Mad Max (1979, 1981, 1985, 2015) movies

The movie that brought Australian actor Mel Gibson to an American audience, Mad Max (1979) is set in a desolate, post-apocalyptic Australia where gasoline and oil are the new currencies. The sequel was titled Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and the third film was called Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). The third film co-starred Tina Turner. The fourth film, also directed by George Miller, was called Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and starred Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa. A fifth film, again with George Miller directing, is in the works and currently titled "Mad Max: The Wasteland."

For further details about the film and its background see the Mad Max Wiki.

On the Beach (1957) novel

Australian author Nevil Shute's On the Beach published in 1957 during the first decade of the Cold War capitalized on Western fears of a nuclear war that would destroy North America and pollute the rest of the world with deadly radiation. The bulk of the novel is set is Australia.