Film Director Index: Best to Worst
by notmypresident-74886 | created - 07 Nov 2019 | updated - 22 Jan 2020 | PublicSorted by best average rating to worst. For every five films listed for a particular director, I add 0.5 to their overall score to make the list fairer to directors with many films listed.
1. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
Feature Films:
1. Taxi Driver: 10
2. Raging Bull: 10
3. The King of Comedy: 10
4. Goodfellas: 9.75
5. Mean Streets: 9.5-9.75
6. The Aviator: 9.25
7. After Hours: 9.25
8. The Age of Innocence: 9-9.25
9. Shutter Island: 8.25-8.5
10. Casino: 7.75-8
11. The Departed: 7.75-8
12. The Wolf of Wall Street: 7.75-8
13. The Irishman: 7.75
14. Cape Fear: 7-7.25
15. Gangs of New York: 7
16. The Color of Money: 7
Total: 137 - 138.75 / 86 - 87%
Bonus: 1.5
Average Movie Rating: 10.12
Short Films:
What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?: 9.5
It's Not Just You, Murray!: 8.25-8.5
The Big Shave: 8
The Key to Reserva: 7.75-8
2. Akira Kurosawa
Writer | Kakushi-toride no san-akunin
After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater...
1. Seven Samurai: 10
2. Ran: 10
3. Ikiru: 9.75-10
4. Kagemusha: 9.5-9.75
Total: 39.25 - 39.75 / 98 - 99%
Average Movie Rating: 9.88
3. Krzysztof Kieslowski
Writer | Trois couleurs: Bleu
Krzysztof Kieslowski graduated from Lódz Film School in 1969, and became a documentary, TV and feature film director and scriptwriter. Before making his first film for TV, Przejscie podziemne (1974) (The Underground Passage), he made a number of short documentaries. His next TV title, Personnel (...
1. Three Colours Blue: 10
2. Three Colours Red: 10
3. Three Colours White: 9.75
4. The Double Life of Veronique: 9.5-9.75
Total: 39.25 - 39.5 / 98 - 99%
Average Movie Rating: 9.84
4. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
1. Notorious: 9.75-10
2. Rear Window: 9.75
3. Psycho: 8.75
4. Rope: 8.25-8.5
5. Vertigo: 7.75
Total: 44.25 - 44.75 / 89 - 90%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 9.4
5. Spike Lee
Director | Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...
1. Do the Right Thing: 10
2. Get on the Bus: 9.5-9.75
3. She's Gotta Have It: 9.25
4. 25th Hour: 8.5-8.75
5. Clockers: 8.5
6. BlacKkKlansman: 8.25-8.5
7. Inside Man: 7.5-7.75
Total: 61.5 - 62.5 / 88 - 89%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 9.36
6. Stanley Kubrick
Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey: 10
2. The Shining: 9.75-10
3. Eyes Wide Shut: 9.5
4. Full Metal Jacket: 9.5
5. A Clockwork Orange: 9.25
6. Paths of Glory: 9.25
7. Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb: 9.25
8. Barry Lyndon: 6.5-6.75
9. Fear and Desire: 5.25-5.5
Total: 78.25 - 79 / 87 - 88%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 9.24
Short Films:
Flying Padre: 6
7. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
1. The Godfather: 10
2. The Godfather Part II: 10
3. Apocalypse Now: 9.75
4. The Rainmaker: 7
5. The Godfather Part III: 6.5
Total: 43.25 / 87%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 9.15
8. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
1. Blade Runner: 9.75-10
2. Alien: 9.5-9.75
3. Black Hawk Down: 8.5
4. American Gangster: 7.75-8
5. Thelma and Louise: 7-7.25
Total: 42.5 - 43.5 / 85 - 87%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 9.1
9. David Fincher
Director | Se7en
David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...
1. Fight Club: 9.5
2. Seven: 9.25
3. The Social Network: 9
4. Gone Girl: 8.25
Total: 36 / 90%
Average Movie Rating: 9
10. Edgar Wright
Director | Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg...
1. Hot Fuzz: 9.75-10
2. Shaun of the Dead: 8.75-9
3. Baby Driver: 8.25
4. The World's End: 7.75-8
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: 7.5
Total: 42 - 42.75 / 84 - 86%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 8.98
11. Christopher Nolan
Writer | Tenet
Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...
1. Memento: 9.5
2. The Dark Knight: 9
3. Inception: 8.75
4. The Prestige: 8.25
Total: 35.5 / 89%
Average Movie Rating: 8.88
12. Brian De Palma
Director | Body Double
Brian De Palma is one of the well-known directors who spear-headed the new movement in Hollywood during the 1970s. He is known for his many films that go from violent pictures, to Hitchcock-like thrillers. Born on September 11, 1940, De Palma was born in Newark, New Jersey in an Italian-American ...
1. Scarface: 9.75
2. Blow Out: 9.75
3. The Untouchables; 7.75-8
4. Carrie: 7.5-7.75
Total: 34.75 - 35.25 / 87 - 88%
Average Movie Rating: 8.75
13. Rob Reiner
Actor | All in the Family
Robert Reiner was born in New York City, to Estelle Reiner (née Lebost) and Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer, and producer Carl Reiner.
As a child, his father was his role model, as Carl Reiner created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Estelle was also an inspiration for him to become a ...
1. This Is Spinal Tap: 9.5-9.75
2. When Harry Met Sally: 9
3. Misery: 8.5
4. A Few Good Men: 7.5-7.75
Total: 34.5 - 35 / 86 - 88%
Average Movie Rating: 8.69
14. Oliver Stone
Director | JFK
Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.
William Oliver Stone was ...
1. JFK: 9.5
2. Platoon: 8.5-8.75
3. Wall Street: 8.5
4. Born on the Fourth of July: 7.25-7.5
Total: 33.75 - 34.25 / 84 - 86%
Average Movie Rating: 8.5
15. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
1. Schindler's List: 10
2. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: 9-9.25
3. Jaws: 8.75-9
4. Saving Private Ryan: 8.75-9
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark: 8.5-8.75
6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 8.5
7. Catch Me If You Can: 8-8.25
8. The Terminal: 7.25
9. The Post: 5.75-6
Total: 74.5 - 76 / 83 - 84%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 8.36
16. Clint Eastwood
Actor | Million Dollar Baby
Clinton Eastwood Jr. was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margaret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took ...
1. Million Dollar Baby: 9-9.25
2. Unforgiven: 8.5
3. Mystic River: 8.25
4. American Sniper: 7.25-7.5
Total: 33 - 33.5 / 83 - 84%
Average Movie Rating: 8.31
17. Quentin Tarantino
Writer | Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.
In January of...
1. Pulp Fiction: 9.75-10
2. Jackie Brown: 9.5
3. Django Unchained: 8.75-9
4. Reservoir Dogs: 8.5
5. Inglourious Basterds: 7.25
6. Kill Bill Vol. 2: 6.75
7. Kill Bill Vol. 1: 6.25
8. The Hateful Eight: 5.75-6
9. Death Proof: 4.25
Total: 66.75 - 67.5 / 74 - 75%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 7.96
18. Danny Boyle
Director | 127 Hours
Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...
1. Trainspotting: 9.75-10
2. 28 Days Later: 8.25-8.5
3. 127 Hours: 8
4. Slumdog Millionaire: 7.75-8
5. Shallow Grave: 6.5
6. T2 Trainspotting: 6.25
7. Sunshine: 5.5
8. Steve Jobs: 2.25-2.5
Total: 54.25 - 55.25 / 68 - 69%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 7.34
19. Todd Phillips
Producer | Joker
Todd Phillips is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter.
Growing up on Long Island, New York, Todd Phillips fell in love with feature film teen comedies made in the 1980s, and claims they were his biggest influence in becoming a filmmaker. While studying film at New York University, ...
1. Joker: 8.25-8.5
2. Hated - GG Allin & the Murder Junkies: 8
3. Frat House: 7.5
4. The Hangover: 7.25-7.5
5. War Dogs: 6.25
6. The Hangover Part II: 3.75
7. The Hangover Part III: 3.25
Total: 44.25 - 44.75 / 63 - 64%
Bonus: 0.5
Average Movie Rating: 6.86
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