Living Deadpan

Every single film I can recall of Peter Hyams has struck me as unexceptional and mediocre (though I haven't seen A Sound of Thunder, which I hear is truly terrible). Capricorn One, 2010, End of Days, Outland... Does this guy have any fans or detractors, or is his work too unremarkable to even inspire debate?

Rockmjd23

2010 was pretty good for an unnecessary sequel to one of the greatest movies of all time.

Why So Blu?

2010 and Outland are far from mediocre. Time Cop, Sudden Death and The Relic are lots of fun.

JumpCutz

Don't forget his utter pedestrian work on:

The Star Chamber
Running Scared
The Presidio
Narrow Margin
Time Cop
Sudden Death
The Relic

PenguinJoe

Len Wiseman
McG
Paul W.S. Anderson


are also very mediocre directors as well.

Boba Fett

Brett Ratner

gmanca

I think his early output was definitely better than mediocre but around The Presidio did things start to fall.

Outland, 2010, The Star Chamber, Running Scared are better-than-average to good films.

Mattflix

Outland is worth your time, a cool moody space western. The set design feels like the sets from Alien, and there are some cool decompression deaths

Otherwise, yeah I can agree that he's mediocre. A lot of people like The Relic as a B monster flick, but I only thought it was soso. I have good memoires of Timecop but haven't seen it since high school. End of Days was terrible.

Strevlac

He's notable for great-looking anamorphic cinematography and usually entertaining films. I'm a moderate fan of his pre-90's work.

PopcornTreeCt

Peter Berg

Geofferson

I always thought of Peter Hyams and John Badham in a similar vein. While also not stellar, Badham probably has a more notable filmography -- especially in the early years (Saturday Night Fever, Blue Thunder, WarGames).

SuckaMC

I really like Narrow Margin. Also Sudden Death

islandclaws

Running Scared alone gives him a pass for life. He's far from the most mediocre living filmmaker.

jeffkjoe

While I can argue that Peter Hyams is FAR from being the most mediocre filmmaker on the planet -

Brett Ratner, anyone -

He doesn't have a style that separates himself from the rest of the pack.

William Friedkin has a style.
Spielberg has a style.
Scorcese has a style.
Wes Anderson has a style.
Tony Scott had a style.
Even Michael Bay has a definable style.

But - this doesn't detract his talents as a very proven director.

Hokeyboy

Hyams to me, is just talented only enough to rise above the consistently terrible feature filmmakers (Ratner, Wiseman, MCG, Gosnell, etc.) which, yeah, makes him pretty mediocre. Although I do like OUTLAND and 2010, even though the former makes little sense if you think about it too much, and the latter was in a no-win situation of being the sequel to perhaps the greatest film ever made, and settling with being "just OK".

mattysemo247

Sudden Death kicks ass. I also like The Relic from what I remember of it, but I'm not sure how it holds up today.

MrSmearkase

I have a soft spot for Stay Tuned.

PenguinJoe

Sudden Death is alright in it's sheer campiness. The Vice President hockey game plot complete falls apart if you watch it over the age of 12.

hasslein

I like him. Plus he shoots his films.

Supermallet

The Rat is an actively bad director, and seems like a piece of shit in real life, too.

A wholly detestable filmmaker.

Yeah, I have no strong opinions about Hyams, except for Hanover Street which was aggressively boring.

Why So Blu?

He is a bit of a dick. They filmed Red Dragon at work way back when and he comes in to the place talking all loud and shit on his cell phone - our security guard threw him out.

I told our guy "hey, you know you just threw the director out of the building, right?"

His response was: "I don't give a fuck!"

Good times.

Supermallet

Nice.

Tarantino

Brett Ratner and Olivier Megaton were the first directors that popped into my head.

E Unit

This is my sentiment. And I liked 2010, it's not like I was expecting another 2001 classic. It told the continuing story well. And Sudden Death was alright in my book. Ratner, and Megaton (who's movies I have yet to like at all) have a much worse record IMO. Others that come to mind are McG (every movie he's directed I've hated, Terminator Salvation included), and Paul WS Anderson. And even Anderson has a few okay movies.

Ash Ketchum

I watched CAPRICORN ONE with a packed house at the old Rivoli Theater on Broadway in Times Square and had such a great time that I'll always hold Hyams in some regard for that alone.

I was with a fellow film school graduate who kept turning to me in disbelief, asking, "Are you actually taking this shit seriously?!" Well, no, but it was enormous fun and boasted a once-in-a-lifetime cast: James Brolin, Elliott Gould, Sam Shepard, Hal Holbrook, O.J. Simpson, Telly Savalas, Brenda Vaccaro and Karen Black, plus a bunch of great character actors.

I'd forgotten that he also directed one of my favorite police thrillers of the 1970s, BUSTING, with the unforgettable star duo of Robert Blake and Elliott Gould.

(That's two celebrity murderers whose careers he's nurtured.)