John Moore (director)

John Moore
Moore at the premiere of Max Payne on 13 October 2008.
Born 1970 (age 47–48)
Dundalk, Ireland
Residence Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Occupation Director, producer, writer
Years active 1990–present
Spouse(s) Fiona Connon (2005–present)
Children Buzz

John Moore (born 1970) is an Irish film director and producer best known for action war film Behind Enemy Lines and for the most recent entry in the long-running Die Hard franchise, A Good Day to Die Hard.

Early life and education

Moore was born in Dundalk, Ireland, and attended Dublin Institute of Technology, where he attained a degree in Media Arts. Upon completing his course, Moore genuinely believed that he wouldn't go on to work within the medium of film, but after a few years, that promptly changed.

Career

After graduating, he wrote and directed a series of short films in Ireland. Several of these shorts have featured on Irish TV networks over the years, and along the way Moore founded an Irish-based production company called Clingfilms. He then went on to direct several commercials, including the launch advertisement for Dreamcast, which 20th Century Fox found so impressive they gave him the $17 million (BTL) budget for Behind Enemy Lines.

To date, Moore has made five films for 20th Century Fox: Behind Enemy Lines (2001), Flight of the Phoenix (2004), The Omen (2006), Max Payne (2008) and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013). Despite receiving mixed reviews, both Behind Enemy Lines and The Omen did well at the box office. Flight of the Phoenix, however, received mainly negative reviews and grossed just under $35 million worldwide, much less than the film's budget.[1] The behind the scenes documentary on the DVD shows him at multiple points berating crew on set. Max Payne also receiving mainly negative reviews, but became a box office success, grossing $85 million on a $35 million budget. A Good Day to Die Hard has also received mostly negative reviews, but grossed $304 million on a $92 million budget, making it his highest-grossing film.

In September 2008, Moore was involved in a dispute with the MPAA over the certification of his film Max Payne. The MPAA initially gave the film an R rating, which Moore argued against. The film was reedited and the rating was a month later changed to PG-13, just before theatrical distribution.

In late 2010, Moore was announced to be the director for the recent Die Hard film, A Good Day to Die Hard. The film premiered worldwide on 14 February 2013.

Moore was also considered to direct X-Men: The Last Stand as well as Friday the 13th.

Personal life

Moore's brother, Éamonn, is a senior Public Health Physician and novelist in the UK. He has written a book called The Maiwand Lion. Moore's partner is Fiona Connon, a makeup artist whom he met through an industry friend early in his career in Ireland. They have one child, Buzz. The family reside in Los Angeles, making occasional returns to Ireland.

Moore told the BBC in September 2004 that he firmly professes a belief in God. When asked if he was either religious or spiritual, Moore replied:

Ah, what's that line from the movie [Flight Of The Phoenix]? "Religion divides people, spirituality brings them together." Well, I think religion is dangerous but essential, and it's undeniable. I think to divide spirituality and religion is an academic argument that just doesn't cut it in the real world."[2]

Critical evaluation

Despite his films receiving mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, for the most part Moore's films have proved popular with audiences. Critic Armond White has described Moore as "a Peckinpah-esque, neo-Eisenstein stylist whose grade-B material (Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix, The Omen) has kept him from receiving the acclaim he deserves".[3] In his review of Max Payne, White had stated that Moore "explores genuine, contemporary anxiety [and that] his images are richer than his plots".[3]

Among the rare positive reviews for A Good Day to Die Hard, Chris Tookey of the Daily Mail tabloid paper described the film as "...as stupid in its way as The Expendables and Taken 2, and nowhere near the quality of the first three Die Hards. But if you approach it as I did, in a mood for preposterous action and massive explosions, it does deliver escapist entertainment and it's mercifully shorter than Die Hard 4. In a week as bad as this in the cinema, it is the only new movie I would have paid to see." Tookey then gave the final verdict as being "Entertaining, but dumb." along with a 3/5-star rating.[4]

Daniel M. Kimmel, writing for the New England Movies Weekly, found the film to be better than Live Free or Die Hard and states that the car chase scene "is well worth the price of admission". With a 3.5/5 rating, Kimmel summed up his review saying, "it's probably a good day to end the series at last, but it's an action-packed and entertaining finale."[5] Rick Groen of The Globe and Mail criticized the action scenes as being "messy", but concluded his review saying that the film "continues the franchise without undue embarrassment."[6]

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

  • Jack's Bicycle (1990)
  • He Shoots, He Scores (1995)

References

  1. ↑ "FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Papamichael, Stella (September 24, 2014). "Getting Direct With Directors... No.27: John Moore". BBC. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  3. 1 2 White, Armond (21 November 2008). "Max Payne: John Moore's style makes the video game adaptation a success". New York Press. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  4. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2278953/A-Good-Day-Die-Hard-review-New-Bruce-Willis-film-explosive-escape-reality.html
  5. ↑ Daniel M. Kimmel (14 February 2013). "Review – A Good Day To Die Hard". New England Movies Weekly. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  6. ↑ Rick Groen (14 February 2013). "A Good Day to Die Hard: More messy than hard, but not dead yet". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
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