The Cast, Crew & Details of Production

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Biography

Leading Australian filmmaker turned mainstream Hollywood director, Noyce began making short films and documentaries in the late 1960s and gained attention when he won the Australian Film Industry (AFI) award for best short film. He directed documentary short subjects for Film Australia while working on his first feature, "Backroads" (1977). Noyce became a prominent director in the Australian film industry when his feature "Newsfront" (1978), which he also co-wrote, garnered three AFI awards for Best Feature, Director, and Original Screenplay.

Noyce's next feature, "Heatwave" (1981), starring a then unknown Judy Davis, was another critical success. He continued to make films in Australia until Hollywood beckoned, after seeing his accomplished work on "Dead Calm" (1989). Produced by George Miller, this seagoing thriller starred Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman, and Billy Zane. Noyce made an inauspicious American debut with "Blind Fury" (1989), starring Rutger Hauer as a blind Vietnam vet who is improbably adept with swords and other low-tech tools for maiming.

Noyce rebounded with a major popular success, "Patriot Games" (1992). Starring Harrison Ford, this was the second installment of the Jack Ryan franchise derived from Tom Clancy's immensely popular espionage novels. Noyce followed up with "Sliver" (1993), a routine psychosexual thriller with Sharon Stone, and rejoined the Ford money train, directing the "Patriot Games" follow-up "Clear and Present Danger" (1994). In 1997, he steered Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue to box-office success with the big screen remake of "The Saint".

• Tom Ryan's Age Review of "From Backroads to Hollywood" - Phil Noyce biography by Ingo Petzke, 2004
• Read U.S. Reviews of Rabbit-Proof Fence - January 2003
• Interview with Philip Noyce - 19th January 2003