If cinema is visual music, director George Miller is a master virtuoso.

He’s among the greatest directors of action cinema (though he’s made some excellent family movies with 1995’s “Babe,” or his 2006 animated motion-capture penguin musical “Happy Feet”). When you watch a Miller flick, you know you’ll be in for a thrilling, heart-pumping ride.

His movies harken back and pay homage to the pure cinema of Buster Keaton’s “General” (filmed here in Oregon in Cottage Grove) or John Ford’s “Stagecoach,” in which much of the narrative takes place on moving vehicles — kinetic and fast-paced, with visual wit and humor.

More than 40 years ago, Miller introduced audiences to the post-apocalyptic feudal dark ages of the future with “Mad Max,” starring Mel Gibson. The first movie was followed by my absolute favorite of the series starring Gibson, “The Road Warrior,” and the third installment, “Beyond the Thunderdome,” co-starring Tina Turner.

I love these movies because of Miller’s brilliant creative vision of post-apocalyptic feudal societies. Marauding armies of bikers and hot-rodders roam a lawless Australian outback wasteland, laying siege to fortress communities battling for resources and the precious “guzo-leen.”

Miller’s “Mad Max” wasteland landscapes evoke the sandy sun-drenched, butte-filled desert expanses of David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” and the westerns of John Ford’s Monument Valley.

The Mad Max universe is filled with some of the greatest action set pieces in the history of movies. Part Samurai epic, part western, and part monster-truck rally, these films take the audience on an adrenaline-packed adventure. Each action scene is a master class in shot composition, camera movement and brilliant editing that match the level of cinematic expertise of the other masters: directors Steven Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, John Ford and James Cameron.

Nearly a decade ago, Miller delivered a masterpiece and the fourth film in his wasteland franchise. “Mad Max: Fury Road” is absolutely among the best action movies of all time.

That film introduced audiences to Charlize Theron’s Furiosa, a “war rig” driver for an evil feudal warlord in the Australian wasteland. In an extended chase sequence for much of the film, Furiosa and Max work together to lead a group of young women away from the clutches of the warlord Immortan Joe.

Miller’s latest film, “Furiosa” is a prequel to “Fury Road,” in which we are given Furiosa’s expansively epic origin story. Here Anya Taylor Joy, while not matching the gravitas and charisma of Theron’s Furiosa, captivates audiences with her magnetic screen presence as the titular character.

Chris Hemsworth, who played Thor in the Marvel movies, is a highlight in the proceedings with his heel turn as the villain warlord Dementus. With his thick Aussie swagger, prosthetic nose and heavy accent, Hemsworth looks like he’s having the time of his life as a post-apocalyptic warlord. He’s fantastic in the picture and a scene-stealer.

While “Furiosa” underperformed at the box office on Memorial Day weekend, so did other great movies like “Office Space” and the original “Austin Powers,” in their theatrical runs, which I both had the privilege of seeing at the cinema in the ‘90s.

“Furiosa” is nonstop cinematic gold from beginning to end and should, no doubt in time, capture an appreciative audience like those films eventually did.