Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

George Miller’s top resurrection of his iconic punk-western franchise stars Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult.

Hardy steps into the post-apocalyptic boots made famous by Mel Gibson, playing the titular ex-lawman whose only goal in life is to survive from one day to the next. The fact that he resides in a nightmarish, never-ending desert makes this a pretty tough task, especially when there’s an army of bloodthirsty psychopaths roaming around in souped-up assault vehicles.

The odds are Max’s luck is eventually going to run out, and that’s exactly what happens when he’s captured and turned into a human blood bag by an ailing footsoldier (Hoult). Eventually managing to hatch an escape, he reluctantly joins forces with Charlize Theron’s fearless one-armed rebel and together they take the fight to tyrannical warlord Immortan Joe (series veteran Keays-Byrne).

This is Miller’s first live-action feature since 1998 and he more than makes up for lost time, cooking up a dizzying spectacle of chaos and destruction. Hardy and Theron anchor proceedings with quietly charismatic performances, but this is Miller’s film. He’s been given carte blanche to realise his vision and he takes full advantage.