Mad Max

Set in a post-apocalyptic future (actually the Australian Outback), this was the film that made Mel Gibson a star.

Made on a shoestring, Gibson played a renegade ex-cop out to punish the oil-thirsty biker gangs who killed his wife.

The stunt-filled movie spawned two more extravagant sequels, one of which - Beyond the Thunderdome - featured Tina Turner as a deadly bandit queen.

Career profile of Mel Gibson BBC Films Site