Posterized: Joe Johnston, a low profile director with a high profile filmography
Friday, November 2, 2018 at 11:00AM by Nathaniel R
Joe Johnston behind the scenes on Star Wars (1977) his very first movie in his mid 20s
With the long-gestating The Nutcracker and the Four Realms now in theaters (its initial shoot wrapped nearly two years ago!) it occurred to us to look at the directorial career of Joe Johnston. When the studio opted for a full month of reshoots on The Nutcracker, the original director, Lasse Hallström was unavailable so Johnston stepped in (and now there's a joint "directed by" credit). Johnston is hardly a household name but every time his name pops up we're reminded that a chunk of his filmography is actually fairly famous.
How many of his 10 theatrically-released movies have you seen? The posters are after the jump...
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989) - a surprise blockbuster
THE ROCKETEER (1991) - I was really fond of this one when I was younger but that might have been the absolutely crushing crush on Billy Campbell
THE PAGEMASTER (1994) - he directed the live-action portion of this movie.
JUMANJI (1995) - another blockbuster
OCTOBER SKY (1999)
JURASSIC PARK III (2001)
HILDAGO (2004)
THE WOLFMAN (2010)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) - yet another blockbuster and our personal favorite of the "origin" portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS (2018)
Which brings us up to date. Read Chris Feil's review here.
With Emily Blunt at the premiere of The Wolfman
Maybe it's only the gaps between films that's kept him under the radar as "name" directors go. He's already an Oscar winner, too. His first movie gig was in the visual effects department on a tiny picture called Star Wars (1977) when he was in his mid-20s and he worked on the entire original trilogy. By the age of 31 he was already an Oscar winner (Visual Effects on Raiders of the Lost Ark). He graduated to the director's chair with the surprise blockbuster Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and has been their ever since, albeit with larger and larger gaps inbetween each movie.
How many have you seen and which is your favorite?
Reader Comments (19)
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was on my mind recently for no apparent reason and I was giddy about the innocence of the era it was made. Of course everything I remember about it back then is how precious it all was since I was 6 the majority of 1989.
I like The Wolfman mainly for the SFX and Blunt..
Jake's first leading role! Alessandro Nivola in really tight tee-shirts! Dominic Cooper touching Chris Evans' abs! There's a lot to love from his filmography, is what I am saying.
He's definitely one of those unheralded directors who makes consistently good, entertaining movies. Maybe not great ones, but fun entertainment. Such a long gap between Captain America and The Nutcracker movie.
I've seen Honey, I shrunk the Kids and Jumanji, both are extremely entertaining, definitely a guilty pleasure I don't feel guilty of at all. ;)
I didn't know HISTK was his film debut. Wow!
The Rocketeer is pretty great -- so much fun. Its style, exuberance, and pacing really made him a great pick to helm the first Captain America.
Missed "Hidalgo" and "Jumanji". Glad someone remembered that there was someone other than John Dykstra who was responsible for the revolutionary effects work on "Star Wars".
Jumanji was TERRIFYING to 10-year-old me and I have no desire to ever see it again.
As a child of the 90s Johnston will always have a special place in my nostalgic little heart. His films were some of the first I ever loved, and as a general matter I think he is a more consistent director than Hallström (approximately half of whose films I LOVE and the other half of whose I think are trash), so I'm curious to see the "Nutcracker." Disappointed to hear the review so far, but I suppose there wasn't much hope for such a beleaguered project.
Everything BUT "The Wolfman".
"Cappy" is definitely the best of the early Marvel movies. "The Rocketeer" was terrific fun. "JP3" is a dumb but fun B Monster Movie. "October Sky" was interesting trivia history.
The Wolfman - man, did that suck.
I have seen all except Hidalgo. Captain America is my favorite from this bunch.
Joe Johnston is totally underrated. I love what he did in Captain America and The Rocketeer I still think is one of the most underrated films of the 1990s.
I've never understood the critical and box-office rejection of "The Wolfman". I think it's a wonderful film. Terrific visuals, great emotional sweep and power. And my all-time favorite Emily Blunt performance. It and the first of the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies are both supremely worthy updates of the old Universal monster universe.
6 (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Jurassic Park III, Hidalgo and Captain America), with bits of October Sky, and I think my max for him is 8. Might catch full viewings of October Sky and The Wolfman (At worst, I'm expecting "fun bad" and might even get a pleasant surprise) at some point. But his parts of The Pagemaster seem like they're not worth sitting through the rest of it and I'm not interested in what is, pretty much, Alice 3.
Five. Honey or maybe October Sky, but I don't like watching pree-teen Jake. It makes me feel dirty inside.
I though you're favorite was The Winter Soldier. It made your Top10. I saw it following your advice and well... I will never ever ever.
peggy sue -- i mean my favorite of the "origin" movies. Winter Soldier is totally my favorite.
Well, is definitely better than The Greatest Showman!
Anyway, go all see Maria by Callas this weekend. Fanny Ardant gives the best voice reading in ages!
Can we all talk about that time they made a Wolfman movie with this brilliant cast and talented director and awesome set design and moody lighting and hard-R rating and it... just wasn't very good? I really wanted to love that one.