The film is set in the near future of a bleak, dystopian and impoverished Australia that is facing a breakdown of civil order primarily due to widespread oil shortages. Central to the plot is a poorly-funded national police unit called the Main Force Patrol (MFP), which struggles to protect the Outback's few remaining townspeople from violent motorcycle gangs. The MFP's "top pursuit man" is a young police officer, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson), badge number MFP4073.
