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Walter Hill (director)
Encyclopedia
Walter Hill is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Hill is known for male-dominated action films and revival of the Western
. He said in an interview, "Every film I've done has been a Western," and elaborated in another, "The Western is ultimately a stripped down moral universe that is, whatever the dramatic problems are, beyond the normal avenues of social control and social alleviation of the problem, and I like to do that even within contemporary stories."
. Growing up in southern California, Hill was asthmatic as a child and, as a result, missed several years of school. He spent much of his time daydreaming, reading comic book
s, and listening to radio serials. Hill said his father and grandfather were "smart, physical men who worked with their heads and their hands" and had "great mechanical ability." His paternal grandfather was a wildcat oil driller. Hill worked in the oil fields as a roustabout
on Signal Hill
near Los Angeles
during summers of the latter part of his high school years and several more years while in college. During one summer, he ran an asbestos
pipe-cutting machine and worked as a spray painter. After a stint at Mexico City College, he later majored in history at Michigan State University
.
, graduating to work as second assistant director on The Thomas Crown Affair
in 1968. He went on to work as the uncredited second assistant director on Bullitt
in the same year. In 1969, he was the second assistant director on a Woody Allen
film, Take the Money and Run
, but said he remembers doing very little except passing out the call sheets and filling out time cards.
expressed interest in filming it after The Getaway
(1972) which became the first of Hill's screenplays to be produced as a film. Peckinpah ended up doing Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
instead.
Peter Bogdanovich
's ex-wife Polly Platt
, a film editor, had read Hill's script for Hickey & Boggs
and recommended him to co-write The Getaway
with Bogdanovich. They worked on the script together in San Francisco while Bogdanovich was directing What's Up, Doc?
They had completed 25 pages when they went back to L.A., whereupon Steve McQueen
fired Bogdanovich without reading any of their work. Hill started from scratch and wrote his own script in six weeks.
Hill went on to write a pair of Paul Newman
films, The Mackintosh Man
and The Drowning Pool
. By Hill's own admission, his work on The Mackintosh Man "wasn't much" and he did it for the money. In addition, he and director John Huston
disagreed on how closely to stick to the book on which it was based. Producers Larry Turman and David Foster asked Hill to adapt Ross MacDonald
's novel The Drowning Pool
for Richard Mulligan
to direct as a sequel to a previous Newman film, Harper
. The producers did not like the direction Hill took with his script, so he left the project to write Hard Times
for Larry Gordon at Columbia Pictures
.
film, Point Blank and considered it a "revelation" in terms of style and format. He decided to tailor his own scripts in that manner, as he described it, "extremely spare, almost Haiku
style. Both stage directions and dialogue." Hill wrote Hard Times
, a rewrite of Alien
, The Driver
, and The Warriors in this style.
Hill met producer Lawrence Gordon in 1973. He agreed to let Hill direct a film if he wrote a screenplay for him. Hill made a deal to write and direct for scale and in turn got a shot at directing. The result was Hill's 1975 breakthrough film, Hard Times, made on location in New Orleans for just $2.7 million in 38 days. James Coburn
played a fast-talking promoter of illegal street fights in 1930s New Orleans and Charles Bronson
played the boxer protagonist.
Hill's second film as a director was The Driver
starring Ryan O'Neal
as a laconic getaway driver for hire and Bruce Dern
as a driven cop pursuing him. No character in the film has a name; they are merely The Driver, The Detective, and so forth. Hill originally had wanted to cast McQueen, but he turned down the role because he did not want to do another car film.
In 1979, Hill directed The Warriors - a story of violent street gangs which arguably became his most popular film due to its ongoing cult following. It spawned a spin-off television show that aired in the mid 1980s on ABC called The Renegades, as well as a video game, action figures and talk of a Tony Scott
remake.
, which cast real-life acting brothers (the Keaches, Carradines, Quaids and Guests) as historical outlaw siblings (the James, Younger, Miller and Ford brothers).
A year later, Hill took a Western approach to Southern Comfort
, an intense Deliverance-style thriller about a group of U.S. Army National Guardsmen (including Keith Carradine
, Powers Boothe
and Fred Ward
) on weekend maneuvers in the Louisiana bayou who find themselves fighting for survival in the swamps after offending some local Cajuns. The film was seen by many as an allegory for America's involvement in Vietnam.
In 1982, Hill enjoyed a major box office success by teaming a young Eddie Murphy
with Nick Nolte
for the film 48 Hrs.
It was Murphy's first film. Clint Eastwood
was originally lined up to play the cop and Richard Pryor
the convict, but Eastwood wanted to play the criminal instead and dropped out of the project with Pryor following suit soon afterward.
Hill was the co-producer and one of the originators of the blockbuster Alien
series of films. He rewrote the script for the original production (with David Giler), co-wrote the story for Aliens
, the second film in the series, and co-wrote (again with Giler and also Larry Ferguson) the screenplay to Alien 3.
In 1984, he directed a stylish "rock 'n' roll fable", Streets of Fire
. While initially a box-office failure, it gained a greater following in subsequent years (as many of Hill's films have). He directed Pryor along with John Candy
in the much more mainstream 1985 comedy Brewster's Millions
, following this with Crossroads
, an atmospheric, non-violent Hill film about a young blues guitarist (Ralph Macchio
) and a legendary harpist (Joe Seneca
) on a road trip.
In 1987, he returned to hard-edged action with Extreme Prejudice
, a contemporary Western based on a story by John Milius
and Fred Rexer
, which starred Nolte, Boothe, Michael Ironside
and Clancy Brown
. A tale of childhood friends who are on both sides of the law, it includes a showdown that lovingly pays homage to Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch
.
Hill returned to the buddy-cop genre with Red Heat
(1988), a sort of Glasnost
-era reworking of 48 Hrs.
with Arnold Schwarzenegger
as a stoic Soviet cop who travels to Chicago to catch a Russian drug-dealer (Ed O'Ross
). Schwarzenegger is partnered with a wisecracking American cop (James Belushi
), who is as laid-back and mouthy as his Soviet counterpart is taciturn and humorless.
Hill ended the 1980s with Johnny Handsome
(1989). An unusual crime story starring Mickey Rourke
, Morgan Freeman
and Lance Henriksen
, it was a cynical, downbeat tale that the director saw as a re-examination of the film noir genre.
, with Murphy this time top-billed over Nolte. However, the sequel to his biggest commercial success was thought by many critics to be merely a retread of the original, but became the highest grossing film that Hill has directed.
In 1992, Hill directed a film originally called Looters about two firemen who cross paths with criminals while searching for stolen loot in an abandoned East St. Louis tenement building. However, the L.A. Riots broke out shortly before the film's release and the studio delayed its opening, eventually changing the title to Trespass.
Hill began to focus his energies on Western-themed tales. His film biography of Geronimo
, entitled, Geronimo: An American Legend
, with a screenplay written by John Milius
, was well received by the critics, but fared poorly at the box office. A second biopic - this time of the titular Wild Bill - had little critical or commercial success, although Hill would return to the same themes and same characters, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, the next decade with the TV series Deadwood
.
His 1996 effort Last Man Standing
with Bruce Willis
, a Prohibition
-era Western update of Yojimbo (and thus reminiscent of that film's inspiration, Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest
, and its western incarnation, A Fistful of Dollars
) saw him return to his earlier style to some extent: a gruff antihero and a heavy focus on stylized action. It was seen as a return to form for the director probably because of the mix of genres(including gun plays inspired by Hong Kong director John Woo).
The 1990s also saw him retain a writing and producer credit for Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, although he has stated in several interviews he has had nothing to do with the franchise since Alien 3. He and David Giler
were responsible for the final and very controversial rewrite of the story which killed off the Bishop, Hicks and Newt characters from Aliens
.
to re-cut the film. This caused Hill to withdraw from the project and credit himself with the pseudonym
"Thomas Lee" (a variation of Alan Smithee
), and chose not to be associated with the finished product. Hill called his original version a much darker take than the final product. In 2002, Hill directed the prison boxing film Undisputed starring Wesley Snipes
, Ving Rhames
and Peter Falk
.
Hill served as a director and consulting producer for the pilot episode of the HBO Western drama TV series Deadwood
in 2004. The series was created by David Milch
and focused on a growing town in the American West. Hill's work on Deadwood has seen him return to favour in critical circles to some extent, earning him an Emmy in 2004 and a DGA award
in 2005.
He continued his work with westerns by directing the mini series Broken Trail
, which became the highest-rated film made by a cable network when it premiered on AMC
. It also earned him yet another Emmy when it was awarded for Best Mini-Series. Hill also won a second DGA award for his efforts on Broken Trail.
action film Bullet to the Head starring Sylvester Stallone
and Sung Kang
. It recently completed filming and is scheduled for release on April 13 2012.
, in New York City
at Tavern on the Green
on September 7, 1986. They have two daughters, Joanna and Miranda.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
. He said in an interview, "Every film I've done has been a Western," and elaborated in another, "The Western is ultimately a stripped down moral universe that is, whatever the dramatic problems are, beyond the normal avenues of social control and social alleviation of the problem, and I like to do that even within contemporary stories."
Early life
Hill was born in Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. Growing up in southern California, Hill was asthmatic as a child and, as a result, missed several years of school. He spent much of his time daydreaming, reading comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, and listening to radio serials. Hill said his father and grandfather were "smart, physical men who worked with their heads and their hands" and had "great mechanical ability." His paternal grandfather was a wildcat oil driller. Hill worked in the oil fields as a roustabout
Roustabout
A roustabout is a labourer typically performing temporary, unskilled work. The term has traditionally been used to refer to traveling-circus workers, natural gas, or oil rig workers....
on Signal Hill
Signal Hill, California
Signal Hill is a small city in California located in the Greater Los Angeles area. Signal Hill, completely surrounded by the city of Long Beach, was incorporated on April 22, 1924, roughly three years after oil was discovered in Signal Hill. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
during summers of the latter part of his high school years and several more years while in college. During one summer, he ran an asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
pipe-cutting machine and worked as a spray painter. After a stint at Mexico City College, he later majored in history at Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
.
Assistant director
Hill began his career in the training program of the Directors Guild of AmericaDirectors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
, graduating to work as second assistant director on The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)
The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 film by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Song with Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"...
in 1968. He went on to work as the uncredited second assistant director on Bullitt
Bullitt
Bullitt is a 1968 American police procedural film starring Steve McQueen, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Vaughn. It was directed by Peter Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. The story was adapted for the screen by Alan Trustman and Harry Kleiner, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness by Robert L....
in the same year. In 1969, he was the second assistant director on a Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
film, Take the Money and Run
Take the Money and Run
Take the Money and Run is a 1969 comedy film written by Woody Allen and Mickey Rose, and directed by and starring Woody Allen. It is an early mockumentary, chronicling the life of Virgil Starkwell, a bungling petty thief...
, but said he remembers doing very little except passing out the call sheets and filling out time cards.
Screenwriter
Hill's first screenplay, a Western called Lloyd Williams and His Brother, was optioned in 1969 by Joe Wizan, but it was never made. At one point, Sam PeckinpahSam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
expressed interest in filming it after The Getaway
The Getaway (1972 film)
The Getaway is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.The film is based on a novel by Jim Thompson, with the screenplay written by Walter Hill...
(1972) which became the first of Hill's screenplays to be produced as a film. Peckinpah ended up doing Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid is a 1973 Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson. Co-star Bob Dylan composed multiple songs for the movie's score and the album Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid was released the same year.The film was noted for...
instead.
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
's ex-wife Polly Platt
Polly Platt
Mary Marr "Polly" Platt was an American film producer, production designer and screenwriter.-Early life:Platt was born Mary Marr Platt in Fort Sheridan, Illinois on January 29, 1939, later using the name Polly. Her father John was a colonel in the army while her mother Vivian worked in...
, a film editor, had read Hill's script for Hickey & Boggs
Hickey & Boggs
Hickey & Boggs is a 1972 neo-noir detective movie written by Walter Hill and directed by Robert Culp. The film marks the first reunion of Culp and Bill Cosby since they starred together in the 1960s television series I Spy.-Plot:...
and recommended him to co-write The Getaway
The Getaway
- Film :* The Get-Away, a 1941 remake of the 1935 crime film Public Hero No. 1* The Getaway , a 1972 film adaptation of the novel, starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw...
with Bogdanovich. They worked on the script together in San Francisco while Bogdanovich was directing What's Up, Doc?
What's Up, Doc? (1972 film)
What's Up, Doc? is a 1972 screwball comedy film released by Warner Bros., directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, and Madeline Kahn...
They had completed 25 pages when they went back to L.A., whereupon Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
fired Bogdanovich without reading any of their work. Hill started from scratch and wrote his own script in six weeks.
Hill went on to write a pair of Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
films, The Mackintosh Man
The Mackintosh Man
The Mackintosh Man is a 1973 British cold war spy thriller film directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, James Mason, Dominique Sanda and Ian Bannen. It was produced by John Foreman and William Hill as associate producer from a screenplay by Walter Hill and William Fairchild based on the...
and The Drowning Pool
The Drowning Pool (film)
The Drowning Pool is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and based upon Ross Macdonald's novel The Drowning Pool. The film stars Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Anthony Franciosa, and is a sequel to Harper...
. By Hill's own admission, his work on The Mackintosh Man "wasn't much" and he did it for the money. In addition, he and director John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
disagreed on how closely to stick to the book on which it was based. Producers Larry Turman and David Foster asked Hill to adapt Ross MacDonald
Ross MacDonald
David Ross MacDonald is a Canadian sailor. He began sailing at the age of 11....
's novel The Drowning Pool
The Drowning Pool
The Drowning Pool is a 1950 mystery novel written by Ross Macdonald, his second book in the series revolving around the cases of private detective Lew Archer.-Plot summary:Archer is hired by a woman to investigate a slanderous letter she received...
for Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan
Richard Mulligan was an American television and film actor best known for his role as Burt Campbell in the 1970s sitcom Soap and later as Dr. Harry Weston on The Golden Girls and its spin-off Empty Nest.-Early life:He was born in New York City, the younger brother of director Robert Mulligan...
to direct as a sequel to a previous Newman film, Harper
Harper (film)
Harper is a 1966 film written by William Goldman from a novel by Ross Macdonald. The movie starred Paul Newman as the eponymous Lew Harper . The original music score was composed by Johnny Mandel. Goldman received a 1967 Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay...
. The producers did not like the direction Hill took with his script, so he left the project to write Hard Times
Hard Times (1975 film)
Hard Times is a 1975 film starring Charles Bronson as Chaney, a drifter who travels to Louisiana during the Great Depression and begins competing in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches...
for Larry Gordon at Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
.
Early films
Hill read Alex Jacob's screenplay for the Lee MarvinLee Marvin
Lee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
film, Point Blank and considered it a "revelation" in terms of style and format. He decided to tailor his own scripts in that manner, as he described it, "extremely spare, almost Haiku
Haiku
' , plural haiku, is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:* The essence of haiku is "cutting"...
style. Both stage directions and dialogue." Hill wrote Hard Times
Hard Times (1975 film)
Hard Times is a 1975 film starring Charles Bronson as Chaney, a drifter who travels to Louisiana during the Great Depression and begins competing in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches...
, a rewrite of Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
, The Driver
The Driver
The Driver is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. Based upon similarities in plot elements, it is heavily influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville's film Le Samouraï...
, and The Warriors in this style.
Hill met producer Lawrence Gordon in 1973. He agreed to let Hill direct a film if he wrote a screenplay for him. Hill made a deal to write and direct for scale and in turn got a shot at directing. The result was Hill's 1975 breakthrough film, Hard Times, made on location in New Orleans for just $2.7 million in 38 days. James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
played a fast-talking promoter of illegal street fights in 1930s New Orleans and Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson , born Charles Dennis Buchinsky was an American actor, best-known for such films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, Rider on the Rain, The Mechanic, and the popular Death Wish series...
played the boxer protagonist.
Hill's second film as a director was The Driver
The Driver
The Driver is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. Based upon similarities in plot elements, it is heavily influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville's film Le Samouraï...
starring Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal
Charles Patrick Ryan O'Neal , better known as Ryan O'Neal, is an American actor best known for his appearances in the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place and for his roles in such films as Paper Moon , Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon , A Bridge Too Far , and Love Story , for which he received...
as a laconic getaway driver for hire and Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
as a driven cop pursuing him. No character in the film has a name; they are merely The Driver, The Detective, and so forth. Hill originally had wanted to cast McQueen, but he turned down the role because he did not want to do another car film.
In 1979, Hill directed The Warriors - a story of violent street gangs which arguably became his most popular film due to its ongoing cult following. It spawned a spin-off television show that aired in the mid 1980s on ABC called The Renegades, as well as a video game, action figures and talk of a Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
remake.
1980s
In 1980, Hill directed his first official Western, The Long RidersThe Long Riders
The Long Riders is a 1980 western film directed by Walter Hill. It was produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann and featured an original soundtrack by Ry Cooder. Cooder won the Best Music award in 1980 from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for this soundtrack...
, which cast real-life acting brothers (the Keaches, Carradines, Quaids and Guests) as historical outlaw siblings (the James, Younger, Miller and Ford brothers).
A year later, Hill took a Western approach to Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort (film)
Southern Comfort is an American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill, working from a script by Hill, longtime collaborator David Giler, and Michael Kane. It featured Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Alan Autry, Les Lannom, Peter Coyote, T. K...
, an intense Deliverance-style thriller about a group of U.S. Army National Guardsmen (including Keith Carradine
Keith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...
, Powers Boothe
Powers Boothe
Powers Allen Boothe is an American television and film actor. Some of his most notable roles include his Emmy-winning 1980 portrayal of Jim Jones and his turn as Cy Tolliver on Deadwood, as well as Vice-President Noah Daniels on 24....
and Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
) on weekend maneuvers in the Louisiana bayou who find themselves fighting for survival in the swamps after offending some local Cajuns. The film was seen by many as an allegory for America's involvement in Vietnam.
In 1982, Hill enjoyed a major box office success by teaming a young Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....
with Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
for the film 48 Hrs.
48 Hrs.
48 Hrs. is a 1982 American action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and convict, respectively, who team up to catch a cop-killer. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. This was Eddie Murphy's film debut , and Joel...
It was Murphy's first film. Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
was originally lined up to play the cop and Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
the convict, but Eastwood wanted to play the criminal instead and dropped out of the project with Pryor following suit soon afterward.
Hill was the co-producer and one of the originators of the blockbuster Alien
Alien (franchise)
The Alien film series is a science fiction horror film franchise, focusing on Lieutenant Ellen Ripley and her battle with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien"...
series of films. He rewrote the script for the original production (with David Giler), co-wrote the story for Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, the second film in the series, and co-wrote (again with Giler and also Larry Ferguson) the screenplay to Alien 3.
In 1984, he directed a stylish "rock 'n' roll fable", Streets of Fire
Streets of Fire
Streets of Fire is a 1984 film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Larry Gross. It was described in previews, trailers, and posters as "A Rock & Roll Fable." It is an unusual mix of musical, action, drama, and comedy with elements both of retro-1950s and 1980s...
. While initially a box-office failure, it gained a greater following in subsequent years (as many of Hill's films have). He directed Pryor along with John Candy
John Candy
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
in the much more mainstream 1985 comedy Brewster's Millions
Brewster's Millions (1985 film)
Brewster's Millions is a 1985 comedy film starring Richard Pryor and John Candy based on the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon. It is the seventh film based on the story, with a screenplay by Herschel Weingrod & Timothy Harris...
, following this with Crossroads
Crossroads (1986 film)
Crossroads is a 1986 film starring Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca and Jami Gertz, inspired by the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson.The film was written by John Fusco and directed by Walter Hill and featured an original score featuring Ry Cooder and Steve Vai on the soundtrack's guitar, and...
, an atmospheric, non-violent Hill film about a young blues guitarist (Ralph Macchio
Ralph Macchio
Ralph George Macchio is an American actor, best known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. He is also known to American television audiences for his season five recurring role as Jeremy Andretti on the...
) and a legendary harpist (Joe Seneca
Joe Seneca
Joe Seneca was an American film and television actor who had a lengthy Hollywood career, portraying bit parts in many major films and television sitcoms spanning from the 1970s to the 1990s....
) on a road trip.
In 1987, he returned to hard-edged action with Extreme Prejudice
Extreme Prejudice (film)
Extreme Prejudice is an American action film originally released in 1987.The film was directed by Walter Hill; it was written by John Milius, Fred Rexer and Deric Washburn...
, a contemporary Western based on a story by John Milius
John Milius
John Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960s, but was rejected...
and Fred Rexer
Fred Rexer
Fred Rexer, aka Fred L. Rexer and Fred Rexer, Jr., is a U.S. Army Vietnam combat veteran and Hollywood actor and screenwriter. He is best known as the military advisor for Apocalypse Now and as Spiritual Advisor for Conan the Barbarian...
, which starred Nolte, Boothe, Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside
Michael Ironside is a Canadian-born actor. He has also worked as a voice actor, producer, film director, and screenwriter in movie and television series in various Canadian and American productions. He is best known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, though he has also portrayed...
and Clancy Brown
Clancy Brown
Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
. A tale of childhood friends who are on both sides of the law, it includes a showdown that lovingly pays homage to Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch is a 1969 American Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah about an aging outlaw gang on the Texas-Mexico border, trying to exist in the changing "modern" world of 1913...
.
Hill returned to the buddy-cop genre with Red Heat
Red Heat
Red Heat is a 1988 buddy cop film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Moscow narc Ivan Danko, and James Belushi, as Chicago detective Art Ridžić...
(1988), a sort of Glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
-era reworking of 48 Hrs.
48 Hrs.
48 Hrs. is a 1982 American action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and convict, respectively, who team up to catch a cop-killer. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. This was Eddie Murphy's film debut , and Joel...
with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
as a stoic Soviet cop who travels to Chicago to catch a Russian drug-dealer (Ed O'Ross
Ed O'Ross
Ed O'Ross is an American actor perhaps best known for playing the giggling spectacled gangster Itchy in Dick Tracy, ruthless Georgian mobster Viktor Rostavili in Red Heat, and tough-then-alien-possessed police detective Cliff Willis in The Hidden.-Early life:O'Ross was born Edward Oross in...
). Schwarzenegger is partnered with a wisecracking American cop (James Belushi
James Belushi
James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
), who is as laid-back and mouthy as his Soviet counterpart is taciturn and humorless.
Hill ended the 1980s with Johnny Handsome
Johnny Handsome
Johnny Handsome is an 1989 American crime-drama film directed by Walter Hill and starring Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin and Morgan Freeman. The film was written by Ken Friedman, from the novel by John Godey. The music for the film was written, produced and performed by Ry Cooder, and Jim Keltner...
(1989). An unusual crime story starring Mickey Rourke
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
, Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
and Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen
Lance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
, it was a cynical, downbeat tale that the director saw as a re-examination of the film noir genre.
1990s
Hill began the 1990s with the only sequel he's directed to date, Another 48 Hrs.Another 48 Hrs.
Another 48 Hrs. is a 1990 action-comedy film and a sequel to the 1982 film 48 Hrs.. It was directed by Walter Hill and stars Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Andrew Divoff, and Ed O'Ross. Nolte returns as San Francisco police officer Jack Cates, who has 48 hours to clear his name from a...
, with Murphy this time top-billed over Nolte. However, the sequel to his biggest commercial success was thought by many critics to be merely a retread of the original, but became the highest grossing film that Hill has directed.
In 1992, Hill directed a film originally called Looters about two firemen who cross paths with criminals while searching for stolen loot in an abandoned East St. Louis tenement building. However, the L.A. Riots broke out shortly before the film's release and the studio delayed its opening, eventually changing the title to Trespass.
Hill began to focus his energies on Western-themed tales. His film biography of Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
, entitled, Geronimo: An American Legend
Geronimo: An American Legend
Geronimo: An American Legend is a 1993 film, starring Wes Studi as Geronimo, Jason Patric as 1st Lt. Charles B. Gatewood, Gene Hackman as Brig. Gen. George Crook, Robert Duvall as Chief of Scouts Al Sieber, and Matt Damon as 2nd Lt. Britton Davis. The film was directed by Walter Hill from a...
, with a screenplay written by John Milius
John Milius
John Frederick Milius is an American screenwriter, director, and producer of motion pictures.-Early life:Milius was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Elizabeth and William Styx Milius, who was a shoe manufacturer. Milius attempted to join the Marine Corps in the late 1960s, but was rejected...
, was well received by the critics, but fared poorly at the box office. A second biopic - this time of the titular Wild Bill - had little critical or commercial success, although Hill would return to the same themes and same characters, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, the next decade with the TV series Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
.
His 1996 effort Last Man Standing
Last Man Standing (film)
Last Man Standing is a 1996 action film written and directed by Walter Hill, starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Dern. It is a credited remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo.- Plot :...
with Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, a Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
-era Western update of Yojimbo (and thus reminiscent of that film's inspiration, Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest
Red Harvest
Red Harvest is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by The Continental Op, a frequent character in Hammett's fiction. Hammett based the story on his own experiences in Butte, Montana as an operative of the Continental Detective Agency, San Francisco.Time included Red Harvest in its...
, and its western incarnation, A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
) saw him return to his earlier style to some extent: a gruff antihero and a heavy focus on stylized action. It was seen as a return to form for the director probably because of the mix of genres(including gun plays inspired by Hong Kong director John Woo).
The 1990s also saw him retain a writing and producer credit for Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, although he has stated in several interviews he has had nothing to do with the franchise since Alien 3. He and David Giler
David Giler
David Giler is an American filmmaker who has been active in the motion picture industry since the early 1960s.He started his career as a writer, providing scripts for television programs such as Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
were responsible for the final and very controversial rewrite of the story which killed off the Bishop, Hicks and Newt characters from Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
.
2000s
Hill then directed the 2000 film Supernova. When the studio did not agree with his vision, they brought in Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
to re-cut the film. This caused Hill to withdraw from the project and credit himself with the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Thomas Lee" (a variation of Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee
Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to...
), and chose not to be associated with the finished product. Hill called his original version a much darker take than the final product. In 2002, Hill directed the prison boxing film Undisputed starring Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
, Ving Rhames
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames is an American actor best known for his work in Bringing Out the Dead, Pulp Fiction, Baby Boy, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.-Early life and education:...
and Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
.
Hill served as a director and consulting producer for the pilot episode of the HBO Western drama TV series Deadwood
Deadwood (TV series)
Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
in 2004. The series was created by David Milch
David Milch
David S. Milch is an American writer and producer of television series. He has created several television shows, including NYPD Blue and Deadwood.-Biography:...
and focused on a growing town in the American West. Hill's work on Deadwood has seen him return to favour in critical circles to some extent, earning him an Emmy in 2004 and a DGA award
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
in 2005.
He continued his work with westerns by directing the mini series Broken Trail
Broken Trail
Broken Trail is a 2006 Western miniseries that originally aired on American Movie Classics as their first original movie. It stars Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church, and was directed by Walter Hill....
, which became the highest-rated film made by a cable network when it premiered on AMC
AMC (TV network)
AMC is a cable television specialty channel that primarily airs movies, along with a limited amount of original programming. The letters originally stood for American Movie Classics; however since 2002, the full name has been deemphasized as a result of a major shift in programming...
. It also earned him yet another Emmy when it was awarded for Best Mini-Series. Hill also won a second DGA award for his efforts on Broken Trail.
2010s
Hill's latest film as director is the Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
action film Bullet to the Head starring Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
and Sung Kang
Sung Kang
Sung Kang is an American actor, known for his role as Han Seoul-Oh in the films Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, and Fast Five....
. It recently completed filming and is scheduled for release on April 13 2012.
Personal life
Hill married Hildy Gottlieb, a talent agent at International Creative ManagementInternational Creative Management
International Creative Management is a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London. ICM is a full-service agency representing creative and technical talent in the fields of motion pictures, television, fiction and nonfiction publishing, music, live performance,...
, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green was a privately owned American cuisine restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. It remained in operation from 1934 to 2009 under various owners...
on September 7, 1986. They have two daughters, Joanna and Miranda.
Filmography
- Hickey & BoggsHickey & BoggsHickey & Boggs is a 1972 neo-noir detective movie written by Walter Hill and directed by Robert Culp. The film marks the first reunion of Culp and Bill Cosby since they starred together in the 1960s television series I Spy.-Plot:...
(1972) - The GetawayThe Getaway (1972 film)The Getaway is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.The film is based on a novel by Jim Thompson, with the screenplay written by Walter Hill...
(1972) - The Mackintosh ManThe Mackintosh ManThe Mackintosh Man is a 1973 British cold war spy thriller film directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman, James Mason, Dominique Sanda and Ian Bannen. It was produced by John Foreman and William Hill as associate producer from a screenplay by Walter Hill and William Fairchild based on the...
(with William Fairchild) (1973) - The Thief Who Came to DinnerThe Thief Who Came to DinnerThe Thief Who Came to Dinner is a 1973 comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin and based on the novel by Terrence Lore Smith. The film stars Ryan O'Neal and Jacqueline Bisset, with Charles Cioffi, Warren Oates, and in an early appearance, Jill Clayburgh....
(1973) - The Drowning PoolThe Drowning Pool (film)The Drowning Pool is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, and based upon Ross Macdonald's novel The Drowning Pool. The film stars Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Anthony Franciosa, and is a sequel to Harper...
(1975) - Hard TimesHard Times (1975 film)Hard Times is a 1975 film starring Charles Bronson as Chaney, a drifter who travels to Louisiana during the Great Depression and begins competing in illegal bare-knuckled boxing matches...
(1975) (Director/Co-Writer, with Bryan Gindolf and Bruce Henstell) - Dog and CatDog and CatDog and Cat is an American television series that aired on ABC in 1977.Lou Antonio played Sgt. Jack Ramsey, an undercover detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, who found himself teamed with a very green partner named J.Z. Kane...
(1977) (TV) - The DriverThe DriverThe Driver is a 1978 crime film directed by Walter Hill and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani. Based upon similarities in plot elements, it is heavily influenced by Jean-Pierre Melville's film Le Samouraï...
(1978) (Director/Writer) - AlienAlien (film)Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
(1979) (Producer) - The Warriors (1979) (Director/Co-Writer, with David ShaberDavid ShaberDavid Shaber was an American screenwriter and theatre producer, best known for writing The Warriors, Nighthawks and The Hunt for Red October...
) - The Long RidersThe Long RidersThe Long Riders is a 1980 western film directed by Walter Hill. It was produced by James Keach, Stacy Keach and Tim Zinnemann and featured an original soundtrack by Ry Cooder. Cooder won the Best Music award in 1980 from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards for this soundtrack...
(1980) (Director) - Southern ComfortSouthern Comfort (film)Southern Comfort is an American action/thriller film directed by Walter Hill, working from a script by Hill, longtime collaborator David Giler, and Michael Kane. It featured Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Alan Autry, Les Lannom, Peter Coyote, T. K...
(1981) (Director/Co-Writer, with Michael KaneMichael KaneMichael Kane may refer to:* Michael Kane , American soccer player* Michael F. Kane , Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives* Michael Kane , Canadian actor.-See also:...
and David GilerDavid GilerDavid Giler is an American filmmaker who has been active in the motion picture industry since the early 1960s.He started his career as a writer, providing scripts for television programs such as Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
) - 48 Hrs.48 Hrs.48 Hrs. is a 1982 American action comedy film directed by Walter Hill, starring Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as a cop and convict, respectively, who team up to catch a cop-killer. The title refers to the amount of time they have to solve the crime. This was Eddie Murphy's film debut , and Joel...
(1982) (Director/Co-Writer, with Larry GrossLarry GrossLarry Gross is an American screenwriter, producer, and occasionally a director. He won the 2004 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for We Don't Live Here Anymore.-Filmography:...
, Roger SpottiswoodeRoger SpottiswoodeRoger Spottiswoode is a Canadian-born film director and writer, who began his career as an editor in the 1970s. He was born in Ottawa, Ontario. He has directed a number of notable films and television productions, including Under Fire and the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies starring...
, and Steven E. de SouzaSteven E. de SouzaSteven E. de Souza is an American producer, director and screenwriter. He is among a handful of screenwriters whose films have earned over two billion dollars at the worldwide box office.-Life and career:...
) - Streets of FireStreets of FireStreets of Fire is a 1984 film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Larry Gross. It was described in previews, trailers, and posters as "A Rock & Roll Fable." It is an unusual mix of musical, action, drama, and comedy with elements both of retro-1950s and 1980s...
(1984) (Director/Co-Writer, with Larry GrossLarry GrossLarry Gross is an American screenwriter, producer, and occasionally a director. He won the 2004 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for We Don't Live Here Anymore.-Filmography:...
) - Brewster's MillionsBrewster's Millions (1985 film)Brewster's Millions is a 1985 comedy film starring Richard Pryor and John Candy based on the 1902 novel of the same name by George Barr McCutcheon. It is the seventh film based on the story, with a screenplay by Herschel Weingrod & Timothy Harris...
(1985) (Director) - CrossroadsCrossroads (1986 film)Crossroads is a 1986 film starring Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca and Jami Gertz, inspired by the legend of blues musician Robert Johnson.The film was written by John Fusco and directed by Walter Hill and featured an original score featuring Ry Cooder and Steve Vai on the soundtrack's guitar, and...
(1986) (Director) - Blue CityBlue City (film)Blue City is a 1986 drama film based on the 1947 Ross Macdonald novel of the same name about a young man who returns to a corrupt small town in Florida to avenge the death of his father...
(with Lukas HellerLukas HellerLukas Heller was a German screenwriter born in Kiel. He won an Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture for Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte .He was father to British writers Bruno and Zoë Heller.-Filmography:*The Dirty Dozen...
) (1986) - AliensAliens (film)Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
(1986) (Co-Producer/Story, with James CameronJames CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
and David GilerDavid GilerDavid Giler is an American filmmaker who has been active in the motion picture industry since the early 1960s.He started his career as a writer, providing scripts for television programs such as Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
) - Extreme PrejudiceExtreme Prejudice (film)Extreme Prejudice is an American action film originally released in 1987.The film was directed by Walter Hill; it was written by John Milius, Fred Rexer and Deric Washburn...
(1987) (Director) - Red HeatRed HeatRed Heat is a 1988 buddy cop film directed by Walter Hill. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Moscow narc Ivan Danko, and James Belushi, as Chicago detective Art Ridžić...
(1988) (Director/Co-Writer, with Troy Kennedy MartinTroy Kennedy MartinTroy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter best known for creating the long running BBC TV police series Z-Cars, and for the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness...
and Harry Kleiner) - Johnny HandsomeJohnny HandsomeJohnny Handsome is an 1989 American crime-drama film directed by Walter Hill and starring Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin and Morgan Freeman. The film was written by Ken Friedman, from the novel by John Godey. The music for the film was written, produced and performed by Ry Cooder, and Jim Keltner...
(1989) (Director) - Tales from the CryptTales from the Crypt (TV series)Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
(1989-1991) (TV) - Another 48 Hrs.Another 48 Hrs.Another 48 Hrs. is a 1990 action-comedy film and a sequel to the 1982 film 48 Hrs.. It was directed by Walter Hill and stars Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Andrew Divoff, and Ed O'Ross. Nolte returns as San Francisco police officer Jack Cates, who has 48 hours to clear his name from a...
(1990) (Director) - Alien 3 (with David GilerDavid GilerDavid Giler is an American filmmaker who has been active in the motion picture industry since the early 1960s.He started his career as a writer, providing scripts for television programs such as Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
, Larry FergusonLarry FergusonLarry Ferguson was a college football player for the University of Iowa. He was named a first team All-American in 1960 and played one season for the Detroit Lions.-Playing career:...
) (1992) - Trespass (1992) (Director)
- Geronimo: An American LegendGeronimo: An American LegendGeronimo: An American Legend is a 1993 film, starring Wes Studi as Geronimo, Jason Patric as 1st Lt. Charles B. Gatewood, Gene Hackman as Brig. Gen. George Crook, Robert Duvall as Chief of Scouts Al Sieber, and Matt Damon as 2nd Lt. Britton Davis. The film was directed by Walter Hill from a...
(1993) (Director/Co-Producer) - Wild Bill (1995) (Director/Writer/Producer)
- Last Man StandingLast Man Standing (film)Last Man Standing is a 1996 action film written and directed by Walter Hill, starring Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken, and Bruce Dern. It is a credited remake of the Akira Kurosawa film Yojimbo.- Plot :...
(1996) (Director/Writer/Producer) - Alien Resurrection (1997 (Co-Producer)
- Perversions of SciencePerversions of SciencePerversions 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...
(1997) (TV) - Supernova (2000) (Director, as "Thomas Lee")
- Undisputed (2002) (Director/Co-Writer, with David GilerDavid GilerDavid Giler is an American filmmaker who has been active in the motion picture industry since the early 1960s.He started his career as a writer, providing scripts for television programs such as Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
) - Alien vs PredatorAlien vs. Predator (film)Alien vs. Predator is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson for 20th Century Fox and starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen. The film adapts the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint bringing together the eponymous creatures of the Alien and Predator series, a...
(2004) (Co-Producer) - DeadwoodDeadwoodDeadwood may refer to:in geography*Deadwood, Alberta, hamlet in Alberta, Canada*Deadwood, California , several unincorporated communities in California, United States*Deadwood, Oregon, unincorporated community in Oregon, United States...
(2004) (TV) - Broken TrailBroken TrailBroken Trail is a 2006 Western miniseries that originally aired on American Movie Classics as their first original movie. It stars Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church, and was directed by Walter Hill....
(2006) (TV) - Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) (Co-Producer)
- Bullet to the Head (2012) (Director)
Interviews
External links
- Walter Hill at IGNIGNIGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...