One of the Most Iconic Yet Divisive Sci-Fi Action Film’s of All Time Just Celebrated Its 40th Anniversary

It’s been 40 years since Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome thundered into cinemas and reshaped the post-apocalyptic blueprint. Released in July 1985, George Miller’s third entry in the franchise made an impressive $70 million at the global box office off a modest $10 million budget. It may not be the fan-favorite — most rank it below Fury Road and The Road Warrior — but it might just be the most important Mad Max film. Because without Thunderdome, there’s no Fury Road. And definitely no Furiosa.

After Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga stalled on the way down the Fury Road, it’s a perfect time to re-examine Thunderdome, which now feels less like the weakest link and more like the franchise’s missing bridge. It amplified the best traits of the first two films while laying the groundwork for everything that followed — from the mythic storytelling of Fury Road to the desert-punk fashion of Furiosa. Love it or hate it, Beyond Thunderdome was the franchise’s big swing moment — and it hit harder than we remember.

What Is ‘Beyond Thunderdome’ About?

One of the boldest choices Miller made in Thunderdome was pivoting from nihilistic survival to something closer to hope. For the first time, a Mad Max film asks: what does rebuilding the world look like? And what happens to the children who grow up after the fall? The answer is the Tribe of the Lost, a group of kids living in a crashed plane’s wreckage, preserving the history of a world they’ve never known through storytelling, cave paintings, and a mythologized figure they call Captain Walker — who may or may not be Max. The imagery is striking, and the final act narration still hits hard to this day. “They light the candles to let others know they’ve come home… but mostly they hope Max will come back too.” It’s the rare Mad Max film that ends not with a roar, but with a whisper — and somehow that makes it more powerful.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome might not be your favourite Mad Max movie — but it might be the one that made your favorite Mad Max movie possible. It built the world, evolved the look, pushed the action, and gave us that unforgettable final image: Max alone again, walking into the desert, still a myth in the making.