The Mad Max films have been hailed as some of the greatest action films of all time. The first three films, all of which were released in the late 70’s and early 80’s, got a very much appreciated sequel in 2015. Mad Max: Fury Road absolutely stormed the box office when it released, bringing in a whopping 378.9 million dollars. It was also met with amazing reviews from critics and audiences alike.

Most films that get an unexpected sequel decades later from their predecessor are usually shameless cash grabs. However, Fury Road goes above and beyond, holding its own as one of the best action movies ever. George Miller, the director of the original Mad Max films, returns to write and direct Fury Road. He manages to pack everything that people love about Mad Max into the film, making it extremely entertaining and fun to watch.

The movie is also complemented by exceptional performances from Tom Hardy as Max, Charlize Theron as Furiosa, and Nicholas Hoult as Nux. Mel Gibson played Max in the original films, so Hardy had quite the performance to match. He managed to give a performance on par with Gibson’s, a very impressive feat.

The film is essentially a 2-hour long car chase, yet it manages to pack in a fair amount of interesting narrative. The audience is introduced to multiple factions throughout the film, all with their own unique motives and leaders. Miller does an excellent job of engrossing the viewer in the Australian wasteland, packed with car-loving, guzzolene-spitting, war-paint-wearing bad guys.

The visuals of Fury Road are unbelievably beautiful. Huge sand dunes and massive mountains cover the wasteland landscape, giving it an incredibly large scale. The vibrant orange color scheme dominates most of the film; however, any sequence filmed at night is drenched in a calming blue light, providing a stark contrast between night and day. The main villain, Immortan Joe (played by Hughes Keays-Byrne) wears an epic set of armor, brought together by an evil-looking mask. Immortan Joe’s followers, The War Boys, all wear white war-paint all over their body, typically complemented by black paint around their eyes. This gives them a very fitting ghoulish look.

“The movie looked really cool,” said junior Benjamin Allbaugh. “It made it more entertaining.”

Music in a film can make or break a scene. It can often be used to set the tone for a scene, letting the audience know how to feel about what’s happening. Fury Road’s musical score, composed by Tom Holkenborg, better known as Junkie XL, is absolute chaos. But in the most amazing way possible. The deep percussive instruments, the menacing metal guitar riffs, and the moving array of string instruments set the tone perfectly. Another amazing thing about the score is a lot of it is actually being played on screen. Huge tribal drums and a guitarist ride on a War Boys truck and can be shown playing the soundtrack, engrossing the audience even further into the film.

Fury Road is definitely one of Miller’s best works, arguably even his best. According to Miller and other sources, he actually has two finished scripts for future Mad Max films. Unfortunately, Miller is currently caught up in a legal battle with Warner Bros., halting the production of any future installments to the series.

Hopefully, these legal matters will be resolved quickly so we can see more Mad Max movies in the future. Comment below how you feel about the Mad Max movies.