SCFZ

Polling the films of Richard Donner

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Donner films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

16 Blocks
Sarah T - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic
Lola

seen five, have disliked all of them, but i've only seen one recently, lola aka twinky, which is interesting only because it's paradoxically both bananas and intensely boring. it's also problematic and has an archaic lolita premise, so not recommended but i can't vote for lethal weapon. i'll try to watch at least scrooged and 16 blocks for this poll, since i might actually like one of those.

edit - seen seven now

I love love love Donner!
But I don't love all of his films (I'm no fan of Lethal Weapon - and I dislike The Goonies).

01. Maverick (1994)
02. Superman (1978)
03. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
04. The Omen (1976)
05. Ladyhawke (1985)

Donner seen: 13

Seen 10

Lethal Weapon 2
Scrooged

I don't care for most of his films that I can remember, and I have almost completely forgotten several of the rest.

Seen 14

I love Lethal Weapon and The Goonies is a nostalgic favorite. The Omen is one of my favorite films of the 70s. I'll give the last spot to Assassins since Superman is sure to get votes.

On the contrary, I think Maveric and Scrooged is two of Donner's worst films along with Timeline.

1. The Omen
2. Lethal Weapon
3. The Goonies
4. Conspiracy Theory
5. Assassins

Ladyhawke
X-15
The Omen
Inside Moves
Salt & Pepper

he says without much enthusiasm

Seen 16 at least.
My votes go to:
1. The Omen
2. The Goonies
3. Lethal Weapon
4. Superman
I think other films are not very important.

huh, i've seen 8

marverick
the goonies
the omen

Maverick is fun but kind of anonymous studio fare from memory. I've been meaning to revisit it. Surprised to see it at the top of some lists here.

Seen 16.

1.Superman
2.The Goonies
3.The Omen
4.Superman II
5.Ladyhawke

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:06 pm Maverick is fun but kind of anonymous studio fare from memory. I've been meaning to revisit it. Surprised to see it at the top of some lists here.

And I am surprised that some people seem to actually enjoy the Goonies...

Seen 11:

The Omen
The Goonies

wba wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:22 pm

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:06 pm Maverick is fun but kind of anonymous studio fare from memory. I've been meaning to revisit it. Surprised to see it at the top of some lists here.

And I am surprised that some people seem to actually enjoy the Goonies...

'All grown-ups were once children'

oscarwerner wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 10:00 pm

wba wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 5:22 pm

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:06 pm Maverick is fun but kind of anonymous studio fare from memory. I've been meaning to revisit it. Surprised to see it at the top of some lists here.

And I am surprised that some people seem to actually enjoy the Goonies...

'All grown-ups were once children'

It also has tons of personality and is quite a unique kids film.

goonies is one of the most repulsive films of the '80s.

Why limit it to one decade? Goonies exceeds its era in that regard.

It's interesting to compare Superman to contemporary comic book films, especially in terms of mise en scène or the lack thereof.

Seen 7 but don't remember any of them.

nrh wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 3:21 am goonies is one of the most repulsive films of the '80s.

Thanks!

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:06 pm
4.Superman II

Superman II is not by Donner, but was re-made by Lester, who even re-shot some of "Donner's" scenes, cause Donner got fired during filming when he had already shot more than half the film he intended to make (though some material from Donner of course remained in the finished film).

^^Don't get technical with me punk! I'm aware of the story, but the Donner cut is Donner bro.

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Thu Sep 23, 2021 2:04 pm ^^Don't get technical with me punk! I'm aware of the story, but the Donner cut is Donner bro.

Yeah, you listing Superman II just got me wondering, cause as I said the film is not by Donner.

Seen 9. Not really my bag

1. The Omen
2. Lethal Weapon
3. Scrooged
4. Superman

seen 8

1. Lethal Weapon
2. Scrooged
3. Maverick
4. Superman

a (to me) remarkable 17 different films got votes. there are so many famous donner films that i'm not sure if there was a clear favourite going into the voting, but a clear favourite did emerge. five donner features (and dozens of tv movies and episodes) did not get a single vote: the toy (1982) with richard pryor, radio flyer (1992) which has 13,000 votes and a 7.0 user rating on imdb, his second-last film timeline (2003), and the last two films in the lethal weapon franchise.

results

1. The Omen (1976) — 24 pts
2. The Goonies (1985) — 13 pts
2. Lethal Weapon (1987) — 13 pts
4. Superman (1978) — 12 pts
5. Maverick (1994) — 10 pts
6. Ladyhawke (1985) — 7 pts
7. Scrooged (1988) — 6 pts
8. Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (1980/2006) — 5 pts
9. X-15 (1961) — 4 pts
10. 16 Blocks (2006) — 3 pts
11. Inside Moves (1980) — 2 pts
11. Conspiracy Theory (1997) — 2 pts
11. Sarah T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975) — 2 pts
11. Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) — 2 pts
15. Salt and Pepper (1968) — 1 pt
15. Assassins (1995) — 1 pt
15. Lola (1970) — 1 pt

flip wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 12:35 pm

8. Superman II (1980) — 5 pts

you listed the wrong Superman film, as Donner's is called SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT and is from 2006.

Superman II (1980) was directed by Richard Lester.

they're both listed as 1980 films on imdb, which is where i took the years from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0839995/?r ... flmg_dr_21

i'll add a /2006 to the title though, and i'll put the right film in the letterboxd list or add a note if it's not in the letterboxd db

flip wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 4:00 pm they're both listed as 1980 films on imdb, which is where i took the years from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0839995/?r ... flmg_dr_21

i'll add a /2006 to the title though, and i'll put the right film in the letterboxd list or add a note if it's not in the letterboxd db

weird, didn't know that. I think it's (correctly, imo) listed as a 2006 film on letterboxd.
https://superman.fandom.com/wiki/Superm ... Donner_Cut

posted this to letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-284/