Derek Meddings Filmography

Born:: January 15, 1931
Occupation:: Special Effects
Biography:: Derek Meddings directed special-effects sequences for many large-budget films of the '70s, '80s, and early '90s. His most acclaimed work can be seen in Superman: The Movie (1978) and the James Bond thriller Moonraker (1979), both of which won him special industry awards. Meddings also worked on Tim Burton...Read More

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The Neverending Story III: Escape from Fantasia

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Jason James Richter, Melody Kay, Freddie Jones, Jack Black, Ryan Bollman

Synopsis: Young Bastian again seeks refuge from the problems of the real world in the mystical land of Fantasia in this second, inferior sequel to the sleeper 1984 hit The Neverending Story. The set-up is familiar, as Bastian Bux (here played by Jason James Richter), who has moved to a new town, again Read More

1994
The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Jonathan Brandis, Kenny Morrison, Clarissa Burt, Alexandra Johnes, Martin Umbach

Synopsis: Following the surprisingly successful children's fantasy The Neverending Story (1984), this lesser sequel presents the further adventures of the young boy Bastian in the magical land of Fantasia. Bastian (Jonathan Brandis) returns to this kingdom of the imagination, reached through a magical Read More

1991
Batman

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle

Synopsis: Behind the black cowl, Gotham City superhero Batman is really millionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), who turned to crimefighting after his parents were brutally murdered before his eyes. The only person to share Wayne's secret is faithful butler Alfred (Michael Gough). The Read More

6/23/89
High Spirits

Crew: Second Unit Director, Special Effects

Actors: Daryl Hannah, Peter O'Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Liam Neeson, Jennifer Tilly

Synopsis: The owner of an Irish castle decides to attract visitors by falsely claiming that the building is haunted, only to have a pair of real ancestral spirits start causing trouble in this uneven attempt at fantasy-comedy. The story centers on Jack and Sharon (played by Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D'Angelo Read More

11/18/88
Spies Like Us

Actors: Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest, Donna Dixon, Bruce Davison

Synopsis: Director John Landis helmed this Cold War farce starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase as Austin Millbarge and Emmett Fitz-Hume -- two loser misfits who dwell in the lower ranks of the Central Intelligence Agency. Convinced despite much evidence to the contrary that they're prime secret agent Read More

1985
Supergirl

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Faye Dunaway, Helen Slater, Peter O'Toole, Peter Cook, Brenda Vaccaro

Synopsis: A big-budget spin-off from the series of three successful Superman movies, this film stars Helen Slater as the counterpart to the famous comic-book superhero. Supergirl is Kara, Superman's young cousin. She is sent to Earth is search of a Krypton power source, a lost ring that has been turned into Read More

1984
Krull

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Freddie Jones, Francesca Annis, Alun Armstrong

Synopsis: Meant to be a whimsical sword-and-sorcery film about a prince out to save his princess from the jaws of the Beast, Krull has enough scenes borrowed from blockbuster predecessors (Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., Robin Hood, Star Wars) and is gentle enough to be rather derivative, ordinary fare. Read More

1983
Banzai

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Coluche, Valérie Mairesse, Didier Kaminka, Marthe Villalonga, Francois Perrot, Jean-Marie Proslier

Synopsis: Lacking the bite to be really funny, this wilted farce stars French comedian Coluche as Michel Bernardin, a white-collar trouble-shooter for tourists caught in a bind, or in bandages, depending on the problem. His business "Planet Assistance" sends people all over to help travelers in need, and as Read More

1983
For Your Eyes Only

Crew: Special Effects Supervisor

Actors: Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover

Synopsis: For Your Eyes Only eschews the gimmickry and campiness of earlier James Bond films, concentrating instead on telling the story and maintaining suspense. Roger Moore is back as Secret Agent 007, this time on the trail of Soviet spies while he romances the beautiful Melina, played by Carole Bouquet. Richard Maibaum Read More

1981
Moonraker

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michel Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Bernard Lee

Synopsis: In this adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1955 novel, James Bond (Roger Moore) must thwart Sir Hugo Drax (Michel Lonsdale), who plans to wipe out all of humankind and replace it with a super race that he has cultivated in a massive space station. The girl in the case is American secret agent Holly Read More

1979
Superman: The Movie

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper

Synopsis: Richard Donner's big-budget blockbuster Superman: The Movie is an immensely entertaining recounting of the origin of the famous comic book character. Opening on Krypton (where Marlon Brando plays Superman's father), the film follows the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) as he's sent to Earth where Read More

1978
The Spy Who Loved Me

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Roger Moore, Barbara Bach, Curd Jürgens, Richard Kiel, Caroline Munro

Synopsis: Though not Ian Fleming's most famous James Bond novel, 1962's The Spy Who Loved Me was distinguished by the unique device of telling the story from the heroine's point of view; in fact, Bond doesn't make an appearance until the book is two-thirds over. This would hardly work in the film world's Bond Read More

1977
Aces High

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer, Simon Ward, Peter Firth, John Gielgud

Synopsis: Malcolm McDowell plays a World War I air ace, in charge of an elite squadron. Outwardly a bastion of courage, McDowell dies a little every time one of his boys is killed. To steel his nerves, he takes to drink, which has an adverse effect on his abilities. Christopher Plummer staunchly portrays Read More

1976
Shout at the Devil

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Lee Marvin, Roger Moore, Barbara Parkins, Ian Holm, René Kolldehoff

Synopsis: Peter R. Hunt directed this World War I action-adventure, based upon the novel by Wilbur Smith. Roger Moore and Lee Marvin team up as Sebastian, a witty and cosmopolitan Englishman, and Flynn O'Flynn, a boozy and ornery Irish American, who decide to blow up a German battleship that has been hidden Read More

1976
The Land That Time Forgot

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon, Keith Barron, Anthony Ainley

Synopsis: In this low budget fantasy adventure from Britain, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' 1918 science fiction novel, a German submarine holding American prisoners of war during World War I, veers off course. Lost at sea, the submarine empties its fuel supply and runs aground on an uncharted island in the Read More

1975
Live and Let Die

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Seymour, Clifton James, Julius Harris

Synopsis: Roger Moore makes his first appearance as "Bond...James Bond" in 1973's Live and Let Die. Bond is dispatched to the States to stem the activities of Mr. Big (Yaphet Kotto), who plans to take over the Western Hemisphere by converting everyone into heroin addicts. The woman in the case is Solitaire Read More

1973
Zero Population Growth

Crew: Special Effects

Synopsis: This provocative sci-fi outing is set in an over-populated, horribly polluted 21st century where child-bearing has become illegal. To help ease the tension and stress caused by not procreating, married couples use robot dolls to substitute for children. One couple decides to break the law and have Read More

1972
Thunderbirds Are Go

Crew: Special Effects

Actors: Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, Alexander Davion, David Graham, Christine Finn, Peter Dyneley

Synopsis: This animated, futuristic puppet fantasy finds Lady Penelope and Professor Brains working for the organization International Rescue. The professor has developed an aircraft for the New World Aircraft company. Corporate spies secretly working for the NWA organization steal the experimental flyer. Read More

1968
Thunderbird 6

Crew: Special Effects

Synopsis: This British sci-fi film is based on a popular British television series Thunderbirds. The characters are portrayed by special marionettes. The story centers on the exploits of International Rescue, who use spaceships to save beautiful Lady Penelope from her kidnappers, the evil villains of New Read More

1966