10 Movies Directed by Wolfgang Petersen

Das Boot

Das Boot

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1982-02-10

Languages:

German, English, French

Countries:

West Germany

Runtime:

149 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

8.4 (152788 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Wolfgang Petersen (screenplay)

Lothar G. Buchheim (novel)

Fullplot:

It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so-called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy British shipping. With better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun to take heavy losses. "Das Boot" is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism as soldiers and attempted to accomplish impossible missions, all the while attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under which they served.

The NeverEnding Story

The NeverEnding Story

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1984-07-20

Languages:

English

Countries:

West Germany, USA

Runtime:

102 min

Rated:

PG

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (90676 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Wolfgang Petersen (screenplay)

Herman Weigel (screenplay)

Michael Ende (novel)

Robert Easton (additional dialogue)

Fullplot:

Bastian is a young boy who lives a dreary life being tormented by school bullies. On one such occasion he escapes into a book shop where the old proprieter reveals an ancient story-book to him, which he is warned can be dangerous. Shortly after, he "borrows" the book and begins to read it in the school attic where he is drawn into the mythical land of Fantasia, which desperately needs a hero to save it from destruction.

Enemy Mine

Enemy Mine

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1985-12-20

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA, West Germany

Runtime:

108 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

6.9 (31742 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Barry Longyear (story)

Edward Khmara (screenplay)

Fullplot:

A soldier from Earth crash-lands on an alien world after sustaining battle damage. Eventually he encounters another survivor, but from the enemy species he was fighting; they band together to survive on this hostile world. In the end the human finds himself caring for his enemy in a completely unexpected way.

Shattered

Shattered

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1991-10-11

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

98 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

6.5 (5856 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Richard Neely (novel)

Wolfgang Petersen (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Dan Merrick comes out from a shattering car accident with amnesia. He finds that he is married to Judith who is trying to help him start his life again. He keeps getting flashbacks about events and places that he can't remember. He meets pet shop owner and part time private detective Gus Klein who is supposedly done some work for him prior to the accident. Klein helps Merrick to find out more about his past and true identity.

In the Line of Fire

In the Line of Fire

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1993-07-09

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

128 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.2 (70205 Reviews)

Fullplot:

Frank Horrigan is a secret service agent who keeps thinking back to November 22, 1963, when, as a hand-picked agent by President Kennedy, he became one of the few agents to have lost a President to an assassin when Kennedy died. Now, former CIA assassin Mitch Leary is stalking the current President, who is running for re-election. Mitch has spent long hours studying Horrigan, and he taunts Horrigan, telling him of his plans to kill the President. Leary plans to kill the president because Leary feels betrayed by the government -- Leary was removed from the CIA, and the CIA is now trying to have him killed. After talking to Leary, Horrigan makes sure he is assigned to presidential protection duty, working with fellow secret service agent Lilly Raines. Horrigan has no intention of failing his President this time around, and he's more than willing to take a bullet. White House Chief of Staff Harry Sargent refuses to alter the President's itinerary, while Horrigan's boss, Secret Service Director Sam Campagna, is supportive of Horrigan. As the election gets closer, Horrigan begins to doubt his own abilities, especially when Horrigan's colleague Al D'Andrea is killed by Leary. But Horrigan may be the only one who can stop Leary.

Outbreak

Outbreak

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1995-03-10

Languages:

English, Korean, French

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

127 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

6.5 (86633 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Laurence Dworet

Robert Roy Pool

Fullplot:

In July of 1967, In Motaba River Valley, Zaire, a virus with a 100% mortality rate starts infecting people. The virus becomes known as the Motaba virus, and it's so deadly that it causes severe bleeding and liquefies internal organs, killing within 3 days. The virus wipes out Motaba River Valley, and a devastatingly huge fire bomb is dropped onto Motaba River Valley in order to reduce the chances of further infection. The bomb was dropped on the orders of corrupt General Donald McClintock, even though an army surgeon, General Bill Ford, was against the idea. 27 years later, in 1994, there is another outbreak in Motaba River Valley. At the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), located at Fort Detrick in Maryland, Colonel Sam Daniels is doing research on the Motaba virus, and so is his ex-wife Roberta Keough, who works at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. A monkey carrying the Motaba virus stows away on a ship that is heading for the USA, and after the monkey's arrival, people in Cedar Creek, California start becoming infected by the virus. Sam and Roberta head into Cedar Creek with fellow doctor Casey Schuler, and they start searching for the monkey, thinking that the monkey is the key to finding a cure. Along the way, Sam stumbles onto some information that may be of help -- McClintock has been concealing vital information from the president of the United States. Since 1967, McClintock and Ford have been in possession of E-1101, a serum that was made to cure the virus. McClintock has been trying to stop Ford from coming forward with this information, and so far, McClintock has succeeded. McClintock now wants to drop onto Cedar Creek the kind of firebomb that was dropped on Motaba River Valley 27 years ago. Sam and Roberta figure out that the virus in the Cedar Creek outbreak is a new strain of the Motaba virus -- an airborne strain that is even more contagious than the flu. When a new serum is made to stop the new strain, Sam and Roberta set out to stop McClintock from having the town blown up.

Air Force One

Air Force One

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1997-07-25

Languages:

English, Russian

Countries:

USA, Germany

Runtime:

124 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

6.4 (135445 Reviews)

Fullplot:

The President of the USA goes to Moscow and gives a stirring speech outlining the USA's new "Zero-tolerance" policy with respect to terrorism. On the flight home, terrorists take over Air Force One (the President's official plane) and take the passengers (including his wife and daughter) hostage. The terrorists plan to execute one hostage every half-hour unless/until their demands are met. However, the President is a former Medal of Honor winner, so the terrorists may be in for a surprise...

The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2000-06-30

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

130 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

6.4 (126087 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Sebastian Junger (book)

William D. Wittliff (screenplay)

Fullplot:

In October 1991, a confluence of weather conditions combined to form a killer storm in the North Atlantic. Caught in the storm was the sword-fishing boat Andrea Gail. Magnificent foreshadowing and anticipation fill this true-life drama while minute details of the fishing boats, their gear and the weather are juxtaposed with the sea adventure.

Troy

Troy

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2004-05-14

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA, Malta, UK

Runtime:

163 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.2 (346143 Reviews)

Genres:

Adventure

Cast:

Writer:

Homer (poem)

David Benioff (screenplay)

Fullplot:

It is the year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age. Two emerging nations begin to clash after Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband, Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans. But they come to a stop by Hector, Prince of Troy. The whole movie shows their battle struggles and the foreshadowing of fate in this remake by Wolfgang Petersen of Homer's "The Iliad."

Poseidon

Poseidon

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2006-05-12

Languages:

English, Spanish

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

98 min

Rated:

PG-13

IMDB Ratings:

5.6 (78201 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Mark Protosevich (screenplay)

Paul Gallico (novel)

Fullplot:

It is New Year's Eve, and over 2,000 passengers & crew are ringing in the New Year aboard the huge cruise ship 'Poseidon' when it capsizes on the open sea in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean! A small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler Dylan Johns ignores captain's orders to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety. What begins as a solo mission soon draws others, as Dylan is followed by a desperate father searching for his daughter and her fiancèe--a young couple who hours before couldn't summon the courage to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges. Along the way they are joined by a single mother and her wise-beyond-his-years son, an anxious stowaway and a despondent fellow passenger who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn't want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets off through the disorienting maze of twisted steel in the upside-down wreckage. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water each must draw on skills and strengths they didn't even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.

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