Mad Max: Fury Road (2015, Australia/US)

In producer/director George Miller's highly-acclaimed action-thriller film, the fourth film (a reboot) in the entire Mad Max franchise, about a post-nuclear wasteland with warring factions:

• the opening voice-over narration (during the initial credits) by drifter Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), to set the stage, in post-apocalyptic Australia: "My name is Max. My world is fire and blood. Once, I was a cop. A road warrior searching for a righteous cause. As the world fell, each of us in our own way was broken. It was hard to know who was more crazy. Me or everyone else"
• the setting - the Citadel, ruled over by tyrannical, evil despot King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), with hordes of his deranged, bald albino disciples (vicious pale followers known as the War Boys); Joe had a hideous appearance: a grotesque face mask composed of horse teeth set in a large pair of jaws, with two air hoses coming off each side, attached to a bellows system on his back for breathing assistance [Note: Breast milk was supplied to the post-apocalyptic future by obese slave women hooked up to milking devices]
• the early sequence of Max apprehended by the War Boys, brought to the Citadel, where he was tattooed and muzzled - with an exciting escape sequence in which Max jumped from an opening high in a rock face and clung to a swinging hook before he was recaptured
• the sequence of mysterious driver Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) sent out by Joe in an armored War Rig to collect fuel from Gas Town - but it was soon revealed that Furiosa had changed course and was fleeing to the East from Joe, and escaping with his five breeder brides - young warrior women: Capable (Riley Keough), Cheedo the Fragile (Courtney Eaton), Toast the Knowing (Zoë Kravitz), the Dag (Abbey Lee), and the fully-pregnant Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley); they left a large painted message for Joe: OUR BABIES WILL NOT BE WARLORDS
• the incredible sequence of the frantically-paced, beautifully-choreographed non-stop chase, after King Joe found out about Furiosa's betrayal; he sent all of his War Boys to pursue Furiosa across the sun-parched wasteland and into the massive vortex of an apocalyptic tornado-sandstorm, where she fled to evade the pursuers; during the chase, another scavenging tribe, known as the Buzzards, joined in
• one of the sickly War Boys named Nux (Nicholas Hoult) strapped captive Max Rockatansky (with a muzzle-type face mask) positioned like a figurehead onto the front of the vehicle that he was driving - Max was connected to Nux by a metal chain and via a central line blood transfusion tube that functioned as a perpetual "blood bag"

Imperator Furiosa in War Rig - Fleeing From Evil Despot and Pale Albino War Boys Max Was Tied as Figurehead to Nux's Vehicle

• after Furiosa survived in the storm, and Max had escaped from Nux's control, he confronted her and the warrior women and attempted to steal her War Rig, but was unsuccessful when she fought back; Max was forced to join forces with them as they journeyed to an idyllic location from Furiosa's childhood known as the "Green Place"
• the next exciting chase sequence, when the warrior women, Max, and Furiosa were pursued by a group of biker-gang bandits in a canyon (with King Joe's forces close behind); Splendid Angharad slipped and fell off the side of the War Rig and was run over (with her unborn child) by the wheels of Joe's car following behind (Max to Furiosa: "She went under the wheels"); the group was reluctantly forced to carry on, while the other women mourned for the loss of Spendid
• an enraged King Joe held Spendid Angharad's body in his arms, and then later that night, a C-section was performed on her belly by his lieutenant Organic Mechanic (Angus Sampson), to pull out a perfectly-formed infant boy ("Crying shame. Another month, could have been your viable human....Your number one alpha prime. Hey, Rictus?...You lost a baby brother. Perfect in every way" - he cut off and inspected the stillborn baby's umbilical cord; Joe's adult son Rictus (Nathan Jones) cried out: "I had a brother! I had a little baby brother! And he was perfect! Perfect in every way!"

Biker Gang Attack	Angharad's Fall From Rig	Max: "She went under the wheels"
Angharad In King Joe's Arms	C-Section	Rictus: "I had a brother"

• in the next sequence the following morning, the group drove up to an abandoned water tower where a naked Valkyrie (Megan Gale) was screaming for help, and it was feared to be a "bait" trap; she cried out: "I am one of the Vuvalini! Of the Many Mothers! My Initiate Mother was K.T. Concannon! I am the daughter of Mary Jabassa. My clan was Swaddle Dog!" - her clan of aging women, known as the Vuvalini, emerged, and the eldest, Keeper of the Seeds (Melissa Jaffer), informed Furiosa that the muddy uninhabitable bog that they had previously traversed through was the "Green Place"
• a striking image was one of Furiosa walking into the sand, falling to her knees, and delivering a despairing primal scream
• Max convinced Furiosa and the other women on motorbikes to turn around, go back through the canyon, and attack the unguarded Citadel; during the counter-assault, although seriously wounded, Furiosa hooked Joe's mask onto the wheels of his car, growled at him: "Remember me?", and watched as the vehicle's wheels lethally ripped off the mask and part of Joe's face

Furiosa - Convinced by Max to Lead a Motorbike Attack on the Unguarded Citadel	Furiosa to King Joe: "Remember Me?" Then Ripped Joe's Face Off

• in the final redemptive scene, the group arrived at King Joe's headquarters or Citadel base, where Joe's mouthless corpse was displayed and then thrown to the ground to the delight of the remaining War Boys; the poor citizens cannibalistically fed off his body; the victorious forces of Furiosa, Joe's wives and other Vuvalini were welcomed and cheered - a celebration was marked by the release of water upon the inhabitants, and Furiosa was apparently to be appointed as their new leader - she glanced at Max as he walked off into the crowded masses

Last Glances

• the film ended with the title card (white letters on a black background): "Where must we go... we who wander this Wasteland in search of our better selves?" -The First History Man