Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

  • 81% of critics liked it
    (37 reviews)

  • 50% of users liked it
    (62,989 ratings)

About 15 years after the events of Mad Max 2, nuclear war has finally destroyed what little was left of civilization. Grizzled and older, former cop Max (Mel Gibson) roams the Australian desert in a camel-drawn vehicle -- until father-and-son thieves Jebediah Sr. (Bruce Spence) and Jr. (Adam… More

Play Trailer

PG-13, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By
George Miller, Angelo Rossitto
Written By
George Miller
Genres
Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy
In Theaters
Jul 10, 1985 Wide
On DVD
Jan 1, 2002
Warner Bros. Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

    An astonishing display of virtuoso cinema that is destined to take its place among the most vivid and freshly imagined fist-to-groin contests in the medium's history.

  • James Berardinelli, ReelViews

    Miller never falls back on the formulas that have become the bane of too many recent action films, and his sustained cuts lend a clarity to the proceedings.

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    Gibson impressively fleshes out Max, Tina Turner is striking in her role as Aunty (as well as contributing two topnotch songs, which open and close the picture) and the juves are uniformly good.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    The punky energy of the earlier films has given way to a self-conscious striving for significance, obscuring Miller's considerable kinetic talents in favor of a lumpy didacticism.

  • Janet Maslin, New York Times

    This film has showier stunts than its predecessors, and a better sense of humor. It also has Tina Turner, in chain-mail stockings.

Read all 13 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Chris W


    This might be the most polished and slick of the three Mad Max films, but it's also a bit of a mess and admittedly rather silly and campy, but not in a totally good way. It's been years since the events of The Road Warrior, and the world has finally and fully become a… More

  • Anthony L


    Mad Max 3 has some great ideas but ends up a little messy. The kids are fairly annoying too and at times it feels like a horrible version of the Goonies. It's still not as bad as I was lead to believe though and exploitation films don't need to make sense, they were always… More

  • Jeff "


    Mad Max and The Road Warrior redefined the action genre. Not only did the films have some of the best action scenes ever filmed, but they also made Australian actor, Mel Gibson a star. Obviously it's only natural that they would make a third entry in this bizarre series of action… More

  • Conner R


    "Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves!" -The rules of the Thunderdome. While this movie just in no way measures up to the first two in the series, it has the coolest futuristic game ever created. It's an even more brutal and violent form of a gladiatorial match. Really,… More

  • Chris G


    Any edge that the first two Mad Max films had was dulled to nothing in this third chapter of George Miller's apocalyptic saga of scavenging for fuel and Aussie accents. In this installment Max (Mel Gibson) ends up in Barter Town searching for his stolen camels. He ends up working… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

See full cast

Trailers & Clips

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