Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: aeroplane set

This production still shows the cast and crew on the set of a crashed aeroplane for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

The photo amply illustrates the increased budget that production company Kennedy Miller was now working with, compared to the first two Mad Max films. The crashed plane in the sand makes for a striking image, though it is a pity we don't also have a close-up of the cast on the plane.

The crashed plane formed part of the storyline of the Lost Tribe of children. It was originally suggested to explain the Feral Kid in Mad Max 2 but not developed further.

The idea of a lost tribe also has Christian Biblical roots, once more casting Max as a Messianic figure, especially as the children first believe Max to be the return of their mythological Captain Walker.

The filming location is Cronulla, a beachside suburb in Sydney's Sutherland Shire. The desert atmosphere of the region's sand dunes have made them an ideal location for a number of prominent Australian feature films, including Forty Thousand Horseman (1940) and The Rats of Tobruk (1944).