Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 Australian[5] post-apocalyptic action film co-written, co-produced and directed by George Miller, who collaborated with Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris on the screenplay.

[10] The film stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, with Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoë Kravitz, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton.

Set in a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland where petrol and water are scarce commodities, it follows Max Rockatansky (Hardy), who joins forces with Imperator Furiosa (Theron) against warlord Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne) and his army, leading to a lengthy road battle.

A self-titled prequel comic book series was published by Vertigo from 20 May 2015 to 5 August 2015, while following a pay dispute between Warner Bros. and Miller that delayed early efforts to produce follow-up projects.

Max Rockatansky, a survivor haunted by memories of the people he was unable to protect, is captured by cult leader Immortan Joe's War Boys and taken to his fortress called the Citadel.

[12] Meanwhile, Joe sends his lieutenant Imperator Furiosa in the armoured "War Rig" to trade produce and water for petrol and ammunition with two of his allies, the Bullet Farmer and the People Eater.

After entering enemy territory and fending off a rival gang, Furiosa drives into a sandstorm and loses all of her pursuers except Nux, who attempts to sacrifice himself to blow up the Rig.

In the morning, Furiosa tells Max that her group is escaping to a "Green Place", the bountiful land where she grew up before she was kidnapped and brought to the Citadel.

The remnants of the group drive Joe's truck back to the Citadel, while Nux sacrifices himself by wrecking the Rig to block the canyon behind them, killing Rictus.

[18] The film entered pre-production at 20th Century Fox in the early 2000s and was set to star Mel Gibson, who had portrayed Max Rockatansky in the first three films in the series, with Sigourney Weaver contemplated for the female co-lead which would later become Imperator Furiosa, suggested by Gibson himself after they had worked together in Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously, and Miller agreed on the idea.

However, production was indefinitely postponed after the September 11 attacks in 2001 caused "the American dollar [to collapse] against the Australian dollar, and our budget ballooned",[19] as Miller has said in several interviews since the film was released in 2015,[10][20] or due to security concerns and tightened travel and shipping restrictions during the lead up to the Iraq War caused issues with the proposed Namibian shoot, as had been reported previously.

[21][22][23] In either event, Miller said he then "had to commit to Happy Feet because we had the digital facility booked to do it", and by the time he got back to work on the Mad Max project four years later, Gibson "had all that turbulence in his life".

[27] Miller was also developing an action-adventure tie-in video game based on the fourth film with God of War II designer Cory Barlog.

[28] By this time, the project had moved from Fox to Warner Bros.[10] In October, Miller announced that principal photography on Fury Road would commence at Broken Hill, New South Wales in August 2010.

[30] The finalists for the part of Max were Hardy, Armie Hammer, and Jeremy Renner, with Michael Fassbender, Joel Kinnaman, Heath Ledger, Eric Bana, and Eminem (who did not wish to leave the United States) all having been considered at various stages of the film's extended development.

Colin Gibson, the production designer, said the filmmakers developed an internally consistent history to explain the film's look and justify its use of hot rods.

[43] The War Rig, the film's most prominent vehicle, was made by combining a Tatra 815 and Chevrolet Fleetmaster and fusing a Volkswagen Beetle to the hull, among other modifications.

[43][44] The cars were designed with an emphasis on detail and characterisation, and effort was made to show the various characters' attempts to recycle the remains of civilisation and their feelings of guilt and loss.

[48] Because of the fast-paced editing style Miller intended for the film, he asked Seale to keep the point of interest of each shot in the centre of the frame so the audience did not have to search for it.

[20] A draft from the Namibian Coast Conservation and Management Project that accused the producers of damaging parts of the Namib desert, endangering a number of plant and animal species, was leaked in February 2013.

[54][55] The Namibia Film Commission said it had "no reservations" after visiting the set during production and disputed claims reported in the media, calling the accusations "unjust rhetoric".

Filming continued on 22 November 2013 at Potts Hill and Penrith Lakes in Western Sydney,[58] and concluded in December 2013 at Fox Studios Australia.

[79] Sound designer Mark Mangini stated that he viewed the War Rig as an allegory for Moby-Dick, with Immortan Joe playing the role of Captain Ahab.

[20] Throughout, Furiosa demonstrates the physicality of a hero committed to a rescue mission that "sets up the start of a matriarchy as an antidote to the barbarian, warlike tribes that came before".

The website's "critics consensus" reads: "With exhilarating action and a surprising amount of narrative heft, Mad Max: Fury Road brings George Miller's post-apocalyptic franchise roaring vigorously back to life.

[120] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a full five out of five and praised its acting, screenplay, choreography, stunts, humour, and direction, describing it as a "Krakatoan eruption of craziness".

[125] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded it four out of five and wrote that it is "extravagantly deranged, ear-splittingly cacophonous, and entirely over the top", a "bizarre convoy chase action-thriller in the post-apocalyptic desert".

[127] Robert W. Butler of The Kansas City Star gave the film a scoring of three out of four, saying, "A mind-boggling exercise in pure action Mad Max: Fury Road is overwhelming, achieving the sort of visual poetry typically ascribed to Ben-Hur's chariot race or one of Sam Peckinpah's blood ballets".

[90] Similarly, Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called the film "a new action classic", and gave particular praise to its editing, costumes, and soundtrack.

[130] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a mixed review, praising the cinematography and Theron's performance, but describing the film as a "long, dull chase".