Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (released in the US in 1981 as The Road Warrior) was a sequel to Mad Max. It was a worldwide box office hit, with its combination of odd characters and over-the-top car stunts, and was the film that launched Mel Gibson to international stardom. It was followed by Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, regarded as a disappointment by dedicated fans of the previous two movies, which had spawned a strong and enduring cult following, popularizing the Post-apocalyptic science fiction genre as referenced in later various films and other works of fiction.

The movie opens with a brief prologue explaining the chain of events that preceded the original Mad Max (no backstory was offered in that movie)-- totalitarism and uprisings in Australia, and eventually an extended war gave way to lawlessness throughout the Outback of Australia, requiring special police assigned to protect the lands. This is followed by a brief recap of Mad Max. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior picks up a few years after the events of Mad Max. No organized government remains, anarchy has a firm grip on the land, peace and justice have given way to survival at any cost, and Max, the former police officer and vigilante has become a nomadic drifter.

He encounters a small community of morally upstanding people who have barricaded themselves in a small, isolated oil refinery, under siege by a gang of bloodthirsty bandits intent on killing them and stealing their precious fuel. At first, Max is only concerned with his own welfare and doesn't want to get involved, but later decides to assist them in escaping by driving a tanker truck he (and the gang of bandits) believes is loaded with fuel. The gang pursues him, and despite putting up a valiant fight, he finally loses control of the truck and crashes it, whereupon, he finds out he was betrayed, the tanker was filled with sand. The others used the distraction to escape with their petrol and their lives.

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