Richard Donner

Directing

Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930 – July 5, 2021) was an American film director, producer, and occasional comic book writer. The production company The Donners' Company was owned by Donner and his wife, producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After directing the horror film "The Omen" (1976), Donner became famous for the creation of the first modern superhero film, "Superman" (1978), starring Christopher Reeve. The influence of this film eventually helped establish the superhero concept as a respected film genre. Donner went on to direct such enduringly popular titles as "The Goonies" (1985), "Scrooged" (1988) and the "Lethal Weapon" series (1987-98).

Ratings

Directing: —0 ratings
Producing: —0 ratings

Filmography

Directing

17 titles

16 Blocks

An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse, but they find themselves running the gauntlet as other forces try to prevent them from getting there.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Timeline

A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 4

Officers Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh of the Los Angeles Police Department must stop a dangerous crime lord from China from getting his brother out of jail.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Conspiracy Theory

A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Assassins

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Maverick

Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional three thousand dollars in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game that begins in a few days, so he joins forces with a woman gambler with a marvellous southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

Cinematography90

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 3

Archetypal buddy cops Riggs and Murtaugh are back for another round of high-stakes action, this time setting their collective sights on bringing down a former Los Angeles police lieutenant turned black market weapons dealer. Lorna Cole joins as the beautiful yet hardnosed internal affairs sergeant who catches Riggs's eye.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Radio Flyer

A father reminisces about his childhood when he and his younger brother moved to a new town with their mother, her new husband and their dog, Shane. When the younger brother is subjected to physical abuse at the hands of their brutal stepfather, Mike decides to convert their toy trolley, the "Radio Flyer", into a plane to fly him to safety.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 2

In the opening chase, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh stumble across a trunk full of Krugerrands. They follow the trail to a South African diplomat who's using his immunity to conceal a smuggling operation. When he plants a bomb under Murtaugh's toilet, the action explodes!

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Scrooged

Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon

Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Ladyhawke

Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Goonies

A young teenager named Mikey Walsh finds an old treasure map in his father's attic. Hoping to save their homes from demolition, Mikey and his friends Data Wang, Chunk Cohen, and Mouth Devereaux run off on a big quest to find the secret stash of Pirate One-Eyed Willie.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Toy

On one of his bratty son Eric's annual visits, the plutocrat U.S. Bates takes him to his department store and offers him anything in it as a gift. Eric chooses a black janitor who has made him laugh with his antics. At first the man suffers many indignities as Eric's "toy", but gradually teaches the lonely boy what it is like to have and to be a friend.

Cinematography—

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Family Friendly—

Superman

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

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The Omen

Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn adopts the newborn Damien without the knowledge of his wife. Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Producing

25 titles

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

After seeking to live a normal life, Logan sets out to avenge the death of his girlfriend by undergoing the mutant Weapon X program and becoming Wolverine.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Timeline

A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Ritual

An American doctor encounters members of a voodoo cult when she is summoned to Jamaica to treat a wealthy man's brother.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

X-Men

Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Any Given Sunday

A star quarterback gets knocked out of the game and an unknown third stringer is called in to replace him. The unknown gives a stunning performance and forces the ageing coach to reevaluate his game plans and life. A new co-owner/president adds to the pressure of winning. The new owner must prove herself in a male dominated world.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 4

Officers Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh of the Los Angeles Police Department must stop a dangerous crime lord from China from getting his brother out of jail.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Conspiracy Theory

A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Double Tap

A drug-lord targets an undercover FBI agent and the hit man she falls in love with while tracking.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Free Willy 3: The Rescue

Willy the whale is back, this time threatened by illegal whalers making money off sushi. Jesse, now 16, has taken a job on an orca-researching ship, along with old friend Randolph and a sarcastic scientist, Drew. On the whaler's ship is captain John Wesley and his son, Max, who isn't really pleased about his father's job, but doesn't have the gut to say so. Along the way, Willy reunites with Jesse

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Perversions of Science

Perversions of Science is a science fiction/horror television series that ran on the cable channel HBO for one season in 1997. It is a spin-off of popular horror series Tales from the Crypt also shown on HBO, and its episodes are based on EC's Weird Science comic book series. The format of Perversions of Science is very similar to Tales From The Crypt, the show was introduced by a sexualized female robot named Chrome and then an individual episode would start. After the episode was complete, Chrome would conclude Perversions of Science. Most episodes focused on a part of science fiction such as alien invasion or space/time travel. The show featured a mix of established talent and young up-and-comers. "Panic", for instance, starred a young Jason Lee and Jamie Kennedy opposite Harvey Korman. As of 2011 the series has not been released on DVD in the US. However in 2001 it was released in Japan by Pioneer Entertainment where it has since gone out of print subsequently becoming sought after by collectors.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Bordello of Blood

Private eye Rafe Guttman is hired by repressed, born-again Katherine to find her missing bad-boy brother. The trail leads him to a whorehouse run by a thousand-year-old vampire and secretly backed by Katherine's boss, televangelist Jimmy Current.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Assassins

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home

Jesse becomes reunited with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom as the teenager tries to rescue the killer whale and other orcas from an oil spill.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Maverick

Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional three thousand dollars in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game that begins in a few days, so he joins forces with a woman gambler with a marvellous southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

Cinematography90

Family Friendly—

Free Willy

When maladjusted orphan Jesse vandalizes a theme park, he is placed with foster parents and must work at the park to make amends. There he meets Willy, a young Orca whale who has been separated from his family. Sensing kinship, they form a bond and, with the help of kindly whale trainer Rae Lindley, develop a routine of tricks. However, greedy park owner Dial soon catches wind of the duo and makes plans to profit from them.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 3

Archetypal buddy cops Riggs and Murtaugh are back for another round of high-stakes action, this time setting their collective sights on bringing down a former Los Angeles police lieutenant turned black market weapons dealer. Lorna Cole joins as the beautiful yet hardnosed internal affairs sergeant who catches Riggs's eye.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 2

In the opening chase, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh stumble across a trunk full of Krugerrands. They follow the trail to a South African diplomat who's using his immunity to conceal a smuggling operation. When he plants a bomb under Murtaugh's toilet, the action explodes!

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Tales from the Crypt

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Scrooged

Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon

Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Lost Boys

A mother and her two teenage sons move to a seemingly nice and quiet small coastal California town yet soon find out that it's overrun by bike gangs and vampires. A couple of teenage friends take it upon themselves to hunt down the vampires that they suspect of a few mysterious murders and restore peace and calm to their town.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Ladyhawke

Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Goonies

A young teenager named Mikey Walsh finds an old treasure map in his father's attic. Hoping to save their homes from demolition, Mikey and his friends Data Wang, Chunk Cohen, and Mouth Devereaux run off on a big quest to find the secret stash of Pirate One-Eyed Willie.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Omen III: The Final Conflict

Damien Thorn has helped rescue the world from a recession, appearing to be a benign corporate benefactor. When he then becomes U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Damien fulfills a terrifying biblical prophecy. He also faces his own potential demise as an astronomical event brings about the second coming of Christ.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Miscellaneous Crew

33 titles

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

After seeking to live a normal life, Logan sets out to avenge the death of his girlfriend by undergoing the mutant Weapon X program and becoming Wolverine.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

16 Blocks

An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse, but they find themselves running the gauntlet as other forces try to prevent them from getting there.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut

Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Timeline

A group of archaeological students become trapped in the past when they go there to retrieve their professor. The group must survive in 14th century France long enough to be rescued.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Ritual

An American doctor encounters members of a voodoo cult when she is summoned to Jamaica to treat a wealthy man's brother.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Out Cold

Rick Rambis and his friends are having the time of their lives on Bull Mountain—until the legendary Papa Muntz' son decides to sell the mountain to a sleazy land developer, have the staff fired and turn Bull Mountain into 'Yuppieville'.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

X-Men

Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Any Given Sunday

A star quarterback gets knocked out of the game and an unknown third stringer is called in to replace him. The unknown gives a stunning performance and forces the ageing coach to reevaluate his game plans and life. A new co-owner/president adds to the pressure of winning. The new owner must prove herself in a male dominated world.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 4

Officers Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh of the Los Angeles Police Department must stop a dangerous crime lord from China from getting his brother out of jail.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Conspiracy Theory

A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Double Tap

A drug-lord targets an undercover FBI agent and the hit man she falls in love with while tracking.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Free Willy 3: The Rescue

Willy the whale is back, this time threatened by illegal whalers making money off sushi. Jesse, now 16, has taken a job on an orca-researching ship, along with old friend Randolph and a sarcastic scientist, Drew. On the whaler's ship is captain John Wesley and his son, Max, who isn't really pleased about his father's job, but doesn't have the gut to say so. Along the way, Willy reunites with Jesse

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Perversions of Science

Perversions of Science is a science fiction/horror television series that ran on the cable channel HBO for one season in 1997. It is a spin-off of popular horror series Tales from the Crypt also shown on HBO, and its episodes are based on EC's Weird Science comic book series. The format of Perversions of Science is very similar to Tales From The Crypt, the show was introduced by a sexualized female robot named Chrome and then an individual episode would start. After the episode was complete, Chrome would conclude Perversions of Science. Most episodes focused on a part of science fiction such as alien invasion or space/time travel. The show featured a mix of established talent and young up-and-comers. "Panic", for instance, starred a young Jason Lee and Jamie Kennedy opposite Harvey Korman. As of 2011 the series has not been released on DVD in the US. However in 2001 it was released in Japan by Pioneer Entertainment where it has since gone out of print subsequently becoming sought after by collectors.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Bordello of Blood

Private eye Rafe Guttman is hired by repressed, born-again Katherine to find her missing bad-boy brother. The trail leads him to a whorehouse run by a thousand-year-old vampire and secretly backed by Katherine's boss, televangelist Jimmy Current.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Assassins

Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home

Jesse becomes reunited with Willy three years after the whale's jump to freedom as the teenager tries to rescue the killer whale and other orcas from an oil spill.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister Collector is a demon who wants the key so he can initiate the apocalypse. On the run from wicked mercenaries for almost 90 years, Brayker finally stops in at a boarding house in New Mexico where — with the help of its residents — he plans to face off against the Collector and his band of ghouls, preventing them from ever seizing the key.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Maverick

Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional three thousand dollars in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game that begins in a few days, so he joins forces with a woman gambler with a marvellous southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

Cinematography90

Family Friendly—

Free Willy

When maladjusted orphan Jesse vandalizes a theme park, he is placed with foster parents and must work at the park to make amends. There he meets Willy, a young Orca whale who has been separated from his family. Sensing kinship, they form a bond and, with the help of kindly whale trainer Rae Lindley, develop a routine of tricks. However, greedy park owner Dial soon catches wind of the duo and makes plans to profit from them.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 3

Archetypal buddy cops Riggs and Murtaugh are back for another round of high-stakes action, this time setting their collective sights on bringing down a former Los Angeles police lieutenant turned black market weapons dealer. Lorna Cole joins as the beautiful yet hardnosed internal affairs sergeant who catches Riggs's eye.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Radio Flyer

A father reminisces about his childhood when he and his younger brother moved to a new town with their mother, her new husband and their dog, Shane. When the younger brother is subjected to physical abuse at the hands of their brutal stepfather, Mike decides to convert their toy trolley, the "Radio Flyer", into a plane to fly him to safety.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon 2

In the opening chase, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh stumble across a trunk full of Krugerrands. They follow the trail to a South African diplomat who's using his immunity to conceal a smuggling operation. When he plants a bomb under Murtaugh's toilet, the action explodes!

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Tales from the Crypt

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Scrooged

Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life. But after firing a staff member on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Lethal Weapon

Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Lost Boys

A mother and her two teenage sons move to a seemingly nice and quiet small coastal California town yet soon find out that it's overrun by bike gangs and vampires. A couple of teenage friends take it upon themselves to hunt down the vampires that they suspect of a few mysterious murders and restore peace and calm to their town.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Ladyhawke

Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to overthrow the corrupt Bishop and in doing so break the spell.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Goonies

A young teenager named Mikey Walsh finds an old treasure map in his father's attic. Hoping to save their homes from demolition, Mikey and his friends Data Wang, Chunk Cohen, and Mouth Devereaux run off on a big quest to find the secret stash of Pirate One-Eyed Willie.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Toy

On one of his bratty son Eric's annual visits, the plutocrat U.S. Bates takes him to his department store and offers him anything in it as a gift. Eric chooses a black janitor who has made him laugh with his antics. At first the man suffers many indignities as Eric's "toy", but gradually teaches the lonely boy what it is like to have and to be a friend.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Omen III: The Final Conflict

Damien Thorn has helped rescue the world from a recession, appearing to be a benign corporate benefactor. When he then becomes U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Damien fulfills a terrifying biblical prophecy. He also faces his own potential demise as an astronomical event brings about the second coming of Christ.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Superman II

Three escaped criminals from the planet Krypton test the Man of Steel's mettle. Led by General Zod, the Kryptonians take control of the White House and partner with Lex Luthor to destroy Superman and rule the world. But Superman, who attempts to make himself human in order to get closer to Lois, realizes he has a responsibility to save the planet.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

Superman

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—

The Omen

Immediately after their miscarriage, the US diplomat Robert Thorn adopts the newborn Damien without the knowledge of his wife. Yet what he doesn’t know is that their new son is the son of the devil.

Cinematography—

Entertaining—

Family Friendly—