RANKING: TOP 15 BEST MOVIE DIRECTORS EVER?

[@JohnD0121]

Great List Hitchcock, Scorsese, and Kubrick are definitely my top 3. Love that you included John Carpenter and Brian De Palma as well. Great list

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@JohnD0121 thank you so much. Yes, I’ve a huge fan of these directors for most of my adult life. I also have a ranking video of all of Carpenter’s movies, and the 10 De Palma movies that own, on my channel.

[@wademarkey8441]

My list in no order: Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Alfred Hitchcock, Tony Scott, The Coen Brothers, John Hughes, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Cameron Crowe and Peter Jackson

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@wademarkey8441 yes, all of those are solid, Wade.

[@Rozzyc1976]

Sergio Leone, Robert Zemeckis, John Woo, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Tim Burton, we were lucky to have grown up watching movies by so many great directors, Keep it up!

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@Rozzyc1976 thank you. Yes, those are all good ones too. I’ve suggested Ed Wood to Criterion before, from Tim Burton, that one would represent him well in the collection.

[@jimtatro6550]

Fantastic list Steve!!!! I can’t argue with your list at all but I would add Sergio Leone, William Freidkin, George Romero, David Cronenberg and Peter Hyams

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@jimtatro6550 thank you. Yes, Freidkin, Romero and Cronenberg, but I’ve only seen the zombie movie, Creepshow and Bruiser from Romero. like 4 movies from Freidkin and 5 from Cronenberg. I’ve only seen the 3 Eastwood Spaghetti Westerns from Leone and 2010 from Peter Hyams. I do want to see The Brood from Cronenberg, but I’m style trying to warm up to Naked Lunch. The Fly, Videodrome and Crash are all good, but the Crimes of the Future from a couple of years ago is still digesting. 😂

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

Sorry, Scanners is the only Cronenberg I own in the Criterion Collection. Believe it or not, but I’ve never seen The Dead Zone or Dead Ringers. Dead Ringers was in the Criterion Collection on DVD only, but is Out Of Print.

[@jimtatro6550]

@@excelsiormoviereviews I have the Scream Factory Blu-ray’s of both and the Criterion of The Brood and of course Scanners. I am a huge fan of his, not all of his films but a majority of them.👍

[@DanCrowleyNYC]

I guess I need to see more Kubrick. I've seen and loved The Shining, Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut and Dr. Strangelove but he never registered to me the way other directors have. My top 5, in no particular order, are Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Woody Allen and Pedro Almodóvar. Next tier of 5 is Brian DePalma, David Cronenberg, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Dario Argento. Not sure who'd finish my top 15 but would definitely consider Steven Spielberg, Kathryn Bigelow, John Waters, Gregg Araki, Mario Bava, Wes Craven, Francis Ford Coppola, John Carpenter, Mike Nichols, Paul Thomas Anderson and The Coen Brothers (need to see more of their stuff). So many brilliant minds out there!

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@DanCrowleyNYC those are some great selections. I recently ranked the Coen Brothers and I explained on that video why I didn’t include them in my top 15, but they’re definitely great as a team.

[@DanCrowleyNYC]

@@excelsiormoviereviews I just saw that and saved it for a Watch Later. Looking forward to it! Fargo is absolute perfection, and I really love Raising Arizona and Blood Simple too. Oh and I almost forgot about Burn After Reading and No Country For Old Men! How could I forget!?

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@DanCrowleyNYC Thank you. Yes, I really like Burn After Reading and the dark humor. No Country For Old Men is very highly regarded in my Coen Brothers ranking.

[@chetthebee1322]

Nice list. I really like Sam Peckinpah. Also, I got my VIP ticket to meet John Carpenter in October and have a few things for him to sign..

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@chetthebee1322 thank you. Yes, excellent, I would really like to meet John Carpenter, he has always appreciated the fans. Straw Dogs and The Osterman Weekend are the only Peckinpah movies that I’ve ever seen, but I would like to see The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

[@chetthebee1322]

@@excelsiormoviereviews The Iron Cross, The Getaway and Pat Garret and Billy the Kid are really good. Straw Dogs is not for the faint of heart. I was thinking that Clint Eastwood has made some really good movies. He's one of my favorites.

[@JasonMcElwain-fb6os]

Love seeing you continue your movie education. Here are some older filmmakers who are favorites of mine that I highly recommend: Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Sidney Lumet, George Cukor. -jmac

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@JasonMcElwain-fb6os it’s funny someone else most of these directors and this was my response: Lumet almost made it, but was removed last minute because I’ve only seen 4 maybe 5 of his films if you include The Wiz 😂 I do love 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Fail Safe and Network. I’ve only seen The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Double Indemnify and Ace In The Hole from Wilder and enjoyed them all, but that’s all I’ve seen from him. From Frank Capra I’ve Only seen Arsenic and Old Lace and it’s A Wonderful Life. I’ve only seen Bringing Up Baby from Howard Hawks.

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

Update: if you noticed the question mark you will know that saying who the greatest movie directors are is debatable, for example John Ford is considered to be one of the greatest but he’s not on my list. Also, no one has mentioned Spike Lee, Orson Welles, Bergman or Fellini.

[@jonbolton3376]

Aside from the Hitchcock films you mentioned, some of the i love which you might not have seen yet include: Frenzy, Rope, Dial M For Murder, Young And Innocent, Strangers On A Train, Secret Agent, Saboteur, The Lady Vanishes, The 39 Steps. Obviously there are others too.

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@jonbolton3376 yes, I’m definitely going to get The 39 Steps in October when Criterion has their flash sale and eventually I may have all 8 of his Criterion releases. I still have 9 to watch in the Hitchcock boxset that I showed in the video and I’ve been pleased with all of the movies I’ve seen so including Vertigo and The Birds.

[@jonbolton3376]

I'm really glad that you are enjoying them. I was lucky that my mum liked a lot of his films, so i saw quie a few as a young kid with her (Psycho, The Birds, Dial M For.Murder, Frenzy, Strangers On A Train) As a kid i didn't realise they were all Hitchcock, i just thought that Psycho and The Birds were. Psycho and Frenzy remain my overall favourites. About 3 years ago i began searching for his other films, and for copies of those i had seen already. So far Rear Window and North By Northwest are my favourite out of those i've only recently discovered in the past few years, i'm glad i got my mum to watch North By Northwest too before her death in early 2023, she enjoyed the film.

[@RobertHarbitzII]

George A. Romero is probably my favorite director.

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@RobertHarbitzII yes, Dawn of the Dead is one of my favorite movies of all time.

[@jonbolton3376]

Before seeing your opinion on this, my top 5 are: 5 Wes Craven 4 Richard Donner 3 Alfred Hitchcock 2 John Carpenter 1 Quentin Tarantino

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@jonbolton3376 I considered Richard Donner and Wes Craven is great in the horror genre.

[@jonbolton3376]

Yes for Richard Donner, i especially love him for The Omen, and Lethal Weapon films. As you said Wes Craven made a number of great horrors including Scream, and Elm Street, as well as quite a few decent one off films. I had no choice but to put Tarantino first here though, 5 of his movies are in my top 20 (and for that ranking i'm counting Kill Bill as just one film). Two of his others are in my top 100, and his other two are not far behind them.

[@saraprestwood]

Hitchcock has to be my favorite black and white season

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@saraprestwood yes, he had a lot of great movies, especially in back and white.

[@saraprestwood]

@@excelsiormoviereviewsI do watch him in my childhood

[@saraprestwood]

👍

[@saraprestwood]

Love the,list

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@saraprestwood thanks

[@saraprestwood]

Ron Howard Tim Burton I enjoy

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@saraprestwood they’re both good as well.

[@saraprestwood]

@@excelsiormoviereviewsyes they are

[@saraprestwood]

Christopher Nolan saved us for our physical media

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@saraprestwood that’s true

[@saraprestwood]

@@excelsiormoviereviewshe’s everyone’s favorite

[@saraprestwood]

Carpenter yes Wes craven Michael Myers Jason and from my horror franchise

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@saraprestwood yes, Wes Craven is a one too.

[@saraprestwood]

@@excelsiormoviereviewsfrom all horror movies love all Directors

[@saraprestwood]

Hey Steve

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@saraprestwood hey

[@808physicalmedia9]

Besides the Godfather 1 & 2, Conversation & Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola is an overrated director. Surprised Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Frank Capra & Sidney Lumet is not on your Top 15 director list 🏆

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@808physicalmedia9 Lumet almost made it, but was removed last minute because I’ve only seen 4 maybe 5 of his films if you include The Wiz 😂 I do love 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Fail Safe and Network. I’ve only seen The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Double Indemnify and Ace In The Hole from Wilder and enjoyed them all, but that’s all I’ve seen from him. From Frank Capra I’ve only seen Arsenic and Old Lace. I’ve only seen Bringing Up Baby from Howard Hawks.

[@808physicalmedia9]

@@excelsiormoviereviews Hey Steve, Francis Ford Coppola shot his load💦 as a great director in the 70's & he was never the same🤕What was the last classic movie in 45 years did Francis Ford Coppola directed? Apocalypse Now? Thanks for your time buddy 🍻

[@808physicalmedia9]

Hey Steve, I'm surprised you haven't seen Frank Capra's 1946 "It's a wonderful life" with James Stewart is one of the all-time beloved American holiday classic movie 🎥lol🏆

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

@@808physicalmedia9 sorry, I missed that one when I looked up his filmography, but it’s been several decades since I saw it last.

[@excelsiormoviereviews]

I apologize for me sounding a little defensive. I think that film fans can argue who the best film directors are all day and that’s why I used the question mark. I’m surprised that no one has pointed out John Ford yet, he’s one of the most influential directors that even Kurosawa mentioned as his favorite.