Mad Max: Fury Road Scene 3 Summary

  • In the frame, we see the back of a neck with the same brand that Max was about to be branded with—a skull in a circle with flames on the top.
  • As the figure walks farther away, we can clearly see it's a woman. She's headed towards a large tanker trunk, which is being lowered on a platform suspended by chains.
  • The truck is coming down from a sandstone tower—maybe the same one Max is being held captive in?
  • The woman gets in the cab of a truck and attaches a steering wheel with a skull in the middle to the steering column. We see that she has a robotic left arm. And that she's thoroughly kick-butt.
  • Cut to a young war boy—called a war pup—who is gently blowing powder on an old man's back. The skin is wrinkly and covered with what looks like tumors. We hear him coughing. We stop eating our popcorn.
  • Back outside, the war boys are hooking up the tanker to the cab of the truck.
  • "Today we're heading to gas town!" one of them shouts. "Today we're hauling Aqua Cola! Today we're hauling produce! And today we're hauling mother's milk!" That's one hell of a grocery run.
  • We see the same old man being dressed with ceremony. His attendant war boys put on clear plastic armor, decorated with medals. Then he puts on a face mask, which seems to be designed to help him breathe—it's got tubes connected to the back. Whoever this man is, he's super powerful and very ill.
  • As the man walks to the edge of a cliff in a tower that looms above the desert, crowds gather below, clanking together pots and pans and other vessels. We see that there are actually three towers, known as the Citadel.
  • The man, named Immortan Joe, speaks to the crowd. He salutes his "Imperator Furiosa"—the woman driving the truck, and his "half-life war boys" who will accompany her on the journey to "Gas Town."
  • So we can deduce that this is a convoy on its way to trade water, produce, and milk for gas to power their civilization—if you can call it that. We're thinking civilization isn't much of a thing once the apocalypse comes down.
  • "I am your redeemer," Immortan Joe says. "It is by my hand you will rise from the ashes of this world."
  • The crowds get ready and move closer, clutching their bowls. Immortan Joe hits two levers, and water comes rushing out of pipes from high in the cliff—the crowds move forward to gather it. Water's scarce around these parts.
  • And then Immortan Joe shuts it off abruptly. It clearly wasn't enough to make any kind of dent in these people's thirst.
  • He cautions the crowd not to become addicted to water. Easy for you to say, Joey.
  • Furiosa starts up the truck, and the convoy takes off.
  • We see some men rising on a platform and the crowds attempting to hitch a ride up to the towers above. They get thrown off forcefully.
  • This is a tower of power.