Donaldson was born in
Ballarat, Victoria, where he attended
Ballarat High School. In 1965 he emigrated to
New Zealand, where he established a small
still photography business and began making advertisements. Donaldson was also directing documentaries, including an adventure series featuring
Everest-conquering New Zealander,
Sir Edmund Hillary, as well as his first ventures into drama. Donaldson and actor/director
Ian Mune collaborated on a number of projects for television, including anthology series
Winners and Losers, based on short stories by New Zealand authors. In 1976, Donaldson directed and produced his first feature,
Sleeping Dogs. The film starred Mune and
Sam Neill as two men fighting for their lives in a totalitarian New Zealand. He followed it with
Smash Palace, starring
Bruno Lawrence as a man who kidnaps his daughter after his marriage disintegrates. Donaldson's international break came when producer
Dino de Laurentiis invited him to direct an adaptation of
Mutiny on the Bounty, after
Lawrence of Arabia director
David Lean left the project. The film, released as
The Bounty, starred Anthony Hopkins as
William Bligh and
Mel Gibson as mutineer
Fletcher Christian. Donaldson was nominated for a
Golden Palm at the 1984
Cannes Film Festival for the film. Donaldson went on to direct many popular and successful movies. His breakthrough American hit was the thriller
No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner and
Gene Hackman.
Cocktail, starring
Bryan Brown and Tom Cruise, was panned by critics but did very well at the box office, based largely on Cruise's starpower. The volcano disaster movie ''Dante's Peak'', starring Pierce Brosnan and
Linda Hamilton, helped restore Donaldson's status after a string of less successful films.
Thirteen Days, a political thriller starring Kevin Costner, adapted
The Kennedy Tapes, a book by
Ernest R. May and
Philip Zelikow, which was a detailed account of the
Cuban Missile Crisis. He also directed science fiction tale
Species, and in 2003, the Al Pacino and
Colin Farrell film
The Recruit. Donaldson wrote and directed ''
The World's Fastest Indian'', which released in 2005. The film starred Anthony Hopkins and depicted
Burt Munro's successful attempts at motorcycle speed records at
Bonneville Salt Flats in the 1950s. His son
Chris is a sprinter who has represented New Zealand at the
Olympic level in 100m and 200m events. His daughter
India is also a filmmaker. Her debut feature
Good One made its premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival, and also screened at the
Cannes Film Festival. In the
2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Donaldson was appointed an
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film. == Filmography ==