George Miller: Ranking His Movies From Worst To Best

6. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome isn't a bad movie, by any means; aside from Happy Feet Two, George Miller has never made a truly bad movie. That said, Mad Max's third chapter marks the point at which Hollywood excess and an unstoppable sense of "it's the 1980s!" leaked into the franchise. As a result, most of the raw, kinetic energy inherent to the first two flicks feels lacking. It's a far sillier and less focused motion picture experience overall. That makes sense, of course, given how George Miller was known to have felt whilst shooting: disillusioned after the death of his friend and producing partner, one Bruce Kennedy, Miller opted for a co-director (George Ogilvie), and spent most of his time on the action sequences. So what the film lacks in depth, it makes up for in its action. Whilst Beyond Thunderdome is not Mad Max at its brilliant best, then, it's still entertaining. There are lots of people who adore this entry, of course, and your reaction to Beyond Thunderdome presumably depends on how you take to the idea of Tina Turner playing a villainous character called "Aunty" - arguably the most '80s thing to have happened, ever.