{"id":35436,"date":"2021-07-07T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=35436"},"modified":"2021-07-07T08:00:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T12:00:17","slug":"richard-donner-1930-2021-my-top-five-films-from-the-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/07\/richard-donner-1930-2021-my-top-five-films-from-the-director\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Donner (1930-2021): My Top Five Films from the Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Richard Donner was one of the great action directors, a man who could tackle almost any movie and add his own distinct flavor to it. Although mostly a film titan in the eighties, Donner continued a long and illustrious career directing genre films well in to his eighties and left behind a humongous legacy of iconic films, hit films, and films that will live on for many, many years in the hearts of movie buffs everywhere.<\/p>\n

In remembrance of the cinematic titan, I thought I\u2019d list my five favorite films from his humongous oeuvre.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite Richard Donner films? Let us know in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Maverick (1994)
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m not exactly the biggest fan of the original series, but the cinematic adaptation teams Donner with Mel Gibson again for a wry, entertaining and unique Western comedy. Gibson is on full display playing the charismatic Bret Maverick, and stars alongside Jodie Foster, Alfred Molina, James Coburn and Geoffrey Lewis, among just a few. I\u2019d be remiss if I didn\u2019t mention James Garner who returns to the series one more time, playing beautifully off of Gibson.<\/p>\n

Scrooged (1988)<\/strong>
\nDonner\u2019s twisted take on the Dickens novel is a comedy classic that\u2019s also a childhood favorite. It was on constant repeat on HBO back in to the old days of cable television and I must have seen this movie thirty times. Filled with a brilliant ensemble cast, and a show stopping performance from Bill Murray, \u201cScrooged\u201d is a celebrated classic that has yet to be paralleled by any other new take on the classic Christmas story.<\/p>\n

The Omen (1976)<\/strong>
\nInitially written off as a knock off attempting to cash in on the success of \u201cThe Exorcist,\u201d Donner\u2019s \u201cThe Omen<\/a>\u201d is a masterful horror thriller that\u2019s managed to stand on its own legs since its release. The tale of a seemingly innocent young boy named Damien who wields immense power is a compelling mystery that involves jackals, hideous murders, the iconic 666 reveal, and great performances by Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, and David Warner respectively.<\/p>\n

Lethal Weapon (1987)<\/strong>
\nArguably the most iconic and celebrated action movie of the eighties, Richard Donner brought to us a charismatic, exciting and dynamite buddy cop movie that would be imitated for years. Pairing young break out star Mel Gibson with veteran Danny Glover is a masterstroke as they must learn to depend on one another while facing off against a vicious group of rogue mercenaries that threaten their families. It\u2019s maintained so much of its luster since its release, and is infinitely rewatchable.<\/p>\n

Superman: The Movie (1978)<\/strong>
\nProbably my favorite comic book movie and superhero movie of all time, \u201cSuperman: The Movie<\/a>\u201d made us believe a man could fly. As a hardcore Superman geek, it\u2019s no surprise that Donner\u2019s collaboration with Mario Puzo, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, and Christopher Reeve, respectively, was a masterwork. The film brought us one of the most widely accepted new takes on Superman\u2019s origin, embracing the inherent light hearted nature of the character, while also depicting him as a complex being with a \u00a0heavy burden on his shoulders. This is a wonderful film and my favorite from Donner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Donner was one of the great action directors, a man who could tackle almost any movie and add his own distinct flavor to it. Although mostly a film titan in the eighties, Donner continued a long and illustrious career directing genre films well in to his eighties and left behind a humongous legacy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[58,64,136,200,219,906,1007,1185],"class_list":["post-35436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-list-junkies","tag-action","tag-adaptation","tag-bill-murray","tag-christmas","tag-comedy","tag-science-fiction","tag-superman","tag-western"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35436"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35438,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35436\/revisions\/35438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}