I actually prefer the first film. Mel Gibson was hotter because he 1) was younger and 2) didn’t speak.

although… I also really like the third because 1) I saw it in the theater when I was 6, and because 2)

WHAAAAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, GOT TO DO WITH IT?

and those awesome earrings Tina Turner wore throughout the whole movie. I still remember them!

edit: but, yeah, the second film is, basically, the first one kinda-sorta remade as a mainstream, Hollywood-style film. the original was kind of a concept film with no actual dialog. it’s actually really great, but general audiences might get a bit lost with petty much zero dialogue. it’s an arthouse indie film, pretty much.

edit: IMO, the original is the better film, but it’s a bit rough around the edges in some parts. The production quality is very high, and you can really tell that everyone is very much giving their best effort, which I always love to see. The Road Warrior is far more polished, but it loses a lot of that… I dunno, “Indie film spirit” I guess you could call it, and the story seems… I like it when I have to figure stuff out, ya know? I find that rewarding. I don’t always like stuff spoon-fed to me. if I learn something new on a 3rd rewatch, I love that. The original Mad Max was like that.

The second film, The Road Warrior was laid out more simply and plainly, designed for general audiences. It had dialogue, a more developed plot, was produced by a major studio, and a much higher budget. But it lost a lot of the charm along the way.