Red Dawn

John Milius

John Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1944. After going to the City College of Los Angeles, he tried unsuccessfully to join the Marines and then enrolled at the University of Southern California to study cinema. During that period, he met a few of his future colleagues, including Francis Ford Coppola. After winning first prize at the National Student Festival with his short animated film Marcello, I'm So Bored (1966), which he directed with John Strawbridge, Milius began working at AIP as an assistant to Lawrence Gordon. In 1971 he wrote the screenplay ñ but was not accredited ñ for Dirty Harry by Don Siegel. The next year he wrote The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean by John Huston and Jeremiah Johnson by Sydney Pollack. In 1973 he directed his first full-length film, Dillinger (produced by AIP) a successful gangster movie. From that moment on, Milius began a double career, as a director and as a screenwriter-advisor to the most important directors of the time, like Coppola and Spielberg. @@@@@@@@@@@ Jaws (1975) by Spielberg and Apocalypse Now (1979) by Coppola (which won him an Oscar nomination). In 1975 he created the A-Team Production Company at Warner Bros. He directed The Wind and the Lion (1975), starring Sean Connery and Candice Bergen, and Big Wednesday (1978), now a cult movie both in the United States and in Europe. In 1982 he and Oliver Stone @@@@@@ the screenplay for his new film, Conan the Barbarian• which launched the career of actor-body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger. Two years later he directed a film based on a screenplay he and Kevin Reynolds had written, Red Dawn, a controversial film about a fictitious invasion of the United States by the Soviet Army. In 1988 he directed Farewell to the King, the story of an American soldier who loses his way in Borneo and then becomes the king of an indigenous tribe. Flight of the Intruder (1990) took him back to Vietnam to re-evoke a dramatic episode of the war. A few of his most important screenplays of this last period are Geronimo: An American Legend (1993) by Walter Hill and Clear and Present Danger (1994) by Phillip Noyce, starring Harrison Ford and based on a novel by Tom Clancy. In 1994 he directed Motorcycle Gang, a television remake of the homonymous film directed by Edward L. Cahn in 1957. Four years later, he directed the made-for-TV movie, Rough Riders, a two-part film about America's military support of the Cuban rebels against Spanish domination at the end of the 19th century. As a producer, he helped make Hardcore (1979) by Paul Schrader, Used Cars (1980) by Robert Zemeckis and Uncommon Valor (1983) by Ted Kotcheff.

FILMOGRAFIA

Regie/Director: The Reversal of Richard Sun (cm, 1966), Marcello, I'm So Bored (con John Strawbridge, cm, anim, 1966), Dillinger (1973), Il vento e il leone (The Wind and the Lion, 1975), Un mercoledí da leoni (Big Wednesday, 1978), Conan il barbaro (Conan the Barbarian, 1981), Alba rossa Red Dawn, 1984), Giorno di caccia (Opening Day, ep. di Ai confini della realtà - The Twilight Zone, 1985), Addio al re (Farewell to the King, 1988), L'ultimo attacco (Flight of the Intruder, 1990), Motorcycle Gang (TV, 1994), Rough Riders (TV, 1998).

Soggetti / Sceneggiature: The Emperor (cm, doc., 1967) di George Lucas, Glut (1967) di Basil Poledouris, Uccidete il padrino (The Devil's 8, 1969) di Burt Topper, Evel Knievel (1971) di Marvin J. Chomsky, Ispettore Callaghan: il caso Scorpio è tuo (Dirty Harry, 1971, non accreditato) di Don Siegel, Corvo rosso, non avrai il mio scalpo (Jeremiah Johnson, 1972) di Sydney Pollack, L'uomo dai sette capestri (The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, 1972) di John Huston, Una 44 Magnum per l'ispettore Callaghan (Magnum Force, 1973) di Ted Post, Melvin Purvis: G-Man (1974) di Dan Curtis, Lo squalo (Jaws, 1975, non accreditato) di Steven Spielberg, Apocalypse Now (1979) di Francis Ford Coppola, 1941: Allarme a Hollywood (1941, 1979) di Steven Spielberg, Ricercati - Ufficialmente morti (Extreme Prejudice, 1987) di Walter Hill, Caccia a Ottobre Rosso (The Hunt for Red October, 1990, non accreditato) di John McTiernan, Geronimo (Geronimo: An American Legend, 1993) di Walter Hill, Sotto il segno del pericolo (Clear and Present Danger, 1994) di Phillip Noyce, Texas Rangers (2000, non accreditato) di Steve Miner.

Produzioni: Hardcore (1979) di Paul Schrader; 1941: Allarme a Hollywood (1941, 1979) di Steven Spielberg; La fantastica sfida (Used Cars, 1980) di Robert Zemeckis; Fratelli nella notte (Uncommon valor, 1983) di Ted Kotcheff.