---
name: "Mikael Salomon"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/mikael-salomon"
fi1m_id: "mikael-salomon"
imdb_id: "nm0004121"
tmdb_id: 30149
wikidata_id: "Q487069"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "24 February 1945"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-10-05T01:28:27.459409+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."
---

# Mikael Salomon

## Identity

Mikael Salomon

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mikael-salomon
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** mikael-salomon
- **IMDb ID:** nm0004121
- **TMDB ID:** 30149
- **Wikidata ID:** Q487069
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Salomon, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q487069, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004121/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/30149

Director. Born 24 February 1945 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 24 February 1945, Copenhagen, Denmark
- **Active:** 1989–2015
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 9: 5 directing, 4 crew
- **Frequently works with:** [David Frankel](https://film.one/person/david-frankel.md), [Graham Yost](https://film.one/person/graham-yost.md), [Ron Howard](https://film.one/person/ron-howard.md)
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 66 (2), 1990s 58 (3), 2000s 82 (3), 2010s 64 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 74 to 65 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Action & Adventure 2, Action 1, Crime 1, Mystery 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $20m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikael_Salomon, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q487069, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004121/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/30149

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Band of Brothers*](https://film.one/tv/band-of-brothers.md) (89), [*Rome*](https://film.one/tv/rome.md) (82)
- **Disney+:** [*Alias*](https://film.one/tv/alias.md) (74), [*The Abyss*](https://film.one/film/the-abyss.md) (71)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Expanse*](https://film.one/tv/the-expanse.md) (64), [*Backdraft*](https://film.one/film/backdraft.md) (62)
- **Netflix:** [*Always*](https://film.one/film/always.md) (62)

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

## Fi1m on Mikael Salomon

> We value Mikael Salomon’s practical skill with difficult shoots, and the patience of the ensemble drama he helped make in *Band of Brothers*. His strongest claim on our attention is in television rather than his small body of directed features.

In *Band of Brothers* (2001), the men of Easy Company hold our attention more firmly than the action. Damian Lewis anchors an ensemble drama that earns its ten episodes through patience, giving us time to care about the men. We were moved by that attention to them, especially when the performances were allowed to do the work without further insistence. Salomon directed two episodes, and deserves a share of the credit rather than ownership of everything the series gets right.

His earlier work behind the camera helps explain his suitability for demanding productions. Salomon photographed James Cameron’s *The Abyss* (1989) and Ron Howard’s *Backdraft* (1991), after years as a cinematographer in Danish cinema. Water, effects and large-scale action became specialities: work in which getting the image at all can be a substantial part of the achievement. We value that competence without assuming it guarantees a good drama; the actors still need time, and *Band of Brothers* gives them it.

The move to directing came with *A Far Off Place* (1993), a location shoot in Africa on which he replaced the original director. *Hard Rain* (1998) followed, but features remained a small part of the directing career. From the mid-1990s onwards, television became his main field, with *Salem’s Lot* (2004) and *The Company* (2007) among the later assignments. Action, adventure and science fiction recur in the work. There is no reason to treat that television career as a retreat: it includes the work we would recommend most readily.

Our reservation about *Band of Brothers* is its occasional need to overstate what the actors have already made clear. The action can become too emphatic, and the music presses for a response the drama has earned without it. That matters in a series whose appeal lies in taking time over its people, although it is not enough to undo their hold on us. Start there, with a little tolerance for the music.

## Biography

Mikael Salomon is a Danish cinematographer and director. Born in Copenhagen in 1945, he began his career in Danish cinema in the 1960s and worked as a cinematographer on numerous Danish films before moving to Hollywood in the late 1980s.

His cinematography credits include *The Abyss* (1989), *Always* (1989), *Arachnophobia* (1990), *Backdraft* (1991) and *Far and Away* (1992). He has received two Academy Award nominations. From the mid-1990s he transitioned to directing, with credits including the feature films *A Far Off Place* (1993) and *Hard Rain* (1998), as well as television work such as episodes of *Band of Brothers* (2001), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award.

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

## On Fi1m (9)

### Directed (5) — the average rests on these

- *The Expanse* (2015), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-expanse.md)
- *Rome* (2005), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/rome.md)
- *Alias* (2001), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/alias.md)
- *Band of Brothers* (2001), Fi1m 89, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/band-of-brothers.md)
- *Hard Rain* (1998), Fi1m 61, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/hard-rain.md)

### Crew (4)

- *Far and Away* (1992), Fi1m 52, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/far-and-away.md)
- *Backdraft* (1991), Fi1m 62, Cinematography, Director of Photography — [page](https://film.one/film/backdraft.md)
- *Always* (1989), Fi1m 62, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/always.md)
- *The Abyss* (1989), Fi1m 71, Director of Photography, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-abyss.md)

## Complete filmography (75)

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

- *The Long Road Home* (2017), series, Director
- *Valor* (2017), series, Director
- *Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders* (2016), series, Director
- *The Expanse* (2015), series, Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-expanse.md)
- *Blood & Oil* (2015), series, Director
- *Powers* (2015), series, Director
- *Big Driver* (2014), Director
- *Drew Peterson: Untouchable* (2014), Director
- *Freezer* (2014), Director
- *Coma* (2012), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *Blue Lagoon: The Awakening* (2012), Director
- *Falling Skies* (2011), series, Director
- *Camelot* (2011), series, Director
- *The Lost Future* (2010), Director
- *Unnatural History* (2010), series, Producer, Director
- *Who Is Clark Rockefeller?* (2010), Director, Co-Executive Producer
- *Hawthorne* (2009), series, Producer, Director
- *Natalee Holloway* (2009), Director, Co-Executive Producer
- *Flirting with Forty* (2008), Director
- *The Rhapsody* (2008), Executive Producer
- *Terra Incognita: Making the Andromeda Strain* (2008), Director
- *The Andromeda Strain* (2008), series, Director, Co-Executive Producer
- *Fallen III: The Destiny* (2007), Director
- *The Company* (2007), series, Director, Creator
- *Fallen* (2007), series, Creator
- *Fallen* (2006), Director, Executive Producer
- *Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King* (2006), series, Director
- *Over There* (2005), series, Director
- *Rome* (2005), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/rome.md)
- *The Grid* (2004), series, Director
- *Salem's Lot* (2004), series, Director
- *Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor* (2003), Director
- *The Agency* (2003), Director
- *Young Arthur* (2002), Director
- *Alias* (2001), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/alias.md)
- *The Agency* (2001), series, Director
- *Band of Brothers* (2001), series, Director — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/band-of-brothers.md)
- *A Glimpse of Hell* (2001), Director
- *The Fugitive* (2000), series, Director
- *Sole Survivor* (2000), Director
- *Aftershock: Earthquake in New York* (1999), series, Director, Creator
- *Hard Rain* (1998), Director — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/hard-rain.md)
- *Nash Bridges* (1996), series, Director
- *A Far Off Place* (1993), Director
- *Space Rangers* (1993), series, Director
- *Far and Away* (1992), Director of Photography — Fi1m 52, [page](https://film.one/film/far-and-away.md)
- *Backdraft* (1991), Director of Photography — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/backdraft.md)
- *Arachnophobia* (1990), Director of Photography
- *Always* (1989), Director of Photography — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/always.md)
- *The Abyss* (1989), Director of Photography — Fi1m 71, [page](https://film.one/film/the-abyss.md)
- *Torch Song Trilogy* (1988), Director of Photography
- *Zelly & Me* (1988), Director of Photography
- *Once a Cop...* (1987), series, Cinematography
- *The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains* (1987), Director of Photography
- *The Wolf at the Door* (1986), Director of Photography
- *Det begyndte med Mathilde* (1978), Cinematography
- *Elvis! Elvis!* (1976), Director of Photography
- *Copper* (1976), Director of Photography
- *På flykt undan mina landsmän* (1976), Director of Photography
- *Only the Truth* (1975), Director of Photography
- *Around the World with Fanny Hill* (1974), Director of Photography
- *Bedside Highway* (1972), Director of Photography
- *Z.P.G.* (1972), Additional Photography
- *Chinese Ping-Pong* (1972), Director of Photography
- *Why Do They Do It?* (1971), Director of Photography
- *Tintomara* (1970), Director of Photography
- *Daddy, Darling* (1970), Director of Photography
- *Famous Five Get in Trouble* (1970), Director of Photography
- *Five and the Spies* (1969), Cinematography
- *Capriccio* (1968), Director of Photography
- *De forsvundne breve* (1967), Cinematography
- *Om ti minutter* (1966), Cinematography
- *Søskende* (1966), Director of Photography
- *Grænseland* (1965), Camera Operator
- *Mord for åbent tæppe* (1964), Additional Camera

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1992: Best Visual Effects (nominated), for *Backdraft*
- 1990: Best Cinematography (nominated), for *The Abyss*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 2002: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (won), for *Band of Brothers*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/mikael-salomon