Mad Max (1979)

Made for about A$400,000 and shot in and around Melbourne, this is where the whole wasteland began, though it is really a revenge thriller on decaying highways rather than the desert epic people picture. Miller had worked in a hospital emergency room and seen the crash injuries the film depicts, and that firsthand knowledge gives the road violence a sickening weight. A young Mel Gibson is all coiled stillness as Max. It earned over US$100 million worldwide and held the Guinness record for box office against budget for two decades, which tells you how hungry audiences were for this kind of speed.