There is a good reason why this is one of my all-time favorite films: everything about Fury Road is amazing!

The Cinematography: The entire film looks beautiful! There are vast shots of the desert wasteland, close-ups on the characters that give you a sense of what they are feeling, well placed slo-mo shots, and interesting camera angles that put you in the action. Most of all, it is the use of color that really sets this film apart from other apocalyptic movies out there. Sure, there are a lot of desert scenes, but the filming location in Namibia gave a diverse collection of sand and rock tones. The reds of the sandstorm and the blues of the night scenes are visually stunning and the flares and certain areas of the Citadel help keep the wasteland from being too bleak.

The Characters: All of the characters feel real and the main characters are well defined. Each and every one has the look of living in a wasteland: from the citizens of the Citadel, who are poverty stricken and worse for wear; the war boys, who are branded and used to their breaking point, requiring 'blood bags' to keep them going; to the grotesque looking 'rulers' of the wasteland cities, who rely on servants after years of mistreating their bodies. On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have Immortan Joe's prized possessions, the five wives. The pinnacle of beauty wit soft skin and all of their teeth. Nux is a young warrior who wants to everything possible to win the favor of Immortan Joe, his ruler and idol. Furiosa is a bad-ass that will do whatever it takes to complete her goals. Max is quite similar to his role in the other films, out for himself but willing to help those in need.

The Actors/Acting Although it is disappointing that Mel Gibson was not in this film, I think that Tom Hardy absolutely nailed this iteration of Max Rockatansky. Charlize Theron plays an excellent bad-ass woman and really stands out as a lead on this film. It's not too often that you get a film where all of the characters, including the minor roles, perform so well. It seems as if every actor/actress in this movie gave it their all.

The Vehicles: Fury Road has some the greatest post-apocalyptic vehicles in cinema history. Each one being as much of a star in the film as the actors. We start with the familiar Ford Falcon XB GT coupe, a staple of the Mad Max series. The most prominent vehicle would have to be "the War Rig", this Tatra T815 is a veritable Frankenstein, using several cars to add to it's body and armor, it has two engines, and enough weaponry to let it ear it's name. Some of the other stand out vehicles would be Immortan Joe's "Gigahorse": a custom monster of a car built using two Coupe DeVille bodies, "the Peacemaker": which is a Valiant Charger car body on a Howe and Howe Ripsaw, and one of my personal favorites: "the Doof Wagon". The Doof Wagon is a modified MAN KAT I A1 8x8, that contains a wall of speakers, 4 large drums, and a bungee corded, flame throwing guitar player that is the future of a drum and fife corp leading troops into battle.

The Details: Almost everything in this film is meticulously detailed. The vehicles may look like a car with a bunch of metal slapped on them, but if you look closely, they are quite ornate as well. The ceiling of the War Rig is embossed with Immortan Joe's insignia. The steering wheels are all individually customized and treated as trophies. The costumes are spectacular; some ornate, some simple; all feeling like they came from the wasteland. Furiosa's prosthetic arm even contains more detail than it needs.

The Stunts: The stunts in the film were mostly practical, giving it a genuine feel; in fact, most of the CGI used in the film was to erase safety rigging and cables. The vehicles crashing, the explosions, all real! The 'polecats' were trained by a member(s) of Cirque du Soleil. Guy Norris did an excellent job as stunt coordinator, of course he had to having up to 150 stunt people working for him at one time.

The Sound Design: Not only is this film amazing to see, but it is also great to listen to. The Blu-ray probably has one of the better surround mixes that I own, working every speaker and making me feel like I am in the center of it all. The effects are top notch; explosions, engines (some of which were made from whale wails), and the environment sing to you. The soundtrack by Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL) is exhilarating and fitting for the theme, but not overwhelming. Also, the sound of drums and guitar fading in and out as the Doof Wagon passes by on screen is a highlight.

Finally, The Plot: There are a lot of great action films out there that do many tings well and are entertaining, but the plot is lacking. Fury Road has a well defined, tough kind of simple plot, and sticks to it. Being a Mad Max film, the plot doesn't necessarily revolve around Max, it is more like he gets caught up in it. There is almost constant action of some type occurring from beginning to end and most other scenes have something interesting to listen to or look at.

Every time I watch this film, I find myself watching the featurettes on the Blu-ray s well. Seeing how they designed everything, worked on the stunts, and getting a better look at the vehicles and characters for this film is still fascinating.