Maverick

"In their hands, a deck of cards was the only thing more dangerous than a gun."

1994 2h 7m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

🍅

67%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.9TMDB · 1,856🍅67%Rotten Tomatoes●62Metacritic★7IMDB · 125,602

ActionAdventureComedyDramaWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Bret Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional $3k in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game beginning in a few days. He joins forces with a woman with a marvelous Southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.

“In their hands, a deck of cards was the only thing more dangerous than a gun.”

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Cast

Mel Gibson
Bret Maverick
Jodie Foster
Annabelle Bransford
James Garner
Marshal Zane Cooper
Graham Greene
Joseph
Alfred Molina
Angel
James Coburn
Commodore Duvall
Dub Taylor
Room Clerk
Geoffrey Lewis
Matthew Wicker / Eugene, Banker

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Donner
Writers: William Goldman
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

260+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Donner, shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Randy Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Stuart Baird shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster and James Garner carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In their hands, a deck of cards was the only thing more dangerous than a gun.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Donner directs. Vilmos Zsigmond behind the camera. Randy Newman scores. Stuart Baird cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
232 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3260+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Richard Donner, shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Randy Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Stuart Baird shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster and James Garner carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In their hands, a deck of cards was the only thing more dangerous than a gun.".
9IMDB entry: tt0110478 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "ship", "saloon", "poker", "mississippi river".

The technical file

Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond
Original score: Randy Newman
Editing: Stuart Baird
Production design: Thomas E. Sanders
Costume design: April Ferry
Makeup / hair: Michael Hancock
VFX supervisor: Stephen L. Price
Sound: Rick Alexander
Stunt coordinator: Mic Rodgers
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $75,000,000
Box office: $183,031,272
Return: 244% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Maverick (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 62/100
IMDB rating: 7/10 · 125,602 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 2 nominations total

Also by

Richard Donner

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2017-06-10
★ 7/10
From the moment I slapped eyes on this hombre, I smelled trouble. And re-fried beans. Maverick is directed by Richard Donner and written by William Goldman. It stars Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner, with support coming from Alfred Molina, Graham Greene and James Coburn. The music is scored by Randy Newman and Vilmos Zsigmond is on photography. It's based on the 1950s television series of the same name and the plot finds Gibson as Maverick and follows his attempt to take his place in a major five-card draw poker tournament. With Foster and Garner in tow, there's plenty of adventures and misadventures along the way. After Costner's Dances With Wolves and Eastwood's Unforgiven had reignited interest in the Western genre in the 90s, Richard Donner and his team felt the time was right to unleash a light hearted Western on the mainstream audience. Timing was important, as was the casting, but Maverick is the sort of family friendly fun that could in truth be released at any time in any decade and still be a hit at the box office. It's not particularly clever in narrative or themes, but with its blending of action, romance and comedy seamlessly coming together as a whole, Maverick is practically hard to dislike. Even the cast seem to be having a real good time, with Gibson smooth and roguish, Foster dainty yet spunky and Garner (the original Maverick from the TV show) offering up a sort of stoic maturity over proceedings; with all three playing the comedy with ease (how great it is to see Foster in such a role). Donner and Goldman have also shown respect to both the TV show and the Western in general (check out those lovely landscapes), while it's always fun to play spot the numerous stars in the cameos. Harmless fluff, then, but always watchable and never once over reaching itself by trying to be something it's not. 7.5/10

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