My roommate doesn’t know anything about Mad Max, so here’s a pretty short summary.
So first there was Mad Max (1979):
It’s about a cop in a post-apocalyptic future (though there’s some civilization still remaining at the time) who ends up avenging the murder of his family.
After Mad Max came The Road Warrior / Mad Max 2 / Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981):
The continuing journeys of Max as he travels the wasteland, coming into conflict with Lord Humongous and his horde of nomadic raiders. The post-apocalyptic setting has progressed to a much more recognizable wasteland.
After Max defeats Humongous his story continues with Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985):
In this one Max ends up going to a settlement, Bartertown, ruled by Tina Turner (Aunty Entity), and gets caught up in a conflict with her and her forces. He ends up allying with a group of savage children who mistake him for their messianic savior figure, Captain Walker. It’s a pretty strange story, though I don’t remember all the details.
So now we’ve come to the remake/reboot Mad Max: Fury Road (2015):
Which looks like sort of an origin story for Max. I suspect it’ll be set around the same era as Road Warrior, since it appears to be after Max’s policeman period, but before Max is old enough to be Beyond Thunderdome. Max and Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) appear to team up to fight Immortan Joe and his horde of raiders.
It looks pretty good to me.