John Moore

Director

• Born: 1970
• Birthplace: Dundalk, Ireland
• Died: 1809

Contribution: John Moore is an Irish film director, best known for Behind Enemy Lines (2001), The Omen (2006), and A Good Day to Die Hard (2013).

Background

John Moore was born in Dundalk, Ireland, in 1970. In his youth he enjoyed practicing still photography with a camera he purchased from a drugstore. He attended the Christian Brothers Secondary School in Dundalk, where a guidance counselor dissuaded him from entering the film industry. Unperturbed, he went on to study media arts at the Rathmines Film School of the Dublin Institute of Technology in Dublin, Ireland.

Moore initially had no plans to go into filmmaking, but a few years after graduating from college he began making short films. He also founded his own production company, Cling Films, along with fellow Irish director Damien O’Donnell, whom Moore met in college. These short films include Jack’s Bicycle (1990) and He Shoots, He Scores (1995), which were aired on Irish television channels.

Career

Moore worked as a cameraman for a news station and as an assistant cameraman and clapper loader for feature-length films, including The Miracle (1991) and Space Truckers (1996). While on the set of these films, Moore watched the directors and picked up the nuances of the craft through observation.

After nearly a decade working as an assistant cameraman, Moore began directing commercials. He filmed two trial commercials and then was requested to work in Johannesburg, South Africa. When he returned to Ireland, a commercial company signed him. He directed several commercials, utilizing special effects to create unique advertisements for companies such as Adidas and Guinness. For the launch of their Dreamcast video game console, Sega Corporation hired Moore to direct its ninety-second commercial.

The Sega commercial, titled “Apocalypse,” attracted international attention and soon executives at 20th Century Fox offered Moore a film-directing job. He was hired to helm Behind Enemy Lines, a 2001 action film about an American soldier stranded in Bosnia during the Bosnian War. Critics generally disliked the film, but it managed to earn more than twice its forty-million-dollar budget. Even Moore has described the film as a terrible attempt by the Hollywood film industry to make a political film about current events.

For his next film Moore directed the drama Flight of the Phoenix (2004), a remake of the 1965 film of the same name. The film focuses on the survivors of a plane crash who are stranded in a desert. Critics mostly panned the film, although some praised Moore’s direction. The film flopped at the box office and failed to make back its thirty-four-million-dollar budget.

Moore was then set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), but when that fell through he directed The Omen, a remake of the horror classic of the same name from 1976. The film is about the son of Satan and was released on June 6, 2006 (6/6/6), in reference to the biblical number of the Beast (sometimes associated with Satan). As with his previous two films, critics applauded Moore’s stylish direction, but the film itself received mixed reviews.

The film adaptation of the video game Max Payne (2008) came next for Moore. The film, about a police officer seeking revenge for the murder of his wife and child, uses special effects to mimic the game’s slow-motion “bullet time” feature. Moore was angered that the film was given an R rating; after he made some minor changes to the film, the rating was bumped down to PG-13. The film was slammed by both critics and fans of the video game, many of whom argued that the film was stylish but contained little substance.

Despite the mixed reviews of his films, Moore took on his biggest production for his next film, A Good Day to Die Hard. The film is the fifth installment of the popular Die Hard franchise, about a cop continuously put in perilous situations. Moore stated that working on the film was demanding, particularly directing the star Bruce Willis. Although the film received mixed reviews, it earned more than $300 million worldwide.

Moore followed this up with the thriller I.T. (2016), starring Pierce Brosnan, about a family terrorized when someone takes over their smart house; the film came out in limited relase and video on demand.

Impact

Although his films have received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics, Moore continues to make films that pack theaters. With his unapologetically stylish approach to action films, he has developed his own trademark flair and successfully transitioned from commercials to film. His collaborations with 20th Century Fox have earned hundreds of millions of dollars around the world.

Personal Life

Moore is engaged to makeup artist Fiona Connon. They had their first child, Joseph Buzz Moore, in December 2006. They live together in Los Angeles, California.

Principal Works

Behind Enemy Lines, 2001

Flight of the Phoenix, 2004

The Omen, 2006

Max Payne, 2008

A Good Day to Die Hard, 2013

I.T., 2016

Bibliography

Fischer, Paul. “John Moore for The Omen.” Dark Horizons. Dark Futures, 22 May 2006. Web. 31 July 2013.

Moore, John. “A Good Day to Die Hard: John Moore on Craziest Car Chase Ever!” Interview by Joel D. Amos. Movie Fanatic. Movie Fanatic, 15 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 July 2013.

Moore, John. “Director John Moore Talks A Good Day to Die Hard.” Interview by Jami Philbrick. I Am Rogue. Relativity Media, 17 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 July 2013.

Moore, John. “Relive the Horror?” Interview by Jay A. Fernandez. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2006. Web. 31 July 2013.

Paur, Joey. “Director John Moore Discusses A Good Day to Die Hard.” Geek Tyrant. Geek Tyrant Industries, 27 July 2012. Web. 31 July 2013.