Blu-ray.com Community Top 25 Favorite DIRECTORS of All Time (Please Read First Post)

[unclewiggum]

gibson would make my top 10. thinking of doing a list now.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

are you guys going by QUALITY or QUANTITY?

if a director A made your #10, #20 and #30 films of all time, but director B ONLY made your #2 film of all time, who would you rank higher? just curious how people are weighing this.

I tried to find an even mix between quantity and quality. I think quality won in the end.

Christopher Nolan made only seven films, I rate 5 of them very very highly, so he made it toward the top of my list.

I probably only rate a few of Stanley Kubrick's movies highly, but I like them all in general, so I put him high on my list too. All of his films are sophisticated.

I enjoy all work by people like Michael Bay, Tim Burton, etc, but I shove them in the middle somewhere.

And so on.

[*DrStrangelove*]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

are you guys going by QUALITY or QUANTITY?

if a director A made your #10, #20 and #30 films of all time, but director B ONLY made your #2 film of all time, who would you rank higher? just curious how people are weighing this.

I went with directors who have a good body of work. I cant really choose directors that only have 2 films under their belt. There are some directors I'm sure would make my list but unfortunatley I havent seen enough of their films to put them on my list (like Alfred Hitchcock). One of my favorite films is City of God, but because I havent seen any of the directors other films I didnt put him on my list. There are some that I even ranked higher only because they have a larger body of work and are consistent rather than just have a couple of films. Which is why PT Anderson isnt higher in the list. I think in a couple years PT Anderson would be my #1.

[unclewiggum]

1. Quentin Tarantino
2. James Cameron
3. Steven Spielberg
4. Oliver Stone
5. Stanley Kubrick
6. Brian De Palma
7. Mel Gibson
8. Francis Ford Coppola
9. David Fincher
10. Robert Zemeckis
11. Clint Eastwood
12. Coen brothers
13. Christopher Nolan
14. Ron Howard
15. Robert Rodriguez
16. Guy Ritchie
17. Matthew Vaughn
18. Peter Jackson
19. Martin Scorsese
20. M. Night Shyamalan

[Romulus]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

you're probably right -- forget about "favorite films". Heck, I can name many directors I love that have really great vision but their screenwriters weren't the best. just b/c their movie isn't in my top 25 list, doesn't mean I shouldn't name them.

Since this is a favorite list, I was okay with sticking certain directors who have made 2 or 3 films that I love over a director that's made 4 or 5 films that I merely liked. Danny Boyle is number one on my list, but I certainly would never rank him number one on a greatest of all time list.

[csdot]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

are you guys going by QUALITY or QUANTITY?

if a director A made your #10, #20 and #30 films of all time, but director B ONLY made your #2 film of all time, who would you rank higher? just curious how people are weighing this.

i took different things into consideration like overall quality of their body of work, if they made one of my favorite films, or if they just exhibit talent as a director.

[MarkJ801]

So it looks like we have 33 lists so far. I changed the deadline from October 1st to September 18th, to me 6 weeks seemed like too long for a list like this. Hopefully that's okay with everyone.

[Rickilake]

Originally Posted by unclewiggum

1. Quentin Tarantino
2. James Cameron
3. Steven Spielberg
4. Oliver Stone
5. Stanley Kubrick
6. Brian De Palma
7. Mel Gibson
8. Francis Ford Coppola
9. David Fincher
10. Robert Zemeckis
11. Clint Eastwood
12. Coen brothers
13. Christopher Nolan
14. Ron Howard
15. Robert Rodriguez
16. Guy Ritchie
17. Matthew Vaughn
18. Peter Jackson
19. Martin Scorsese
20. M. Night Shyamalan

great list

[AKORIS]

1] Hitchcock
2] Kubrick
3] Spielberg
4] James Cameron
5] John Carpenter
6] Martin Scorcese
7] Clint Eastwood
8] Mel Gibson
9] Joel/Ethan Coen
10]Mario Bava
11]David Cronenberg
12]Tim Burton
13]Roman Polanski
14]William Friedkin
15]Dario Argento
16]Brian DePalma
17]Sam Peckinpah
18]Sergo Leone
19]Michael Mann
20]Sam Mendes
21]Ridley Scott
22]Paul Verhoeven
23]Woody Allen
24]Walter Hill
25]Tony Scott

[csdot]

this is probably the most difficult of these top 25s so far. ive changed mine so many times already.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by csdot

this is probably the most difficult of these top 25s so far. ive changed mine so many times already.

If renumbering wasn't such a pita I'd be in here every couple hours moving people around.

[Jasonic]

Yeah, my list is no definite either. But it comes to a point where you just got to let it be :P
I listed mine as favorites and my overall personal appreciation for their work. I'm an aspiring animator, so most on my list come from Animation background, even though for quite a few their amount of directorial work is rather short listed.

[Rizor]

1. Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange)
2. Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull)
3. Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors)
4. Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colors Trilogy, The Double Life of Veronique, The Decalogue)
5. Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America)
6. Steven Spielberg (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Empire of the Sun)
7. Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now)
8. Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country For Old Men, Fargo, The Big Lebowski)
9. Alfred Hitchcock (Notorious, Vertigo, North by Northwest)
10. Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Rashomon, High and Low)
11. Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator)
12. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill)
13. Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, The Virgin Spring)
14. Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento, Inception)
15. Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, Bottle Rocket)
16. David Fincher (Zodiac, The Social Network, Fight Club)
17. Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Volver)
18. Francois Truffaut (The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim, Day for Night)
19. Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men, Network, A Dog Day Afternoon)
20. James Cameron (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Aliens, Titanic)

Runner Ups:
Terrence Malick, David Lynch, Roman Polanski, Steven Soderbergh, Peter Jackson, Michael Mann, Guillermo Del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Zemeckis, Wong Kar Wai....

[thelittleprince]

1. Scorsese
2. De Palma
3. Hitchcock
4. Spielberg
5. Kurosawa
6. Kubrick
7. Tarantino
8. Wilder
9. Polanski
10. Francis Ford Coppola
11. Coen Bros
13. Cronenberg
14. Lynch
15. Tim Burton
16. Ridley Scott
17. James Cameron
18. Peter Jackson
19. Robert Zemeckis
20. Milos Forman

[J. J. Hunsecker]

1. Orson Welles
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. F.W. Murnau
4. Buster Keaton
5. Charlie Chaplin
6. John Huston
7. Billy Wilder
8. Martin Scorsese
9. Roman Polanski
10. Steven Speilberg
11. Robert Altman
12. Francis Ford Copolla
13. Alexander Mackendrick
14. John Frankenheimer
15. David Lynch
16. Christopher Nolan
17. Robert Siodmak
18. Jules Dassin
19. Joseph H. Lewis
20. Raoul Walsh
21. James Whale
22. Stanley Kubrick
23. Woody Allen
24. Terry Gilliam
25. David Lean

[broganreynik]

My faves, with my favorite film of theirs in parenthesis:
1. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
2. Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York)
3. Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski)
4. Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven)
5. Stanley Kubrick (Full Metal Jacket)
6. Sergio Leone (Once Upon a Time in the West)
7. Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)
8. John Hillcoat (The Proposition)
9. Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line)
10. Sidney Lumet (Serpico)
11. David Fincher (Seven)
12. Duncan Jones (Moon)
13. Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn)
14. Frank Darabont (The Mist)
15. Brian De Palma (Scarface)
Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now)
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
Christopher Nolan (Memento)
Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)
Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn)

[zombie63]

Originally Posted by *DrStrangelove*

I went with directors who have a good body of work. I cant really choose directors that only have 2 films under their belt. There are some directors I'm sure would make my list but unfortunatley I havent seen enough of their films to put them on my list (like Alfred Hitchcock). One of my favorite films is City of God, but because I havent seen any of the directors other films I didnt put him on my list. There are some that I even ranked higher only because they have a larger body of work and are consistent rather than just have a couple of films. Which is why PT Anderson isnt higher in the list. I think in a couple years PT Anderson would be my #1.

Thats exactly what i was gonna say...(agree with you on City of God too)

[Hucksta G]

1. Martin Scorsese
2. Quentin Tarantino
3. Stanley Kubrick
4. Kevin Smith
5. Cameron Crowe
6. David Fincher
7. Sam Mendes
8. Paul Thomas Anderson
9. Steven Spielberg
10. Christiopher Nolan
11. Zack Snyder
12. Ridley Scott
13. Peter Jackson
14. Darren Aronfosky
15. Francis Ford Coppola
16. Danny Boyle
17.Coen Brothers
18. Robert Rodriquez
19. Robert Zemenkis
20. Wes Anderson
21. David Croenenberg
22. David Yates
23. Frank Darbondt
24. Edward Zwick
25. Mel Gibson

[Fall of Arcadia]

1. Stanley Kubrick - ("Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "A Clockwork Orange," "Full Metal Jacket")
2. Ridley Scott - ("Alien," "Blade Runner," "Gladiator," "Kingdom of Heaven")
3. Quentin Tarantino - ("Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair," "Inglorious Basterds")
4. Martin Scorsese - ("Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "Goodfellas," "Gangs of New York")
5. Terrence Malick - ("Badlands," "Days of Heaven," "The Thin Red Line," "The New World")
6. Francis Ford Coppola - ("The Godfather," The Godfather: Part II," "Apocalypse Now")
7. Sergio Leone - ("A Fistful of Dollars", "For A Few Dollars More," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "Once Upon a Time in the West")
8. Michael Mann - ("The Last of the Mohicans," "Heat," "Collateral," "Miami Vice")
9. Paul Thomas Anderson - ("Boogie Nights," "Magnolia," "There Will Be Blood")
10. The Coen Brothers - ("Barton Fink," "The Big Lebowski," "No Country for Old Men," "Burn After Reading")
11. David Fincher - ("Se7en," "Fight Club," "Zodiac," "The Social Network")
12. Christopher Nolan - ("Memento," "The Prestige", "The Dark Knight", "Inception")
13. Chan-wook Park - ("Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," "Oldboy," "Lady Vengeance," "I'm a Cyborg")
14. Peter Jackson - ("The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "King Kong")
15. Tony Scott - ("Top Gun," "The Last Boy Scout," "True Romance," "Domino")

[zombie63]

As this is a list of my ALL TIME top Directors many younger,excellent filmakers have missed out on the list only due to their body of work. So maybe in 10 yrs time this list will be a bit different.....

1.Hitchcock
2.Speilberg
3.Billy Wilder
4.Frank Capra
5.David Lean
6.Kubrick
7.Michael Curtiz
8.Peter Jackson
9.Sergio Leone
10.Francis Ford Coppola
11.Ridley Scott
12.Robert Zemeckis
13.Clint Eastwood
14.William Freidkin
15.John Ford
16.Sidney Lumet
17.Orson Welles
18.Coen brothers
19.James Cameron
20.Victor Fleming
21.John Sturges
22.Tarantino
23.Mel Brooks
24.John Carpenter
25.Sydney Pollack