Roger Christian Movies
From his early work as a set designer on Star Wars (1977) and art director on Alien (1979) to making of one of the biggest box-office turkeys in cinematic sci-fi history, Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Christian has consistently proven himself a man of extraordinary vision -- even if he has yet to successfully focus that vision into a successful directorial career. It was his work on the first Star Wars and Alien films that initially got Christian interested in a career as a filmmaker, and the remarkable detail he bestowed upon those classics showed much stylistic promise. He subsequently tested the waters as a writer, and with surprising success. He penned the screenplay for a film biography of legendary visionary Nostradamus and enrolled in film school in an effort to broaden his horizons. Though his script for a medieval fantasy entitled The Black Angel (1979) was deemed too expensive to produce in a film-school environment, a chance meeting with a 20th Century Fox executive -- combined with George Lucas' stamp of approval -- helped secure financing. Spliced onto U.K. prints of The Empire Strikes Back, the short gave Christian's career just the boost it needed. Another short film, The Dollar Bottom (1980), was quick to follow, and it wasn't long before Christian got an opportunity to make a feature. A horrific thriller in which a hospitalized young man who cannot remember his name terrorizes doctors by projecting disturbing telepathic images into their minds, The Sender (1982) was an ambitious concept that failed to gel with mass audiences. (It did, however, become something of a sleeper hit among horror fans.) Although his 1987 follow-up feature, Starship, was praised for its extravagant visuals, the expectations of a high-energy, Star Wars-like sci-fi epic were dashed by a slower-paced film with a meandering plot. 1994's Nostradamus fared much better, but it still went largely unseen, much like The Final Cut (1995) and Underworld (1996). In 1997, Christian brought Die Hard to prep school with Masterminds, and joined forces with his old friend Lucas two years later to serve as second unit director on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Following the disastrous box-office performance of Battlefield Earth (2000), Christian attempted to distance himself from the film, directing the action-adventure Bandito in 2003. Never one to rest for too long, Christian was soon back behind the camera for the 2004 romance American Daylight. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2004
- R
Carlos Gallardo, who played the title role in Robert Rodriguez's acclaimed low-budget thriller El Mariachi is back in heroic form in this action drama. Max Cruz (Gallardo) is a former CIA operative who now uses his talents as a thief for hire. Cruz also has a way with the ladies, and as he stakes out his latest job, he makes the acquaintance of a beautiful woman named Natalie (Angie Everhart). However, when Cruz returns to crack the safe, he discovers his presence has been anticipated by Fletcher (Matt Craven), one of his former superiors at the CIA who wants Cruz to come back for a final mission. Bandido was directed by Roger Christian, best known for his work on the sci-fi epic Battlefield Earth. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlos Gallardo
This big-budget science fiction adventure centers on a final battle between good and evil for control of the world. In the year 3000, Earth is ruled by the Psyclos, a vicious alien race of which Terl (John Travolta) is a member, that has laid waste to the planet, killed the majority of the population, and stripped Earth of its valuable resources. Pockets of resistance remain among the surviving humans; Jonnie "Goodboy" Tyler (Barry Pepper) is one such rebel, living in hiding in the mountains near Boulder, CO. Eventually, Johnny begins organizing like-minded humans for a final stand against the Psyclos. The film is based on the novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction author also known as the founder of the Church of Scientology; it covers only the first half of the book, saving the remainder for a possible sequel. Battlefield Earth also stars Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates, and Kelly Preston. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Travolta, Barry Pepper, (more)
- 1999
- PG
- Add Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace to QueueAdd Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace to top of Queue
In 1977, George Lucas released Star Wars, the ultimate sci-fi popcorn flick-turned-pop-culture myth machine. It quickly became the biggest money-making film of all time and changed the shape of the film industry. After two successful sequels (1980's The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return of the Jedi) that extended the story of the first film, Lucas took some time off to produce movies for others, with mixed success. In 1999, Lucas returned to the Star Wars saga with a new approach -- instead of picking up where Return of the Jedi left off, Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace would be the first of a trilogy of stories to trace what happened in the intergalactic saga before the first film began. Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson); Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as Darth Vader, is just a nine-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter, but when they arrive on Naboo they are brought to Amidala (Natalie Portman), the Naboo queen, by a friendly but opportunistic Gungan named Jar Jar. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan plan to escort Amidala to a meeting of Republic leaders in Coruscant, but trouble with their spacecraft strands them on the planet Tatooine, where Qui-Gon meets Anakin, the slave of a scrap dealer. Qui-Gon is soon convinced that the boy could be the leader the Jedis have been searching for, and he begins bargaining for his freedom and teaching the boy the lessons of the Force. The supporting cast includes Pernilla August as Anakin's mother, Terence Stamp as Chancellor Valorum, and Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi master Mace Windu. Jackson told a reporter before The Phantom Menace's release that the best part about doing the film was that he got to say "May the Force be with you" onscreen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, (more)
- 1997
- PG13
A criminal genius who has carefully planned the ultimate score runs across an unexpected obstacle -- a 16-year-old computer hacker -- in this youth-oriented action-adventure story. Ozzie Paxton (Vincent Kartheiser) is a teenager with a knack for causing trouble; he's been expelled from the Shady Glen School, an exclusive private academy, for pulling one too many pranks on the faculty. Besides, he prefers to stay home with his computer, where for fun and profit he hacks into the systems of computer game designers, downloads new games before they can go on the market, and burns bootleg CD-ROMs that he can sell to his friends. One day, Ozzie's younger sister Melissa (Katie Stuart) talks him into giving her a lift to Shady Glen, where she still attends; looking for a little revenge, he sneaks into the school and intends to have a little fun with their computer system. As it turns out, Ozzie runs afoul of the school's new security chief, former British Secret Service agent Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart), who was hired by Principal Maloney (Brenda Fricker) after Ozzie's most recent bit of computer terrorism. But Bentley is not the friend of the law that he seems to be; several of the wealthiest families in America send their children to Shady Glen, and Bentley has a scheme to kidnap ten of the school's richest children and hold them for a ransom of $650 million. Ozzie is caught in the middle of Bentley's kidnapping plot and must now use his computer skills in order to save the children and put Bentley behind bars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, Vincent Kartheiser, (more)
- 1996
- R
In this Quentin Tarantino-style blood-drenched pseudo-film noir, Denis Leary plays a hood named Johnny who, after getting out of prison, dedicates himself to exacting revenge on mobsters who brutally injured his father. Ned Lynch (Larry Bishop, who wrote the screenplay) attacked Johnny's father, causing him to become permanently brain-dead. Johnny travels in a limousine and targets those who he believes may be responsible in a series of killings that take place on Father's Day. His main target is Frank (Joe Mantegna), but he is not certain that Frank is responsible for what happened to his father. Johnny, who has taught himself psychology in prison, takes Frank to a sex therapist, Dr. Diane Leah (Annabella Sciorra), as part of his cat-and-mouse game, in hopes of eventually learning the identity of his father's attacker. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Denis Leary, Joe Mantegna, (more)
- 1995
- R
In this high-energy direct-to-video actioner, a retired bomb expert is called back to duty to find out who has been planting terrorist bombs in Seattle. While he investigates, more bombs explode and it becomes frighteningly clear that the terrorist is targeting bomb-squad members. Matters get more intense when the prime suspect suddenly disappears. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sam Elliott, Charles Martin Smith, (more)
- 1994
- R
This period drama explores the life and times of the 16th century doctor and scientist who some believed could see into the future. Michel de Nostradamus (Tcheky Karyo) was the son in a Jewish family who posed as Catholics to be spared the wrath of the Inquisition. As a student of the renowned physician Dr. Scalinger (F. Murray Abraham), Nostradamus created herbal cures and did pioneering research in the importance of proper nutrition and hygiene. However, he was unable to protect his wife Marie (Julia Ormand) from the Black Plague sweeping the country, and he lost both her and their two children. Nostradamus remarried, to widow Anne (Assumpta Sterna), but at the urging of Scalinger, he began to more carefully explore the strange trances that befell him, and Nostradamus began writing prophetic essays predicting any number of future catastrophes. Nostradamus also features Amanda Plummer as Queen Catherine de Medici and Anthony Higgins as the King. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tchéky Karyo, F. Murray Abraham, (more)
For his first directorial project in six years, Robert Towne selected a timeworn romantic-triangle yarn, injecting the material with subtlety and conviction. Tequila Sunrise stars Mel Gibson and Kurt Russell as two lifelong friends who, in true James Cagney-Pat O'Brien fashion, grow up on the opposite sides of the law. One is a retired drug dealer (at least he says he is), the other a "celebrity" cop. Both fall in love with gorgeous restaurateur Michelle Pfeiffer. Veteran movie buffs will enjoy spotting director Budd Boetticher as a judge, and will welcome the presence in the production credits of cinematographer Conrad Hall, who earned an Oscar nomination for his richly textured color camerawork. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer, (more)
- 1985
- PG
The remote planet Ordessa is the site of conflict between android military police and human underlings in this undistinguished sci-fi film from Roger Christian, later released under the title Starship. Lorca (John Tarrant) leads the human inhabitants, and the evil Jowitt (Ralph Coterill) is his nemesis, along with some other baddies that have to be foiled before the nasty androids can be conquered. Aided by the friendly 'droid "Kid," (Deep Roy), victory is certainly inevitable. A few moments of tense, hand-to-hand combat enliven the story here and there, as does the enthusiastic soundtrack. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Tarrant, Deep Roy, (more)
A suicidal patient is placed in a mental hospital for observation. A psychiatrist realizes that the fellow contains telepathic powers with which he's capable of transferring his own fear-filled nightmares into the minds of others. When he directs his ephemeral madness into the minds of the doctors and patients around him, the hospital turns into a nightmarish melee. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kathryn Harrold, Zeljko Ivanek, (more)
On a midnight clear 2,000 years ago, three wise men enter a manger where a babe is wrapped in swaddling clothes. It is an infant called Brian...and the three wise men are in the wrong manger. For the rest of his life, Brian (Graham Chapman) finds himself regarded as something of a messiah -- yet he's always in the shadow of this other guy from Galilee. Brian is witness to the Sermon of the Mount, but his seat is in such a bad location that he can't hear any of it ("Blessed are the cheesemakers?"). Ultimately, he is brought before Pontius Pilate and sentenced to crucifixion, which takes place at that crowded, nonexclusive execution site a few blocks shy of Calvary. Rather than utter the Last Six Words, Brian leads his fellow crucifixees in a spirited rendition of a British music-hall cheer-up song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." The whole Monty Python gang (Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and Terry Gilliam) are on hand in multiple roles, playing such sacred characters as Stan Called Loretta, Biggus Dickus, Deadly Dirk, Casts the First Stone, and Intensely Dull Youth; also showing up are Goon Show veteran Spike Milligan and a Liverpool musician named George Harrison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, (more)
"In space, no one can hear you scream." A close encounter of the third kind becomes a Jaws-style nightmare when an alien invades a spacecraft in Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror classic. On the way home from a mission for the Company, the Nostromo's crew is woken up from hibernation by the ship's Mother computer to answer a distress signal from a nearby planet. Capt. Dallas' (Tom Skerritt) rescue team discovers a bizarre pod field, but things get even stranger when a face-hugging creature bursts out of a pod and attaches itself to Kane (John Hurt). Over the objections of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), science officer Ash (Ian Holm) lets Kane back on the ship. The acid-blooded incubus detaches itself from an apparently recovered Kane, but an alien erupts from Kane's stomach and escapes. The alien starts stalking the humans, pitting Dallas and his crew (and cat) against a malevolent killing machine that also has a protector in the nefarious Company. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, (more)
- 1977
- PG
Beau Geste, the classic adventure story of a young man's dangerous journeys as part of the French Foreign Legion, becomes the subject of broad parody in this slapstick comedy. The original tale, best known to film lovers from William Wellman's 1939 classic, tells of several brothers who join the Foreign Legion after claiming responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of an invaluable family heirloom. Eventually, brothers Beau and Digby find themselves in conflict with their vicious commander, leading to a potential mutiny. The plot here is similar, with Michael York assuming Gary Cooper's role as Beau, and first-time director Marty Feldman co-starring as Digby. However, following the lead of former collaborator Mel Brooks, Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from the satirical to the vulgar. A cast of notables keeps things lively, with Peter Ustinov and Ann-Margret mocking their own images as the sadistic commander and lusty Geste stepmother. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, Marty Feldman, (more)
George Lucas' mythological popcorn movie is a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has passed into movie legend. The story, for the tiny number of people not familiar with it, concerns a farm boy named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who discovers that the used robot recently purchased by his family plays back a message from one Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), begging for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks his father's friend Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) about this, and he discovers that Ben and Obi-Wan are one and the same. Kenobi tells Luke of the battle of the rebels against the ruling Empire and the spiritual energy called "The Force." Soon Luke, Kenobi, and a mercenary named Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join forces to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire's mammoth warship, the Death Star, controlled by evil genius Darth Vader (David Prowse, with the voice of James Earl Jones). George Lucas has frequently cited the influence of several films on Star Wars, particularly Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and John Ford's The Searchers, as well as the original Flash Gordon serials. After Star Wars became a success, Lucas announced his intention to turn the film into a series, originally totalling nine films (later pared back to six). Consequently, most reissue prints now feature the title Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) serving as Episodes Five and Six in the serial, and Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace (1999) going back to the myth's beginnings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, (more)
- 1974
The renowned director of England's National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Peter Hall, produced and directed this unusual film, adapted from the book Akenfield, which summarizes a sociological study of village life in Suffolk. The amateur cast mostly play themselves or close facsimiles, and the work of generations of farming and rural people is revealed through their depictions of daily life and conversations. Everyday life in the 1970s alternates, through flashbacks, with the more strenuous but nearly identical lives of the players' forebears in Edwardian times. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
