John Milius

Writing

John Milius

Born

1944-04-11 (82)

Place of birth

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

66 titles

John Frederick Milius is an American filmmaker. He was one of the writers for the first two Dirty Harry films, received an Academy Award nomination as screenwriter of Apocalypse Now, and wrote and directed The Wind and the Lion, Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn. He wrote a number of iconic film lines such as "Charlie don't surf" and "I love the smell of napalm in the morning," from Apocalypse Now, and the famous Dirty Harry one-liners delivered by Clint Eastwood, including "Go ahead, make my day" and "Ask yourself one question, 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?". Milius also wrote the USS Indianapolis monologue in the film Jaws; the sequence performed by Robert Shaw. After his work on…

Known for

Apocalypse Now poster
8.3

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

Apocalypse Now

1979

Magnum Force poster
7.1

"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.

Magnum Force

1973

Clear and Present Danger poster
6.6

Agent Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA when Admiral Greer is diagnosed with cancer. When an American businessman, and friend of the president, is murdered on his yacht, Ryan starts discovering links between the man and drug dealers. As former CIA agent John Clark is sent to Colombia to kill drug cartel kingpins in retaliation, Ryan must fight through multiple cover-ups to figure out what happened and who's responsible.

Clear and Present Danger

1994

Conan the Barbarian poster
6.8

A horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom, the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria and Subotai. The group comes upon King Osric, who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.

Conan the Barbarian

1982

Dirty Harry poster
7.4

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

Dirty Harry

1971

Uncommon Valor poster
6.2

A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.

Uncommon Valor

1983

Film credits

2000s · 21 titles

Riding Giants poster
7.6

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

Riding Giants

2004

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood poster
7.1

The chronicle of the mind-blowing journey that was Hollywood during the seventies; the true and gripping story of the last golden age of American cinema, an exalted celebration of creativity and experimentation; but also of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll: a turbulent and dark tale of ambition, envy, betrayal, hatred and self-destruction.

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

2003

The Craft of Dirty Harry poster
6.0

A look at the cinematographers, editors, musicians, production designers and other talent of the Dirty Harry series.

The Craft of Dirty Harry

2008

A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry poster
4.5

Filmmakers, social scientists and authors take a provocative look at the moral, political and ethical themes of the Dirty Harry films.

A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry

2008

Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' poster
7.4

An overview of the making of John Huston's 1948 classic "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre."

Discovering Treasure: The Story of 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

2003

Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan' poster
6.8

Nearly all the cast and crew are on hand to give stories and memories about the making of the film. Plenty of detail on every aspect of the film from pre-production to opening night is covered.

Conan Unchained: The Making of 'Conan'

2000

The Business End: Violence in Cinema poster
8.0

An unflinching look at the ongoing debate on violence in movies and its effect on the audience.

The Business End: Violence in Cinema

2008

Iron and Beyond poster
6.4

This short documentary explores just how the film Pumping Iron revolutionized the fitness industry and created an international icon in Arnold Schwarzenegger. It also touches on what Hollywood's idea of an action star was and is.

Iron and Beyond

2002

The Evolution of Clint Eastwood poster
7.0

Follow Eastwood's career from television star to matinee idol to Oscar-winning director in this wide-ranging documentary.

The Evolution of Clint Eastwood

2008

The Wages of Sin poster
7.5

Second part of a three-part documentary series on the making of Once Upon a Time in the West, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's masterpiece, released in 1968. (Preceded by An Opera of Violence; followed by Something to Do With Death.)

The Wages of Sin

2003

Dirty Harry: The Original poster
7.3

A retrospective look at the five Dirty Harry films (1971-88), starring Clint Eastwood.

Dirty Harry: The Original

2001

The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry poster
5.8

An in-depth look at Dirty Harry (1971), featuring interviews with such film artists as Michael Madsen, 'Hal Holbrook', John Milius, 'Shane Black' and John Badham.

The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry

2008

Frazetta: Painting with Fire poster
6.6

A documentary on the life of painter Frank Frazetta, who revolutionized science fiction, fantasy and comic art with breathtaking realistic paintings of fantastic heroes, most famously Conan the Barbarian.

Frazetta: Painting with Fire

2003

An Opera of Violence poster
6.8

First part of a three-part documentary series on the making of Once Upon a Time in the West, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's masterpiece, released in 1968. (Followed by The Wages of Sin.)

An Opera of Violence

2003

Something to Do with Death poster
6.3

Third part of a three-part documentary series on the making of Once Upon a Time in the West, Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone's masterpiece, released in 1968. (Preceded by The Wages of Sin.)

Something to Do with Death

2003

The Searchers: An Appreciation poster
NR

Three directors (Curtis Hanson, Martin Scorsese and John Milius) discuss the movie "The Searchers."

The Searchers: An Appreciation

2006

A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope poster
7.6

A fascinating chronicle of the birth and rise of the radically different independent studio founded by director Francis Ford Coppola.

A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope

2004

No artwork available
6.3

Documentary about legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis who's credits range from Fellini's La Strada to today's Hannibal franchise. This profile follows octogenarian De Laurentiis in Hollywood and returning to Rome to set up a new film.

Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul

2001

Between the Lines: The True Story of Surfers and the Vietnam War poster
NR

BETWEEN THE LINES explores the Vietnam War through the prism of the surfing sub-culture. The film looks at the dramatic effect that the Vietnam War and draft had on young American men who rode waves. Narrated by John Milius, Between the Lines explores the choice that most draft age surfers faced during the Vietnam War era: either go to war or evade the draft. It was one or the other. Between the Lines delves into the lives of two surfers who choose opposite paths. Pat Farley and Brant Page. While following the lives of these two surfers the film chronicles the impact of the Vietnam War on the surfing lifestyle. From the peaceful shores of Hawaii to the canopy jungles of Vietnam, Between the Lines excavates the surfing cultures response to an extraordinary circumstance.

Between the Lines: The True Story of Surfers and the Vietnam War

2008

No artwork available
NR

Documentary about American gangster movies.

Hollywood Gangster

2008

The Bridge on the River Kwai: An Appreciation by Filmmaker John Milius poster
8.5

Filmmaker John Milius discusses David Lean's classic Academy Award winner "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

The Bridge on the River Kwai: An Appreciation by Filmmaker John Milius

2000

1990s · 6 titles

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse poster
7.9

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse

1991

In the Teeth of Jaws poster
8.0

BBC documentary about the making of Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

In the Teeth of Jaws

1997

Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A. poster
7.0

Before "L.A. Confidential", there was "Shotgun Freeway" -- the groundbreaking 1995 documentary about Los Angeles coming to grips with it's own history. Against a backdrop of never-before-seen archival footage, Shotgun Freeway presents a diverse group of "Angelinos" who guide the film through their own past as well as the city's. We get crime scribe James Ellroy reliving his youth as a burglar, Actor/writer Buck Henry's tour of Hollywood fakery, Jazzman Buddy Collette's trip down Central Avenue, Historian Mike Davis' tour of LA's eventual Armageddon, and writer Joan Didion's take on LA's own ephemerality. From the Beaches to the Valley, "Shotgun Freeway" will show you a Los Angeles you never knew existed.

Shotgun Freeway: Drives Through Lost L.A.

1995

The Making of '1941' poster
6.7

A non-narrated documentary, told mainly in interviews with the filmmakers, on the making of the cult comedy classic, featuring outtakes, rare behind-the-scenes home movies, and trivia facts.

The Making of '1941'

1996

Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales poster
7.5

John Milius narrates this featurette on the Clint Eastwood classic.

Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales

1999

A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and 'The Searchers' poster
9.0

Documentary on the making of "The Searchers" (1956), starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford, with outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with many of the surviving cast and crew.

A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and 'The Searchers'

1998

1980s · 3 titles

Conan the Barbarian poster
6.8

A horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom, the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria and Subotai. The group comes upon King Osric, who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.

Conan the Barbarian

1982

First Works poster
7.0

First Works is an exciting collection of uncensored interviews with this generation's most successful filmmakers. Academy Award winners Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), Oliver Stone (Born On The Fourth Of July), and Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) reveal their major influences, inspirations, and thoughts on the process of making movies. Featured clips include footage of award-winning student films and from blockbuster hits such as Platoon and Lethal Weapon. Golden Globes and Oscar nominee Martin Scorsese on religion, and Susan Seidelman, director of Sex And The City bridges the gender gap. Find out how past experiences, triumphs, and tragedies shape the work of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood.

First Works

1989

Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away poster
NR

This 1986 documentary features interviews with director Alexander Mackendrick, actor Burt Lancaster, producer James Hill, and others.

Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away

1986

Behind the camera

Apocalypse Now poster
8.3

At the height of the Vietnam war, Captain Benjamin Willard is sent on a dangerous mission that, officially, "does not exist, nor will it ever exist." His goal is to locate - and eliminate - a mysterious Green Beret Colonel named Walter Kurtz, who has been leading his personal army on illegal guerrilla missions into enemy territory.

Apocalypse Now

1979

Magnum Force poster
7.1

"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.

Magnum Force

1973

Clear and Present Danger poster
6.6

Agent Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA when Admiral Greer is diagnosed with cancer. When an American businessman, and friend of the president, is murdered on his yacht, Ryan starts discovering links between the man and drug dealers. As former CIA agent John Clark is sent to Colombia to kill drug cartel kingpins in retaliation, Ryan must fight through multiple cover-ups to figure out what happened and who's responsible.

Clear and Present Danger

1994

Conan the Barbarian poster
6.8

A horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom, the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria and Subotai. The group comes upon King Osric, who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.

Conan the Barbarian

1982

Conan the Barbarian poster
6.8

A horde of rampaging warriors massacre the parents of young Conan and enslave the young child for years on The Wheel of Pain. As the sole survivor of the childhood massacre, Conan is released from slavery and taught the ancient arts of fighting. Transforming himself into a killing machine, Conan travels into the wilderness to seek vengeance on Thulsa Doom, the man responsible for killing his family. In the wilderness, Conan takes up with the thieves Valeria and Subotai. The group comes upon King Osric, who wants the trio of warriors to help rescue his daughter who has joined Doom in the hills.

Conan the Barbarian

1982

Dirty Harry poster
7.4

When a madman dubbed 'Scorpio' terrorizes San Francisco, hard-nosed cop, Harry Callahan – famous for his take-no-prisoners approach to law enforcement – is tasked with hunting down the psychopath.

Dirty Harry

1971

Uncommon Valor poster
6.2

A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.

Uncommon Valor

1983

The Wind and the Lion poster
6.5

At the beginning of the 20th century an American woman is abducted in Morocco by Berbers, and the attempts to free her range from diplomatic pressure to military intervention.

The Wind and the Lion

1975

The Wind and the Lion poster
6.5

At the beginning of the 20th century an American woman is abducted in Morocco by Berbers, and the attempts to free her range from diplomatic pressure to military intervention.

The Wind and the Lion

1975

Red Dawn poster
6.3

It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town—and their country—from invading Soviet forces.

Red Dawn

1984

Red Dawn poster
6.3

It is the dawn of World War III. In mid-western America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town—and their country—from invading Soviet forces.

Red Dawn

1984

Jeremiah Johnson poster
7.3

While slowly adapting to the grueling life of a mountain man in the Rocky Mountains, Jeremiah Johnson encounters the Crow and Flathead tribes as well as hunters, trappers and settlers, all of whom call these mountains home.

Jeremiah Johnson

1972

Geronimo: An American Legend poster
6.3

The Apache Indians have reluctantly agreed to settle on a US Government approved reservation. Not all the Apaches are able to adapt to the life of corn farmers. One in particular, Geronimo, is restless. Pushed over the edge by broken promises and necessary actions by the government, Geronimo and thirty or so other warriors form an attack team which humiliates the government by evading capture, while reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.

Geronimo: An American Legend

1993

Flight of the Intruder poster
5.8

U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Jake Grafton and his bombardier buddy, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil Cole, are two soldiers embedded in the Vietnam War growing frustrated by the military's constraints on their missions. Despite the best efforts of their commanding officer, Cmdr. Frank Camparelli, to re-engage them, this disillusioned pair decide to take the war effort into their own hands with an explosive battle plan that could well get them court-martialed.

Flight of the Intruder

1991

Big Wednesday poster
6.9

Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.

Big Wednesday

1978

Big Wednesday poster
6.9

Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.

Big Wednesday

1978

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean poster
6.5

Outlaw and self-appointed lawmaker Judge Roy Bean rules over an empty stretch of the West that gradually grows, under his iron fist, into a thriving town, while dispensing his his own quirky brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by.

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

1972

Farewell to the King poster
6.0

An American soldier who escapes the execution of his comrades by Japanese soldiers in Borneo during WWII becomes the leader of a personal empire among the headhunters in this war story told in the style of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. The American is reluctant to rejoin the fight against the Japanese on the urging of a British commando team but conducts a war of vengeance when the Japanese attack his adopted people.

Farewell to the King

1989

Farewell to the King poster
6.0

An American soldier who escapes the execution of his comrades by Japanese soldiers in Borneo during WWII becomes the leader of a personal empire among the headhunters in this war story told in the style of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. The American is reluctant to rejoin the fight against the Japanese on the urging of a British commando team but conducts a war of vengeance when the Japanese attack his adopted people.

Farewell to the King

1989

Dillinger poster
6.6

After a shoot-out kills five FBI agents in Kansas City the Bureau target John Dillinger as one of the men to hunt down. Waiting for him to break Federal law they sort out several other mobsters, while Dillinger's bank robbing exploits make him something of a folk hero. Escaping from jail he finds Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson have joined the gang and pretty soon he is Public Enemy Number One. Now the G-men really are after him.

Dillinger

1973

Dillinger poster
6.6

After a shoot-out kills five FBI agents in Kansas City the Bureau target John Dillinger as one of the men to hunt down. Waiting for him to break Federal law they sort out several other mobsters, while Dillinger's bank robbing exploits make him something of a folk hero. Escaping from jail he finds Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson have joined the gang and pretty soon he is Public Enemy Number One. Now the G-men really are after him.

Dillinger

1973

Evel Knievel poster
4.9

Biography of the famed motorcycle daredevil, much of which was filmed in his home town of Butte, Montana. The film depicts Knievel reflecting on major events in his life just before a big jump.

Evel Knievel

1971

The Devil's Eight poster
5.2

The Devil's 8 is a 1969 film from American International Pictures. It is about a Federal agent (Christopher George) who recruits six convicts to bust a moonshine ring.

The Devil's Eight

1969

Motorcycle Gang poster
5.2

On their way to California, the biggest decision Leann Morris and her family have to make is where to stop and sightsee. But their ill-fated fortune brings them face-to-face with a ruthless motorcycle gang and its rebellious but irresistible leader Jake. From there, Leann's trip turns into a wild journey down a dangerous road as Jake acts on his attraction and kidnaps her.

Motorcycle Gang

1994

The Emperor poster
7.0

Comments on the background and popularity of disc jockey "Emperor" Bob Hudson, who bases his shows on the idea that radio is a fantasy.

The Emperor

1967

Marcello, I'm Bored poster
8.0

Marcello, I'm So Bored is a 1966 short animated film co-directed by John Milius and John Strawbridge. An intentionally crude cartoon with a live action epilogue in which Milius appears with Gayle Hunnicutt. The film was made when Milius was a student at the University of Southern California and was a parody of Italian cinema. The film was edited by George Lucas. Milius' first film is important because it was the beginning point for his contribution of a style emphasizing depth and meaning in American popular films.

Marcello, I'm Bored

1973

The Reversal of Richard Sun poster
8.0

Follows the rise and fall of rebel leader in a post-apocalyptic world.

The Reversal of Richard Sun

1970