Milius

This documentary is about a Hollywood legend who deliberately cultured an anarchistic and ultra-macho persona—one that irritated the life out of many of the politically correct in Hollywood. However, for some time, the film industry had to put up with John Milius' strangeness because the man was extremely successful. With films like "Dirty Harry", "Magnum Force", "The Wind and the Lion" and "Apocalypse Now" to his writing credits, he was greatly in demand and was friends with the biggest names in Hollywood—like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. However, in recent years, Milius' output on the screen has dropped considerably and the prestige of his projects has dropped. And, in the last few years, his output has dropped to nothing. What happened? What led to this fall?

The film begins with a very brief discussion of Milius' childhood but spends most of the early part of the film talking about his time in film school—where he attended classes with the two men mentioned above as well as a few other future filmmakers. It then proceeds to discuss his projects chronologically—and pays special attention to his most successful and critically acclaimed pictures. Additionally, I noticed that Milius' IMDb credits actually are missing much of his work, as he was apparently the go-to man when producers needed re-writes or wanted to punch up scenes—such as when he contributed some dialog for the films "Jaws" and "The Hunt for Red October". His track record during this time was pretty amazing. But as I mentioned above, there was a fall—but I really don't want to say more, as it would spoil the film.

The best thing going for this film is how much many ultra-famous people love and respect Milius. Because of this, TONS of exceptionally big names contribute to the film—such as Clint Eastwood, Sam Elliott, Oliver Stone (who didn't seem to like him but respected his abilities), Francis Ford Coppola, Richard Dreyfus, Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many, many more. Even a bad documentary would be great and well worth seeing with these folks appearing in it!! And, fortunately, this is NOT a bad film at all. It is a loving portrait of a strange and deliberately out of sync man. Think about it—in the bastion of liberal thinking, Hollywood, Milius was serving as an officer for the NRA and would carry guns about him to meetings with studio execs!! I admire someone who deliberately tweaks the noses of those around them, as provocateurs make like a lot more interesting!

Additionally, the film is well-constructed, filled with wonderful clips and archival footage, is fascinating and you cannot help but gain an appreciation for this very odd man. Well worth seeing—especially for anyone who wants to be somebody in the film business.

Milius (2013)

**** (out of 4)

Wonderful, all-star tribute to writer-director John Milius who is best remembered for the screenplay to countless classics including DIRTY HARRY, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, THE WIND AND THE LION, APOCALYPSE NOW, CONAN THE BARBARIAN and RED DAWN. This documentary traces his early days at USC and how he started working at AIP before moving onto some of the biggest pictures of the 70s and 80s. This documentary covers the wild stories behind the man and how eventually all of his politics became too much and he was pretty much thrown out of Hollywood. Directors Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson do a marvelous job at telling this story and much like the subject, they don't shy away from telling the truth about Milius. They don't shy away from some of his outrageous antics and they also aren't afraid to ask a pretty basic question about why such a talent just isn't being used as much. The film contains a terrific line up of people being interviewed including the likes of Scorsese, Spielberg, Coppola, Schrader, Stone, Lucas, Dreyfuss, Sam Elliott, Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Ed O'Neil, Stallone, Schwarzenegger and countless others. It's obvious that all of these people hold the subject in high esteem and after watching this documentary I'm sure you will do. The documentary tells a great story and the way it's constructed is another major plus. The interviews are all terrific but we also get plenty of wonderful clips from the movies themselves. There's no doubt that after watching this thing you're going to want to go out and see the movies.

I just caught this on cable yesterday,I had seen the trailer last year and jumped at the chance to watch the movie,and I was not disappointed. I saw Conan in '82 and it just blew me away,I was 18 but I knew I was watching something different,this was not the usual fare,there was a philosophy present,it was wonderful. Back then info on writers and filmmakers was tougher to find but eventually I found out about Apocalypse Now which I had seen 3 years earlier,Jaws and Dirty Harry,all done by he same guy,I was a fan but didn't even know it! The movie covers his whole career,his friends like Lucas and Spielberg deliver very insightful interviews which endear me to the man even more,despite him holding many political views the very opposite of mine. But it is his towering talent,his passion and integrity which really shine through,the filmmakers did a fantastic job of getting to the heart of the man,and I found it truly inspiring and eventually moving. I cannot recommend the movie highly enough,anyone with a love of cinema owes it to themselves to seek this flick out,it's really one of the best I have ever seen on a film maker,full of life,passion and fire,just like Milius himself.

This documentary film is great. Even if you have no interest in the subject or filmmaking or Hollywood or any of it. Why? Because it tells first and foremost the story of a man, who is bigger than life. And it does with interviews and clips, but there is something more this film does. Every once in a while when someone is telling an anecdote the movie will recreate the scene using pictures and photo-collages. It is great, it is very well done and it gives the film a very dynamic feel. And I loved it. Of course, the documentary is well done overall. There is a lot of information presented here, as they go through Milius' whole life. Yet, it was never confusing or jumbled. The movie acts as a biographical film of sorts, and it gives a clear picture of who this guy was, even if some mystery remains. Not only that, but the documentary chronicles very well the culture and the environment from which the likes of Milius' emerged. The sixties, the counter-revolution and all that stuff. How did the Hollywood system operate and how it changed. It is not in focus, but it is present. For instance when they address Milius' politics and how it played with his industry reputation.

In a sense this documentary is the ultimate boomer chronicle. It shows how these guys that smoked weed and partied and were outcasts so to speak, later not only bent the establishment to their knees, but then became the establishment itself. It is the timeless story of how baby-boomer spent their youth and ideals fighting The Man, only to discover they became The Man. But that is just my commentary; the movie does not address this through that angle given that Milius remained somewhat on the fringes (or alternatively at the avant-garde).

Of course, Milius got scammed and lost all his money, but you can see on the margins that his influence (and most importantly his friends in high places) remained untouched. On the other hand, it is interesting to see that even at the top you have to balance artistic integrity and financial success. And maybe Milius was not as successful precisely because he was bolder and more radical in his expression. But you do get the feeling that despite all his fault he was a sincere artist.

This documentary film is important because it adresses a pivotal moment in Western culture, that gave birth to New Hollywood and furthermore the type of movies being made, and ultimately consumed. And Milius was always at the center of it.

I didn't know too much about John Milius before I sat down to watch this documentary, other than that he scripted some great movies and was responsible for one of my favourite fantasy flicks, CONAN THE BARBARIAN. So this was an eye-opening journey for me, and one which was a lot of fun. It's a documentary mainly comprised of talking head footage which looks at Milius's career in Hollywood, his rise, fame, and eventual downfall, in a snappy and amusing way. The requisite clips from his films play out and although familiar they don't lose their charm.

My only real problem with this film was that some of the animated linking scenes were pretty silly but that's a very minor niggle. The sheer breadth and wealth of Hollywood talent that has been assembled here is impressive in itself, with Spielberg and Lucas nestling alongside George Hamilton and Schwarzenegger. A lot of them have very interesting anecdotes to share, anecdotes which when put together build up a good portrait of the maverick that is Milius. While he might not be quite the legend that the filmmakers seem to believe, this is still highly watchable viewing.