Movies like Mad Max (1979)
The best movies like Mad Max (1979) are Mad Max 2 (1981), The Last Survivors (2014) and Dark Angel (1990). If Mad Max hooked you with its action and thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMad Max: Fury Road (2015)7.6/10 from 24,929 votes
- NewestBorder Hunters (2025)Released 2025
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Max Rockatansky returns as the heroic loner who drives the dusty roads of a postapocalyptic Australian Outback in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by the charismatic Lord Humungus, a violent leader whose scruples are as barren as the surrounding landscape.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Last Survivors (2014)
In the near future, society collapses and water becomes scarce. When a greedy water baron starts violently clearing out survivors, Kendal, a 17-year-old teenager, fights the baron's henchman to keep a well open.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Angel (1990)
Jack Caine is a Houston vice cop who's forgotten the rule book. His self-appointed mission is to stop the drugs trade and the number one supplier Victor Manning. While involved in an undercover operation to entrap Victor Manning, his partner is killed, and a sinister newcomer enters the scene...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisEquilibrium (2002)
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThey Live (1988)
A lone drifter stumbles upon a unique pair of sunglasses that reveal aliens are systematically gaining control of the Earth by masquerading as humans and lulling the public into submission.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLooper (2012)
In the year 2044, time travel has not yet been invented but in 30 years it will have been. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Mad Max becomes a pawn in a decadent oasis of a technological society, and when exiled, becomes the deliverer of a colony of children.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStone (1974)
After one of its members witnesses a political assassination, an outlaw motorbike gang becomes the target of a string of murders, prompting a cop to join their ranks to determine who is responsible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTurbo Kid (2015)
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, an orphaned teen must battle a ruthless warlord to save the girl of his dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRight at Your Door (2006)
A dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles, jamming freeways and spreading a toxic cloud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisMad Max: Fury Road (2015)
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDeath Race 2000 (1975)
In a boorish future, the government sponsors a popular, but bloody, cross-country race in which points are scored by mowing down pedestrians. Five teams, each comprised of a male and female, compete using cars equipped with deadly weapons. Frankenstein, the mysterious returning champion, has become America's hero, but this time he has a passenger from the underground resistance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWake of Death (2004)
Ben Archer, an ex-mob enforcer, seeks revenge against a ruthless Chinese kingpin responsible for his wife's brutal murder. When Archer joins forces with his old underworld friends, an all-out war is waged against the Chinese Triad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThese Final Hours (2014)
With the end of the world only hours away, self-absorbed James heads to the ultimate party-to-end-all-parties. On his way there, he saves the life of a young girl named Rose who is searching desperately for her missing father. This simple act sets James on a path to redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMaximum Overdrive (1986)
When a comet passes close to the earth, machines all over the world come alive and go on homicidal rampages. A group of people at a desolate truck stop are held hostage by a gang of murderous 18-wheelers. The frightened people set out to defeat the killer machines…Or be killed by them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBorder Hunters (2025)
After his police officer brother is killed by a drug dealer who flees to the protection of his cartel-connected uncle in Mexico, an American man with a diverse law enforcement/military background goes south of the border to get revenge
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing of Killers (2023)
Garan is a part of a group of international hitmen who are contracted to take out the most dangerous killer in the world, only to find out that they're the ones being hunted.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like this10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman wakes up in a survivalist's underground bunker, where he claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisContainment (2015)
Neighbors in a block wake one morning to find they have been sealed inside their apartments. Can they work together to find out why? Or will they destroy each other in their fight to escape?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Lawless Land (1988)
Action-adventure set in a world of the near-future, where young love is forbidden among the lower classes. Nevertheless, one couple defies their police-state world to fight and hold on to whatever love they can find.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
They Saved Hitler's Brain (1968)
At the end of WWII, Nazi officials spirited the living head of Adolf Hitler out of Germany to a hiding place in the South American country of Mandoras, in order to revive the Third Reich at a later date. By the 1960s, the time has come, so a top scientist is kidnapped in order to help keep Hitler alive. This film is a re-edit of The Madmen of Mandoras released in theaters in 1963.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & thriller
Lone Wolves (2016)
After an apocalypse of questionable origin, Private James Conroy is living in an abandoned shack at the base of a radio tower. When Conroy finally contacts Garry Freeman, marooned in a space station, they have to learn to work together if they're going to save themselves, and maybe all of civilization.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & science fiction
Night Shift (TBA)
"Night Shift" is a sci-fi thriller about a paramedic who takes justice into her own hands in a world on the brink.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & science fiction
Under Oath (1997)
Two honest cops decide to cross the line for a one time score. But a simple plan to shake up an illegal arms dealer goes bad, resulting in his death. When their victim turns out to be an undercover FBI agent, a bad situation only turns worse. In a bizarre twist of fate, they are assigned to solve the murder. Now they must uncover and destroy the very evidence that could put them behind bars for life.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & action
The Void (2016)
The Void is a multi volume anthology series featuring some of the best award winning short films from the Horror, Suspense, Thriller, Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres, Including: Dystopia St., ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & science fiction
Table Top Shots (2023)
One day, two friends decide to meet up at a public table. Neither realised what events would proceed. A single-take drama.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Hold (2014)
Stuck in his endless loneliness, a man wanders in a post-apocalyptic world... Only to discover he is not alone.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
This is How You Kill Rats (2024)
Mattéo, a young survivor of an unknown apocalypse, roams the empty streets of Paris. After taking refuge in an abandoned university, he meets other survivors from a world that has refused to die. The confrontation between the old and the new soon becomes a recipe for a horrific disaster.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Wild 7: Biker Knights (1994)
An elite police crime fighting team is formed using convicted criminals. Using their first hand knowledge of the criminal mindset, the Wild 7 are first sent after a gang of Bank robbers. Then in Wild Biker Knights they are sent after a huge crime syndicate that has many high powered government officials in its deep pockets.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Mad Max?
The closest matches to Mad Max are Mad Max 2 (1981), The Last Survivors (2014) and Dark Angel (1990). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Mad Max?
Start with Mad Max 2 (1981), the closest match to Mad Max.
What is the highest-rated movie like Mad Max?
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), rated 7.6/10 by 24,929 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Mad Max?
Border Hunters (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Mad Max?
Yes: Mad Max 2 (1981), The Last Survivors (2014) and Dark Angel (1990).
How are movies similar to Mad Max chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Mad Max, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.