John Milius Gets a Pass

I'm sorry, sir.

I feel a little bad for the drubbing I gave Homefront. It deserved it, mind you. Still, even though he wrote a terrible script, I can't hold a grudge against John Milius. I'll watch his next project. Why? Because he's given us some awesome things:

1. Apocalypse Now (co-writer) and Conan the Barbarian (writer and director). You don't believe that Conan is a good movie? Try watching it back-to-back with its sequel Conan the Destroyer. Go on, I'll wait.

See?

2. This quote about the Red Dawn remake: "It's a stupid thing to do." Amen.

You want a toe? I can get you a toe!

3. Walter Sobchak from The Big Lebowski. He was based on Milius.

4. This quote about George Lucas back in the 70s (from the documentary Easy Riders, Raging Bulls):

He said, ’I’m going to make more money by making science fiction toys…I’m going to make more money than even The Godfather.’ And he hated directing, George did, because he got sick all the time. He had diabetes, and he just wasn’t very sturdy. And he said ‘Porno. That’s the answer. It’s a warm room. If you don’t get the right location, you go get another, and people really don’t care what room as long as it’s a pretty nice room.’ So if he hadn’t done Star Wars or American Graffiti, he would probably own this huge porno network today. He’d probably be richer than he is.

Ha! Tell it like it is, John!

For the record, I love Star Wars, but it's funny to hear that he had merchandising in mind right from the beginning. And the whole "warm room" business reminds me of how one critic accused Lucas of blocking his shots in the prequels in such a way so he never had to get up from his chair! (Sorry, no direct link. Go to part 2, 24:14.)