10 Reasons Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior Is So Much Better Than The First Movie

George Miller’s Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior is widely considered an improvement over the original Mad Max, and there are 10 major reasons why it’s a better movie. The Road Warrior is one of only a few sequels that surpassed the original movie. Generally, when movies get a second installment, something goes wrong, and the sequel simply can’t live up to the magic of the original film. Some of the worst sequels of all time illustrate how easily continuing a successful movie can go, which makes it all the more impressive that The Road Warrior is so widely acclaimed.

The original Mad Max is nowhere near a bad movie. It was a high-octane wonder of an action film that spawned one of the best action franchises in cinema history, and there’s quite a bit to love about Mel Gibson’s first outing as Max Rockatansky. Saying that The Road Warrior improved upon it is not a slight to Mad Max, it’s a huge compliment to its sequel. With as strong of a start as the original Mad Max gave the franchise, it should have been almost impossible for The Road Warrior to turn out better, yet these 10 factors helped it do just that.

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10

Mad Max 2’s Apocalyptic Setting Is Way More Unhinged

The Original Mad Max’s World Was On The Brink Of Apocalypse, But Mad Max 2 Fully Leaned Into Its Weirdness

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The original Mad Max takes place right at the cusp of the apocalypse the franchise would be known for in its next four movies. There are definite signs of the chaos the world of Mad Max would devolve into, from roaming biker gangs to cities in states of obvious decay, but it wasn’t a true apocalypse yet. There was still a semi-functional justice system with a dedicated police force in the original Mad Max, and even businesses like mechanics, diners, and ice cream parlors were still open. While it was definitely an interesting view of how the world died, it wasn’t as interesting as a full-on apocalypse.

The world in Mad Max 2 was so much more hopeless and interesting than it was in the original.

One of the most obvious changes that was made between Mad Max and The Road Warrior was the sheer scope of its apocalypse. In The Road Warrior, the world was almost entirely different. Gone was the MFP, the Halls of Justice, and the businesses of the original: they had been replaced by empty desert wastelands, gangs that ruled the Outback, and survivors jammed into camps to avoid their wrath. The modern idea of a post-apocalyptic society was heavily influenced by The Road Warrior, and for good reason. The world in Mad Max 2 was so much more hopeless and interesting than it was in the original.

9

Mad Max 2’s Effects & Stunts Are A Huge Improvement

The Road Warrior’s Stunts Are The Definition Of Bigger & Better

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The original Mad Max was made on a shoestring budget. While that did help it become one of the most proportionately profitable movies of all time, it also meant that the film lacked funding to pull off massive stunts and practical effects viewers expect from action movies. Many of the stunts in Mad Max were incredibly impressive from a logistical standpoint, and the stunt actors deserve quite a bit of credit, but they never reached the scale The Road Warrior achieved. Mad Max‘s stunts boiled down to some rather flashy car crashes, and little more.

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The Road Warrior, on the other hand, is a truly impressive feat of both practical effects and stunt performances. Mad Max 2 is filled to the brim with explosions, fiery car wrecks, bodies being thrown from, under, and into speeding cars, and more. Every action sequence in the film has some kind of spectacular stunt or effect associated with it, and every single one is a visual spectacle even over four decades later. The Road Warrior even beat Mad Max at its own game: the car crashes in the sequel were bigger, better, and more thrilling than the original was capable of.

8

The Road Warrior Has Much Better Pacing Than The Original Mad Max

Mad Max 2 Is Ten Minutes Longer But Moves So Quickly It Feels 30 Minutes Shorter

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One of the most common criticisms of the original Mad Max is its pacing. Despite being just under 90 minutes long, the film tends to drag for long stretches of its runtime. For instance, almost 20 minutes of the film is dedicated to Max and Jessie (Joanne Samuel) going on vacation, and quite a bit of the movie focuses on Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his gang chit-chatting. There are more than a few exciting car chases in the original Mad Max, but they’re often bogged down by exposition and interpersonal drama that could be sped up.

Mad Max Movies In Chronological Order
Mad Max	Released 1979
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior	Released 1981
Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdome	Released 1985
Furiosa	Released 2024
Mad Max: Fury Road	Released 2015
Mad Max: The Wasteland	Release Date TBA

In contrast, The Road Warrior‘s 94-minute runtime almost feels too short. Every second of the movie moves its plot along somehow, and the dialogue-heavy scenes always know exactly when to make room for more action. The Road Warrior was the first Mad Max movie to have the frenetic, breakneck pacing the franchise is currently known for, and it certainly benefited from it. There’s hardly a moment of downtime in The Road Warrior, which only serves to elevate its drama and action even higher. Because of its high-speed pacing, viewers almost feel like they’re part of the story of Mad Max 2.

7

Mel Gibson Gave A Better Performance In Mad Max 2

Gibson’s Max Feels Feral In The Road Warrior & Muzzled In Mad Max

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Prior to Tom Hardy taking over the role, Mel Gibson was Max Rockatansky. He embodied the character, from his quiet madness to his full-blown rage. However, it wasn’t until The Road Warrior that Gibson truly came into full stride as Max. In the original, Gibson had a few standout scenes, such as when he saw Goose’s (Steve Bisley) body or when he watched Jessie and Sprog die, but for the rest of the film, his acting was just okay. That’s mostly because Gibson didn’t have enough time with the character, as Max only went mad in the final 15 minutes of the movie.

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In The Road Warrior, however, Gibson wasn’t held back by having to play a normal family man and police officer. Right out the gate, it’s clear that Gibson was born to play Max. He embodies everything about the legendary road warrior, from his quiet and gruff demeanor to the wild look in his eye. In the film’s final chase sequence, there are a few great moments where Gibson really makes Max’s desperation and rage palpable, and it’s clear that he understands the broken and deranged psyche of Max on a fundamental level. It’s a stellar performance, and it gave The Road Warrior an edge over the original.

6

Mad Max 2 Has Much Cooler Villains Than The Original

Lord Humungus & Wez Surpass Toecutter & Johnny The Boy In Almost Every Way

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Max Rockatansky was a better hero in The Road Warrior than the original Mad Max, but the sequel also had better villains for him to face off against. The main villain of Mad Max, Toecutter, was really quite good: he was clearly deranged, incredibly easy to hate, and Keays-Byrne gave a great performance. That being said, Toecutter is a far cry from the other main villains of the Mad Max franchise, and not in a good way. He’s more realistic, but for a franchise as over-the-top and audacious as Mad Max, that essentially meant Toecutter was just less interesting.

Both Humungus and Wez made for much better villains, and they were so cool that they even made Max cooler just for defeating them.

Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson), on the other hand, is basically the prototypical Mad Max villain. His massive stature and hockey mask made him incredibly visually interesting, his strange diplomacy with Pappagallo’s tribe made him a contradictory mystery, and his gang was much more psychotic than Toecutter’s. Even The Road Warrior‘s secondary villain, Wez (Vernon Wells) was significantly better than Mad Max‘s, Johnny the Boy (Tim Burns). Both Humungus and Wez made for much better villains, and they were so cool that they even made Max cooler just for defeating them.

5

The Road Warrior Is A More Original Story Than Mad Max

Mad Max Was Essentially A Revenge Movie With A Semi-Apocalyptic Setting, But The Road Warrior Presented Something Completely New

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Despite being a sequel and continuing the story that the original Mad Max created, The Road Warrior is actually somehow more original and innovative than the first movie. The first Mad Max was a game-changer in a number of ways, from the inklings of a post-apocalyptic world that it included to the type of action sequences it created, but it wasn’t wholly original. Essentially, Mad Max is just like any other revenge movie, it just added a slightly dystopian setting on top. The only big difference between Mad Max and something like Death Wish is the fact that Max’s revenge takes place in a crumbling society.

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The Road Warrior, on the other hand, has a much more distinctive story. Max gets into a brewing turf war, he faces off against a deranged gang for nothing more than a few tanks of gas, and after nearly losing his life to said gang, decides to risk it again for a tribe he met just a few days prior. The Road Warrior‘s story also touches on emotional notes like the fear of resource wars in the apocalypse and the hope of Max’s journey towards healing and redemption. It’s quite simply a more unique and moving story than the original Mad Max had.

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Mad Max 2 Had Iconic & Weird Costumes That Made It More Fun

The Road Warrior’s Costumes Were Weird & Wonderful

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Costumes are one part of a movie that is only really noticed if they’re very bad or very good, and The Road Warrior was an example of the latter. The clothes that the characters of The Road Warrior wear reflect the weird and deranged world they live in, and they’re one of the most iconic parts of the entire Mad Max franchise. From Wez’s chaps with no pants underneath to the Feral Kid’s glam rock hairdo and all fur outfit, The Road Warrior had some truly strange costumes. They made the movie more distinctive, punk, and just fun in general.

A good sequel has to go bigger and better than the original movie, and the costumes were one of the clearest ways The Road Warrior exaggerated some of the things Mad Max introduced.

There’s nothing wrong with the original Mad Max‘s costumes. In fact, the MFP’s all-leather uniforms were some of the coolest things in the entire film, but the original Mad Max simply can’t compete with The Road Warrior. In comparison, the original movie is only a rough concept of the weirdness and silliness Mad Max 2 had in store for its costume department. A good sequel has to go bigger and better than the original movie, and the costumes were one of the clearest ways The Road Warrior exaggerated some of the things Mad Max introduced.

3

The Road Warrior’s Characters Were More Interesting Than Mad Max’s

Mad Max Was Filled With Police Officers; The Road Warrior Was Filled With Lunatics

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The original Mad Max has more than a few memorable characters, but The Road Warrior had more interesting people to support Max. In Mad Max, a few of the MFP’s officers stood out, such as Fifi (Roger Ward) and Goose, as well as some of Toecutter’s gang, like Johnny the Boy. Jessie was also a well-written wife for Max, but beyond them, the film is filled with normal people in a strange situation. As well-developed and written as they are, they’re just not terribly interesting on their own. The same cannot be said for the cast of The Road Warrior.

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The Road Warrior is filled with leather-clad psychopaths, feral children, overly-friendly helicopter pilots, and more, while Mad Max is filled with cynical police officers, slightly insane bikers, and a few normal members of Max’s family. There’s so much more personality in characters like the Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence) or Wez than there is in Fifi or Goose. Everyone in The Road Warrior was an oddball long before they met Max, which makes them much more intriguing characters in their own right.

2

The Road Warrior Made Max Rockatansky More Of A Legendary Figure

Max’s Feats In The Road Warrior Are Much Cooler Than In Mad Max

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In keeping with the goal of being bigger and better than Mad Max, The Road Warrior also improved the legend surrounding Max Rockatansky. In the original film, Max was a pretty good but fairly average police officer. He ran a few bikers off the road and blew one to smithereens, but aside from that, he wasn’t exactly the stuff of legends. In Mad Max 2, however, Max really earned the title of road warrior. He drove a massive and slow rig through a gang of murderous bandits twice, lived to tell the tale, and basically single-handedly secured an entire tribe’s survival.

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There was nothing wrong with the scope of Max’s feats in Mad Max, but The Road Warrior was still an improvement. The things Max actually does in The Road Warrior are just cooler and more heroic than they were in Mad Max, which is never a bad thing for a sequel to do. Making Max Rockatansky more of a legend was a good choice, and it was just one of many things The Road Warrior managed to improve upon from the original film.

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Mad Max 2 Had A Great & Happy Ending Without Feeling Cheesy

The Road Warrior Earned A Happier Ending Than The Original Mad Max Had

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One of the biggest differences between the original Mad Max and The Road Warrior was in their endings. At the end of Mad Max, Max finds Johnny the Boy alone and helpless, chains him to a wrecked car, offers him a hacksaw to cut his own foot off, and leaves him to die in a fiery explosion. It was a brutal way to punctuate Max’s descent into madness, and as cool as it was, Mad Max ended on a very grim note. There’s nothing wrong with dark and dreary endings, but there’s also a reason that happy endings are so cliché: people like them.

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The ending of The Road Warrior managed to have a crowd-pleasing happy ending without devolving into cheesy clichés, and it also included a great twist reveal. As Max learns that the rig was a diversion filled with sand and the narrator reveals that he saved Pappagallo’s tribe from certain doom, there’s a sense that The Road Warrior earned a happier ending than Mad Max had. Max crawled through hell just to save the tribe, and as they ride off into the sunset, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior proved to be much more hopeful and happy than the original.

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  8.3/10

  Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

  R
  ActionAdventure Sci-Fi

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  The Road Warrior, aka Mad Max 2, picks up after the original 1976 film and continues following Max’s (Mel Gibson) journey through a post-apocalyptic Australia. This time, Max helps a group of locals escape bandits to protect their wealth of gasoline. George Miller again directs the Mad Max sequel and is often considered the fan-favorite of the original trilogy.

  Release Date

  December 24, 1981

  Runtime

  96 Minutes

  Franchise(s)

  Mad Max

  Cast

  Mel Gibson
  , Bruce Spence
  , Michael Preston
  , Vernon Wells

  Director

  George Miller

  Writers

  George Miller
  , Terry Hayes
  , Brian Hannant

  Sequel(s)

  Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
  , Mad Max: Fury Road

  Budget

  $2.9 Million

  Studio(s)

  Kennedy Miller Entertainment

  Distributor(s)

  Roadshow Film Distributors

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  7.8/10

  Mad Max

  R
  ActionThriller Sci-Fi

  Mad Max is a 1979 sci-fi action film from director and writer George Miller. Mel Gibson stars as Max a police officer in the future who goes after a gang of vicious motorcycle thugs. The film led to a long-running franchise including The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road, and Furiosa.

  Release Date

  March 21, 1980

  Runtime

  88 Minutes

  Franchise(s)

  Mad Max

  Cast

  Mel Gibson
  , Joanne Samuel
  , Hugh Keays-Byrne
  , Steve Bisley
  , Roger Ward
  , Tim Burns

  Director

  George Miller

  Writers

  George Miller
  , James McCausland
  , Byron Kennedy

  Sequel(s)

  Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
  , Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
  , Mad Max: Fury Road
  , Mad Max: The Wasteland

  Budget

  $233–266 Million

  Studio(s)

  Kennedy Miller Entertainment

  Distributor(s)

  Roadshow Film Distributors

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Category: Entertainment