George Pan Cosmatos (January 4, 1941 in Florence, Italy - April 19, 2005 in Victoria, Canada) was a Greek/Italian film director. After studying film in London, he became assistant director to Otto Preminger on Exodus (1960), Leon Uris's epic about the birth of Israel. Thereafter he worked on Zorba the Greek (1964), in which Cosmatos had a small part as Boy with Acne. Cosmatos grew up in Egypt and Cyprus and is said to have spoken six languages. He was famous in Italy for the movies Rappresaglia (1973) with Marcello Mastroianni and The Cassandra Crossing (1976) with Sophia Loren. In 1979, he made the famous and successful World War II adventure movie Escape to Athena, starring a gigantic all star cast including Roger Moore, David Niven, Telly Savalas, Elliot Gould and Claudia Cardinale. Cosmatos was nominated for a 1985 Golden Raspberry Award for his role as director of Rambo: First Blood Part II starring Sylvester Stallone. He also directed another Stallone vehicle, Cobra, in 1986. Late in his career, Cosmatos received more praise for Tombstone, a 1993 Western movie about Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. This film was particularly praised for the exceptional performance of Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. After his death it was revealed by Tombstone star Kurt Russell that Cosmatos had ghost-directed the movie on Russell's behalf. Sylvester Stallone recommended Cosmatos after the departure of the first director, and informed Russell that Cosmatos had also ghost-directed Rambo: First Blood Part II on Stallone's behalf. George P. Cosmatos died of lung cancer on April 19, 2005 at the age of 64. Description above from the Wikipedia article George P. Cosmatos, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 4, 1941
- April 19, 2005 (aged 64)
- Florence, Tuscany, Italy
- Director, writer and actor
- 10 on MovieCove · 13 credits in all
What are George P. Cosmatos' films like?
Across their 11 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 10
A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 2 · Dark 7
Grounded 4 · Stylized 6 · Heightened 1
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 6
A split, not a type: Steady 6 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 1
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 1
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 2
Casual 2 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 5 · Heavy 2
Resolved 10 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy4
- Bittersweet6
- Tragic1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch George P. Cosmatos' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 7 of their 10 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (4).
Subscription and free streaming for George P. Cosmatos' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
13 credits, 10 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Shadow Conspiracy(1997)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
Tombstone(1993)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Leviathan(1989)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Cobra(1986)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Of Unknown Origin(1983)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
Escape to Athena(1979)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
The Cassandra Crossing(1976)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Massacre in Rome(1973)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Sin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)
Assignment Skybolt (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1968)
The Day the Fish Came Out (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
Zorba the Greek(1964)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 13 titles from 1964 to 1997.
Biggest box office
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Highest rated
Tombstone (1993)
Most popular right now
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Film career
- 1964Screen debut· Zorba the Greek
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do George P. Cosmatos' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 47th percentile, the median of all 10; across their 11 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 48th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 10 titles divides audiences: 3 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the atmosphere 63/100 and the pacing 50/100 in their films, across 10 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is George P. Cosmatos' work okay for kids?
Across up to 8 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does George P. Cosmatos work with?
People who share at least 2 of George P. Cosmatos' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Roberto Silvi shares the most, 5.
Writers
- Kevin JarreShared titles: Tombstone (1993), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)See all 2 shared titles with Kevin Jarre
- Sylvester StalloneShared titles: Cobra (1986), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)See all 2 shared titles with Sylvester Stallone
- Robert KatzShared titles: The Cassandra Crossing (1976), Massacre in Rome (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Robert Katz
Actors
- Stephen LangShared titles: The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002), Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Tombstone (1993)See all 3 shared titles with Stephen Lang
- Dana DelanyShared titles: The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002), Tombstone (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Dana Delany
- Kurt RussellShared titles: The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002), Tombstone (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Kurt Russell
- Michael BiehnShared titles: The Making of 'Tombstone' (2002), Tombstone (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Michael Biehn
Composers and editors
- Roberto SilviShared titles: Tombstone (1993), Leviathan (1989), Of Unknown Origin (1983), The Cassandra Crossing (1976), Massacre in Rome (1973)See all 5 shared titles with Roberto Silvi
- Jerry GoldsmithShared titles: Leviathan (1989), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), The Cassandra Crossing (1976)See all 3 shared titles with Jerry Goldsmith
- Bruce BroughtonShared titles: Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Tombstone (1993)See all 2 shared titles with Bruce Broughton
- Françoise BonnotShared titles: The Cassandra Crossing (1976), Massacre in Rome (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Françoise Bonnot
Producers
- Andrew G. VajnaShared titles: Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Tombstone (1993), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)See all 3 shared titles with Andrew G. Vajna
- Buzz FeitshansShared titles: Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Tombstone (1993), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)See all 3 shared titles with Buzz Feitshans
- Lew GradeShared titles: Escape to Athena (1979), The Cassandra Crossing (1976)See all 2 shared titles with Lew Grade
- Carlo PontiShared titles: The Cassandra Crossing (1976), Massacre in Rome (1973)See all 2 shared titles with Carlo Ponti
