Max Rockatansky in the ‘Mad Max’ Trilogy (1979, ’81, ’85)

Despite the fact it’s been so long since his last time in the role, Mad Max was one of Mel’s most popular characters. Offers the official description of the first film, “In a not-too-distant dystopian future, when man’s most precious resource — oil — has been depleted and the world plunged into war, famine and financial chaos, the last vestiges of the law in Australia attempt to restrain a vicious biker gang. Max, an officer with the Main Force Patrol, launches a personal vendetta against the gang when his wife (Joanne Samuel) and son are hunted down and murdered, leaving him with nothing but the instincts for survival and retribution.” That retribution carries him through the two sequels. 

In a 1985 interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor was asked about the character’s “messianic overtones,” to which he replied, “It’s a mythological hero type, and that’s kind of linked in a way to beliefs, or religious, I suppose.” Then he added, “It’s no substitute.”

Guy Hamilton in ‘The Year of Living Dangerously’ (1982)

Mel is journalist Guy Hamilton, Sigourney Weaver is British diplomat Jill Bryant, and the two fall in love in Indonesia against the backdrop of a Communist uprising.

Fletcher Christian in ‘The Bounty’ (1984)

Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny against his former captain on the HMS Bounty, Bligh (Anthony Hopkins). This is the fifth telling of the mutiny on the Bounty, but the only one with Mel Gibson!

Tom Garvey in ‘The River’ (1984)

A classic family drama with Mel and Sissy Spacek as Tom and Mae Garvey, a couple desperately trying to save their farm and their family not only from the land developer and a local corporation that want to foreclose on them, but violent floods as well.

Martin Riggs in the ‘Lethal Weapon’ Series (1987, ’89, ’92, ’98)

No doubt Mel’s most popular role: LAPD Detective Martin Riggs who is partnered up with Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh. Roger just wants to retire, Riggs wants to commit suicide following the death of his wife. Somehow these guys manage to save each other through action, humor, and a growing bond that the audience absolutely felt right from the beginning.

“I’ve never been able to explain our relationship, except for the fact that I ‘get him’ and he ‘gets me’. He’s considerate, generous, and a brilliant actor,” Mel says in the Lethal Weapon 4 production notes. “It’s hard to do something good twice. It’s hard to do it three times, and it’s almost impossible to do it four times. Our advantage, in this case, is that we really do enjoy each other’s company; we do understand and like these characters, and we do have a tremendous relationship with the filmmakers. We can put that up on the screen with complete integrity.”

Dale McKussic in ‘Tequila Sunrise’ (1988)

Google sums this one up best: “In a seaside California town, best friends Mac (Mel Gibson) and Nick (Kurt Russell) are on opposite sides of the law. Mac is a former drug dealer trying to clean up his act, while Nick is a high-profile detective trying to take down a Mexican drug lord named Carlos (Raul Julia). Soon Nick’s loyalties are put to the test when he begins an affair with restaurateur Jo Ann (Michelle Pfeiffer) — a love interest of Mac’s — unwittingly leading his friend into a police-orchestrated trap.” Some really great chemistry between the three leads; written and directed by Chinatown‘s Robert Towne. 

Daniel McKormick in ‘Forever Young’ (1992)

A bit of sci-fi for Mel where he’s not killing pretty much everyone he meets (we’re talking to you, Mad Max!). When the love of his life slips into a coma, he puts himself in a military-created suspended animation device, intending to be under for a year. Fifty-three years later he’s awakened by a child (Elijah Wood) who finds him and bring him home to his mother (Jamie Lee Curtis). Unfortunately, it isn’t long before long-term effects of his suspended animation begin to kick in.

Justin McLeod in ‘The Man Without a Face’ (1993)

Mel plays a disfigured recluse named Justin McLeod, a former teacher who reluctantly agrees to tutor a young student who aspires to join an esteemed military academy. McLeod’s shadowed past — part of which explains his disfiguring scars — turns everything upside down.

Bret Maverick in ‘Maverick’ (1994)

The 1957-62 Classic TV series that starred James Garner comes to the big screen from Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner. Set in the Old West, the film has the title character attempting to enter a lucrative poker contest, but to do so he has so scam Jodie Foster’s Annabelle and Alfred Molina’s Angel in an earlier game. En route, he makes enemies with pretty much everyone. Garner appears in the film as well, which is a nice tribute to the original series.

William Wallace in ‘Braveheart’ (1995)

William Wallace is the medieval Scottish patriot spurred into revolt against the English following the murder of the love of his life (seems like Mel is always avenging somebody). Leading his army into battles that become a war, his advance into England threatens King Edward I’s throne before he is captured and executed, but not before becoming a symbol for a free Scotland. Mel directed this one as well. 

Tom Mullen in ‘Ransom’ (1996)

Airline owner Tom Mullen tries to play ball with kidnappers who have taken his son, but when things go wrong with the drop-off of the money, he proclaims to the media that this money is there for anyone who brings him the kidnappers. So there!

Jerry Fletcher in ‘Conspiracy Theory’ (1997)

The bad thing about being a conspiracy theorist is that every once in a while you’re actually right about something, and that’s the situation New York cabbie Jerry Fletcher is in — which sends him running for his life. Julia Roberts is the woman he reaches out to for help, and Patrick Stewart is Dr. Jonas, who becomes the greatest threat to Jerry getting out of this alive.

Porter in ‘Payback’ (1999)

Porter (Mel’s role) is a criminal who wants his share of the cut of a recent crime during which he was betrayed, and he will let nothing stop him from getting his money. It’s a pretty cool action film, but what’s even more exciting is that writer/director Brian Helgeland was later able to put together his own director’s cut that markedly improved the film. Highly recommended is to watch Payback followed by Straight Up: The Director’s Cut.

Benjamin Martin in ‘The Patriot’ (2000)

Upon the arrival of the British in 1776, a widowed farmer pacifist (who comes from a violent military past), must put away his new-found philosophies to retrieve his captured son. See that motif we’re talking about? Avenging, revenging, retribution.

Nick Marshall in ‘What Women Want’ (2000)

Falling into the category of goofy but cute, Mel is a chauvinistic advertising exec who acquires the ability to reach minds, and wants to use it to take down his boss (Helen Hunt). But, wouldn’t you know it, he starts to fall for her instead.

Graham Hess in ‘Signs’ (2002)

The beliefs of farmer Graham Hess are shaken to their core upon the discovery of what appear to be alien crop circles, which impact on him and his family and could change their lives forever. Directed by The Sixth Sense‘s M. Night Shyamalan.

Thomas Craven in ‘Edge of Darkness’ (2010)

Based on a BBC TV series from the 1980s, the film sees detective Thomas Craven thinking that the murder of his daughter was a hit on him gone wrong. What he discovers, however, is her secret life and a wide-ranging conspiracy that he is intent on bringing down.

Walter Black in ‘The Beaver’ (2011)

As his family and business falls apart, Walter Black recedes into himself and stops communicating with the outside world. Until he finds a beaver puppet in a dumpster. Placing it on his hand, he begins speaking only through it and starts the journey of putting his life back together again. Jodie Foster, who directs, insisted that Mel was the only actor for the role.

Conrad Stonebanks in ‘The Expendables 3’ (2014)

Where do ’80s and ’90s action heroes go to… be reborn? The Expendables franchise. In this case, it seems that Mel’s Conrad Stonebanks had started the group with Sylvester Stallone’s Barney Ross, but after he became an arms dealer, Stonebanks was killed by Ross. Or was he? Obviously the answer is no, as he returns and the two of them take on each other in a battle to the death.

John Link in ‘Blood Father’ (2016)

Mel is an ex-convict who reconnects with his estranged daughter (played by Erin Moriarty), but the two of them suddenly find themselves on the run from a drug cartel run by her boyfriend (Diego Luna). Let’s face it, family reunions are never easy.