The roads are still paved in Mad Max. There’s still some sort of police force and some green places to be found. The world has not descended into the wasteland that would define subsequent chapters. What the film does have, though, is the visceral feeling that would infuse subsequent installments.
Miller’s Mad Max origin story is also the origin story of his entire career, but it easily could have been an ending. Filmed for just $400,000, it became a global phenomenon and earned $100 million at the box office when it premiered in 1979. Miller could have easily parlayed it into a different project. Instead, he made a sequel. And then an entire franchise.
