Summary
Though he appeared in five separateMad Maxmovies, Max Rockatansky didn’t actually have many lines of dialogue. Over the franchise’s 45-year history, severaldifferent actors have played Max Rockatansky. Each of them, from the main stars to stunt doubles and voice actors, have added something unique to the character, but they all share something in common. Even Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy have been very quiet during their time as Max, mainly because Max has so few lines of dialogue over the course of five films.
George Miller, the director of all five movies in theMad Maxfranchise, famously believes that dialogue slows movies down, and tries to cut it out whenever possible. That can be seen in bothFuriosa’s small number of lines inMad Max, and in Max’s lack of lines. It’s actually one of the many advantages ofMad Max: the lack of dialogue turns the attention onto the movies' action, which is where the franchise really shines. Still, it is surprising just how little dialog the franchise has, and how infrequently Max Rockatansky actually speaks in his own series.
The World Of Furiosa & Mad Max Fury Road Explained
Filmmaker George Miller is perhaps best known for being the visionary behind the Mad Max universe and lore, which includes both Fury Road and Furiosa.
Max Rockatansky was the most talkative in his first appearance, the eponymousMad Max. A big reason for Max’s wordiness is the fact thatMad Maxserves as a type of origin story and explanation for how Max went mad in the first place. Up until the final minutes of the film, Max was a normal police officer and father, and he wasn’t especially quiet. There were also two separate occasions where Max delivered relatively long monologs to his wife, Jessie. That being said, however,Max only had 83 lines in the originalMad Max.
Mad Max
Cast
Mad Max is a 1979 sci-fi action film from director and writer George Miller. Mel Gibson stars as Max a police officer in the future who goes after a gang of vicious motorcycle thugs. The film led to a long-running franchise including The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road, and Furiosa.
Max’s reticent nature is a big part of his story and one of the ways the wasteland changed him after his family’s death. Max still had relatively few lines even before his tragedy, though. The reason for that is becauseMad Maxhad several other characters who talked over Max.Goose, for example, delivered much of the film’s exposition before his death, while Fifi dominated his conversations about Max’s desire to quit the police force. In that way, Gibson didn’t have to be overly talkative, but he was still noticably quieter in the film’s final moments.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrioris more clearly connected to the originalMad Maxthan any other film in the franchise, and as such, Max was as quiet as he was at the end of the first movie.The Road Warriorwas far and away Gibson’s least wordy appearance as Max, as he had just 38 lines. The main reason Max stayed so quiet was becauseat the start ofThe Road Warrior, Max was completely mad, traveling alone with only a dog, and only talked when he had to threaten someone, like the gyro captain.
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
The Road Warrior, aka Mad Max 2, picks up after the original 1976 film and continues following Max’s (Mel Gibson) journey through a post-apocalyptic Australia. This time, Max helps a group of locals escape bandits to protect their wealth of gasoline. George Miller again directs the Mad Max sequel and is often considered the fan-favorite of the original trilogy.
Mel Gibson’s final outing as Max Rockatansky inMad Max Beyond Thunderdomeactually gave him a few more total lines to recite, though many of them were significantly shorter. In total, Max had 86 individual lines of dialogue inMad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Many of these, however, were one-word responses, threats, or exclamations, such as when he first woke up among the Lost Tribe.There are also long stretches ofBeyond Thunderdomewhere Max goes completely silent, like in his trek across the desert and his final confrontation with Aunty Entity. His monologs were also shorter than the originalMad Max’s, which made him even less loquacious.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome is the third film in George Miller’s sci-fi action series. This time, Max, after being exiled, joins a group of children to take down a strange town’s tyrannical queen. The film generally received positive reviews upon release and was followed up by Mad Max: Fury Road 30 years later in 2015.
After nearly 30 years, Max got another movie, albeit through a different actor, inMad Max: Fury Road. Tom Hardy took over the role from Mel Gibson, though he kept quite a few of the previous actor’s flares for the character. Hardy’s version of Max kept the knee brace, leather jacket, and sawn-off shotgun he had in the original films, and he was also just as taciturn as Gibson’s version.Max had only 63 lines inMad Max: Fury Road, and he didn’t have any of the long monologs Gibson got to deliver.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road is a post-apocalyptic film set in a desolate desert landscape where society has collapsed. Released in 2015, the story follows two rebels, Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa, as they attempt to survive and bring balance to a world torn by chaos and strife.
There were a few reasons Hardy’s first time playing Max had him remain so quiet. For much of the first half ofFury Road, Max either had a muzzle on or he was surrounded by people he considered enemies at the time, which helped him stay quiet.Fury Roadalso gave Max a co-star in the form of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa, who had 80 lines and talked to the breeders and the Vuvalini more than Max did. On top of that, Hardy used more guttural sounds and grunts for his responses than Gibson did as Max, which cut down the amount of one-word lines he had.
Max seemingly had no involvement at all in the most recent addition to the franchise,Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. While he certainly didn’t affect Furiosa’s origin story in any significant way, he did make a brief appearance.Max had a cameo inFuriosa, though it was quite small and only saw Max looking out at the Forty-Day Wasteland War. Additionally, Max was played not by Tom Hardy, but by Hardy’s longtime stunt double, Jacob Tomouri.Given that was Max’s only appearance andFuriosadid not focus on him at all, he had zero lines in the most recentMad Maxfilm.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
A prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa is an action-adventure film that tells the origin story of the headstrong and fearless Furiosa. Set shortly after the beginning of the “end of the world,” Furiosa is kidnapped and brought before a powerful warlord, now forced to work for him. To find her way back home, Furiosa will adapt to the new harsh and arid world as she grows into the Furiosa she becomes known to be.
Unfortunately,Furiosamay also be the lastMad Maxfilm, meaning Max Rockatansky’s final film appearance may have been wordless.Furiosaperformed poorly at the box office, and given its high budget, director George Miller’s infamously difficult movie-making style, andTom Hardy’s update onMad Max: The Wasteland, the future of the franchise doesn’t look bright. There is still some hope forMad Max, though, asFuriosahas done significantly better at Video on Demand sales, which may make it profitable. In any case, it’s currently unclear whetherMad Maxwill ever give Max Rockatansky more lines.
Mad Max is an Australian post-apocalyptic franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. The first three films star Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who seeks revenge after his family is murdered. Tom Hardy took over the role for 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was followed by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa.
