Mad Max is one of the most influential action movies of all time, and in the years that followed its release, the series has only continued to grow in importance and popularity. George Miller’s cinematic dystopia is still thriving today, and while Furiosa struggled at the box office, there’s still plenty of room in today’s climate for blood-soaked, high-octane thrillers that take place in futures quite unlike our present.

Made on a low budget, Mad Max was a huge success because it was totally unlike anything that audiences had been exposed to before: it was dystopia, but not in the technological, sci-fi ways that films like Blade Runner and 2001: A Space Odyssey offered. Instead, the series presents the idea that our twisted future will be a return to the industrial revolution of the past, fixated on machines and automobiles that help us survive. It was a complete twist of the typical genre conventions, and that’s something that many other films have since adopted from the best Mad Max movies.

10 The Book of Eli (2010)

Directed By Albert & Allen Hughes

The Book of Eli is very clearly influenced by Miller’s cinematic vision in Mad Max, following a man named Eli who comes across an abandoned town in a post-apocalyptic world where he meets a dangerous figure in search of a book that Eli has been tasked with protecting. It’s a fascinating story about the nature of humanity and our instinct to survive in the harshest of conditions, and the Hughes’ directorial skills are on full display in every frame.

The Book of Eli also features one of Denzel Washington’s best thriller performances in the lead role, and it’s his fierce personality that really allows this character to shine in the same way that Mel Gibson’s protagonist makes Mad Max such an exciting adventure. It’s a character that the audience can’t fully relate to, but it’s his conflation of morality and ethics that makes him so fascinating to watch and elevates The Book of Eli to a new level.

9 Tank Girl (1995)

Directed By Rachel Talalay

Tank Girl is one of the more obvious and blatant films inspired by Mad Max, but that certainly doesn’t make it any less impressive than those that more successfully hide their influence. The story takes place on a post-apocalyptic version of Earth where the water supply has been taken hostage by a greedy businessman looking to make a cheap profit - until a group of survivors come up with a plan to overthrow him.

The narrative is very similar to certain aspects of Mad Max: Fury Road, with the less fortunate characters banding together to overthrow the greedy leaders and distribute resources more fairly throughout the wasteland. It’s both a gripping and entertaining adventure through a dystopian future and a microcosmic dissection of capitalism in its purest form, which is very similar to Mad Max’s own commentary.

8 Waterworld (1995)

Directed By Kevin Reynolds

Waterworld isn’t as obviously influenced by Mad Max as some other movies, but the foundations of Miller’s visual direction and storytelling tendencies are still there in this dystopian sci-fi adventure. The story takes place on a post-apocalyptic version of Earth, where a wanderer named Mariner tasks himself with the protection of a young woman and her child, which sets them on a journey that could change the future of humanity forever.

It’s still a future version of Earth, but Reynolds’ vision for humanity lies not in cars and exhaust fumes, but rather in military progress and scientific advancement.

Waterworld takes everything that worked about Mad Max (the desolate landscapes, the hyper-masculine protagonists, and the lawless society) and applies it to a more futuristic, sci-fi setting. It’s still a future version of Earth, but Reynolds’ vision for humanity lies not in cars and exhaust fumes, but rather in military progress and scientific advancement. It’s a fascinating film that takes Miller’s social commentary on humanity and catapults it in a different direction.

7 Snowpiercer (2013)

Directed By Bong Joon-ho

Snowpiercer is an adaptation of the French graphic novel series of the same name, following a deadly train journey through the furthest reaches of a post-apocalyptic Earth that’s been decimated by its own climate. Like many of the movies inspired by Mad Max, the film has a clear commentary on the nature of humanity and the brutality of our survival instincts, following the society that’s been created on this train and dissecting its inherent classism and reliance on capitalist values.

While Joon-ho’s movie ditches the nihilistic original ending of the Snowpiercer books, the film is still a very cynical and distressing depiction of the direction that our society is heading. Just like Miller’s series of films, it’s a warning against relying too heavily on the values that have founded our society and losing our humanity along the way, which is exactly what happens to both protagonists.

6 Children Of Men (2006)

Directed By Alfonso Cuaron

Children of Men is one of the bleakest dystopian movies ever made, and it owes much of its success to the ideas that Miller first explored in Mad Max. The film follows a man named Theo who lives in a futuristic society that’s slowly being eradicated by humanity’s inability to breed, detailing his journey to protect a young woman who’s seemingly pregnant with the first human baby in over a decade. Just like Mad Max, Cuaron’s film is extremely cynical and pessimistic about humanity’s survival instincts, exploring how far we’ll go to protect ourselves over our species.

However, Children of Men also offers a glimpse of hope in characters like Theo, who put their own lives on the line to further the survival of humanity. Where Mad Max is more of a condemnation of humanity, Children of Men is a call to arms for comion and selflessness in a society that’s seemingly learning to forget these values

5 The Road (2009)

Directed By John Hillcoat

The Road is a cinematic adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, which was published in 2006. Both the film and the book take place in a post-apocalyptic version of Earth where humanity has resorted to cannibalism in order to survive on a planet that no longer has a sustainable food chain, causing man to turn against man at every turn. The story follows a father and son who must protect themselves from these man-eating factions to reach a more hospitable environment at the end of the titular road.

Just like Mad Max, The Road’s emotional ending is where the power of this story lies and the quality of the film shines through. It’s a gripping narrative from start to finish, but Hillcoat’s strong storytelling manages to pull all the strings together in the final moments to push home the narrative’s depth and emphasize its true meaning about human nature and the importance of protecting those we love.

4 Dredd (2012)

Directed By Pete Travis

Dredd may be completely different in style from Mad Max, but the comic book film is inspired by Miller’s dystopian vision of society. It’s a story of lawlessness disguised as justice, but instead of presenting that as the complete absence of law, Dredd presents it as a more twisted, conflated idea of law in the form of Dredd and his technological pursuit of truth.

Dredd has plenty of brutal moments that are reminiscent of Mad Max’s violent action and fight sequences, promoting both films’ messages about the impossibility of removing violence from human nature.

Dredd has plenty of brutal moments that are reminiscent of Mad Max’s violent action and fight sequences, promoting both films’ messages about the impossibility of removing violence from human nature. Max and Dredd are entirely different characters, but their worldviews are surprisingly similar, and it often feels like Travis took inspiration from Miller’s characterization of his protagonist in a way that helped the Dredd reboot be a much better adaptation than the Stallone film.

3 I Am Legend (2007)

Directed By Francis Lawrence

I Am Legend is a much more traditional kind of post-apocalyptic story, and its similarities to Mad Max are more frequent and more obvious. The story takes place on a futuristic version of Earth that’s been wiped out by a deadly plague, following the sole survivor of the epidemic as he attempts to use his seemingly immune blood to reverse-engineer some kind of cure to give humanity a future.

I Am Legend 2 will consider the first movie's alternate ending as canon.

I Am Legend is an extremely bleak and dark look at what could happen if humanity’s future rested on the shoulders of the individual rather than a larger society, and the results are just as depressing and cynical as anything in Miller’s Mad Max movies. I Am Legend famously has an alternate ending that’s slightly less depressing and more faithful to the source material, but it’s just as poignant and expressive in its social commentary.

2 Doomsday (2008)

Directed By Neil Marshall

Doomsday is ittedly very different from Mad Max with its futuristic, scientific storytelling, but the general atmosphere of this post-apocalyptic world is likely inspired by George Miller’s expert worldbuilding. Centering around a team of scientists who are sent to Scotland in search of the cure to a deadly viral outbreak, Doomsday is a high-stakes adventure that explores how fragile and delicate our human society is.

While the film deals with many solemn themes, there’s an entertaining dedication to style in Doomsday that’s very reminiscent of Mad Max. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously despite the harbingers of death and destruction, instead using some lighthearted moments and exaggerated storytelling to suck the audience into this fictional world and make that society commentary even more digestible.

1 Hell Comes To Frogtown (1988)

Directed By Donald G. Jackson & R.J. Kizer

Hell Comes To Frogtown essentially recaptures the more lighthearted side of the Mad Max movies with a bold, stylized narrative that follows a group of survivors in a futuristic society where a nuclear holocaust has rendered the majority of mankind sterile. It’s one of the more overtly fun movies inspired by Mad Max, whereas the majority of post-apocalyptic movies are fun in a more chilling and double-edged way.

Hell Comes To Frogtown is perfect for anybody looking to get more of that classic Mad Max style without the darker, more serious tones that most other dystopian movies have. The film perfectly understands its role as a sci-fi action movie, never afraid to go over-the-top with its set pieces and truly giving the audience what they came for at every moment.