LONDON (AP) 鈥� British filmmaker Mike Hodges, who directed gangland thriller 鈥淕et Carter鈥� and sci-fi cult classic 鈥淔lash Gordon,鈥� has died. He was 90.
Hodges died at his home in the county of Dorset in southwest England on Saturday, his friend and former producer Mike Kaplan told British media on Wednesday. No cause of death was given.
Born in the English port city of Bristol in 1932, Hodges trained as an accountant and did two years of compulsory military service aboard a Royal Navy minesweeper, visiting poor coastal communities around England.
鈥淔or two years, my middle-class eyes were forced to witness horrendous poverty and deprivation that I was previously unaware of,鈥� he wrote in a letter to The Guardian earlier this year.
The experience influenced his feature debut, 1971 thriller 鈥淕et Carter,鈥� which he wrote and directed. It starred Michael Caine as a gangster who returns to his home city of Newcastle on the trail of his brother鈥檚 killers. Remembered for its unflinching violence, vividly gritty northeast England locations and jazz score, it鈥檚 considered a British classic.
Caine also starred in Hodges鈥� 1972 crime comedy 鈥淧ulp.鈥� Hodges went on to direct 1974 sci-fi thriller 鈥淭he Terminal Man,鈥� starring George Segal as a scientist who turns violent after electrodes are implanted in his brain.
鈥淔lash Gordon,鈥� made amid the science fiction deluge unleashed by the success of 鈥淪tar Wars,鈥� was released in 1980. A campy romp inspired by 1930s adventure comics, pop music videos and expressionist cinema, it was a hit in Britain and gained an international cult following.
Hodges' 1985 sci-fi comedy 鈥淢orons from Outer Space鈥� was less successful. His 1980s films also included 鈥淎 Prayer for the Dying,鈥� starring Mickey Rourke as a former IRA militant, and 鈥淏lack Rainbow鈥� with Rosanna Arquette as a psychic medium targeted by a killer.
Hodges had a late-career success with 1998 drama 鈥淐roupier,鈥� which gave Clive Owen his international breakout role as a dealer in a London casino. The film initially flopped in the U.K. but got rave reviews in the U.S. and became a hit.
Owen also starred in Hodges鈥� final film 鈥淚鈥檒l Sleep When I鈥檓 Dead,鈥� released in 2003.
Actor Brian Blessed, who starred in 鈥淔lash Gordon,鈥� told the BBC that Hodges had 鈥渁 very powerful personality and a joyful, cheerful, brilliant imagination.鈥�
Hodges is survived by his wife, Carol Laws, his sons Ben and Jake, and several grandchildren.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
