In 1979, director George Miller brought the post-apocalyptic world of “Mad Max” to life with a vigorous composition of practical stunts and visual flare that then produced two more sequels.

After 30 years, Miller returns to the franchise with a fourth installment that, instead of recycling old tricks, pumps a new kind of life into the franchise, proving that sometimes the best person to helm a reboot/remake/quasi-sequel is none other than the original creator.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” embraces all of the praised qualities of its ancestors and energetically translates those for the younger, more adrenaline-hungry audience of this generation while also pleasing the original fans of the franchise.

Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) is caught by the tribe of white-painted War Boys as they hunt for his Interceptor, a 1974 XB Ford Falcon Coupe, yes the same exact one in the original, across the barren sand-filled wasteland — shot in Australia the scorching South African Namib desert.

He is then held in the totalitarian, misogynistic stronghold of Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), the Citadel, where women are treated like cattle, with suction cups attached to their breasts, and white-painted boys are thumping oversized kettle drums like servants.

In a world that’s greedily drunk on “guzzoline” (gasoline) and desperate for water, Immortan Joe keeps all of the world’s remaining luxuries locked away in his rocky fortress that’s brimming with water and lush green.

To no surprise, not many are keen on Immortan Joe’s sadistic vision for the future, including Charlize Theron‘s Imperator Furiosa, who bears a buzz-cut and lethal attitude to firmly lock her position in this unforgiving post-apocalyptic setting ruled by ruthless men.

Furiosa, fed up and bent on revenge for what Immortan Joe’s done, steals his Five Wives and flees the Citadel— female captives and prized possessions who are used for the sole purpose of breeding Immortan Joe’s twisted idea of what the next generation of the human race should be.

This is what starts the engine of a two-hour-long car chase that’s filled with life-threatening practical stunts, captivating cinematography, a thunderous score and exploding cars. Lots of exploding cars.

In the first full action sequence, which involves Joe’s chalky army, Furiosa’s War Rig and the Rock Riders — a Yamaha-motorcycle- and off-road-buggy-driving band that dwells in the desert’s cliffs — is so exhilarating and well-done that it plays out like a naval ship battle involving dune buggies and oil tankers in the desert.

All of this happening while Max is strapped to the hood of a War Boy’s car like an ornament, donating blood to its driver Nux (Nicholas Hoult).

Very contributive to the force that’ll give you that experience are Miller’s filmmaking techniques. In the midst of this new day and age of filmmaking technology, the director-screenwriter takes advantage of the endless desert Namibia provides and opts for a more traditional and less CGI-heavy approach to “Fury Road” that effectively keeps the wheels this behemoth spinning.

Well-rendered digital images can work wonders onscreen, but, in an action film that takes place in such a massive desert, practical stunts are a must add to the already lethal intensity “Fury Road” emanates.

Again taking advantage of the vast Namibia, Miller fills “Fury Road” with many wide-angled shots and well-executed action that fully capture, and bring to life, the spectacle that’s happening onscreen. Miller also uses editing techniques like overcranking, when the footage is sped up, to increase the tension — as if “Fury Road” didn’t have enough of that aready.

Accompanying this visual extravaganza is Junkie XL’s booming score, which is just as grandiose as “Fury Road” itself.

Say what you want about Mel Gibson and his iteration of the titular character, but Tom Hardy’s feral Mr. Bean-like Mad Max is more than just a ferocious man haunted by his past but a man who warrants for further investigation — which is really the only sequel-planning Miller does in this otherwise humble installment.

Hardy perfectly depicts the cryptic character, but it’s Theron as Furiosa who, despite the misogynistic attributes of the Wasteland, really takes command of the wheel as “Fury Road’s” true hero.

She’s a smart, vigorously determined and one-armed rebel warrior who almost single-handedly makes “Fury Road” Miller’s feminist action-heavy testimony to this year’s competing blockbusters.

Together, along with Hoult’s Nux — who gets quite a bit of development throughout the long journey “Fury Road” provides — they create a team of characters who, not only go along with the absolute mayhem of “Fury Road” but, provide a variety of camaraderie to root for.

The high-octane beast that is “Fury Road” is very much similar to Furiosa’s War Rig. It’s a bulking monstrosity madly driving at high speeds with its twin V8 engines, but it does have its flaws.

Too often in “Fury Road” did the explosive noise of the action taking place drown out the dialogue of exchanged between characters, leaving you to constantly ask yourself, or your mate beside you, “Wait, what did they say?”

At the second act, there’s a sudden break that happens to slow down “Fury Road’s” pacing. Albeit the rest is very well needed from all the hysteria that’s going on onscreen, the pit stop was a tad too long. Fortunately, the final act more than makes up for that, as it, once again, throws us right into the fire of the action.

But despite its shortcomings, “Fury Road” is a beautifully chaotic symphony of vehicular warfare.

(And when you really think about it — “Fury Road” comes from the same 70-year-old director of “Babe” and “Happy Feet.”)

It has all these practical stunts and exploding vehicles that’ll constantly feel too overwhelming, but not in lieu of any Michael Bay film you’ve seen. They’re vividly captured in Miller’s orange and teal canvas so brilliantly that no action shot seems misplaced — Miller knows how to do action.

And how to create memorable worlds — in “Fury Road,” every prop, every character and every set looks like it has its own bible of backstory.

Miller’s roaring comeback to the franchise isn’t just mindless fun either. It provides a versatile motor that’s meticulously crafted and carefully polished. It’s film that exhibits an array of stellar filmmaking and performances without relying on gratuitous gore and unmotivated action sequences.

Instead, “Fury Road” utilizes perfectly staged and masterfully shot and edited sets to give itself the upper hand.

It may very well be the action blockbuster of the summer. An emphatically bombastic statement of cinema that will, without a doubt, stand the test of time — and the coarse sand of the desert kingdom that is the Wasteland.