American-born, Australian-reared actor Mel Gibson has remained one of the world's most popular film stars for nearly 20 years, and his reputation as a producer and director is on the ascendancy in the late 1990s. With his natural good looks, highlighted by piercing blue eyes, his rich speaking voice, and humorous "bad boy" manner, he long ago went beyond the label People magazine placed on him in 1985 as their first ever "Sexiest Man Alive."

Gibson first came to international attention in his second picture, the low-budget 1979 Australian film Mad Max. As Max Rockatansky, a highway patrolman living in postapocalyptic Australia, the then 23-year-old Gibson was a bit wooden, but his screen charisma, good looks, and emotional intensity were a hit with audiences throughout the world. Despite the fact that Gibson's then-strong Australian accent was dubbed by an American for U.S. release, the film has...