Power Rankings: Movies Set in the Desert

The SAW Power Rankings is our weekly ranking of a certain movie related topic. Please feel free to comment on our rankings and provide a list of your own in the comments below.

The setting of a film can be as important as any character or piece of dialogue to help convey meanings or emotions on screen. The desert setting is no different and is one of the easiest settings to use to show isolation, desperation, and hopelessness. On the surface, the desert can be very bland and boring. However, used correctly and creatively, directors can transform them into instruments to help tell their story. With it being the middle of summer and some of us suffering from heat exhaustion, we though it would be a perfect time to add more heat and dreariness to your plate by power ranking our favorite movies that are set in the desert.

Mad Max: Fury Road was the consensus number one appearing on almost every list. It is a perfect example of George Miller turning a bland and boring place into a fantastic and gorgeous setting combined with an incredible story. Let us know below some of your favorite films set in the desert and how it added to the film other than it just being where the story took place.

Vincent Kane:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
3. There Will be Blood (2007)
4. Bone Tomahawk (2015)
5. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Billy Dhalgren:

1. The Road Warrior (1981)
2. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
4. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
5. Tombstone (1993)

King Alvarez:

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
3. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
4. Three Kings (1999)
5. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Sailor Monsoon:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
2. Tremors (1990)
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
4. The Mummy (1999)
5. A Boy and His Dog (1975)

BB Ben:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
2. Tremors (1990)
3. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
4. Rango (2011)
5. Hardware (1990)

Blank Stare:

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
2. Dune (1984)
3. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
4. Tremors (1990)
5. Flight of the Phoenix (2004)