John Flanagan Movies

In director Johnny Gogan's deliberately paced political thriller Mapmaker, an outsider in a small Northern Irish village finds himself embroiled in a old conflict between the IRA and the local forestry department. Hired by the Northern Ireland parish of Rosveagh to prepare a tourism map, cartographer Richie Markey (Brian F. O'Byrne) sets about his task, only to find some archeological sites are in danger of being destroyed. Raising his concerns with forestry manager Robert Bates (Brendan Coyle), Markey quickly suspects something sinister lies behind the destruction when Bates brusquely ignores his pleas. Shortly thereafter, Markey learns that a previous survey team failed in mapping the region when one of its members, one Peter Nolan, disappeared after being accused of informing on a couple of IRA men that were killed in connection to a soldier's death. Despite receiving warnings to stop his work, Markey carries on until he discovers Nolan's body and comes to the rather startling conclusion that his completed map may very well solve the mystery surrounding Nolan's death. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

This Australian sitcom chronicled the misadventures of four twentysomethings, "on their own" for the first time in their lives. To save money and provide mutual moral support, the quartet -- Sophie (Maxine Klibingaitis), Lisa Danielle Spencer, Richard (Adam Willits), and Trevor (Rod Zuanic) -- shared the same apartment. It may sound a bit like Friends, except for the fact that the Australian series predated the American one by three years. Syndicated "down under" by Gary Reilly Productions, the 13 episodes of Hampton Court were seen in 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam's enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy of Gilliam films on imagination versus reality, that began with Bandits and ended in 1989 with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. To create this wild, visually audacious satire, Gilliam combines dystopian elements from Orwell, Huxley and Kafka (plus a central character who mirrors Walter Mitty) with his own trademark, Monty Python-esque, jet black British humor and his gift for extraordinary visual invention. The results are thoroughly unprecedented in the cinema.

Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry, a civil servant who chooses to blind himself to the decaying, drone-like world around him. It's a world marred by oppressive automatization and towering bureaucracy, and populated by tyrannical guards who strongarm lawbreakers. And Lowry is stuck in the middle of this nightmare. Whenever real life becomes too oppressive, Sam fantasizes (to the tune of Ary Baroso's 1930s hit "Brazil") about sailing through the clouds as a winged superhero, and rescuing beautiful Jill Layton (Kim Greist) from a giant, Samurai warrior. The omnipresent computer that controls everything in the "real" world malfunctions, causing an innocent citizen to be arrested and tortured to death. When Sam routinely investigates the error, he meets - and pursues Jill , literally the girl of his dreams. But in real life, she's a tough-as-nails truck driver who initially wants nothing to do with him. It turns out that she is suspected of underground activities, in connection with a terrorist network wanted for bombing public places. The price Sam pays for his association with her is a close encounter with the man in charge of torturing troublesome citizens (Michael Palin). He is rescued - at the last minute - by maintenance man Harry Tuttle (Robert de Niro) who moonlights as a terrorist, but that only represents the beginning of his plight, for now the "system" is onto him.

Gilliam ran into enormous problems with Brazil. Universal - which produced the picture - originally slated it for release in 1984, but the studio - intimidated by the film's whopping length of 142 minutes - demanded that Gilliam trim the film to bring it in under two hours and alter the pessimistic ending. Gilliam refused; Universal shelved the picture for a year. In response, the director took out a full page ad in Variety asking studio president Sid Sheinberg when the film would be released. Sensing tremendous pressure, Universal bowed to Gilliam's insistence on fewer cuts but still demanded a happy ending. Gilliam trimmed only eleven minutes and altered the conclusion just slightly (instead of cutting to black, it fades into puffy white clouds on a blue sky, with a reprise of the title tune). It was thus released in early 1985 at 131 minutes, and of course became a seminal work; many critics regarded it at the time as the best film of the eighties. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Australia's longest-running sitcom, Hey Dad...! premiered in 1984. Robert Hughes starred as Martin Kelly, a widowed architect who forsook his lucrative business to raise his four kids: Simon (played first by Paul Smith, then by Christopher Mayer), Debbie (Simone Buchanan), and Jenny (Sarah Monahan). The series' "breakthrough" character was Simon's best pal Nudge (Christopher Truswell), who was given most of the big laugh lines. Simultaneously adored and reviled by the Australian viewing public (and, curiously, an enormous success on German television), Hey Dad...! remained on the air for ten years, racking up an astronomical 300 episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the four-part Meglos, the title character has disguised himself as the Doctor (Tom Baker) and stolen the power source of the planet Tigella, the better to restore the tattered glories of Meglos' own race. Meanwhile, the Doctor tries to figure out a means of escape, so that Tigella will not be destroyed by Meglos' machinations. Jacqueline Hill, who'd played the Doctor's traveling companion Barbara Wright in the earliest episodes, guest stars as Lexa, leader of the Deon race. Written by John Flanagan and Andrew McCullough, "Meglos, Episode 3" first aired on October 11, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title character in this four-chapter Doctor Who adventure is the last survivor of the Zolfa-Thuran civilization. While on a diplomatic mission to the cult-dominated planet Tigella, the Doctor (Tom Baker) is intercepted by Meglos, who has hatched a scheme to access Tigella's power source. Jacqueline Hill, who'd played the Doctor's traveling companion Barbara Wright in the earliest episodes, guest stars as Lexa, leader of the Deon race. Written by John Flanagan and Andrew McCullough, "Meglos, Episode 1" first aired on September 27, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The main characters in this British sitcom were the habitually underemployed Jack Holmes (John Flanagan) and his hardworking wife Alison (Maureen Lipman). Rather than seek out a "regular" living, Jack preferred to pursue various get-rich-quick schemes, none of which ever panned out. The more level-headed Alison ended up being both wife and mother to the irresponsible but basically likeable Jack. Telecast by ATV from July 31 to September 18, 1978, A Soft Touch yielded five half-hour episodes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In The Medusa Touch Brunel (Lino Ventura), a French detective on temporary assignment with Scotland Yard, investigates a mysterious series of disasters. The uncanny events begin happening shortly after writer John Morlar (Richard Burton) was hit over the head by an unknown intruder and rendered comatose. Slowly, Brunel begins to connect the strange things that are happening in the world with the deranged dreams of the comatose Morlar. He gets the final clue he needs from Morlar's reluctant psychiatrist, Dr. Zonfield (Lee Remick), who holds the key to Morlar's past. Once it is discovered that Morlar has the ability to think horrible thoughts and make them come true, Brunel and Zonfield must take off with dispatch to a London cathedral, where the Queen is scheduled to make an appearance -- but Morlar is thinking about the cathedral, and it is crumbling fast. Well-liked in Britain, this movie did not do well in the U.S. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This film of the wartime exploits of Baron Von Richthoven, who was also known as the "Red Baron," was a relatively lavish Corman-brothers production, and is directed by Roger Corman. The film's airborne dogfight sequences are among its most notable features. Vintage World War I airplanes were used, and accidents during filming resulted in one death and several injuries. The evolution of airborne warfare from being a sporting game between gentlemen to its use as an instrument of total war is integral to the story. Von Richthoven (John Phillip Law), who becomes an air ace and an important German hero, was an early aeronautical rival of Hermann Goering (Barry Primus). So important was he to German morale that he was asked to retire from fighting, so that he could assume a position in the post-war German government. He refused, and was killed by a young Canadian (Don Stroud) in an airborne battle. Spookily enough, even though he died in the air, his plane is reputed to have landed intact. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide