Roger Donaldson

Directing

Roger Donaldson

Born 1945-11-15 · Ballarat, Australia

Roger Donaldson (born 15 November 1945) is an Australian-born New Zealand film producer, director and writer. He is known for directing the films Cocktail, No Way Out, and Species. was a co-founder of the New Zealand Film Commission.

Acting credits

Numero Bruno poster
9.0

Numero Bruno is a warts and all biography of widely popular actor, musician and counter-cultural hero Bruno Lawrence. Lawrence's intense, charismatic screen presence was key to ground-breaking Kiwi films, Smash Palace, The Quiet Earth and Utu. Directed by Steve La Hood, this documentary features interviews with family and friends, and liberal excerpts from Lawrence's film and musical work, including performances by 70s alternative Aotearoa icons Blerta and clips showcasing his seminal collaborations with Geoff Murphy.

Numero Bruno

2000

American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective poster
4.8

An intimate, soul-baring new documentary covering the life and 40+ year career of actor and poet Michael Madsen, from troubled youth to film star, told through interviews with colleagues, friends, family members and the American Badass himself. Featuring Quentin Tarantino, John Travolta, Charlie Sheen, Ron Perlman, Daryl Hannah, and many, many more.

American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective

2022

Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story poster
5.0

Oleg Vidov — one of the Soviet Union's most beloved actors — was persecuted, blacklisted and pushed to the breaking point before escaping to the West and achieving the American dream.

Oleg: The Oleg Vidov Story

2021

No artwork available
NR

Director Roger Donaldson's 1977 movie of CK Stead novel Smith's Dream helped spark a new wave of Kiwi cinema. Getting there was a cash-strapped, bare-knuckle ride. In this documentary cast and crew recall a communal film set that was "constantly on the go" as they pulled together drama, car chases, and gun battles using mainly ingenuity.

The Making of Sleeping Dogs

2004

Getting Close to the Show poster
8.0

Documentary on the making of 'Dante's Peak' (1997).

Getting Close to the Show

1998

No artwork available
NR

This Kaleidoscope documentary timed in with the release of Nicholas Reid’s book A Decade of New Zealand Cinema. The book cherrypicked Reid's favourites from the renaissance in local movies that began with Sleeping Dogs in 1977. Reid and a who’s who of local filmmakers discuss many of the 50+ features from the previous decade (with Bruno Lawrence ever present). They ponder the uniqueness (or otherwise) of Kiwi film. A fondness for rural and small town settings, and forceful, often conflicted, male leads is explored. Neglected areas — Māori film and more of a voice for women — are traversed.

Kaleidoscope

1987

Cowboys of Culture poster
NR

Director Geoff Steven's personal perspective on the Kiwi cinema renaissance of the 1970s. It traces the development of the local film industry from the ‘she'll be right' days when filming permits were unknown, and all that was needed to get a picture up were a Bolex camera, enthusiasm and ingenuity.

Cowboys of Culture

1990

Afterbirth: The Evolution of 'Species' poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Afterbirth: The Evolution of 'Species'

2017

Behind the camera

The Bank Job poster
6.9

Terry is a small-time car dealer trying to leave his shady past behind and start a family. Martine is a beautiful model from Terry's old neighbourhood who knows that Terry is no angel. When Martine proposes a foolproof plan to rob a bank, Terry recognises the danger but realises this may be the opportunity of a lifetime.

The Bank Job

2008

Dante's Peak poster
6.2

Volcanologist Harry Dalton comes to the sleepy town of Dante's Peak to investigate the recent rumblings of the dormant volcano the burg is named for. Before long, his worst fears are realized when a massive eruption hits, and immediately, Harry, the mayor and the townspeople find themselves fighting for their lives amid a catastrophic nightmare.

Dante's Peak

1997

The November Man poster
6.1

An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.

The November Man

2014

Species poster
6.0

In 1993, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence Project receives a transmission detailing an alien DNA structure, along with instructions on how to splice it with human DNA. The result is Sil, a sensual but deadly creature who can change from a beautiful woman to an armour-plated killing machine in the blink of an eye.

Species

1995

No Way Out poster
6.8

Navy Lt. Tom Farrell meets a young woman, Susan Atwell, and they share a passionate fling. Farrell then finds out that his superior, Defense Secretary David Brice, is also romantically involved with Atwell. When the young woman turns up dead, Farrell is put in charge of the murder investigation. He begins to uncover shocking clues about the case, but when details of his encounter with Susan surface, he becomes a suspect as well.

No Way Out

1987

Cadillac Man poster
5.8

Joe's a car salesman with a problem—he has two days to sell 12 cars or he loses his job. This would be a difficult task at the best of times but Joe has to contend with his girlfriends (he's two-timing), a missing teenage daughter and an ex-wife.

Cadillac Man

1990

Cadillac Man poster
5.8

Joe's a car salesman with a problem—he has two days to sell 12 cars or he loses his job. This would be a difficult task at the best of times but Joe has to contend with his girlfriends (he's two-timing), a missing teenage daughter and an ex-wife.

Cadillac Man

1990

The World's Fastest Indian poster
7.7

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

The World's Fastest Indian

2005

The World's Fastest Indian poster
7.7

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

The World's Fastest Indian

2005

The World's Fastest Indian poster
7.7

The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle—a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

The World's Fastest Indian

2005

Cocktail poster
6.1

After being discharged from the Army, Brian Flanagan moves back to Queens and takes a job in a bar run by Doug Coughlin, who teaches Brian the fine art of bar-tending. Brian quickly becomes a patron favorite with his flashy drink-mixing style, and Brian adopts his mentor's cynical philosophy on life and goes for the money.

Cocktail

1988

The Getaway poster
5.8

An ex-con and his devoted wife must flee from danger when a heist doesn't go as planned.

The Getaway

1994

The Recruit poster
6.4

A brilliant CIA trainee must prove his worth at the Farm, the agency's secret training grounds, where he learns to watch his back and trust no one.

The Recruit

2003

The Bounty poster
6.8

An idyllic voyage to Tahiti in 1789 turns a crew aboard the H.M.S. Bounty against its captain when they find a tropical paradise.

The Bounty

1984

Seeking Justice poster
5.9

After his wife is assaulted, a husband enlists the services of a vigilante group to help him settle the score.

Seeking Justice

2011

Thirteen Days poster
7.0

The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962—the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missile bases established on the Soviet-allied island of Cuba.

Thirteen Days

2000

White Sands poster
5.9

A small southwestern town sheriff finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000. He impersonates the man and stumbles into an FBI investigation.

White Sands

1992

McLaren poster
7.4

The story of New Zealander Bruce McLaren, who founded the McLaren Motor Racing team, showing the world that a man of humble beginnings could take on the elite of motor racing and win.

McLaren

2016

No artwork available
10.0

A Hollywood stuntman leaves the movie business and heads to New Zealand after a tragic accident on a film set results in a co-worker's death.

Fearless

1999

Marie: A True Story poster
5.8

In 1978 Tennessee, a single mother and political appointee risks her career and her life to blow the whistle on rampant corruption in the penal system.

Marie: A True Story

1985

Sleeping Dogs poster
5.6

Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.

Sleeping Dogs

1978

Sleeping Dogs poster
5.6

Recluse Smith is drawn into a revolutionary struggle between guerrillas and right-wingers in New Zealand. Implicated in a murder and framed as a revolutionary conspirator, Smith tries to maintain an attitude of non-violence while caught between warring factions.

Sleeping Dogs

1978

Smash Palace poster
6.3

Al Shaw's life revolves around motor racing and his back country junkyard, the "Smash Palace". His French wife, Jacqui, doesn't appreciate the lack of attention due to Al's obsession with cars. When Al finds her in the arms of another man, he takes his daughter, Georgie and heads for the bush, desperately hoping to hold on to the only family he has left.

Smash Palace

1981

Smash Palace poster
6.3

Al Shaw's life revolves around motor racing and his back country junkyard, the "Smash Palace". His French wife, Jacqui, doesn't appreciate the lack of attention due to Al's obsession with cars. When Al finds her in the arms of another man, he takes his daughter, Georgie and heads for the bush, desperately hoping to hold on to the only family he has left.

Smash Palace

1981