Vague Visages’ The Legend of Mad Max review contains minor spoilers for Ian Nathan’s 2024 book. Check out the VV home page for more literature reviews, along with cast/character summaries, streaming guides and complete soundtrack song listings.

*

Mad Max (1979) needs no introduction to most movie fans. George Miller’s mind-bending post-apocalyptic film was the unexpected Australian hit that launched the career of its director and its star — a then-unknown American actor named Mel Gibson. In the dystopian film, Max Rockatansky avenges his murdered wife and child in a post-disaster Australian outback ruled by bloodthirsty biker gangs. 

Ian Nathan’s 2024 book The Legend of Mad Max: The Complete Story from Mad Max to Furiosa is the unofficial tale of Miller’s cult film. The 190-page volume delves straight to the topics that will be of most interest to fans, and it’s a must-read for readers looking to appreciate the full range of talent behind Mad Max, from David Eggby’s cinematography to Brian May’s score. Nathan’s book is fortunate to be published with Palazzo Editions, the well-regarded UK publishing house responsible for illustrated retrospectives about actor Clint Eastwood and filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Carefully chosen production stills from Mad Max are interspersed throughout the book and seem to jump from the page. 

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Know the Cast: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Photo Credit: Ian Nathan on X

You can almost smell the gasoline radiating off images of memorable car stunts from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), filmed in the desert town of Coober Pedy, Australia. These lively visuals complement Nathan’s entertaining writing that does more than trot out familiar movie trivia. The Legend of Mad Max is structured into self-contained chapters, with each delving into the production history and reception of Mad Max, its three sequels and a 2024 spin-off in the form of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. In Nathan’s snappy introduction, he gallops through a timeline of the original Mad Max production in the late 1970s, and then turns to a set of dedicated chapters focusing on each film in the original trilogy.

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Book Review: Chris Palmer’s ‘The Fresh Prince Project: How the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Remixed America’

Midway through Nathan’s 2024 book, an especially memorable chapter discusses fan responses to the Mad Max franchise — specifically from people keeping the film’s legacy alive through post-apocalyptic cosplay (“The Wasteland Weekend”) in the Mojave Desert. Nathan manages to articulate the franchise’s pop culture appeal by describing how a Mad Max philosophy pervaded punk culture through “sci-fi punk expressed in bondage gear and throbbing rock.” The closing chapters turn to Miller’s more recent blockbuster adaptations, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and the aforementioned Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Book Review: Peter Conrad’s ‘The Mysteries of Cinema’

A key strength of Nathan’s book is how it takes a broad view of Mad Max’s place in Australian cinema while sharing surprising new production details about the original franchise film and each of its sequels. The introduction, in particular, grabs the reader’s attention from the outset by focusing on the Mad Max Interceptor. The iconic black GT Falcon muscle car became synonymous with the popular image of Gibson’s Mad Max character, and Nathan examines the vehicle as a metaphor for the lifecycle of the entire franchise. The author explains how the Interceptor was “born out of the Australian enthusiasm for muscle car tour racing tracks.” With the noise and car chases of Mad Max, the Interceptor symbolized the visual shocks that thrilled the original film’s unsuspecting audiences. 

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Soundtracks of Cinema: ‘Drive’

The depth of Nathan’s research shows that the Interceptor story clearly parallels the development of Miller’s franchise. The original vehicle was forgotten in scrapyards until it was restored for touring exhibitions at various car showrooms and dealerships. Nathan tells readers how Mad Max lied “beneath the yoke of American ownership,” which led to the controversial 1985 franchise film, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, that “threatened Max’s nihilistic headspace with a sentimental vein when he is called upon to save a tribe of abandoned children.” According to some critics, this new paternal streak in Max contrasted with the hyper-macho street fighter in the original film that saw him face off with Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) — the lawless head of a violent motorcycle gang.

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Soundtracks of Television: ‘Mayans M.C.’

These critical comments about later Mad Max films highlight some minor weaknesses in Nathan’s book. While the author offers colorful insight into various aspects of the franchise, he retreats from critiquing Miller’s commentary on the filmmaking process. Readers receive little of Nathan’s own take on the strengths and drawbacks of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome as a departure from the themes of earlier films, and the closing chapter on the recently released Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga reads in part like a promotional piece. Nathan asks, “How will a Mad Max film bear the weight of so much time?” Writing like this is more rhetorical than insightful, and has less substance than earlier chapters on the original Mad Max.

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Book Review: Joseph B. Atkins’ ‘Harry Dean Stanton: Hollywood’s Zen Rebel’

Despite the minor drawbacks in the closing chapters, Nathan’s discussion across the book offers intriguing little side stories about the Mad Max production process. The author weaves the story of Miller’s creative journey from rookie filmmaker to successful director into a broader narrative about Australian cinema. The book’s discussion of Mad Max in the context of “Ozploitation” is especially memorable. The wave of 70s and 80s action movies, with its heady mix of “martial arts, sexploitations and biker flicks,” won notable fans, including Quentin Tarantino. This type of discussion taps into the chief reasons that fans often enjoy the Mad Max films: the shock value of car stunts balanced with the redemptive character arc of protagonists with often bleak origin stories.

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Know the Cast: ‘The Acolyte’

Overall, The Legend of Mad Max offers an in-depth discussion of the franchise’s memorable elements and provides a new perspective that will enrich re-watchings. Nathan’s book dispels various myths and tackles common misconceptions that Miller was the sole maverick genius behind Mad Max. The author’s research shows how the dazzling action in each film relied upon the noteworthy efforts of editors, cinematographers and producers, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the franchise’s creation. Nathan’s appreciation of Mad Max is evident, and he provides a fresh take on ideas that Miller brought to the big screen through the original 1979 franchise film — a perspective that will intrigue and entertain new and familiar audiences.

Christina Brennan (@bigloudscreams) is a UK-based freelance writer with bylines in Little White Lies, Flux Magazine and Filmhounds. She has a soft spot for all types of horror movies and is currently writing a book on George Sluizer’s thriller The Vanishing (due to be released in 2025).

The Legend of Mad Max Review: Related — Book Review: ‘Picturing Peter Bogdanovich: My Conversations with the New Hollywood Director’