Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The life story of ‘Zen Anarchist’ filmmaker John Milius, one of the most influential storytellers of his generation.
Milius is a fascinating portrait of one of Hollywood's most singular and contradictory figures — a gun-loving, surf-obsessed, self-described 'Zen Anarchist' whose fingerprints are on some of the most iconic films and lines of the 1970s and 80s. The documentary benefits enormously from its subject's outsized personality and the wealth of interview subjects (Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese, Coppola) who illuminate his influence. The novelty is high because Milius himself is such a rare character — a true maverick whose story hasn't been told before and whose worldview is genuinely distinctive. The cinematography is competent but standard for a talking-heads documentary. The narrative arc is straightforward biography, and the ending, while emotionally resonant given his later stroke, doesn't fully transcend the format.