Director’s Hall of Fame – Impeccable Films
A special mention must be made for the following directors whose visions are so illumined that they have more than once delivered works par excellence:
1 Michael Mann – The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004)
2 Michael Bay – Bad Boys (1995), The Rock (1996), Armageddon (1998), Bad Boys II (2003), The Island (2005), Transformers (2007)
3 John McTiernan – Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), Hunt For Red October (1990), Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
4 Steven Spielberg – Amblin’ (1968), Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Always (1989), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler’s List (1993), The Lost World (1997), Amistad (1997), Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), Minority Report (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), Munich (2005)
5 Tony Scott – Top Gun (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), Enemy of the State (1998), Spy Game (2001), Man on Fire (2004), Deja Vu (2006)
6 Stephen Sommers – The Jungle Book (1994), The Mummy (1999), The Mummy Returns (2001), Van Helsing (2004)
7 Ridley Scott – Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), G.I.Jane (1997), Gladiator (2000), Hannibal (2001), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), A Good Year (2006), American Gangster (2007)
8 Len Wiseman – Underworld (2003), Underworld: Evolution (2006), Die Hard 4.0: Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)
9 Robert Zemeckis – Romancing the Stone (1984), Back to the Future (1985), Back to the Future Pt II & III (1989-90), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), Cast Away (2000), The Polar Express (2004)
10 Luc Besson – Leon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Angel-A (2005)
11 Danny Boyle – Trainspotting (1996), The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
12 James Cameron – The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), True Lies (1994), Titanic (1997)
13 Christopher Nolan – Memento (2000), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Night (2008)
14 Bryan Singer – The Usual Suspects (1995), X-Men (2000), X2 (2003)
15 Terry Gilliam – Brazil (1985), The Fisher King (1991), Twelve Monkeys (1995), Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Tideland (2005)
16 Wolfgang Petersen – In the Line of Fire (1993), Outbreak (1995), Air Force One (1997), Troy (2004)
17 Robert Rodriguez – Desperado (1995), From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003), Sin City (2005)
18 Clint Eastwood – Unforgiven (1992), A Perfect World (1993), Million Dollar Baby (2004)
19 Rob Reiner – Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), The American President (1995)
20 Christophe Gans – Necronomicon (1993), Crying Freeman (1995), Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001), Silent Hill (2006)
21 Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather (1972), Godfather Pt II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), Dracula (1992), The Rainmaker (1997)
22 Brian De Palma – Scarface (1983), The Untouchables (1987), Carlito’s Way (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), Mission to Mars (2000)
23 Richard Donner – The Omen (1976), Superman (1978), The Goonies (1985), Maverick (1994), Assassins (1995), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
24 Alex Proyas – The Crow (1994), Dark City (1998), I, Robot (2004), Knowing (2009)
25 Frank Darabont – The Shawshank Redemption (1994), The Green Mile (1999), The Majestic (2001)
26 Roland Emmerich – Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), The Patriot (2000)
27 Barry Levinson – Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Rain Man (1988), Disclosure (1994), Wag the Dog (1997)
28 Steven Soderbergh – Erin Brockovich (2000), Traffic (2000), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Ocean’s Twelve (2004), Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), Che: The Argentine & Guerrilla (2008)
29 Mel Gibson – The Man Without a Face (1993), Braveheart (1995), The Passion of the Christ (2004)
30 Oliver Hirschbiegel – Das Experiment (2001), The Invasion (2007), Five Minutes of Heaven (2009)
31 Martin Scorsese – The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Goodfellas (1990), Kundun (1997), Gangs of New York (2002)
The following list is a selection of favourites – of films so immaculately crafted and executed, a mark of excellence… although several of these filmmakers have numerous films to their credit, I have selected the film that stood out for me as perfectly sculpted. They are not chosen for being serious dramas, or alternative art – infact they are not chosen for their genre – the craft of the director lies in the translation of the story onto screen – and even action films take a certain depth of skill to pull off. This list is my way of applauding the director:
Al Pacino for Looking for Richard
Alejandro Amenábar for Agora
Alexander Witt for Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Alex Proyas for The Crow
Alfred Hitchcock for North by Northwest
Andrew Davis for Under Siege
Andrew Niccol for Gattaca
Andrew Stanton for Wall-E
Andy Tennant for Anna and the King
Ang Lee for Hulk
Anthony Minghella for Cold Mountain
Antoine Fuqua for Training Day
Bahman Ghobadi for Turtles Can Fly
Barry Levinson for Good Morning Vietnam
Barry Sonnenfeld for Get Shorty
Betty Thomas for Only You
Blake Edwards for The Party
Boaz Yakin for Remember the Titans
Bobcat Goldthwait for World’s Greatest Dad
Brad Bird for Ratatouille
Brad Furman for The Lincoln Lawyer
Bress-Gruber for The Butterfly Effect
Brian De Palma for Scarface
Bryan Singer for X-Men
Cameron Crowe for Jerry Maguire
Cecil B. DeMille for Samson and Delilah
Chris Columbus for Rent
Chris Noonan for Babe
Christian Duguay for The Assignment
Christophe Gans for Silent Hill
Christopher Nolan for The Prestige
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby
Coen Brothers for Intolerable Cruelty
Craig Brewer for Black Snake Moan
Curtis Hanson for 8 Mile
Danny Boyle for Sunshine
Danny DeVito for Death to Smoochy
Darren Aronofsky for The Fountain
David Cronenberg for Dead Ringers
David Frankel for The Devil Wears Prada
David Fincher for Fight Club
David Lean for Lawrence of Arabia
David Twohy for Chronicles of Riddick
Donald Petrie for How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Doug Liman for Mr & Mrs Smith
Duncan Jones for Source Code
Ed Harris for Pollock
Edward Zwick for The Last Samurai
F Gary Gray for Friday
Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck for The Lives of Others
Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather
Francis Lawrence for Constantine
Frank Coraci for The Waterboy
Frank Darabont for The Shawshank Redemption
Frank Oz for Housesitter
Fred Schepisi for Fierce Creatures
Gary Ross for Seabiscuit
Garry Marshall for Pretty Woman
George Miller for Mad Max II
Gil Junger for 10 Things I Hate About You
Gregory Hoblit for Primal Fear
Gus Van Sant for Finding Forrester
Guy Ritchie for Revolver
Gore Verbinski for Pirates of the Caribbean
Gordon Chan for Fist of Legend
Harold Ramis for Groundhog Day
Iain Softley for K-Pax
Ivan Reitman for Dave
James Cameron for Terminator II
James L Brooks for As Good As It Gets
James Mangold for Knight and Day
Jason Reitman for Thank You For Smoking
Jean-Paul Rappeneau for Cyrano De Bergerac
Jean-Pierre Jeunet for Amelie
Jeremy Sims for Last Train to Freo
Jesse Dylan for American Wedding
Jessica Bendinger for Stick It
JC Chandor for Margin Call
JJ Abrams for Mission Impossible III
Joe Johnston for Hidalgo
Joel Schumacher for The Lost Boys
John Cassavetes for A Woman Under the Influence
John Dahl for Rounders
John Frankenheimer for Ronin
John G. Avildsen for Rocky
John Hughes for The Breakfast Club
John Landis for Coming To America
John McTiernan for Hunt for Red October
John Woo for Paycheck
Jon Amiel for Sommersby
Jon Favreau for Iron Man
Jonathan Demme for The Silence of the Lambs
Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves
Kevin Macdonald for Touching the Void
Kevin Smith for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Kieran/Michele Mulroney for Paper Man
Kurt Wimmer for Ultraviolet
Larry Charles for Bruno
Lawrence Kasdan for French Kiss
Lee Tamahori for The Devil’s Double
Len Wiseman for Underworld
Liz Friedlander for Take the Lead
Louis Leterrier for Unleashed
Luc Besson for The Professional
Mark Forster for Stranger Than Fiction
Marlon Brando for One-Eyed Jacks
Martin Brest for Scent of a Woman
Martin Scorsese for The Last Temptation of Christ
Martin Campbell for Casino Royale
Matthew Vaughn for Layer Cake
Meirelles-Lund for City of God
Mel Gibson for Braveheart
Michael Almereyda for Hamlet
Michael Bay for The Island
Michael Mann for The Insider
Michel Gondry for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Mikael Håfström for 1408
Mike Figgis for Leaving Las Vegas
Mike Nichols for Primary Colors
Milos Forman for Man on the Moon
Miranda July for Me And You And Everyone We Know
M Night Shyamalan for Lady in the Water
Nancy Meyers for What Women Want
Neil Burger for Limitless
Neveldine-Taylor for Gamer
Nicholas Ray for King of Kings
Nicholas Stoller for Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Oliver Hirschbiegel for Five Minutes of Heaven
Oliver Stone for Any Given Sunday
Pan Nalin for Valley of Flowers
Paul Anderson for Event Horizon
Paul Greengrass for The Bourne Ultimatum
Paul McGuigan for Push
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
Paul Verhoeven for Robocop
Peter Brook for The Mahabharata
Peter Weir for Dead Poet’s Society
Phil Alden Robinson for Sneakers
Phillip Noyce for The Saint
Quentin Tarantino for Kill Bill
Reginald Hudlin for The Great White Hype
Richard Attenborough for Gandhi
Richard Curtis for Love Actually
Richard Donner for Maverick
Richard Loncraine for Wimbledon
Ridley Scott for Kingdom of Heaven
Rob Reiner for A Few Good Men
Robert Altman for Gosford Park
Robert Rodriguez for Desperado
Robert Wise for The Sound of Music
Robert Zemeckis for Forrest Gump
Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful
Roger Donaldson for Thirteen Days
Roger Spottiswoode for The 6th Day
Roland Emmerich for The Patriot
Ron Howard for Ransom
Ron Shelton for Tin Cup
Rowdy Herrington for Gladiator
Sam Mendes for American Beauty
Sam Raimi for The Quick and the Dead
Scott Hicks for Shine
Sergei M. Eisenstein for Que Viva Mexico
Sidney Lumet for Network
Simon West for Con Air
Spierig Brothers for Daybreakers
Spike Jonze for Adaptation
Stacy Title for The Last Supper
Stanley Kubrick for A Clockwork Orange
Stephen Chow for Shaolin Soccer
Stephen Sommers for Van Helsing
Steven Spielberg for Schindler’s List
Steven Soderbergh for Ocean’s Eleven
Sylvester Stallone for Rocky II
Tarsem Singh for The Cell
Taylor Hackford for Ray
Terry George for Hotel Rwanda
Terry Gilliam for The Fisher King
Tim Burton for Batman Returns
Timur Bekmambetov for Wanted
Tom Shadyac for Patch Adams
Tom Vaughan for What Happens In Vegas
Tony Kaye for American History X
Tony Scott for Deja Vu
Vincent Ward for What Dreams May Come
Vincenzo Natali for Cube
Wachowski Brothers for The Matrix
Walter Hill for Last Man Standing
Warren Beatty for Bulworth
William Friedkin for 12 Angry Men
Wolfgang Petersen for Outbreak
Woody Allen for Deconstructing Harry
Xavier Gens for Hitman
Zack Snyder for 300
TOP 10 HIDDEN GEMS – Some mindblowing films you’ve probably never seen:
- The Assignment
- The Last Supper
- Bulworth
- Hidalgo
- 13 Days
- Outbreak
- The Insider
- Turtles Can Fly
- Any Given Sunday
- Me And You And Everyone We Know
All Time WorldWide Box Office Results Here.
DOCUMENTARIES:
Adam Curtis for The Century of the Self.
Chris Smith for Collapse.
Michael Moore for Capitalism: A Love Story.
Peter Joseph for Zeitgeist Moving Forward.
