
Richard Donner
Explore the best Richard Donner movies ranked by Movie Rankings users. The current highest-ranked director credit here is The Goonies. Browse 3 ranked credits, plus biography and full filmography.
Richard Donner (born Richard Donald Schwartzberg; April 24, 1930–July 5, 2021) was an American film director and producer. Described as "one of Hollywood's most reliable makers of action blockbusters," Donner directed some of the most financially successful films of the 1970s and 1980s. His 50-year career crossed genres and influenced trends among filmmakers across the world. Donner began his career in 1957 as a television director. In the 1960s, he directed episodes of the series The Rifleman, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone, The Banana Splits, and many others. Donner made his film debut with the low-budget aviation drama X-15 in 1961 but had his critical and commercial breakthrough with the horror film The Omen in 1976. He directed the landmark superhero film Superman in 1978, which provided an inspiration for the fantasy film genre to eventually gain artistic respectability and commercial dominance. Donner later went on to direct films in the 1980s such as The Goonies and Scrooged, while reinvigorating the buddy cop film genre with the Lethal Weapon series. Donner and his wife, Lauren, owned a production company, The Donners' Company, which is most successful for producing the Free Willy and X-Men film franchises. Donner also produced Tales from the Crypt and co-wrote several comic books for Superman publisher DC Comics. In 2000, Donner received the President's Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films. Description above from the Wikipedia article Richard Donner, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Top Ranked Credits (3)
What is the best Richard Donner movie?
The Goonies is currently the highest-ranked Richard Donner movie on Movie Rankings based on aggregate head-to-head results from the community.
How many Richard Donner movies are ranked here?
This page currently tracks 3 ranked credits connected to Richard Donner.
How often do Richard Donner rankings update?
These rankings refresh whenever Movie Rankings recomputes global results. This page was last generated from site data on May 4, 2026.
Explore More Rankings
Best English Adventure Movies of 1985
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english adventure movies from 1985.
Best English Adventure Movies
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english adventure movies.
Best English Comedy Movies of 1985
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english comedy movies from 1985.
Best English Comedy Movies
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english comedy movies.
Best English Family Movies of 1985
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english family movies from 1985.
Best English Family Movies
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english family movies.
Best English Movies of 1985
See how The Goonies compares with other top-ranked english movies from 1985.
Sources & freshness
Last refreshed from site data on May 4, 2026.
































































































































