On paper, "Mad Max" may not sound like much more than an automotive riff on "Death Wish" with yet another normal man who is pushed too far and who goes gunning in violent fashion for those who have destroyed his life. However, what might have seemed to be utterly ordinary on the page proved to be utterly extraordinary when brought to life through Miller's eye. At the time of its making, films featuring elaborate car chases and crashes were nothing new—Hal Needham had pretty much carved a cottage industry out of them with things like "Smokey and the Bandit" and "Hooper"—but Miller approached them in such a unique manner, utilizing cameras mounted on fenders, rapid-fire editing and a stunt crew that was apparently willing to do anything in order to get a great shot (at one point, we even see a guy get hit in the head with a motorcycle) that it was as if he was presenting such things for the first time. Even the most jaded action buffs could not believe what they were seeing—this was that rare bird of an exploitation film that not only lived up to the promises of its trailer, it exceeded them—and they were equally impressed by the intensely charismatic unknown actor at its center, newcomer Mel Gibson (who, the story goes, only went to the audition to support a friend, Steve Bisley (who was cast as Goose), and was showing the results of a drunken brawl he had gotten into the night before).

Created in near-obscurity, "Mad Max" became a massive hit throughout the world and earned over $100,000,000 at the box office. Curiously, the only country where it didn't do well was America—after American-International Pictures bought it for distribution, they were purchased by Filmways, who were noticeably less enthused with it and dumped it into drive-ins and grindhouses with little fanfare, though not before inexplicably choosing to poorly redub it with American voices on the belief that local audiences would not be able to understand those pesky Australian accents. (The current DVDs and Blu-Rays include the original voices.) And yet, while it was not a success by any means, those that did encounter it when it hit cable a few months after that botched release were knocked out by it and it soon became a cult favorite. By that time, Miller and Kennedy had already decided to make a follow-up but instead of offering a mere rehash of what they had already been done, "The Road Warrior" (known as "Mad Max 2" throughout the rest of the world) saw them expanding on their original concept, both in terms of the action set-pieces and in the concept of the antihero at its center, and had one of the largest budgets in Australian film history (roughly $4,000,000) at their disposal.

Following a brief recap of the events of the previous film to set the stage for newcomers (i.e. the American audience), we learn that a few years have elapsed, what previously passed for civilization has succumbed to violent anarchy following nuclear warfare and gasoline has become a virtually priceless commodity that people will kill for in order to keep their vehicles moving. Max, known as the Road Warrior, roams the outback in his car looking for fuel when he eventually comes across a community of survivors housed in a former refinery that contains precious petroleum. They want to leave for what they are convinced will be a better life on the coast but are under constant threat from a violent motorcycle gang, led by the maniacal Humungus (Kjell Nilsson), who want all of their gas for themselves and who will kill anyone who tries to slip past them. At first, the burned-out Max has no interest in helping them beyond finding them a truck rig that will allow them to transport their fuel in exchange for a fill-up but after he is once again waylaid and left for dead, he returns to help drive their gasoline to safety in a final flight to freedom that finds him fending off the relentless attacks of Humungus and his men.