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Directors DIRECTOR FILMOGRAPHY - The Films of PETER WEIR (1 Viewer)

Jim_K

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DIRECTOR FILMOGRAPHY - The Films of PETER WEIR

Rank ‘em, rate ‘em, review ‘em or whatever.

[SIZE= 16px] [/SIZE][SIZE= 12px]PETER WEIR[/SIZE]

The Way Back (2010)

[SIZE= 12px]Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
The Truman Show (1998)
Fearless (1993)
Green Card (1990)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
The Mosquito Coast (1986)
Witness (1985)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Gallipoli (1981)
The Plumber (1979) (TV)
The Last Wave (1977)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
Homesdale (1971)
Three to Go (1971) (segment "Michael") [/SIZE]
 

Jim_K

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Ratings out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

[SIZE= 14px]PETER WEIR (1944 - )[/SIZE]


The Way Back (2010) :star: :star: :star:

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) :star: :star: :star: :star:
The Truman Show (1998) :star: :star: :star: :star:
Fearless (1993) :star: :star: :star:
Green Card (1990) :star: :star:
Dead Poets Society (1989)
:star: :star: :star:
The Mosquito Coast (1986) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Witness (1985) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Gallipoli (1981) :star: :star: :star: :star:
The Plumber (1979)
The Last Wave (1977) :star: :star: :star:
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) :star: :star: :star:

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) :star: 1/2
Homesdale (1971)
Three to Go (1971) (segment "Michael")
 

SteveGon

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
The Truman Show (1998)
Fearless (1993)

Green Card (1990)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
The Mosquito Coast (1986)
Witness (1985)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Gallipoli (1981)

The Plumber (1979) (TV)
The Last Wave (1977)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
Homesdale (1971)
Three to Go (1971) (segment "Michael")


Bolded films I've seen.
 

Brook K

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1. Picnic At Hanging Rock - A
*2. Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World - A-
3. Fearless - B+
4. The Last Wave - B+
5. Dead Poets Society - B+
6. Gallipoli - B+
7. Witness - B
8. The Year of Living Dangerously - B


9. The Way Back - B-
10. The Truman Show - C+


Own: 1
 

Steve Christou

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) :star: :star: :star: :star:
The Truman Show (1998) :star: :star: :star:
Green Card (1990) :star: :star:
Dead Poets Society (1989) :star: :star: :star:
The Mosquito Coast (1986) :star: :star:
Witness (1985) :star: :star: :star:
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
:star: :star: :star:

I still have to see Fearless, thanks for reminding me Jim, Harrison Ford annoyed the hell out of me in Mosquito Coast, never watched it since. But I liked him in Witness. I think he was nominated for an Oscar for that.
Not a huge fan of Weir's but I loved Master and Commander.

:)
 

Jim_K

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I'll probably pick up Witness & Year of Living Dangerously the next time Deep Discount has a sale.

I'd also pick up Fearless but the R1 DVD isn't OAR. :angry:
 

george kaplan

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PETER WEIR

Seen: 5
Like: 2
Own: 2

Rank order:

Witness (1985)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
The Truman Show (1998)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
 

Bill McA

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Ratings from Homesdale (1971)
Three to Go (1971) (segment "Michael")

Seen 15
Own 9

Agreed!!

I just noticed while grading this list, that all of Weir's best films all contain some really evocative music scores (Witness, Dangerously, Picnic, Gallipoli, Fearless)...I'm assuming that Weir has some significant input in that dept.

Fearless in particular turned me onto what is now one of my most favorite CDs, Henryk Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 (aka The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). Hauntingly beautiful music with Polish lyrics and inspired by the Holocaust, it can be partially heard in the film during the plane crash sequence and continuing through the end credits.

Fearless is one of the best American movies of the 90's...but Warner doesn't seem to have any interest in it, so I wouldn't expect an OAR DVD anytime soon.

I once owned the OAR LD and performed a direct comparison with the DVD. The DVD is an open-matte presentation of the original 1.85:1 AR and as far as MAR DVDs go, it wasn't bad as some and you could always matte the film yourself if it bothers you too much.

It's too good a film to pass up due to the DVD AR, and definitely worth a rental (at least) if you haven't seen it before.
 

Adam_S

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) - :star::star::star::star:
The Truman Show (1998) - :star::star::star::star:
Fearless (1993) - :star::star:
Green Card (1990) - saw this ages and ages ago
Dead Poets Society (1989) - :star::star::star::star:

Dead Poets Society
Master and Commander
Truman Show
Fearless
 

ThomasC

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out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

Dead Poets Society :star: :star: :star: 1/2
The Truman Show :star: :star: :star: 3/4
 

Elizabeth S

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Fearless (1993)
The Truman Show (1998)
Witness (1985)
Dead Poets Society (1989)
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Green Card (1990)
The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Seen the above, in rough order of preference.
 

Elijah Sullivan

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Ranked:
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Gallipoli
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
The Truman Show
The Last Wave
The Year of Living Dangerously
Witness
The Mosquito Coast
Dead Poets Society


Peter Weir is one of my gods... the man has never made a completely worthless film, and several movies that I would call "great". Two of his films do I consider on the magnitude of a "masterpiece", and those are Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli.

Picnic is an obvious choice if you are looking for something that has "great art" written all over it, but it absolutely deserves this consideration. It's a major, major event in the development of film, especially expressionistic filmmaking. Up until the late '60s-early '70s, nobody had figured out a way to make expressionism work in a narrative film - unless you were German and had a hard-on for elaborate set design. 2001 the most important film of this kind, but Picnic at Hanging Rock is a worthly alternative for viewers who like a bit more emotional involvement in stories.

On the other hand, Gallipoli gets a lot of general acclaim for it's sensationalistic climax, but is considered too simplistic to warrant in-depth critical discussion. In reality, I consider the construction of the story and the screenplay absolutely exquisite. It is simplistic, but the simplicity took a great deal of intelligent design to create. It's a model of narrative perfection. Also, it serves as a very direct criticism of a later film - Saving Private Ryan. If you regard the two stories careful, you will find that both film base their premises war is wrong because it destroys individuals. Where Ryan's logic was fundamentally flawed, Gallipoli flawlessly builds to it's infamous climax.

Highest marks for a great story, well-told.

Master and Commander and The Truman Show are both awesome films, both rather perfect in their respective ways. Weir is a master of choosing a subject and hitting a bull's-eye with his responsible directing.

The Last Wave is a creepy little thriller, more obviously a horror film than his masterpiece, Hanging Rock. The punchline is terrific and the dream sequences are tops.

His eighties films -- The Year of Living Dangerously, Witness, The Mosquito Coast and Dead Poets Society -- is a less ambitious phase that yielded very satisfying genre efforts. I'm less enamored of Society than most, but these are all fine films. The Mosquito Coast is underrated, I find. Harrison Ford nailed the role; I know a person like this in real life, and believe me, Ford did not go over the top. The current trend of PC "philanthropist thrillers" (such as The Constant Gardener) owes more than a bit to the mixed-genre stylings of The Year of Living Dangerously.

I haven't seen Fearless or The Plummer.
 

Justin_S

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Ranks and ratings on a scale of * to *****:

1: Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) *****
2: The Last Wave (1977) *****
3: The Truman Show (1998) ****½
4: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) ****
5: Witness (1985) ***½
6: Dead Poets Society (1989) **

Seen 6
Own 4

From what I've seen, I'm definitely a fan. PAHR and The Last Wave are especially brilliant.
 

Kristian

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1. The Truman Show :star::star::star:¾
2. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World :star::star::star:1/2
 

Martin Teller

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) - 7/10
The Truman Show (1998) - 7/10
Fearless (1993) - 6/10
Dead Poets Society (1989) - 5/10
Witness (1985) - 7/10
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) - 7/10
Gallipoli (1981) - 7/10
The Last Wave (1977) - 8/10
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - 10/10


Picnic is far and away my favorite by him, and one of my favorite films of all time.
 

PatW

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) :star: :star: :star: :star:
The Truman Show (1998)
Fearless (1993) :star: :star: :star:
Green Card (1990) :star: :star: :star:
Dead Poets Society (1989) :star: :star: :star:
The Mosquito Coast (1986) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Witness (1985) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) :star: :star: :star: 1/2
Gallipoli (1981) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
The Plumber (1979) (TV)
The Last Wave (1977) :star: :star: 1/2
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
Homesdale (1971)
Three to Go (1971) (segment "Michael")

Seen: 10
Own : 3

Picnic at Hanging Rock and Gallipoli are my favourites by far. I just wish I owned Picnic.
 

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