John Moore (director)

{{short description|Irish film director and producer (born 1970)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = John Moore

| image = John_Moore_Director_2008.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Moore at the premiere of Max Payne on 13 October 2008

| birth_place = Dundalk, Ireland

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1970|1|1}}

| occupation = Director, producer, writer

| years_active = 1990–2016

| spouse = {{marriage|Fiona Connon|2005}}

| children = 1

}}

John Moore (born 1 January 1970) is an Irish film director and producer whose credits include the action war film Behind Enemy Lines and A Good Day to Die Hard.

Early life and education

Moore was born in Dundalk, Ireland, and attended Rathmines College of Commerce, 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, received mainly negative reviews and grossed just under $35 million worldwide, much less than the film's budget.{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=flightofthephoenix.htm|title=FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX|access-date=22 August 2009|website=Box Office Mojo}} The behind the scenes documentary on the DVD shows him at multiple points berating crew on set. Max Payne also received mainly negative reviews. 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 re-edited and the rating was a month later changed to PG-13, just before theatrical distribution.

Moore was also considered to direct X-Men: The Last Stand as well as Friday the 13th.{{cite web |last=B |first=Brian |url=https://movieweb.com/john-moore-or-brett-ratner-up-for-directing-x-men-3/ |title=John Moore or Brett Ratner Up For Directing X-Men 3? |date=June 2, 2005 |work=MovieWeb |access-date=March 27, 2024 |archive-date=April 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403005437/https://movieweb.com/john-moore-or-brett-ratner-up-for-directing-x-men-3/ |url-status=live}}

In 2007, Moore obtained the rights to direct an adaptation of The Book of Lost Things through his Point Road production company. The rights have since lapsed.{{cite web|url=https://movieweb.com/john-moore-to-direct-the-book-of-lost-things/|title=John Moore to direct The Book of Lost Things|access-date=24 June 2020|website=Movie Web|date=10 July 2007}}

Personal life

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 the US, and occasionally visit Ireland. In 2015, Moore expressed a desire to return home, but the nature of his work in Hollywood rendered it impractical.{{cite web |last1=Daly |first1=Garrett |title=The Green Screen |url=https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/lyric/20839141 |website=RTE.ie |publisher=RTE |access-date=14 June 2021}}

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:

{{quote|text=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."{{cite news|last1=Papamichael|first1=Stella|title=Getting Direct With Directors... No.27: John Moore|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/callingtheshots/john_moore.shtml|access-date=August 27, 2017|work=BBC|date=September 24, 2014}}

}}

In 2013, Moore opened up about his struggles with alcohol. He has been sober since 2008, following what he describes as an intense period of drinking upon finishing promotional duties for Max Payne.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/drinking-die-hard-and-me-29120438.html|title = Drinking, die hard and me| date=11 March 2013 }}

Critical evaluation

Despite his films receiving mixed or negative reviews from critics, for the most part Moore's films have proved popular with audiences. Critic Armond White, noted for his contrarian opinions,{{Cite news |last=Aciman |first=Alexander |date=2013-10-18 |title=The World’s Most Contrarian Film Critic: Armond White |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/18/the-worlds-most-contrarian-film-critic-armond-white/ |access-date=2025-02-03 |work=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}} 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.nypress.com/article-18959-max-payne-john-moores-style-makes-the-video-game-adaptation-a-success.html|title=Max Payne: John Moore's style makes the video game adaptation a success|date=21 November 2008|access-date=21 November 2008|publisher=New York Press|author=White, Armond|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206111736/http://www.nypress.com/article-18959-max-payne-john-moores-style-makes-the-video-game-adaptation-a-success.html|archive-date=6 February 2009|url-status=dead}} In his review of Max Payne, White had stated that Moore "explores genuine, contemporary anxiety [and that] his images are richer than his plots".

Daniel M. Kimmel, writing for the New England Movies Weekly, found Moore's film A Good Day to Die Hard to be better than Live Free or Die Hard and stated 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."{{cite news |author=Daniel M. Kimmel |author-link=Daniel M. Kimmel |url=http://northshoremovies.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/review-a-good-day-to-die-hard/|title=Review – A Good Day To Die Hard |publisher=New England Movies Weekly |date=14 February 2013|access-date=14 February 2013}} 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."{{cite news|author=Rick Groen |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-reviews/a-good-day-to-die-hard-more-messy-than-hard-but-not-dead-yet/article8616894/ |title=A Good Day to Die Hard: More messy than hard, but not dead yet |work=The Globe and Mail |date=14 February 2013|access-date=14 February 2013}}

Filmography

Short film

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title !width=65\| Director !width=65\| Writer !width=65\| Producer
1990 \| Jack's Bicycle \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}
1995 \| He Shoots, He Scores \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

!width=65| Director

!width=65| Writer

!width=65| Producer

1990

| Jack's Bicycle

| {{yes}}

1995

| He Shoots, He Scores

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

Feature film

class="wikitable"
Year ! Title !width=65\| Director !width=65\| Producer
2001 \| Behind Enemy Lines \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}
2004 \| Flight of the Phoenix \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}
2006 \| The Omen \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}
2008 \| Max Payne \| {{yes}} \| {{yes}}
2013 \| A Good Day to Die Hard \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}
2016 \| I.T. \| {{yes}} \| {{no}}

class="wikitable"

Year

! Title

!width=65| Director

!width=65| Producer

2001

| Behind Enemy Lines

| {{yes}}

| {{no}}

2004

| Flight of the Phoenix

| {{yes}}