One of my favorite filmmakers from childhood and my teenage years is no more... Richard Donner was 91 and he directed his last film, 16 Blocks in 2006. In 1978 he made us believe a man can fly. A veteran of 15 years of TV, he just directed his first major feature film The Omen in 1976 and Omen became a worldwide phenomenon and a huge box office smash. So he got the chance from producers brothers Salkind to direct the first major comic book movie to be, Superman (1978), a breakthrough in all departments, and the forefather of all comic books films to come. The Salkinds tried to make two movies instead of one, as they did before with The Three Musketeers. Donner and all involved complained so he brought in \Richard Lester for reshoots and completions for Superman 2. Today the original Donner cut of Superman 2 is available and far better than the film released in 1980. In the 80's Donner directed various genres, in 1985 the cult children adventure film The \Goonies and medieval fairytale Ladyhawke. In 1987 he reinvented the buddy action movie with Lethal Weapon, a worlwide hit and a standalone universally acclaimed and loved film. He directed also the three sequels of the Mel Gibson/ Danny Glover film, and into the nineties, Maverick and Conspiracy Theory, also with Mel Gibson . He did his own modern Christmas Carrol film with Scrooged (1988). Together with his wife he produced the first X-Men film, and X-Men Originis: Wolverine. He was one of the producers and directors TV (paytv) anthologies of Tales from the Crypt, Two-Fisted Tales and Perversions of Science. A beloved man by all who worked with him, humorous and most professional, Dick Donner was one of the great ones, a director who changed the landscape of modern film and filmmaking. He never got an Oscar or a major film festival award but he will remain forever in the heart of movielovers.
Obituary in Variety here
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