HBO Max’s 2-Part Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Movies Are Still Worth an Easy One-Night Binge
Sci-fi apocalyptic films are not hard to come by, but no filmmaker does it quite like George Miller. When the Australian director isn’t putting his mind to Happy Feet, he continues to release career-defining stories that take place down under. Miller first achieved success with the cult classic Mad Max. Mel Gibson stars in the original trilogy that features a version of Australia where society has crumbled, and the search for gasoline is paramount.
The Mad Max films were beloved, but Miller hit his stride in 2015 with the release of Mad Max: Fury Road. Just another day in the life of Max Rockatansky, the film follows another adventure of his when Immortan Joe’s scavengers kidnap him. Taken to the Citadel, Max runs into a crew of women who are attempting to flee sexual slavery. Tom Hardy‘s castingwas the fresh blood the franchise needed, and the topical plotline reinvigorated the franchise. This feature started a new era for Mad Max, and now, with the films streaming on HBO, fans can watch a perfect two-part series that builds off the original franchise.
‘Fury Road’ and ‘Furiosa’ Make a Perfect Franchise
The original Mad Max trilogy will always be a classic, but George Miller’s recent two-part franchise is near perfection. Mad Max: Fury Road re-establishes what a fast-paced action film can be. Typical of the character, Max says very little and contributes to the cause of others stranded in the Wasteland. The 2015 film is high-octane, just like Max’s blood type, as he helps rescue Immortan Joe’s breeding stock and spirits them across the desert. The film famously had very little CGI at a time when computer graphics dominated the film industry.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Fury Road is a feast for the senses, doubling down on the outrageousness that typically accompanies the franchise. It is also notable for the introduction of one of the coolest fictional characters of all time, Furiosa. Played in Fury Road by Charlize Theron, the Imperator is dedicated to helping Immortan Joe’s wives escape and seek her own redemption. The character pops on the screen and helps justify a follow-up film a decade later.
Aptly titled Furiosa, this film is a prequel to Fury Road that shows how the titular character came to be the righteous and fierce warrior she is in the film. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Furiosa as a young woman who has her own trials in the Wasteland. Fury Road and Furiosa are quite different films, but each was a masterclass in filmmaking.
If Fury Road is a no-holds-barred chase film, Furiosa is a slow-burn character piece about a character becoming the person she was always meant to be. Taylor-Joy was a perfect choice for the part, picking up exactly where Theron left off. Watching these two films back to back makes for a perfect double feature that has no equal.
Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa are easy to digest, and fans can watch them over the course of one day. The world of Mad Max is unique, with no other films that can feel or look like it. Miller pulled out all the stops to create a two-part film series that just gets better with every viewing.
