Milius: The Renegade Still Rides!

"Do you feel lucky?" "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Two bits of dialogue that became timeless components of pop culture, capturing an era - both written by John Milius.

If you're an admirer of seventies cinema, of course you know Spielberg, Lucas, Scorsese - they were comrades in arms. But you may not know the black sheep of their fold, the maverick - John Milius. Milius is a tremendous documentary from directors Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson that does a remarkable job of showing us how truly indelible a mark John Millius left on Hollywood.

A master storyteller responsible for some of the most memorable dialogue in a legion of popular movies, many of which he never received credit for. Dirty Harry, the Indianapolis speech in Jaws, Ramius' monologues in The Hunt For Red October. John Milius came up with Lucas and Spielberg, but was cut from very different cloth. He created a persona for himself of an arch reactionary conservative - a board member of the NRA, a self-proclaimed "Zen Anarchist," a man who'd walk into a meeting with a studio executive brandishing a .45. Milius was always a larger than life character - who just happened to write some of the best screenplays in Hollywood history, including his opus, Apocalypse Now. Jeremiah Johnson, Dillinger, The Wind and the Lion, Big Wednesday and Conan the Barbarian. Milius was a writer-director who marched (definitely marched) to his own tune - a militaristic figure in a liberal town where such behavior is the kiss of death. His work on Red Dawn saw him essentially black-listed for years, going long stretches without a decent project.

Milius shows us everything, warts and all, and is easily the best Hollywood documentary since The Kid Stays in the Picture. Milius features interviews from nearly all of his contemporaries, including Paul Schrader, Oliver Stone, Scrosese, Spielberg and Lucas. It does a remarkable job of showing us the entire range of Milius' career, as well as reminding us of the titanic influence he's had on American cinema.

His later years have seen some cruel blows and adversity, including his best friend and accountant embezzling nearly all of his money, as well as a stroke that's left him struggling to regain his speech. It's been too easy to dismiss Milius as a Republican gun nut, a fringe fascist who's out of touch with modern show business. Milius is a great monument to the wide, long-reaching body of work this uniquely American storyteller has created. It also makes you wish that somehow, he'll find the path enabling him to give the world one last amazing story of renegades and conflicted heroes who feel compelled to search upon the road less traveled.

Milius is available on Amazon instant video.