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Joe Dante

Just like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron,
Dante started his career as a protege of cult filmmaker Roger
Corman. Dante's first big break came when he was just 30, he
directed the Corman-produced low-budget Jaws inspiredPiranha (1978),
a film that should have been awful but somehow Dante made work. It
was a cult hit and even spawned a James Cameron directed sequel.

His next movie was horror/thriller The Howling (1981) which
established Dante as one of the brightest young directors young
directors working at that time. Such was his reputation that he
joined Steven Spielberg, George Miller and John Landis each directing
one of the four segments which made up Twilight Zone - The Movie
(1983).

The Oscar winning Spielberg in particular must have been impressed because
Dante's next directorial effort was produced by Spielberg and it ultimately turned
out to be his most famous movie, Gremlins (1984).

Dante's next movie Explorers (1985) starring youngsters River Phoenix
& Ethan Hawke was expected to be as big as Gremlins but unfortunately
the studio decided to rush the production to an early release date
and Dante never fully finished the movie. Explorers did respectably
at the box-office but has since earned a cult reputation.

Sci-fi comedy Innerspace (1987) starring Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and
Martin Short was another big box-office hit for Dante but dark comedy
The Burbs (1989) starring Tom Hanks misfired despite being regarded
as under-rated by many.

At the end of the 1980's Dante was one of Hollywood's top directors
and his next movie Gremlins---The-New-Batch.html">Gremlins 2 - The New Batch (1990) proved to be the biggest
grossing movie of his career. Unfortunately in the sixteen years since
then Dante's career has proved a massive disappointment.

Dante directed five episodes of TV show Eerie Indiana (1991) but it
was cancelled after one season. His next movie Matinee (1993) was a
box-office flop despite once again slowly building up a cult
reputation. Dante then for some reason decided to direct three TV
movies.

His next theatrical movie was Small Soldiers (1998) which proved
popular at the box-office and seemed to stop the rot in Dante's
career but he went back to directing TV shows and something called
Haunted Lighthouse which appears to be a 3-D children's movie for
Busch Gardens.

Warner Bros then chose Dante to relaunch one of their most popular
franchises when they appointed him director of Looney Tunes Back In Action
(2003). Unfortunately the movie flopped and neither the franchise or Dante's
career has recovered since.


What members say | Filmography

Joe Dante - what members say


  • Gremlins
  • Gremlins review by A customer from Dorset
    Rated - 4 stars BRIGHT LIGHT! 21 September 2003
    ...This is a gleefully mischievous movie, in which director Joe Dante envisages a perfect American small town, then introduces malicious Gremlins into the mix and has them ...  
  • Gremlins 2 - The New Batch
  • Gremlins 2 - The New Batch review by James Lambert from London, England
    Rated - 5 stars Sequel goes wher eother sequel fears to tread! 30 July 2004
    ...In Gremlins, Joe Dante filmed a rather sadistically chaotic take on a childrens movie. But where the first movie was wrapped in a neat morality tale, this sequel just g...  
  • The Burbs
  • The Burbs review by Matthew O'Connor from Rutland, England
    Rated - 5 stars Hanks' best film! 22 June 2004
    ... a brilliant turn before he slipped into drug fuelled oblivion. The director Joe Dante was also responsible for Gremlins, The Howling, Innerspace and another true los...  

Joe Dante - filmography


  • Small Soldiers
  • Small Soldiers on DVD (1998)
    Starring: Kirsten Dunst,  Jay Mohr,  Phil Hartman
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 12
    A toy company believes it is onto something when it employs the latest government military technology in a series of action figures, enabling them to talk. They underestimate the power of the special micro chips they've employed, however, as the two opposing sides of the toy line start thinking for ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.0 63% from 1,361 members
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  • Matinee
  • Matinee on DVD (1992)
    Starring: John Goodman,  Cathy Moriarty,  Simon Fenton
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: PG
    It's 1962 and 15-year-old horror film fan Gene Loomis (Simon Fenton) is the new kid in a small Key West town; the Cuban Missile Crisis is happening in his own backyard; an intriguing girl (Lisa Jakub) is actually looking his way, and best of all, master showman Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) is in ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.0 60% from 292 members
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  • The Burbs
  • The Burbs on DVD (1989)
    Starring: Tom Hanks,  Carrie Fisher,  Rick Ducommun
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 12
    Tom Hanks portrays suburbanite Ray Peterson, whose plans for a peaceful vacation are disturbed by a creepy new family on the block, in this outrageous suspense-comedy directed by Joe Dante. To the disappointment of his wife Carol (Carrie Fisher), Ray decides to spend a relaxing week at home, and ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 67% from 1,581 members
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  • Innerspace
  • Innerspace on DVD (1987)
    Starring: Dennis Quaid,  Meg Ryan,  Kevin McCarthy
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: PG
    Dennis Quaid stars as Lieutenant Tuck Pendleton, a hell-raising Navy test pilot, in this fantasy-suspense comedy that harkens back to 1966's FANTASTIC VOYAGE. Pendleton volunteers to be miniaturised in a scientific experiment and fly a capsule injected into a rabbit's bloodstream for top-secret ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 69% from 2,053 members
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  • Explorers
  • Explorers (1985)
    Starring: Ethan Hawke,  Jason Presson,  River Phoenix
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: U
    This adventurous space tale stars Ethan Hawke (in his film debut at the age of 14) and young star River Phoenix as misfit best friends whose dreams of space travel become a reality when they create an interplanetary spacecraft in their homemade laboratory. Ben Crandall (Hawke) is a young visionary ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 68% from 121 members
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  • Gremlins - BLU-RAY Version
  • Gremlins - BLU-RAY Version (1984)
    Starring: Zach Galligan,  Phoebe Cates,  Hoyt Axton
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 15
    Young Billy Peltzer's (Zach Galligan) everyday smalltown life is given a lift when his travelling salesman father Rand (Hoyt Axton) buys him the ultimate Christmas gift in a far-off Chinatown--the mogwai--an adorable little big-eared, furry, brown and white creature. But the old man who sold the ..read more »
    Rate this: 4.0 78% from 284 members
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  • Gremlins
  • Gremlins on DVD (1984)
    Starring: Zach Galligan,  Phoebe Cates,  Hoyt Axton
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 15
    Young Billy Peltzer's (Zach Galligan) everyday smalltown life is given a lift when his travelling salesman father Rand (Hoyt Axton) buys him the ultimate Christmas gift in a far-off Chinatown--the mogwai--an adorable little big-eared, furry, brown and white creature. But the old man who sold the ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 73% from 4,485 members
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  • The Howling
  • The Howling on DVD (1980)
    Starring: Dee Wallace,  Patrick Macnee,  Dennis Dugan
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 18
    Dee Wallace stars as Karen White, a popular female reporter in Los Angeles who cannot escape the horror of a traumatic experience that she suffered while trying to capture a dangerous serial killer. When her psychologist (played by Patrick Macnee) recommends a retreat to The Colony, up the Northern ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.0 64% from 379 members
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  • The Howling
  • The Howling (2 discs) on DVD (1980)
    Starring: Dee Wallace,  Patrick Macnee,  Dennis Dugan
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 18
    Based on the best-selling novel by Gary Brandner, this horror film makes effective use of the classic werewolf tale. Dee Wallace stars as Karen White, a popular female reporter in Los Angeles who cannot escape the horror of a traumatic experience that she suffered while trying to capture Eddie ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.0 63% from 593 members
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  • Piranha
  • Piranha on DVD (1978)
    Starring: Bradford Dillman,  Heather Menzies,  Barbara Steele
    Director: Joe Dante
    Certificate: 15
    "Operation Razorteeth," a government project involving the breeding of mutant piranhas, gets way out of hand when the fish raid a lake at a summer camp for kids in this Roger Corman-produced, Joe Dante-directed classic. Heather Menzies stars as Maggie McKeown, an insurance investigator out to trace ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.0 60% from 135 members
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Joe Dante facts

5 most recent films


Looney Tunes Back In Action - 3.0 stars
Small Soldiers - 3.0 stars
Matinee - 3.0 stars
Gremlins 2 - The New Batch - 3.5 stars
The Burbs - 3.5 stars

5 highest-rated films


Gremlins - BLU-RAY Version - 4.0 stars
Eerie Indiana - The Complete Series - 3.5 stars
Gremlins - 3.5 stars
Explorers - 3.5 stars
Innerspace - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films


Piranha - 3.0 stars
Amazon Women On The Moon - 3.0 stars
Looney Tunes Back In Action - 3.0 stars
The Howling - 3.0 stars
Matinee - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars


Kevin McCarthy - 4 times - show films
John Carradine - 3 times - show films
Phoebe Cates - 3 times - show films
Corey Feldman - 3 times - show films
Zach Galligan - 3 times - show films

Most frequent directors


John Landis - 1 times - show films
Steven S - 1 times - show films
George Miller - 1 times - show films
Carl Gottlieb - 1 times - show films
Paul L - 1 times - show films