A Sticky-Fingered Art Department: How do you cut corners when you’ve got a tiny budget? Well if you’re Mad Max art director Jon Dowding, you try your hand at a little light larceny. According to the DVD commentary, Dowding and his crew stole all the props adorning this storefront early on the morning of shooting and returned them before anyone noticed.

On-Set Injuries: On-set injuries come with the territory of making films—especially ones packed with so many stunts. But Mad Max stuntman Grant Page actually broke his leg while riding to set. Several weeks later, once he was healed, Page had to perform a motorcycle stunt for the film that was identical to the one that injured him. The film’s original leading lady, Rosie Bailey, was in the accident and fared a bit worse: she shattered both her legs and was replaced by Joanne Samuel.

Plagued by Police: While shooting around Australia the cast of Mad Max was often pulled over by law enforcement. Due to the low budget, the film employed a real-life biker gang called the Vigilantes. Between that, the prop weapons on display, and the tricked-out police cruisers Gibson and the rest of the Main Force Patrol rode in, they were easy targets. The production company furnished the cast with letters they could produce if they were pulled over in order to explain their involvement in the film. This made it into the film itself as an inside joke when Goose gives a biker a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Not a Hit in America: Despite its large box-office take worldwide, Mad Max was not a hit in the U.S., only making $8 million. This was likely partially due to the fact that the entire Australian voice track was overdubbed with American actors in a “cartoonish manner” and all the Australian slang was replaced with American terminology. It wasn’t until 2001 that an American release of Mad Max featured the actual voice of Mel Gibson.

Banned: It’s bad enough that Mad Max was dubbed in the U.S., but it was banned entirely in both New Zealand and Sweden. The scene where Goose is burned alive in his car was a little too close to a real incident that occurred in New Zealand just before release. After Mad Max 2: Road Warrior became a huge international hit in 1981, New Zealand lifted the ban on the original film in 1983.