
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
8.3At 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
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
6.6Agent 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
6.8A 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
7.4When 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
6.2A 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
2010s · 5 titles
7.0The history of the peplum genre, known as sword-and-sandal cinema, set in Antiquity, from the silent film era to the present day.
Sword-and-Sandal: The Story of the Period Epic
2019
7.1The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.
Milius
2013
7.3Steven Spielberg takes us behind the cameras for the making of a classic movie.
Jaws: The Inside Story
2010
8.5The story of Conan the Cimmerian, from Robert E. Howard's pulp fiction anti-hero to pop culture icon.
A Riddle of Steel: The Definitive History of Conan the Barbarian
2019
NRDocumentary about Raoul Walsh
Made in Hollywood: Die Welt des Raoul Walsh
2017
2000s · 21 titles
7.6Riding 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
7.1The 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
6.0A look at the cinematographers, editors, musicians, production designers and other talent of the Dirty Harry series.
The Craft of Dirty Harry
2008
4.5Filmmakers, 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
7.4An 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
6.8Nearly 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
8.0An unflinching look at the ongoing debate on violence in movies and its effect on the audience.
The Business End: Violence in Cinema
2008
6.4This 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
7.0Follow Eastwood's career from television star to matinee idol to Oscar-winning director in this wide-ranging documentary.
The Evolution of Clint Eastwood
2008
7.5Second 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
7.3A retrospective look at the five Dirty Harry films (1971-88), starring Clint Eastwood.
Dirty Harry: The Original
2001
5.8An 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
6.6A 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
6.8First 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
6.3Third 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
NRThree directors (Curtis Hanson, Martin Scorsese and John Milius) discuss the movie "The Searchers."
The Searchers: An Appreciation
2006
7.6A 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
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
NRBETWEEN 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
Documentary about American gangster movies.
Hollywood Gangster
2008
8.5Filmmaker 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
7.9A 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
8.0BBC documentary about the making of Steven Spielberg's Jaws.
In the Teeth of Jaws
1997
7.0Before "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
6.7A 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
7.5John Milius narrates this featurette on the Clint Eastwood classic.
Hell Hath No Fury: The Making of The Outlaw Josey Wales
1999
9.0Documentary 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
6.8A 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
7.0First 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
NRThis 1986 documentary features interviews with director Alexander Mackendrick, actor Burt Lancaster, producer James Hill, and others.
Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away
1986
1970s · 3 titles
5.6Melba Stokes, her mother Sheba and daughter Cheryl embark on a crime spree after their California beauty parlor is repossessed. Their destination is Arkansas, where the three generations of women want to reclaim the family farm.
Crazy Mama
1975
6.2A long-distance trucker, dressed like a sea captain, aimlessly sails the American highways in his 18 wheeler mumbling manic, southern accented non sequiturs; carnivalizing roadside stops and happenstance towns while out-weirding cops and weigh stations with his new cryptic, over-coated hitchhiker buddy.
Deadhead Miles
1972
A chronicle of the 1975 International Press Conclave hosted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer over two days in May 1975.
The Lion Roars Again
1975
Behind the camera
8.3At 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
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
6.6Agent 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
6.8A 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
6.8A 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
7.4When 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
6.2A group of Vietnam War veterans re-unite to rescue one of their own left behind and taken prisoner by the Vietnamese.
Uncommon Valor
1983
6.5At 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
6.5At 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
6.3It 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
6.3It 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
7.3While 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
6.3The 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
5.8U.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
6.9Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.
Big Wednesday
1978
6.9Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.
Big Wednesday
1978
6.5Outlaw 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
6.0An 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
6.0An 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
6.6After 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
6.6After 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
4.9Biography 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
5.2The 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
5.2On 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
7.0Comments 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
8.0Marcello, 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
8.0Follows the rise and fall of rebel leader in a post-apocalyptic world.
The Reversal of Richard Sun
1970
