Director George Miller reflects on the various cultural interpretations of Mad Max (1979) and how they influenced his preparation of Mad Max 2 (1981).

In Japan, Mad Max was considered a Samurai film; in France, it was a 'western on wheels'; in Scandinavia, Max was thought of as a Viking.

Miller's newfound awareness of the hero myth changed his approach to storytelling and the Max of the sequel and later movies is a more consciously mythological figure than in the first film.

Paul Byrnes interviewed George Miller for australianscreen online in 2006.

This is an authorised five-minute making of Mad Max 2 that focuses on the heroic work of the film's stunt performers – including a look at two dangerous stunts that don't go according to plan.

The hyperbolic voice-over, aimed at international audiences, begins with 'Broken Hill, Australia's last frontier town', referring to the location for the production. After a brief on-location interview with producer Byron Kennedy, we get to see the armada of cars that feature in the film.

But the real interest is in seeing the dramatic stunts being performed and the documentary effectively captures the dangers inherent in action films. In fact, it's hard to imagine a promotional making-of documentary today giving such a candid look at stunts that go awry.

First, we see stunt performer Guy Norris's tumbling leap through the air which was so spectacular it remained in the film. As a qualified medical doctor, director George Miller examined Norris – who broke his leg performing the stunt – before he was ferried by ambulance to hospital.

While Norris could not resume work on Mad Max 2, he has had a long career as a stunt performer and coordinator. As supervising stunt coordinator on Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), he drove a 10-tonne, 16-wheel truck at 100 kilometres per hour directly into a wrecked 16-wheeler, without slowing down!

We also see Mad Max 2 stunt coordinator Max Aspin's car clip the top of a pile of wreckage it was supposed to clear. He too is injured and exits the production. He returned to work a few months later and his later credits as stunt coordinator include Razorback (1984) and Crocodile Dundee (1986).

This home movie by Peter Kamen gives us a fascinating glimpse of life on set during the shooting of Mad Max 2 on location in June 1981.

Most of the footage is of cast and crew on the set of the small oil refinery which was under siege by the Marauders, the ragtag gang led by Lord Humungus.

Some of the actors we see are Mel Gibson (Max), Mike Preston (Papagallo), Emil Minty (the Feral Kid), Bruce Spence (the Gyro Captain) and Arkie Whiteley (the Captain's Girl). We also see director George Miller in discussion with the actors, and cinematographer Dean Semler behind the camera.

The clip ends with shots of some of the vehicles that feature in the film, which are as much characters as some of the people.

Although it lacks narration it is still a fascinating peek into the world of filmmaking. For amateur footage it is also remarkably well shot.

Peter Kamen, who shot this film, was best friends with producer Byron Kennedy and they grew up making home movies together.

Kamen also visited the set of Mad Max (1979) and shot footage of a stunt being set up.

Celebrated actor Jacki Weaver markets Mad Max 2 to female audiences in this short TV clip from 1981 promoting the film's Australian release.

'I don't like films that terrify me', starts Weaver before describing the film as a fantasy and comparing it to Star Wars (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), two contemporary blockbusters with wide audience appeal but arguably less cinematic mayhem and violence than Mad Max 2. 

She highlights the excitement of being part of an audience watching the film and comments on its star: 'And as for Mad Max, Mel Gibson, he's lovely'.

It's another sign that, with this clip, the filmmakers are trying to broaden the film's appeal from its core demographic of young males.

The closing voiceover – 'Mad Max 2: the man's film that women love' – is hilarious. 

This short trailer for Mad Max 2 makes it very clear that the main attraction of the film is the action scenes.

It features only one line of dialogue and little indication of the plot. Instead it offers enticing glimpses of spectacular stunts involving all manner of cars, motorcycles, trucks and tankers. 

The ad would have helped broaden the audience for Mad Max 2 by making it plain that prior knowledge of the first film was unnecessary.

Anyone who had already seen Mad Max (1979) could instantly tell from this ad that the sequel had a much bigger budget and that the stuntwork had been elevated to a whole new level.

In the US, one of the few countries where the first film was initially not a hit, Mad Max 2 was released as The Road Warrior and the marketing disguised the fact that it was a sequel.

In this excerpt from an oral history interview with the NFSA, Bruce Spence talks about playing the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2 and working with director George Miller.

In particular, he talks in detail about the scene where his character sets a clever trap for Max only to be foiled by Max's dog. Shooting the scene was made trickier because the dog was afraid of cars!

Bruce Spence returned in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome as Jedediah the Pilot.

Geoff Gardner interviewed Bruce Spence for the NFSA Oral History program in 2012.

Image: Bruce Spence as the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2, 1981. NFSA title: 482197

This is an Australian daybill poster for Mad Max 2, promoting the film's local release in December 1981.

The design of this stark poster effectively illustrates the mythological cinematic hero figure. Max stands alone and isolated, not wanting or needing anyone's help. He glares from the poster like a wounded soldier.

The inserted images at the bottom of the poster of Wez, Mohawk Biker and Humungus appear almost like criminal wanted posters. That's appropriate as the Mad Max films have often been compared to the western cinema genre.

Max (Mel Gibson) is now a desert wanderer, in a world where petrol is the only currency. He drives ‘the last of the V8 Interceptors’, a remnant of the days when he was a highway patrol officer. As the film begins, he’s being chased by three bandits, led by Wez (Vernon Wells), riding the motorbike, with the Golden Youth (Jim Brown) as passenger. Max outsmarts them and injures Wez with a crossbow. He also discovers the remains of a previous raid on a semi-trailer. This vehicle will become important later in the story. Summary by Paul Byrnes

An injured Max (Mel Gibson) has returned to the settler’s camp, after his car has been destroyed. He offers to drive the oil tanker for their breakout attempt. Humungus’s men line up to await his charge. Humungus has put Wez (Vernon Wells) on a chain, to punish him for disobedience; he also has the bodies of two hostages strapped to the grille. The Feral Kid (Emil Minty) stows away on Max’s truck, as he takes off. The Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence) helps Max from the air, as the settlers leave in the other direction. After their departure, Humungus’s men occupy the refinery, but too quickly for their own good. Summary by Paul Byrnes

Max (Mel Gibson) and the Feral Kid (Emil Minty) are alone now on the tanker. All their support crew have been killed defending it. One of the attackers has his metal claws stuck in Max’s shoulder. Max’s shells have spilled onto the bonnet of the Mack truck; he sends the Feral Kid out to retrieve them. Wez (Vernon Wells), the indestructible assailant, makes a surprise appearance. Summary by Paul Byrnes.

One of the most dramatic sequences in Mad Max 2 is the chase scene after Max leaves the oil refinery compound and is pursued by Lord Humungus and the Marauders.

Here we get to see a spectacular crash featuring stunt performer Guy Norris spinning through the air after flying off his motorcycle.

Besides the heroism of the stunt drivers and performers, what this short clip demonstrates is the skill required in editing. In the hands of a less experienced editor, the action scenes could easily have become visually incoherent.

Mad Max 2 had three credited editors: Michael Balson, David Stiven and Tim Wellburn. For their work, they won the Best Achievement in Editing prize at the 1982 AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards.

Titled 'Highway Pursuit', this sequence was bundled with a short making-of documentary about the stunts of Mad Max 2 to promote the film's release.

Director George Miller explains that Mad Max 2 (1981) was a very different production experience.

While he had a much bigger budget to work with, the greatest difference was his thinking about the story and a shift in his attitude towards filmmaking in general.

Paul Byrnes interviewed George Miller for australianscreen online in 2006.

This poster for the release of Mad Max 2 in the former Yugoslavia uses the title Drumski Ratnik (Road Warrior, echoing the film's US title) and tagline 'Odlučiće jedan čovek' ('one man will decide').

The design showcases a futuristic vehicle in the centre, flanked by two muscular men holding weapons while a building explodes in the background.

It's a very engaging and threatening design that would have attracted potential audiences. It's also a stylised visual interpretation of the blinding heat, dust and barren landscape in which the film is actually set; this poster arguably has a more traditional science-fiction feel.

This is a lobby card promoting the release of Mad Max 2 in Spain, where the film was subtitled El Guerrero de la Carretera (The Road Warrior).

It shows a classic image of Max (Mel Gibson) brandishing a sawn-off shotgun. He is waiting to see if Wez (Vernon Wells) will continue to pursue him or turn back.

It's a satisfyingly composed image with the grime and grit of the Mad Max universe – typified by the heavy machinery, dusty leather worn by Max and the arid Australian outback – contrasting with the bright blue sky. 

This is a lobby card promoting the release of Mad Max 2 in Spain, where the film was subtitled El Guerrero de la Carretera (The Road Warrior).

The lobby card features two Marauders, members of a ragtag group of tribes led by Lord Humungus.

One of the Mad Max franchise's enduring legacies is the make-up, costume and prop design which drew upon the punk culture of the late 1970s and early '80s.

This lobby card is a good example as it shows one of the extraordinary vehicles made for the film and two of the leather-clad and heavily studded Marauders. Behind them stand two members of the Bad Cops.

While not explicitly developed in the film, the Marauders comprised a number of smaller tribes – the Bad Cops, Skinheads, Punks and Smegma Crazies – each with its own distinct look.

Lord Humungus, portrayed by Kjell Nilsson, is the leader of a psychotic gang of marauders and the main antangonist in Mad Max 2.

The character is not given much of a backstory although director George Miller has stated that Humungus had suffered facial burns in an accident while serving in the military. This explains the wearing of the Cooper HM6 hockey mask.

While this production still shows actor Kjell Nilsson in a somewhat awkward pose, it does provide a good depiction of Humungus' costume and also Nilsson's muscular frame. Nilsson was a former Swedish Olympic-class weightlifter.

This production still from Mad Max 2 features Bruce Spence as the Gyro Captain, pointing a crossbow at Max (Mel Gibson), who is holding a snake. 

Given that Gibson is laughing, even while a crossbow is aimed at him, we can assume that this still was taken when the camera's weren't rolling. 

In the scene, the Gyro Captain has laid a trap for Max, who is investigating the gyro-copter on the assumption that no one is around. 

The scene ends with Max's dog attacking the Captain and you can listen to Bruce Spence's account of filming this scene in a clip from his oral history.

The Feral Kid is played by child actor Emil Minty in Mad Max 2.

The character is a precursor to the Lost Tribe of children who appear in the third instalment of the franchise, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). He also recalls Max's own child, Sprog, who was killed with Max's wife in Mad Max (1979).

This production still shows the Feral Kid holding a shotgun on the tanker during the extended chase sequence as he and Max flee the oil refinery compound.

While the image captures the character's distinctive look, it's not an iconic shot because it doesn't indicate the Feral Kid's skills or feature his weapon of choice – a razor-edged boomerang.

He uses the boomerang to great effect on two members of Lord Humungus's gang in a memorable scene earlier in the film.

Wez, portrayed by Vernon Wells in Mad Max 2, is a member of Humungus' violent gang of marauders.

This production still of Wez is a fabulous image. It captures his crazed psychotic menace and is a great record of the character's costume.

Wez is one of the most memorable characters in Mad Max 2. Actor Vernon Wells's backstory for Wez imagined him as being the equivalent of a futuristic Vietnam War veteran.

Wez's companion, the Golden Youth (played by Jerry O'Sullivan), was originally written to be played by a woman. While fans of the series have speculated that Wez and the Golden Child had a sexual relationship, Wells considered their bond to be more that of father and son.

Either way, the relationship added a further dimension to Wez's character in the film.

Max Phipps played The Toadie in Mad Max 2.

He is Humungus' obsequious servant, announcing his master's various invented titles – Lord Humungus, the Warrior of the Wasteland, the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. 

This production still effectively alerts us to the Toadie's joke-like character. Small in stature, with glasses and a Napoleonic-era style hat – worn sideways and covered in an animal's pelt – he is clearly a character that cannot be taken seriously. This is reinforced by the comical expression on his face in the photo.