George Miller's 'Mad Max: Fury Road' certainly fired up curiosity among film enthusiasts during a recent Comic-Con panel discussion in San Diego. Set in post-apocalyptic era, the movie is a remake of a trilogy first released in the 1980's.

The film stars Tom Hardy as the treacherous Max Rockatansky, who is caught in an action-packed personal war against Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron).

Most scenes are shot in the desert as well as in the areas of Sydney and Melbourne. Critics hail Miller's cinematography that features horrific climates and sand storms.

"All the bad things we hear in the news all happen at once, and we end up with a wasteland in the middle of a continent like Australia," director Miller said, "People migrate there and basically survive in a very medieval construct. There's no rule of law, no honor, no money - just pure surviving by bartering or killing."

Max was first played by Mel Gibson in the original films. Hardy's character is an emotionally-damaged man, who believes that self-reliance and being solitary is the only way to survive on his tormented Earth.

Fans can expect a lot of explosions, drama and romance intertwined with heroic action stunts. "They would almost rather be machines than have a fragile human body," Miller commented.

Other characters include Splendid (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), Immortal Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), and Nux (Nicholas Hoult). 'Mad Max: Fury Road' opens in theaters worldwide beginning May 15, 2015.