John Milius

John Milius
Born	John Frederick Milius

John Frederick Milius (born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures. He helped write Dirty Harry and Apocalypse Now and directed Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn.

Biography

Career

A former student at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, Milius started his movie career in a student film contest in 1967, taking first prize for his entry Marcello I'm Bored. Milius wrote, co-wrote or directed the popular and critically acclaimed films Dirty Harry (uncredited), Apocalypse Now, Big Wednesday, Dillinger, The Wind and the Lion, and Clear and Present Danger. Milius coined the famous "Go ahead, make my day" line from the Dirty Harry movie Sudden Impact, as well as "Charlie don't surf" and "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from Apocalypse Now. Milius is also known as the director of the film Conan the Barbarian, which made a star out of then relatively unknown actor and body builder Arnold Schwarzenegger. Milius also contributed to the famous USS Indianapolis monologue for the film Jaws, and suggested to Steven Spielberg the "bookend" scenes in the military graveyard in Normandy used at the beginning and end of Saving Private Ryan. Milius was one of the three creators of the drama series Rome for the BBC and HBO.

Milius is a frequent guest on The History Channel's show Modern Marvels. He appears in episodes that deal with firearms, with the caption "Film-maker/Weapons Expert" or a similar variation. Milius has worked with a number of actors on multiple films, including Ben Johnson, Steve Kanaly, Roy Jenson, Geoffrey Lewis, Brian Keith, and Vladek Sheybal.

Milius directed Red Dawn, a controversial 1984 film whose premise was a fictional Soviet invasion of the United States. Red Dawn was in the news in December, 2003 in connection with the capture of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. The American commander of the operation to capture Hussein was a fan of Milius' film, causing him to call the military operation which captured Saddam Hussein Operation Red Dawn. He also dubbed the military units who actually captured Hussein "Wolverine One" and "Wolverine Two" after the fictional "Wolverines" unit in Red Dawn.

Milius insisted that part of his payment for writing Jeremiah Johnson be in antique weapons. Milius also considers Theodore Roosevelt a personal hero, feeling that he can relate to Roosevelt on many levels, such as physical illness and a shared love of firearms and the outdoors. He has made two films featuring Roosevelt: The Wind and the Lion (where he was played by Brian Keith) and the made-for-TV film Rough Riders (where Tom Berenger took the role). He considered himself too much in awe of Roosevelt to do a full-on biopic of him, but says he hopes to make a third film to complete a Roosevelt trilogy - though with Martin Scorsese's upcoming adaptation of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, that seems unlikely.

Through work on (The) Rough Riders (1997) (TV), he became an instrumental force in causing President Theodore Roosevelt to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor (posthumously), for acts of conspicuous gallantry while in combat on San Juan Hill.

Milius was interviewed in the documentary Rated R: Republicans in Hollywood.

Milius is currently writing and directing the movie Journey of Death, a western starring WWE superstar Triple H.

Personal life

Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth (née Roe) and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late nineteen-sixties, but was rejected due to chronic asthma. He ascribes his fascination with guns and the military to this disappointment. While he has been criticized for being "pro-war", Milius claims that he simply finds war fascinating, "like patterns in the weather".

A self-styled "Zen anarchist", Milius is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association, an avid gun collector and a strong opponent of gun control laws.

His filmmaking idols are John Ford and Akira Kurosawa; he has also mentioned Sam Peckinpah, Sergio Leone, David Lean, and his friend and mentor John Huston as important influences as well. His favorite film is reportedly Lean's Bridge on the River Kwai, although he has also named The Seven Samurai, The Searchers, and The Battle of Algiers as such in other interviews.

Fictional references

• A fictional version of Milius appears in Steve Erickson's novel Zeroville (2007) as Viking Man.
• The character Walter (played by John Goodman) in The Big Lebowski is based on Milius.

External links

• John Milius' filmography
• John Milius at IMDb