Director Roger Donaldson (1945)

The November Man (2014), a spy film, is based on Bill Granger’s novel There Are No Spies from the seventh book in The November Man series, originally published in 1987. In 2008, CIA agent Peter Devereaux leads a mission in Montenegro with young operative David Mason. Despite Devereaux instructing Mason not to fire, he disobeys and ends up taking down an assassin but also causing the death of a child. Five years later, Devereaux has retired in Lausanne, Switzerland when his former boss John Hanley shows up requesting his help in extracting Natalia Ulanova – an aide to Russian President-elect ...

The film, The Bank Job (2008), is a heist thriller directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. It is based on the true story of a burglary in Baker Street where Lloyds Bank safety deposit boxes were targeted. MI5, the British Security Services, had taken notice of this particular branch in 1971 due to a safety deposit box belonging to Michael X, a notorious black gangster. The box contained incriminating photos of Princess Margaret and was used as insurance to keep the authorities at bay. ...

Thirteen Days (2000), directed by Roger Donaldson, is an American historical political thriller film. In October 1962, U-2 aerial surveillance photos show the Soviet Union’s placement of intermediate-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba. As a result, President John F. Kennedy and his team must devise a plan to prevent their activation and demonstrate that the United States will not tolerate a missile threat. The Joint Chiefs of Staff advise immediate military strikes against the missile sites followed by an invasion of Cuba. However, Kennedy hesitates as this could provoke the Soviets to ...

Dante’s Peak (1997) is a disaster film helmed by director Roger Donaldson and penned by writer Leslie Bohem. In 1993, USGS volcanologist Harry Dalton and his fiancée-turned-partner Marianne are caught in an eruption in Colombia. Despite their attempt to escape, a lava bomb crashes into their truck, killing Marianne. Four years later, Harry is assigned by his supervisor Dr. Paul Dreyfus to investigate seismic activity around the town of Dante’s Peak, Washington – which sits next to a stratovolcano – despite the emotional toll his previous work has ...

Roger Donaldson’s film, The Getaway (1994), is an American action thriller based on Jim Thompson’s novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Walter Hill and Amy Holden Jones. As Doc McCoy and his wife Carol practice shooting, Rudy approaches them with a proposal to break a Mexican drug lord’s nephew out of jail for a payment of $300,000. The job is successful, but it turns out that the drug lord wanted his nephew freed in order to kill him. ...

Cocktail (1988), a romantic comedy-drama directed by Roger Donaldson from a screenplay by Heywood Gould and based on his book of the same name, follows Brian Flanagan. After completing his army service, he returns to New York City with hopes of securing a prominent job in the business world. However, when that doesn’t pan out, he turns to bartending while attending business school during the day. There, he meets Doug Coughlin, an experienced bartender who takes him under his wing and teaches him flairing techniques. The two become close friends, and Doug suggests ...

No Way Out is (1987) an American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson. In a house near the Pentagon, Lieutenant Commander Tom Farrell of the Office of Naval Intelligence undergoes questioning about his connection with Secretary of Defense David Brice. Six months prior, Farrell attends an inaugural ball at the invitation of his college friend Scott Pritchard. There, he meets Secretary Brice and develops an affair with Susan Atwell. Shortly after, he departs for the Philippines. Upon returning, Brice recruits Farrell to gather information for him within the CIA. As he settles into his new role in ...

The British epic historical drama film, The Bounty (1984), directed by Roger Donaldson, portrays the story of Commanding Lieutenant William Bligh and the loss of HMS Bounty to mutineers led by his friend Fletcher Christian. Admiral Hood presides over the court of inquiry as flashbacks take viewers on a journey from Portsmouth, England on 23 December 1787 to an expedition in Tahiti to gather breadfruit pods for transplantation in the Caribbean. Despite harsh weather making it impossible to round Cape Horn after 31 days, Bligh persists and chooses to sail the ship west instead. Along the way, he replaces Fryer with ...