Mel Gibson: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2. Max Rockatansky - Mad Max Trilogy (1979-85)

In amongst the impressive stunt-work and thrilling car chases, Mel Gibson's breakthrough role was an instant star-maker; establishing him as an actor with undoubted screen presence and charisma to burn. Throughout the Mad Max trilogy, Gibson added more depth and layers to the character to elevate him into the pantheon of iconic anti-heroes, resulting in three crunching dystopian actioners that still hold up four decades later. Mad Max offered a gritty revenge thriller that saw the character relentlessly hunt down the men that killed his family, Gibson exuding intensity and suppressed rage as he turns his back on law enforcement, with the movie featuring an unforgettable final scene that cements this transition. Although he only has 16 lines of dialogue in the sequel, The Road Warrior channels the Western genre with Gibson's performance relying more on his physicality and presence than any amount of exposition, creating a bare-bones narrative that nonetheless turned out as one of the greatest action movies ever made thanks to some exhilarating set-pieces. Third movie Beyond Thunderdome upped the budget and added Tina Turner, and while it is the weakest movie in the trilogy Gibson gives his most complex performance as Max yet. Offering a more layered and humanized take on the character thanks to a script with more depth than the previous two movies, Beyond Thunderdome allows Gibson to showcase a different side of Max in amongst the unsurprisingly impressive action scenes. Max Rockatansky was the role that turned Mel Gibson from unknown actor into international star, and it still comfortably ranks among the best work of his career.