Miller first studied medicine and then film, the latter under director Phillip Noyce at Melbourne University. He practiced as a doctor while raising the money to finance his first feature, "Mad Max" (1979), a low-budget biker/exploitation movie set in an arid, post-industrial wasteland. Together with its first sequel, "The Road Warrior" (1981), the film earned cult and critical acclaim for Miller and partner Byron Kennedy, as well as launching Mel Gibson on the road to international stardom. (Producer and co-writer Kennedy died in a helicopter crash in 1983).

Miller has subsequently enjoyed success in Hollywood with his stylish adaptation of John Updike's novel "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987), and "Lorenzo's Oil" (1992), the intelligent, gripping story of a couple's fight to develop a cure for their young son's supposedly fatal disease. In 1995, he co-produced and co-authored the acclaimed film "Babe", based on a classic children's book about a little pig who excels at sheep herding.