Richard Donner R.I.P. (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

Unfortunately, Richard Donner has passed away at age 91. May he Rest In Peace.

Richard Donner, Director of ‘Superman,’ ‘The Goonies’ and ‘Lethal Weapon,’ Dies at 91

Director Richard Donner, known for helming the “Lethal Weapon” series, "The Goonies" and the original “Superman” film, has died. He was 91.

variety.com

 

[Tommy R]

Rumor had it that he was going direct another Lethal Weapon movie and Gibson and Glover were on board for it. That would have been interesting.

R.I.P.

 

[Matt Hough]

I saw the sad news when I logged on this afternoon. He provided many a pleasant afternoon or evening of viewing for me down through the years with TV series as well as feature films. Good thoughts go to his family and friends.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Superman: The Movie was one of the formative films for me. I’ve loved so many films and shows he directed but that work in particular is just towering for me. And his commentary on the disc is perhaps my all time favorite. I will have to revisit both soon in his honor.

 

[SamT]

Rest in peace.

What about Goonies 2? Didn't they want to make it?

 

[Sam Favate]

Damn it! I know he was up there in age, but I always thought the guy had more in him.

One of the great movie directors of the last 60 years. I will miss him and always enjoy his films.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

 

[John Dirk]

91 and with his accomplishments? One can only hope. R.I.P. and congratulations on what appears to have been a life well-lived.

 

[Jacinto]

I'll be watching Ladyhawke tonight with my kids. R.I.P.

 

[TravisR]

In addition to a number of his movies that were staples of my childhood, he directed about half a dozen episodes of Twilight Zone including one of the best (Nightmare At 20,000 Feet) and a couple of less memorable but still very good ones (The Jeopardy Room and Come Wander With Me).

Thanks for the great cinematic memories, Richard!

 

[RobertMG]

He built a successful franchise a great fun franchise called Lethal Weapon and wonder what his stamp would have been on Superman had he been able to helm that series. Just saw an article where the actor playing Non said Donner wanted to make a series of 10 films. May he Rest in Peace and sincerest condolences to his family. Hope Mel and Danny make the fifth film and dedicate it to Mr. Donner. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment...ck-o-halloran-alternate-ending-140028071.html

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Rumor had it that he was going direct another Lethal Weapon movie and Gibson and Glover were on board for it.

Yeah, that was the plan. He also participated in some of those Zoom videoconference reunions during the pandemic, so he definitely had his marbles right up until the end. We should all be so lucky to go out at 91 relatively healthy.

One of the great movie directors of the last 60 years.

I put him in the same class as Robert Wise: Not an auteur per se, but a tremendously talented filmmaker with an astonishingly diverse filmography.

The Omen, Superman: The Movie, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon, Scrooged -- any one of those would be the highlight of most filmmakers' careers.

 

[joshEH]

Donner was legit. He was one of the most personally-influential filmmakers of my lifetime. Every superhero film owes a debt to Superman (1978). Every post-'80s cop-actioner owes a debt to Lethal Weapon (1987). Just two days ago, I was talking about Conspiracy Theory and 16 Blocks with someone. The guy was a freaking legend.

(Tip of the hat to Radio Flyer while we're at it. Donner's films often had an eye out for bullies and the bullied, and this one felt personal.)

 

[Dick]

Thankfully, he left us a large bunch of terrific commentary tracks.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I put him in the same class as Robert Wise: Not an auteur per se, but a tremendously talented filmmaker with an astonishingly diverse filmography.

The Omen, Superman: The Movie, The Goonies, Lethal Weapon, Scrooged -- any one of those would be the highlight of most filmmakers' careers.

As much as I enjoyed Donner's movies, he's not in Robert Wise's class as a director. Wise is probably the greatest director not considered such when he was directing movies. With that said, Donner was a fine director in his own right.

May Richard Donner R.I.P.

 

[RobertMG]

He made his bones on TV classics like Have Gun Will Travel, Gilligan's Island, Get Smart, Combat etc learning his craft working in so many varied genres - no wonder he turned into one hell of a director!

 

[Jake Lipson]

With respect to the rest of his career, Superman is the Richard Donner film to me. It is the first one that I saw and the first one for which I learned his name and his talent. Regardless of how good the rest of his filmography is, that's the one I will always think of first in relation to him.

I recently bought concert tickets for a tour that is currently booked here in November 2022. This has nothing to do with Richard Donner, except that my mom was passing by my room as I first read the news. I started swearing under my breath and she asked if the concert had been cancelled. I said no and was confused as to why she would think that. A show for which the tickets literally just went on sale this week, for almost a year and a half from now, would not be cancelled this far out. She said she thought something really bad happened because I was swearing. I said "Richard Donner died" and she said "Oh, someone I've never heard of died" and kind of shrugged it off without asking further questions.

It's times like this that I wonder how it is possible for me to be related to my parents, who don't really care about film at all. When I said this, half jokingly, she just started rattling off the name of a sports person that I don't know.

But that's my point. My parents care about sports which don't interest me at all and I care about films and directors and things that don't interest them at all. I'm sure they have seen Superman so they certainly know Donner's work even though his name doesn't connect with them.

To be clear, I'm being facetious here in that of course I am related to my parents and I don't mean that in a literal sense. But moments like this in which a towering figure like Richard Donner passes away and I immediately know who that is and they don't demonstrates how little our interests overlap.

Incidentally, both of my parents were alive to see Superman in theaters in 1978 which I was not. I actually don't think I have ever seen a Richard Donner film on the big screen. But I certainly know his work from DVD and other forms of home entertainment. Amidst the redefining of the theatrical window over the past year or so, there have been a lot of complaints from filmmakers who seem to feel that the integrety of their work is somehow being threatened if it doesn't get an exclusive theatrical run. But Superman did get an exclusive theatrical run and I didn't see it that way because by the time I was alive, it wasn't available there. But I still love the film just as much on DVD. The fact that I still connect with it even though I never went in a theater is evidence that while theatrical runs are great, they aren't the end all and be all for films.

A few years ago, Fathom Events held a screening of Superman as a one-day-only thing. The day and time they picked happened to overlap with the local symphony orchestra playing the score of Star Wars live to film in concert. So I felt I had to choose that over Superman. Maybe one day..

Anyway, this got farther off topic than I originally intended but my point is that I wasn't around for the theatrical release of many Richard Donner films. But I still enjoyed the experience of them. He has certainly left a tremendous legacy of work that will continue to be discovered and enjoyed by new generations of fans for decades to come, and in that way his impact is immortal.

May he Rest In Peace.

 

[WillG]

Looks like he officially got too old for this shit.

but 91 is a good run and had a very impressive career. RIP, Dick

 

[WillG]

for some reason I was always under the impression that Donner and Spielberg didn’t have a good relationship. I guess due to him (as far as I know) only working with Spielberg once (and it seems kind of rare that a major crew member works with Spielberg only once). And I always wondered why Donner didn’t direct the nightmare at 20,000 feet segment of the Twilight Zone movie, maybe it was just a matter of availability, or maybe he was asked and for whatever reason he declined but seems like he would have been the obvious go to. Also I always kind of suspected that the asshole movie director in Lethal Weapon 3 was based on Spielberg

 

[Jeffrey D]

He also directed Maverick (Gibson and Jodie Foster), right?

RIP, Richard.