Max (Mel Gibson) wanders the barren landscape of post-nuclear Australia, enters the sleazy Bartertown, encounters leader Aunty Entity (Tina Turner), and survives the judicial rite of Thunderdome,...

Max (Mel Gibson) wanders the barren landscape of post-nuclear Australia, enters the sleazy Bartertown, encounters leader Aunty Entity (Tina Turner), and survives the judicial rite of Thunderdome, only to be cast to the desert as a rule-breaker. Rescued by a band of lost children and teens, he becomes a savior in their eyes, and in turn leads them "home", although the path they must take passes once more within Aunty's clutches.