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No.1 Director of all time

  • 07-10-2001 9:26pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭


    IMO, based on talent rather than box office recipts, this has to go to Stanley Kubrick. Anyone who has the (almost) compleat box-set of his films would have to agree that there isint a bad one amongst them. Speaking as someone interested in directing, its plain to see the man was a genious.

    ....and if anyone suggests Steven Spielberg they had better have some good reasons, other than... "er.. well... he's just made soooo much money!!"... sure he's not bad... top 10 prehaps... but number 1???.. give me a break! The guy makes films that money... his actual talent as a director is extremly over-rated! ....er, in my opinion :)


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,309 ✭✭✭✭Bard


    As for Kubrick... some good ones in the ould repertoire there, aye... Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey,... granted... but wasn't "Eyes Wide Shut" a complete load of mucky-type muck?

    Your comments about Senor Spielbergo are possibly a little unfair... there's certainly talent there, - but I wouldn't rank him as the best film director ever to have lived.

    It's a tough one to call- as are most of these "Best YOLKY-BOB ever!!!" threads... For some, it would be Oliver Stone, while others may be just as content with Jay Roach or Richard Donner and others still would rate the Wachowski brothers as #1, simply for The Matrix. It's all a matter of taste and opinion... of course.

    I'll go with James Cameron.

    The Terminator... T-2... the upcoming T-3... ALIENS... Rambo: First Blood Part II... True Lies (and it's upcoming sequel)

    A man doesn't have to have had many successful movies under his belt to be a great director - he just needs to have excelled in the way he made the ones he made.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭Goodshape


    no... Eyes Wide Shut was a masterpiece ;)

    ....a little misunderstood, highly over-anticipated, a little thin on story... but the direction was breathtaking....

    and yes.. i was a little hard on ol' stevo... just sick of hearing him being hailed as 'the best'.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    I'll go with Kubrick as well because he always made an original and daring film. He also made my all time favourite film, "Dr. Strangelove".

    Those other Directors that nearly made it there (to my top director that is) were the following

    Martin Scorsese
    Luc Besson
    Joel Coens (his dudeness)
    Steven Spielberg
    David Lean
    Tim Burton
    Terry Gilliam
    Michael Mann
    Spike Lee

    Gandalf.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    Tim Burton owns my pants.

    Luc Besson also.
    The Coens.
    Terry Gilliam.

    Well agreed with Gandalf on these.

    Also, whoever directed Conan The Barbarian.

    John Carpenter.
    John Boorman.
    James Cameron.
    Ridley Scott.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    The Director of Conan the Barbarian was John Milius.

    Gandalf.


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  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,768 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    Personally I'd go back in time & nominate John Ford. He seemed to have a knack of coaxing great performances from the most basic of materials:
    The Grapes of Wrath & The Quiet Man
    + had an eye for scenario that conveyed the American West:
    Fort Apache & Rio Grande & The Searchers.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    Thanks Gandalf.

    I'd also like to add Bryan Singer.
    Usual Suspects is classic.

    And Sam Peckinpah?
    The Wild Bunch/Cross Of Iron.
    Fantastic.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    Bugger forgot good old Sam Peckinpah as well. Cross of Iron is an excellent film and deserves a special edition DVD release (which I do not think it has).

    As for Milius I don't think he deserves to be up with directors like Kubrick and co. on the back of an ok film.

    Gandalf.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,425 ✭✭✭Fidelis


    Ed Wood


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭OSiriS


    but i'd have to go with:

    Ridley Scott - for creating great atmosphere in every film he has ever made

    James Cameron - for pure entertainment

    But above both of them i'd have to put Luc Besson


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭Goodshape


    Originally posted by AngelWhore

    I'd also like to add Bryan Singer.
    Usual Suspects is classic.

    true, but lets not forget X-Men! :mad:

    and seen as things have moved into top-ten mode...

    (in random order)
    tim burton
    terry gilliam
    oliver stone (most of the time)
    joel coen
    orsan wells
    tarintino

    ...er, thats all I can think off... but i suppose I'd put Cameron in there for a bit of entertainment.....

    and, well fug it, spieberg's in there too.... but only after the rest! :(


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭DeadBankClerk


    sadam husain
    pol pot
    hitler


    oh.. sorry "director"

    oops


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,307 ✭✭✭richindub2


    Originally posted by DeadBankClerk
    sadam husain
    pol pot
    hitler

    You left out stalin :|


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Stanley Kubrick

    other notables:
    David Lynch
    Quentin Tarantino
    Oliver Stone
    Francis Ford Coppola
    Coen Bros.
    Ridley Scott
    Martin Scorcese


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 12 Casiel


    It's always very subjective when it comes to discussing fav anything. I mean sure if you like the sort of stuff that Tarrantino or Burton put out there, but director of all time??? Most of the replies were American or the ocassional British (Scott) or French (Besson) but what about the rest of the world?

    Japanese director Juzo Itami (Tampopo, A taxing woman, Funeral)
    Spanish director Pedro Almodovar (High Heels, All About My Mother)
    Swedish director Ingmar Bergman (The Seventh Seal, Through a glass darkly)
    Italys Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, City of Women)
    French director Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Videoaste)
    Polands Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three colours Blue, White, Red)
    Germanys Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Fear Eats the Soul, Querelle)
    Hong Kongs Wong Kar-wai' (In the mood for love, Chungking Express)

    ...all of whom have a huge body of work and anyone of them deserves to top a great directors list and indeed influenced many of the film makers already listed.

    But of course David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, Coen Bros, Ridley Scott and Martin Scorcese easily stand along side them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,947 ✭✭✭BLITZ_Molloy


    Kubrick


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,947 ✭✭✭BLITZ_Molloy


    Eyes Wide Shut was a fine film. It was just marketed badly with too much hype. everybody expected it to be a 3 hour Cruse/Kidman shag fest.


  • Subscribers Posts: 1,911 ✭✭✭Draco


    Originally posted by Goodshape
    no... Eyes Wide Shut was a masterpiece ;)
    No, it was a big pile of smelly poo that had not a single redeming feature.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 9,035 Mod ✭✭✭✭mewso


    You couldnt possibly pick just one but I'll try. I agree with alot of what has already been said plus some of my own picks.

    Ford, Hitchcock, Sergio Leone, Carpenter, De Palma are favs of mine. I always liked Spielberg because while he made money I always considered his direction aimed to entertain and his films rarely failed to do so. I'm not one for namby pamby arthouse and these directors have merit but tend to appeal to a minority. Having said that I've loved almost all of Almodovar's films and as such he gets a mention. Lucas gets in for making my favorite film of all time and coming up with Indy even if he isn't a director as such. Fincher for Alien 3 and Seven, yes I liked Alien 3. Overall though my acolade is a joint one. Many here mention only one of these guys (perhaps to show their nous of who does what) but the films are the creation of both and as such they should be mentioned together at all times...........

    THE COEN BROTHERS

    Others like Beson, Kubrick are/were very stylish directors but never captured me in any major way. I liked their films allright but never loved them. Eyes Wide Shut wasn't bad but in the end it seemed to me like a whole lot about nothing.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,167 ✭✭✭Shad0r


    Originally posted by Draco
    No, it was a big pile of smelly poo that had not a single redeming feature.

    I really enjoyed it and it had loads going for it imho. Great direction, atmosphere by the bucket load, some really good performances by the actors, to name but a few qualities.

    I've watched it a good few times thanks to Sky movies overplaying every film they air, and still think its worth a watch.
    (btw I think its ten times the film that clockwork orange was, well maybe five times the film!)

    That said I dont think that Kubrick would be my all time favourite director. That said I dont think I could choose.

    Defo in the list would be:
    Luc Besson
    Oliver Stone
    Ridley Scott
    Martin Scorcese
    Steven Spielburg


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 73 ✭✭tools


    1:Luis Bunuel
    2:Orson Welles
    3:Martin Scorsese
    4:The Coens
    5: David Cronenberg
    6:Billy Wilder


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 752 ✭✭✭Loomer


    Albeit most of his films would fall into the Hollywood blockbuster category I think Tony Scott (True Romance, Crimson Tide et al) is a masterful director, in the same category John McTiernan, Roger Donaldson( Hes a Kiwi :))
    My favourite directors are Paul Verhoevenn (for his subversiveness), Luc Besson ( for his vision) and William Friedkin ( for his insanity). Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and Terence Mallick are all masters also.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,695 ✭✭✭b20uvkft6m5xwg


    Originally posted by --Kaiser--
    Stanley Kubrick

    other notables:
    David Lynch
    Quentin Tarantino
    Oliver Stone
    Francis Ford Coppola
    Coen Bros.
    Ridley Scott
    Martin Scorcese

    I like it Kaiser:)
    Maybe I'd include Kevin Smith in the subtext- just for his usual brilliant portrail of contempary America!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    Originally posted by gandalf
    Bugger forgot good old Sam Peckinpah as well. Cross of Iron is an excellent film and deserves a special edition DVD release (which I do not think it has).

    As for Milius I don't think he deserves to be up with directors like Kubrick and co. on the back of an ok film.

    Gandalf.

    Yeah, Cross Of Iron is a film I'd like to see again.
    Although I am more of a Wild Bunch man...
    Is it just me, or is that film very similar to Heat?


    On the point of Milius, I normaly wouldn't put a person up on the strength of a sinlge film, but...
    Conan has to be one of the greatest films ever made in my view.

    And I really did forget good old David Lynch...
    Se7en was another modern classic.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,488 ✭✭✭Goodshape


    ...oh yea! Lynch and Fincher are tip-top!

    but Stanley K. is still numero uno!

    ...Kevin Smith is a better writer than he is director... he is good at what he does though!

    -Goodshape

    flanagan.ie


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭Excelsior


    Best director ever: Steven Spielberg.

    While movies can have a message, it is redundant if it does not work as an entertainment form.
    I believe that El Spielbergo has perfected the entertaining movie, and has made some damn fine films with deep and lasting effects on me aswell.

    I think Kubrick is an over-rated director. Clockwork Orange and 2001 in particular annoy me. 2001... uhh, don't get me started. I definitely side with the Pretentious camp on that one.
    But Strangelove does rock-diddly-ock.

    The director whose movies I most look forward to would have to be Tom Tykwer.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,947 ✭✭✭BLITZ_Molloy


    The coens of course- forgot about the. Big Lebowski, Fargo, O Brother and most of all Raising Arizona are all amazingly funny films.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,219 ✭✭✭plastic membrane


    Ok, i was thinking about this. All of the above are great directors, and id love to mention them all just to show how knowledgeable and brilliant i obviously am :). But to begin..

    Kubrick : If you looking for cinema as art form, he's the lord king of your pants. But at the same time, he's cold and inpenetrable (personal opinion, so dont get stroppy). With the exception of Spartacus and Dr Strangelove, of course.

    Spielberg : Why must be continue to be given poor treatment. Jaws, Close Encounters, Indy, for pure entertainment value, he IS the lord king of your pants. Schindlers List is astonishing. Saving Private Ryan, the first twenty minutes, are haunting. Its not the amount of money he' made that has made him talented, the guy understands cinema, knows how it works, knows how to awe the crap out of you. Thats why he's talented, thats why he's usuallly number one.

    Personally Michael Mann is my fave, Heat, Manhunter, The Insider, visually striking, intense, character driven movies with fantastic acting. Can't wait for Ali.

    Otherwise, The Coen's, Scorcese, Jean Pierre Jeunet, David Fincher, David Lynch, Ridley Scott, Sam Peckinpah (cross of iron, yeah, baby !) and about fifty others i'll be kicking myself for not mentioning later on..


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    The greatest director is er, er, er....
    God knows but the following have a chance

    Alfred Hitchcock- for refining the art of suspence
    Steven Spielberg - for instilling a child-like sense of wonder (no really).
    David Cronenberg- for recasting the horor genre.
    Leni Refenstahl- For understanding the power of the visual medium. (controversial I know)
    Chris Columbus- for making everyone else seem more talented
    by comparison.
    Stanley Kubrik- for the set piece
    Werner Herzog - for being "out there"
    Terry Gilliam - for spending so much money on flops
    and then getting more...!

    Mike.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,309 ✭✭✭✭Bard


    A poll of readers of Empire magazine (see November issue - out now) gave the following results...

    There were 50 directors listed, I'll give the top 20 here, complete with quotes and a must-see movie from them (text paraphrased from Empire):

    20. Michael Mann
    "Stark stylist, critically acclaimed."
    Must see: Heat

    19. Kevin Smith
    "Pop culture-soaked slacker..."
    Must see: Clerks

    18. Steven Soderbergh
    "The comeback kid, currently on an artistic roll"
    Must see: Out of Sight

    17. Howard Hawks
    "Versatile... at home in any genre... creator of some of the greatest movies"
    Must see: The Big Sleep

    16. Ang Lee
    "Unshowy approach masks his mastery of cinematic convention"
    Must see: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

    15. John Woo
    "[his] predilection for slow-mo violence makes Peckinpah look soft"
    Must see: The Killer

    14. Francis Ford Coppola
    "In the 70's he was untouchable. Since then he's stumbled slightly..."
    Must see: The Godfather Part II

    13. Billy Wilder
    "began penning scripts in late-1920's Berlin, until Hitler came to power and he sensibly scarpered..."
    Must see: Some Like It Hot

    12. Oliver Stone
    "Paranoid, bitterly brilliant conspiracy theorist"
    Must see: J.F.K.

    11. Quentin Tarantino
    "Gives movie geeks a good name"
    Must see: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction

    10. Joel Coen
    "Along with his brother, responsible for some of the most visually astounding, elliptical, obtuse films of the last 15 years"
    Must see: Miller's Crossing

    09. James Cameron
    "Cinematic megalomaniac famous for adage 'more is more' - routinely makes 'most expensive movie ever'"
    Must see: Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day

    08. George Lucas
    "The Living Beard who birthed a million childhood fantasies - and is still doing so today."
    Must see: STAR WARS (Trilogy)

    07. David Fincher
    "...compulsive, inspired, mired in darkness - administering smelling salts to the MTV generation"
    Must see: Fight Club

    06. Ridley Scott
    "Back on top... one of cinema's supreme shooters ... an under-rated talent"
    Must see: Blade Runner, Gladiator

    05. Stanley Kubrick
    "Difficult. Remote. Impenetrable."
    Must see: Dr. Strangelove

    04. Tim Burton
    "...cinema's biggest conundrum... a true artist on a huge canvas"
    Must see: Edward Scissorhands, Batman

    03. Alfred Hitchcock
    "...most brilliant director of suspense in cinematic history... always entertaining"
    Must see: North By Northwest, Psycho

    02. Martin Scorsese
    "An unerring cinematic sensibility, coupled with a matchless ability to get the best out of actors - infused with an understanding of the darker side of human nature."
    Must see: Taxi Driver

    01. Steven Spielberg
    "Breathtakingly consistent, and able to instil in his audience a unique sense of wonder, this is the man who has brought cinema to life for more people than any other."
    Must see: E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Schindler's List, and many more.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,049 ✭✭✭Cloud


    I can't believe you've left out Akira Kurosawa.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,136 ✭✭✭Pugsley


    Id have to say James Cameron, Aliens is my fave movie of all time and T2 was pure class.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,695 ✭✭✭b20uvkft6m5xwg


    Originally posted by AngelWhore

    And I really did forget good old David Lynch...
    Se7en was another modern classic.

    Did you mean David Fincher??
    He directed se7en

    David Lynch (also most notable) is famous for The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and The Straight Story among others:)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,608 ✭✭✭✭sceptre


    Originally posted by 80project


    David Lynch (also most notable) is famous for The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and The Straight Story among others:)

    Don't forget Eraserhead (it's Jay Sherman's favourite ("Skull cracked. Brains leaking out. Can't wait to see new Chevy Chase movie...") - also my brother's but then he's an art snob who told me last week I was being influenced by culture rather than vice versa)

    Some great suggestions above - can't really disagree with many of them.


    Adding Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and Sidney Lumet though


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    Originally posted by 80project


    Did you mean David Fincher??
    He directed se7en

    David Lynch (also most notable) is famous for The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and The Straight Story among others:)

    Ah yes... Totaly confused there...
    I sometimes get names mixed up, thanks...

    And lets not forget Fincher for Fight Club now... :)


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,989 ✭✭✭✭Giblet


    kevin smith is alright too, clerks and mallrats were good
    dogma was excellent


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6 Cavola


    1) Quentin Tarantino
    Jackie Brown (1997) Four Rooms (1995) Pulp Fiction (1994) Reservoir Dogs (1992)

    2) Steven Spielberg
    Jurassic Park Trilogy (2001) The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Jurassic Park (1993) Saving Private Ryan (1998) A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

    3) Ridley Scott
    Alien (1979) Blade Runner (1982) Hannibal (2001) Gladiator (2000) G.I. Jane (1997)

    4) Alfred Hitchcock
    Psycho (1960) Dial M for Murder (1999) Frenzy (1972) The Birds (1963) Vertigo (1958)

    5) Paul Verhoeven
    Basic Instinct (1992) Total Recall (1990) Starship Troopers (1997) Hollow Man (2000)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    Didn't we just have one of these?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,695 ✭✭✭b20uvkft6m5xwg


    its even on the 1st page of threads it so recent

    located here...
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32891


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,947 ✭✭✭BLITZ_Molloy


    We had two of these in the last 3 weeks already.


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  • Subscribers Posts: 1,911 ✭✭✭Draco


    Merged the two threads


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,782 ✭✭✭Xterminator


    For me it would be a tie between Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron.

    X


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2 Indy


    Maybe...
    Francis Ford Coppola because of 'Apocalypse Now' and the 'Godfather trilogy'

    He gave Al Pacino his big break, and managed to have legends like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro appear as the same person.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    If we're talking influence , then Roger Corman
    Of Connamara would have to be numero uno,
    without him the film industry since 1960 would have been
    utterly different.


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