Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

connorbbalboa When people usually think about the filmmakers of New Hollywood, the first name that comes to mind certainly isn't John Milius. The most commonly remembered names of that period are "The Big Four:" Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, and Scorsese. Even Brian De Palma may come to mind. But almost nobody thinks of Milius. Which is a shame, because he seems to be one helluva talent.This documentary covers most aspects of John Milius's life from his childhood to his stroke and continuing recovery (at that time). His whole career from his writing efforts to his few directorial projects have quite a bit of focus as well. He is probably best known as one of the screenwriters for Apocalypse Now, for which he got an Oscar nomination. Some may not even realize that he helped come up with dialogue like Dirty Harry's "'Do I feel lucky'" speech, or the Indianapolis monologue in Jaws. To know that he did both is bound to increase one's respect for his talent. What makes this documentary even more fun is that it feels like quite the party with all sorts of directors who knew him and were inspired by him participating, as well as many famous actors. I mean, you have guys like Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Arnie, Stallone, and Harrison Ford all giving their thoughts on the man. And I'm just getting warmed up. You hardly ever see this much major talent participating in a documentary like this. It makes you feel like you're a new friend to all these guys and by the end, you really feel like their buddy.Prior to this documentary, I've only seen one Milius film: Conan the Barbarian (1982), and it's a film I've loved more over time. Now that I've seen this documentary, I want to seek out more of his work, since he has specialized in big budget epics and one of the most common things that the interviewees in this documentary have cited him for is the way he writes dialogue. Knowing now about his efforts on Dirty Harry and Jaws, as well as Apocalypse Now, I believe it. Milius may not have a personality that is comfortable with everyone: George Lucas remembers a story of how Milius punched his film professor, he's been accused of being right-wing in a system that veers more towards the left, he's pro-war, and he seemed to love pushing people's buttons, but the more you understand Milius, the more you respect him. I may not agree with everything he believes in, but I won't deny what he's contributed to the film industry.Before Milius suffered his stroke, he was working on a movie based on the life of Genghis Khan. However, it's been a while and the project doesn't seem to be reaching the daylight. Given how much work he put into Conan, a similar film, I hope that he can still make the film, given how much he seems to believe in it. You can do it, John. I know you can.

Michael_Elliott 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.

karmaswimswami "Milius" admirably susses out the life and essence of director, writer and movie maven John Milius, and does so without resorting to hagiography or caricature. Milius the man and the notion put the hook in me, to use his own expression, with his script for "Apocalypse Now" from 1979. He is a master of the outsize soliloquy that is relevant, indelible, written in urgent flaming large font, and always delivered with a sub rosa wink and nod. Milius in life is as bombastic, vexing and complex as his characters, and labels, slogans, and cliché cannot describe him. The filmmakers here do an exceptional job of getting past hype and drama to really figure out what makes Milius tick (or tock, as the case often is). One wishes Coppola in this film were more forthcoming with what must surely be deep insights into Milius he possesses, but aside from this dry spot, "Milius" is a nicely-woven film and warrants a watch.

Christopher Smith To casual moviegoers, the name John Milius is probably not one that is instantly recognizable. Although he worked steadily throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the director never achieved the marquee name status of his contemporaries like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese. However, to huge film buffs, Milius has long been seen as an underrated and, in some genres, iconic auteur responsible for having a hand, either as a screenwriter or director, in creating some of the greatest films action ever made. MILIUS, the new documentary by Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson, aims to give Milius his due and shine a light on the filmmaker's life and contributions to cinema.Perhaps the most immediately striking aspect of MILIUS is just how many of Milius' famous fellow filmmakers Figuerora and Knutson were able to get together for interviews. The list of famous directors who serve as talking heads here is simply staggering: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and Oliver Stone are only a few of the names that appear to pay tribute to their old friend. In a lesser documentary, these men would simply show up, say a few brief general sound bites about the nature of the film industry, and the result would be a minute or two of screen time for the sake of having household names in the film. This is not the case with MILIUS as everyone interviewed seems to genuinely care and have great interest in both the documentary's subject as both a filmmaker and as a man. Nobody appears bored or uninvolved at any point. And in an industry where some directors wants to take credit for everything, it's refreshing to see these filmmakers share stories of how valuable Milius was on films that they directed that could therefore be seen as "their films." In particular, Coppola comes across as greatly appreciative for having Milius as a co-writer on APOLCALYPSE NOW, and Spielberg smiles with glee as he retells the story of how Milius wrote a famous monologue from JAWS. It is in these scenes that Figueroa and Knutson do a fantastic job of highlighting Milius' great, although often uncredited or ignored, work as a screenwriter. As screen writing in general is a subject that is often either overshadowed or minimized by the subject of directing in documentaries, this is by far one of the most engaging and interesting sections of the film.Because Figueroa and Knutson do such an incredible job covering Milius' screen writing career, it's disappointing that some of the movies he directed are discussed less than they should be. In terms of box office and cultural impact, Milius' 1982 adaptation of Conan the Barbarian is his best commercially successful movie, so it's a bit strange that the segment on that movie only lasts about five minutes. It's almost like the segment is in there for obligatory reasons from the way it seems glossed over in some respects. Arnold Schwarzenegger shows up to discuss how the character of Conan impacted his career and it's hinted at why Milius didn't return to the franchise, but there is much more that could have been said about the film that is considered by many to be a classic. Still, what is featured in the segment in regards to behind-the-scenes footage and production stills is informative and entertaining.As MILIUS reaches its conclusion, the last twenty-five years or so of Milius' career are somewhat skimmed over, partly due to the fact that Milius hasn't been given as many career opportunities as he once had, but mainly because the filmmakers have a much more important topic to discuss: the stroke that left Milius suffered a few years ago. The details regarding the aftermath of his stroke are filled in by Milius' children and his close friends, and it's at this point that the documentary becomes something deeper. Alternating between incredibly sad and incredibly inspiring, the last act of MILIUS is the most powerful part of any documentary I've seen in quite some time. Milius refuses to let the last few years of setbacks stop him from continuing to work as he continues to write his long-in-development Ghenghis Khan biopic, which sounds like it has the potential to be the best project Milius has ever done. When the end credits of MILIUS roll, there is a complete picture of an extremely talented, tough, and larger than life man, one who still has plenty left to say and several more stories to tell, either on paper or on screen. Watching MILIUS makes one eagerly await the big screen return of a fascinating filmmaker, hopefully sooner rather than later. Highly recommended. 9/10