Do we like them?

Do we like George T. Miller?

Our score: 6 out of 10. Nothing harmful found and warm tributes from colleagues, but we could read only one full article, so it stays mid-range.

George T. Miller is the "other George Miller", not the Mad Max one. He was born George Trumbull Miller to Scottish immigrants, and he started in the 1960s at Crawford Productions, working his way up from the mailroom to cameraman and then director. He died in February 2023, aged 79.

His early career was Australian TV, and it was a proper grind: Ryan, Cash and Company, Division 4, The Box, Matlock Police, The Sullivans and Against the Wind. That is the kind of steady work that builds a director long before anyone hands over a feature.

The break came with The Man From Snowy River in 1982, which made him known internationally and opened doors in Hollywood. It still sits in the top 20 Australian films at the domestic box office. The Hollywood years brought a NeverEnding Story sequel, In the Nick of Time, Andre, Zeus and Roxanne, Robinson Crusoe and In the Doghouse.

On the harm test, nothing turned up in our searches: no harmful words about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet, and no run of work with people who push that stuff. The catch is that most of his career was in the 80s and 90s, and we could only open one full article. So this is a clean result on a thin record, not a deep dive.

The one bump on the record was his last feature, Prey, in 2009. IF Magazine reports he asked for his name to be taken off it after a dispute with the producers. That reads as a creative fight over a film, not anything about how he treated people.

The tributes are the best evidence of the man. Tom Burlinson said he learnt a great deal about acting from him, and Sigrid Thornton called him a dynamic collaborator with a crazy sense of humour. Nobody in the coverage we read had a bad word.