangs riding decked-out cars will enjoy these similar movies.

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Mad Max is a brilliant post-apocalyptic action franchise (with sci-fi elements and just the coolest vehicles ever). In the deserts of a wasteland-like Australia, Max Rockatansky lives on the roads as a drifter, a driver, an adventurer, a fighter. The 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road at long last revived the franchise with the introduction of another protagonist next to Max: soldier and driver Imperator Furiosa, a powerful female addition.

Many films exist within the same tradition and many tried but failed to successfully imitate Mad Max; so, sometimes help is needed to find the gems within the clutter.

Updated on May 18th by Matthew Wilkinson: The intensity that comes with a Mad Max movie is something that very few movies manage to come close to matching, but there are some films out there that have a similar tone. Whether it be from the characters, the way it’s shot, or the visuals throughout.

While they might not be exactly like Mad Max, there are many movies that have proven to be just as thrilling. If you love this franchise (and we hope you do) you are bound to enjoy this list’s titles.

15 The Last Man On Earth (1964)

This black and white film blends elements of science fiction and horror inside a post-apocalyptic setting. It was interestingly the first film to be based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, followed by The Ωmega Man in 1971 and I Am Legend in 2007. In the year 1968 Dr Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) is the last remaining human on earth. During the day he roams the streets looking for vampires to kill; former humans infected by a plague that only Morgan seems to be immune to. When he meets a mysterious woman called Ruth, he is immediately suspicious. She seems perfectly human, like him, but she has a secret that could help save humanity…

14 Doomsday (2008)

The first thing to say about this movie is that you watch it to enjoy it, not to think too much about it. It is definitely derivative with the influence of Escape From New York, 28 Days Later, and Mad Max itself being obvious (not to say that being influenced and copying something are one and the same but this movie blurs the line).

Neil Marshall’s film transports us to post-apocalyptic Scotland, walled and under quarantine for years due to a deadly virus. Officials thought that everything was under control but when the virus is traced in London it is up to Major Eden Sinclair (Rhona Mitra) to lead her team into Glasgow and track down the medical researcher that holds the solution to everything.

13 300 (2006)

300 may have a very different plot and practically be set in a totally different world, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t similarities. Much like the Mad Max franchise, this movie took huge risks — from the slow-motion to the epic and lengthy fight scenes with plenty of brutal gore on display.

One the action gets rolling there’s not much time for talking and it’s down to business, which is something that any Mad Max fan can appreciate. This film is also full of powerful, well-established characters, another facet Mad Max fans should fancy.

12 Tank Girl (1995)

Yes, this movie is on the list. It might not have been a critical darling or the best movie ever, but to those who have watched it admit that you enjoyed it. Rachel Talalay’s Tank Girl (based on the homonymous comic books) follows Tank Girl herself, her friend Jet Girl, and their group of enhanced supersoldiers called Rippers as they roam around in a tank in a world devastated by lack of water and by the oppressive rule of the “Water & Power” company.

This film may suffer from a faulty script, but its motley, zany style and action will surely keep you entertained.

11 Kill Bill (2003)

One movie that doesn’t lack in a brilliant script is Kill Bill, which many consider one of the best action film of all time. Much like Mad Max: Fury Road, this film is all about female empowerment as we follow the Bride’s revenge story.

There’s plenty of mystery in this one as well, as the backstory slowly gets pieced together as the movie goes along. While there might not be any car chases, it is a visual masterpiece and there’s no shortage of action taking place.

10 Cyborg (1989)

We just had to have a Jean Claude Van Damme film in here. In this cyberpunk post-apocalyptic action galore, he portrays Gibson Rickenbacker (less or equally cool to “Rockatansky”? It’s not cooler), a slinger (type of mercenary) that is issued with protecting Pearl Prophet (a woman turned cyborg through surgery) who has volunteered to retrieve vital information regarding a cure to the plague that has devastated humanity. They face against Fender, who wants to obtain and sell the cure, but Gibson also has his personal revenge to follow through. Don’t expect a lot of dialogue from this one, but if action and martial arts is your jam, you will not be disappointed.

9 Baby Driver (2017)

Much like Mad Max, the star of Baby Driver isn’t one for dialogue and instead lets his driving skills do the talking. Music plays a big part in this one, as it does with Mad Max movies, only this film utilizes pop, rock, and rap songs, rather than an incredible score.

It may not be set in a post-apocalyptic world, but the car chase scenes in this movie are simply fantastic and the characters are very detailed. With backstabbing and secret deals aplenty, there’s enough drama here for anyone.

8 The Book Of Eli (2010)

This may not have been a huge critical success, but it features some brilliant settings, good action, and worthy performances by Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. This neo-western action movie by the Hughes brothers (known for Broken City and From Hell) follows Eli, a nomad who roams a wasteland USA exhibiting exceptional fighting and survival skills whose mission it is to deliver to the West Coast a book that could contain the salvation of humanity: the last remaining Bible. It received mostly mixed reviews, but Roger Ebert gave it ¾ stars, calling it “very watchable” and praising it for its imagery.

7 Snowpiercer (2013)

Another great movie that is set in a post-apocalyptic world is Snowpierecer, which features a brilliant performance from Chris Evans. While Mad Max is set in a desert world, this film focuses on a post-Ice Age world, and rather than cars, it is all about trains.

The world’s poorest people are segregated from the wealthier denizens of the train, and they work together to try and overtake the engine room in order to improve their odds of survival. It’s just as gripping as Mad Max and certainly brings the emotions.

6 12 Monkeys (1995)

This is a very interesting (to say the least) movie: it is and is not simultaneously a post-apocalyptic film. Directed by Terry Gilliam (famous for being a member of Monty Python and Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s director), this gritty neo-noir film transports us to 2035, decades after a deadly bioweapon virus killed most of humanity.

James Cole (Bruce Willis), a prisoner in Philadelphia, is chosen to be sent back to 1996 to find the original virus before it can be released and bring it back to his time’s scientists to discover a cure. Most of the film unfolds in 1996 when Cole tracks the Army of the Twelve Monkeys: the group rumored to have released the virus.

5 I Am Legend (2007)

Purely for the visuals of the apocalyptic world that I Am Legend inhabits, this is an ideal movie for Mad Max fans. It might be very different in pace, as this is a much slower film, but much like Mad Max: Fury Road, it isn’t heavy in dialogue.

Instead, it is the breath-taking way the movie is filmed that takes this to another level, with the visuals really summing up the damage that the world has taken on.

4 The Ωmega Man (1971)

This is another adaptation of the book I Am Legend. In 1975, a conflict between the Soviet Union and China leaves the world ravaged through biological warfare. Charlton Heston (Ben-Hur) portrays U.S. Army Col. and Dr. Robert Neville, a scientist in Los Angeles who was rendered immune to the plague through an experimental medicine. He spends his days alone, killing the aggressive diseased mutants, and the nights fortified in his home, until he meets Lisa (Cash), a member of a survivor group. Interestingly, this film contains one of the first interracial kisses to appear in cinema (between Heston and his co-star Rosalind Cash).

3 The Running Man (1987)

This action-packed Stephen King adaptation “would prove eerily correct about the rise of reality television”, existing within the same general tradition as Battle Royale and Mad Max. By the year 2017, after a fateful financial catastrophe, the USA has become a totalitarian dystopia.

The government appeases the people by broadcasting the gladiator-style game show “The Running Man”, presented by the heartless Damon Killian, in which convicted criminals attempt to evade armed mercenaries in a battle-to-the-death for the chance to be officially pardoned. Ben Richards (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a police helicopter pilot imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, escapes and his escape is witnessed by Killian, who considers him an excellent potential contestant…

2 Dredd (2012)

In a rare feat, this remake was extremely more well-received than the original 1995 Judge Dredd (with Stallone). Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd. He and the other Judges (who act as judge, jury, and executioner) are the sole enforcers of order in a massive city called Mega-City One, on the coast of a dystopic, post-apocalyptic USA. Dredd and newly recruited Judge Cassandra Anderson (an inherent mutant with formidable psychic powers) chase and shoot their way up a 200-storey skyscraper in pursuit of dangerous drug lord Ma-Ma (portrayed masterfully by Lena Headey). The Guardian’s Phelim O’Neill wrote that “In a world of compromised adaptations, Dredd is something of a triumph.”

1 Death Race 2000 (1975)

Apocalypse and crazy vehicles? How could this campy classic be missing? This film features Stallone in one of his early roles (although he was a secondary character) and was remade in 2008 with Jason Statham. After the (imaginary) ’79 crash, the world is left in ruins. The USA resurfaces as a totalitarian state permeated with uncontrollable violence and death.

To appease the populace, the regime has established the Transcontinental Road Race: a band of drivers racing across the land in their high-fired vehicles, in a sport notorious for carnage, bloodshed, and the killing of unsuspecting passersby for bonuses. In the year 2000, a partisan group prepares to revolt against the government by sabotaging the race.

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