John Avildsen - 1935-2017

Made some fine movies the first 10-15 years of his life...

-Joe
-Save the Tiger
-Rocky
-The Karate Kid

I should check his discography again... Here is his latest videos he uploaded -- https://www.youtube.com/user/avildsen1221/videos

Only watched Rocky, Rocky V, Joe and the Karate Kid films from him. Joe is my favourite. He's not a favourite or anything but someone who directed both Rocky and The Karate Kid certainly made an impact.

RIP

I think Rocky made 400 million worldwide ($900,000 budget I think) but I ask Rocky fans, and they say they've never heard of him. And "The Karate Kid" series were really huge, and no one knows the guy.

Started making movies about "losers" and then made some optimistic movies about "winners".

For years i thought Sylvester Stallone directed Rocky. Think i had heard he wrote it and down the line i got myself mixed up. This was when i didn't know who directed anything but yeah i imagine a large amount of people who love Rocky have no idea who he is.

I just watched Save the Tiger yesterday.





R.I.P.

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I can't say I am really familiar with him. Condolences to the family, nonetheless, however.

Rocky made 225 million worldwide off a budget of 1.1 million. I only bother to make the correction because I wanted to show how big Rocky actually was in 1976. Adjusted for inflation, the film would have made just short of one-billion dollars. The Karate Kid would have made 238 million. They were both really big, 'specially Rocky.

So sorry to hear about the death of this very talented director. I remember thinking he kind of robbed Sidney Lumet of a Best Director Oscar, but Rocky was a great film. RIP.

I just told my cousin (whose favorite movies ARE Rocky and The Karate Kid) that John Avildsen died...

"Is that a singer?"

The majority of people only know certain big name directors in my experience: Spielberg, Scorsese, Peter Jackson, etc. There's no reason for a casual movie-goer to know more.

I doubt for example most people know Robert Zemeckis is the director of Back To The Future and Forrest Gump. Or from this year even i doubt most people knew Jonathan Demme directed Silence of the Lambs, that's why the media usually prints things like "Silence of the Lambs Director Jonathan Demme has died".

I agree, but I also think "Rocky" or even "The Karate Kid" is much more popular than "Silence of the Lambs", domestically and internationally.

Definitely Rocky, I dunno about Silence of the Lambs though.

I suppose it's all about marketing your name as a brand. The director of Silence of the Lambs never really marketed himself and it kept more about the film, and thereby, his name never really stuck with us. I think of Inception, I think of Nolan before I think of any of the characters. I think of A Nightmare Before Christmas, I think of Tim Burton, ... even though he didn't direct it, I assumed he did for the longest time.

Of course Joe is his best movie but he has other good ones.

RIP

Just because they're more popular doesn't mean everyone knows who directed them.

The man who directed the greatest underdog movies ever made: Rocky and The Karate Kid deserves the recognition!

Farewell, Mr. Avildsen!

__________________
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balboa

I always knew John directed Rocky and The Karate Kid. He also directed another underdog movie called The Power of One, but it was not as successful.

His best film by far was Rocky.

Yes, you know, because you're a film buff, but the average Joe on the street doesn't.