---
name: "John Badham"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-badham"
fi1m_id: "john-badham"
imdb_id: "nm0000824"
tmdb_id: 12840
wikidata_id: "Q547485"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "25 August 1939"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "director"
average_over: 9
updated: "2026-10-04T21:19:12.893716+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Badham

## Identity

John Badham

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-badham
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-badham
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000824
- **TMDB ID:** 12840
- **Wikidata ID:** Q547485
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Badham, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q547485, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000824/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12840

Director. Born 25 August 1939 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 25 August 1939, Luton, Bedfordshire, England, UK
- **Active:** 1977–2006
- **Also known as:** Charles John Smith, John M. Badham, 约翰·班德汉姆
- **Frequently works with:** [Paul Shapiro](https://film.one/person/paul-shapiro.md), [Adam Kane](https://film.one/person/adam-kane.md), [Anthony Hemingway](https://film.one/person/anthony-hemingway.md), [Chris Long](https://film.one/person/chris-long.md), [Ernest Dickerson](https://film.one/person/ernest-r-dickerson.md), [Félix Enríquez Alcalá](https://film.one/person/felix-alcala.md), [Guy Bee](https://film.one/person/guy-norman-bee.md), [Guy Ferland](https://film.one/person/guy-ferland.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as director, over 9 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 78 (1), 1980s 74 (3), 1990s 44 (1), 2000s 72 (4)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 69 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Action 2, Comedy 2, Crime 2, Mystery 2, Romance 2
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $608m across 5 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Badham, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q547485, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000824/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/12840

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Saturday Night Fever*](https://film.one/film/saturday-night-fever.md) (78), [*Stakeout*](https://film.one/film/stakeout.md) (70), [*Bird on a Wire*](https://film.one/film/bird-on-a-wire.md) (44)
- **Netflix:** [*Blue Thunder*](https://film.one/film/blue-thunder.md) (71), [*Heroes*](https://film.one/tv/heroes.md) (68)
- **Disney+:** [*The Shield*](https://film.one/tv/the-shield.md) (84)
- **AMC+:** [*WarGames*](https://film.one/film/wargames.md) (82)
- **Peacock:** [*Supernatural*](https://film.one/tv/supernatural.md) (77)
- **Apple TV:** [*Criminal Minds*](https://film.one/tv/criminal-minds.md) (60)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

John Badham is a British-born American film and television director. Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, he was raised in Alabama after his family moved to the United States and became a naturalised citizen. He studied at Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

Badham began his career in television, directing episodes of series including *Night Gallery*, *The Streets of San Francisco* and *Police Story*. His feature breakthrough came with *Saturday Night Fever* (1977). He is also known for directing *WarGames* (1983), *Short Circuit* (1986) and *Stakeout* (1987), as well as later television episodes of *Heroes* (2006), *Criminal Minds* (2005) and *The Shield* (2002).

He has directed numerous television movies and series episodes, and has taught directing at Chapman University.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

- *Heroes* (2006), Fi1m 68, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/heroes.md)
- *Criminal Minds* (2005), Fi1m 60, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/criminal-minds.md)
- *Supernatural* (2005), Fi1m 77, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/supernatural.md)
- *The Shield* (2002), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-shield.md)
- *Bird on a Wire* (1990), Fi1m 44, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/bird-on-a-wire.md)
- *Stakeout* (1987), Fi1m 70, Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/stakeout.md)
- *Blue Thunder* (1983), Fi1m 71, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/blue-thunder.md)
- *WarGames* (1983), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/wargames.md)
- *Saturday Night Fever* (1977), Fi1m 78, as Pedestrian #1 (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/saturday-night-fever.md)

## Complete filmography (72)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Meatballs* (2022), Director
- *King of my Kind: John Badham Remembers Dracula* (2019), Actor
- *Siren* (2018), series, Director
- *Rush Hour* (2016), series, Director
- *Stitchers* (2015), series, Director
- *12 Monkeys* (2015), series, Director
- *Constantine* (2014), series, Director
- *Arrow* (2012), series, Director
- *The Event* (2010), series, Director
- *Nikita* (2010), series, Director
- *In Plain Sight* (2008), series, Director
- *Heroes* (2006), series, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/heroes.md)
- *Men in Trees* (2006), series, Director
- *Psych* (2006), series, Director
- *The Special: Building Blue Thunder* (2006), Actor
- *Criminal Minds* (2005), series, Director — Fi1m 60, [page](https://film.one/tv/criminal-minds.md)
- *Just Legal* (2005), series, Director
- *Supernatural* (2005), series, Director — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/supernatural.md)
- *Blind Justice* (2005), series, Producer, Director
- *Evel Knievel* (2004), Director
- *Footsteps* (2003), Director
- *Las Vegas* (2003), series, Director
- *Obsessed* (2002), Director
- *The Shield* (2002), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-shield.md)
- *Brother's Keeper* (2002), Director
- *Crossing Jordan* (2001), series, as Marty · Director
- *The Last Debate* (2000), as Don Beard · Director
- *The Jack Bull* (1999), Director
- *Floating Away* (1998), Director
- *Incognito* (1997), Director
- *Nick of Time* (1995), Director, Producer
- *Drop Zone* (1994), as Yacht Captain (uncredited) · Director, Executive Producer
- *Another Stakeout* (1993), Director, Executive Producer
- *Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story* (1993), Executive Producer
- *Point of No Return* (1993), as Room-Service Waiter · Director
- *Mood Indigo* (1993), Executive Producer
- *The Hard Way* (1991), Director
- *Bird on a Wire* (1990), Director — Fi1m 44, [page](https://film.one/film/bird-on-a-wire.md)
- *Disorganized Crime* (1989), Executive Producer
- *Stakeout* (1987), Director, Producer — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/stakeout.md)
- *Short Circuit* (1986), Director
- *American Flyers* (1985), Director
- *WarGames* (1983), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/wargames.md)
- *Blue Thunder* (1983), Director — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/blue-thunder.md)
- *Behind-the-Scenes: Blue Thunder* (1983), Actor
- *Whose Life Is It Anyway?* (1981), Director
- *Dracula* (1979), Director
- *Saturday Night Fever* (1977), as Pedestrian #1 (uncredited) · Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/saturday-night-fever.md)
- *The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings* (1976), Director
- *The Keegans* (1976), Director
- *The Godchild* (1974), Director
- *Reflections of Murder* (1974), Director
- *The Gun* (1974), Director
- *The Law* (1974), Director
- *Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love* (1974), Director
- *Isn't It Shocking?* (1973), Director
- *Police Story* (1973), series, Director
- *Cool Million* (1972), series, Director
- *Kung Fu* (1972), series, Director
- *The Streets of San Francisco* (1972), series, Director
- *The Sixth Sense* (1972), series, Director
- *The Impatient Heart* (1971), Director
- *Nichols* (1971), series, Director
- *Cannon* (1971), series, Director
- *Sarge* (1971), series, Director
- *Night Gallery* (1970), series, Director, Producer
- *The Bold Ones: The Senator* (1970), series, Director
- *A Clear and Present Danger* (1970), Associate Producer
- *Dial Hot Line* (1970), Associate Producer
- *Night Gallery* (1969), Associate Producer
- *The Bold Ones: The New Doctors* (1969), series, Director
- *Deadlock* (1969), Producer's Assistant

## Gallery

- ![John Badham](https://film.one/media/person/100670/gallery-5ec14ad4945a.jpg) John Badham — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Badham_Palance_1974.jpg/1280px-Badham_Palance_1974.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![John Badham giving a Q&A following an American Cinematheque screening of Drop Zone at the Los Feliz 3 theater on June 26, 2025 (2026)](https://film.one/media/person/100670/gallery-ea13f4f50ac9.jpg) John Badham giving a Q&A following an American Cinematheque screening of Drop Zone at the Los Feliz 3 theater on June 26, 2025 (2026) — Seriestoo2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/JohnBadhamQA.jpg/1280px-JohnBadhamQA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![John Badham présentant "Meurtre en suspens" à la Cinémathèque française, le 11 mars 2026.](https://film.one/media/person/100670/gallery-02dfc6672865.jpg) John Badham présentant "Meurtre en suspens" à la Cinémathèque française, le 11 mars 2026. — ManoSolo13241324, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/John_Badham_2026_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![John Badham présentant "Dracula" à la Cinémathèque française, le 11 mars 2026.](https://film.one/media/person/100670/gallery-8038f05802ca.jpg) John Badham présentant "Dracula" à la Cinémathèque française, le 11 mars 2026. — ManoSolo13241324, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/John_Badham_2026_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Bill Casebeer, Gavin Andresen, Pablos Holman, Ally Sheedy, John Badham, Craig Hatkoff (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/100670/gallery-f815508314d1.jpg) Bill Casebeer, Gavin Andresen, Pablos Holman, Ally Sheedy, John Badham, Craig Hatkoff (2012) — Alec Perkins from Hoboken, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Talking_WarGames_%286976684336%29.jpg/1280px-Talking_WarGames_%286976684336%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-badham