Mel Gibson (1956-) is an Australian actor turned director turned American film mogul. This list includes movies that star Gibson as well as those directed by him. In his many roles, he's certainly one of Hollywood's most iconic figures!
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Pure entertainment, with Gibson in fine comic form. Of course, it doesn't hurt he's helped by the talents of Jodie Foster, James Garner, Alfred Molina, and James Coburn! With the steady Richard Donner behind the helm, Maverick is one of Gibson's lightest and most fun efforts to watch.
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Say what you will about the The Passion of the Christ: its subject, its treatment of that subject. The fact is, the more you disagree with it, the more you implicitly allows for Gibson's strong and personal directorial vision. The film only loses some of its impact because Braveheart, a similar movie with similar themes that's more obviously rousing and entertaining, came before it. But, if Gibson had made The Passion of the Christ before Braveheart, it very well could occupy that film's place in my list and in the minds of most film-goers.
This director's cut redoes Payback for the darker, the more complex, and the better. And I thought the theatrical cut wasn't half bad either! Although, in both, Gibson gives one of his best performances, juggling violence and comedy, and creating a stew of half-craziness that's equal parts creepy, endearing, and scary. It's just that Helgeland's original, the director's cut, makes the film around that performance more substantial for the benefit of the whole. Unjustly underrated flick.
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Gibson's drinking and driving episode pretty well took the box office air out of Apocalypto. Which is a shame, because it's a very fine adventure film with a unique and well-rendered setting: amidst the last days of the Mayan civilization. The action sequences are expertly caught and edited on digital video, too, if you're interested in the technical side of things. Overall, a welcome addition to Gibson's growing directorial catalogue. I predict a "rediscovery" of sorts sometime in the future.
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A young Mel Gibson (the movie was made in 1981) plays an Australian soldier shipped off to World War I Europe to fight against the dying Ottoman Empire. Not Gibson's best role, by a long shot, but the film itself is great; and it is neat to see Gibson play something other than what became his trademark characters. Peter Weir does a terrific job with direction. Gallipoli is one of the most emotionally-charged WWI films ever made.
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I doubt this one needs much an introduction. Braveheart swept up money and awards when it came out. Gibson pretty much does full duty, save writing: starring, directing, producing. More importantly, it's the first and still the best expression of Gibson's thematic and visual obsessions. Perhaps not quite as powerful as it was in 1995, but that also attests to its influence—on historical films, in particular.
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The best, the original. It's so entertaining that you're almost bound to forget how damn good and important it is! In the long line of buddy cop films, this was the model. Everything that came after is derivative. Not to mention that in detectives Riggs and Murtaugh we have the perfect encapsulation of the 80s man, with all of his kinks and all of his fears, as well as a representation of the masculine malaise that descended on America after Vietnam. Lethal Weapon is a wildly funny cultural artifact.
