300 Greatest Movie Directors (Revision Version)

[shakiralaw]

I never interacted with Dreww on the old forum but I must have read hundreds of his posts over the years. What a double-whammy. Hope his family and friends are doing ok.

[ManPerson]

I'd say Jackie Chan could be in the honorable mentions, highly influential on martial arts and Hong Kong action films that came after, and he's also pretty acclaimed for his fight choreography.

[ManPerson]

I'd also say Spielberg should be two spots higher. Obviously a bit lacking in acclaim compared to those around him on the list, but his body of work is like top 5 all time and he is the director most responsible for popularizing the spectacle heavy blockbuster style that has dominated mainstream filmmaking over the past few decades + highly influential on war films as well with Saving Private Ryan.

Spielberg vs Tarkovsky

Acclaim: Tarkovsky fairly easily
Influence: Spielberg, maybe a bit less easily
Body of Work: Spielberg fairly easily

Spielberg vs Lubitsch
Acclaim: Lubitsch
Influence: Leaning towards Spielberg
Body of Work: Spielberg fairly easily

[ManPerson]

I could also see Michael Bay in the honorable mentions. Very similar to Roland Emmerich, and, if anything, Bay's taken more seriously as an auteur.

[pauldrach]

Added Chan and moved up Spielberg. Not to keen on adding Bay. I'd rather remove Emmerich.

[ManPerson]

Fair enough.

[Tim]

Peter Watkins RIP.

[ManPerson]

RIP

[ManPerson]

I could see Elaine May in the honorable mentions considering her critical resurgence in recent times.

[pauldrach]

I could see Elaine May in the honorable mentions considering her critical resurgence in recent times.

OK, but why her and not, say, Julie Dash, Larisa Shepitko, Marguerite Duras or any other female filmmaker who received an acclaim boost after the latest S&S poll?

[Tim]

Rob Reiner RIP.

[ManPerson]

RIP

[ManPerson]

I've been thinking about this list over the past few days far more than any well adjusted person should ever think about any list on this site and here are some of the suggestions I came up with.

(just doing the top 50 for now because this post is long enough already, lol)

Directors I'd have higher:
Martin Scorsese
Here's how I think he breaks down with Bresson/Truffaut

Influence: Truffaut > Bresson > Scorsese
As Truffaut was responsible for the breakthrough of the French New Wave he's probably the most influential here, while Besson seems to have been cited as an influence by more directors than Scorsese has.

Acclaim: Scorsese > Bresson > Truffaut
While all 3 are very highly acclaimed I'd argue Scorsese is in a league of his own here. Not only is he higher on TSPDT than Bresson and Truffaut, the universal acclaim he has received in equal measure from critics, the mainstream, cinephiles, and other filmmakers is unparalled by any other director from the past 50-55 years.

Scorsese's films have been nominated for numerous awards both nationally and internationally, with an Academy Award win for The Departed. In 1991, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[252] In 1997, Scorsese received the AFI Life Achievement Award. In 1998, the American Film Institute placed three Scorsese films on their list of the greatest American movies: Raging Bull at No. 24, Taxi Driver at No. 47, and Goodfellas at No. 94. For the tenth-anniversary edition of their list, Raging Bull was moved to No. 4, Taxi Driver was moved to No. 52, and Goodfellas was moved to No. 92.[253] In 2001, the American Film Institute placed two Scorsese films on their list of the most "heart-pounding movies" in American cinema: Taxi Driver at No. 22 and Raging Bull at No. 51. At a ceremony in Paris, France, on January 5, 2005, Martin Scorsese was awarded the French Legion of Honour in recognition of his contribution to cinema. On February 8, 2006, at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, Scorsese was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video for No Direction Home.

In 2007, Scorsese was listed among Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.[255] In August 2007, Scorsese was named the second-greatest director of all time in a poll by Total Film magazine, in front of Steven Spielberg and behind Alfred Hitchcock.[256] In 2007, Scorsese was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (N.I.A.F.) at the nonprofit's thirty-second Anniversary Gala. During the ceremony, Scorsese helped launch N.I.A.F.'s Jack Valenti Institute in memory of former foundation board member and past president of the Motion Picture Association of America (M.P.A.A.) Jack Valenti. The Institute provides support to Italian film students in the U.S. Scorsese received his award from Mary Margaret Valenti, Jack Valenti's widow. Certain pieces of Scorsese's film-related material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access.[257] On September 11, 2007, the Kennedy Center Honors committee, which recognizes career excellence and cultural influence, named Scorsese as one of the honorees for the year. On June 17, 2008, the American Film Institute placed two of Scorsese's films on the AFI's 10 Top 10 list: Raging Bull at number one for the Sports genre and Goodfellas at number two for the Gangster genre. In 2013, the staff of Entertainment Weekly voted Mean Streets the seventh greatest film ever made.[258]


Leon Fleisher, Martin Scorsese, Diana Ross, Brian Wilson and Steve Martin with President George W. Bush and Laura Bush in 2007
On January 17, 2010, at the 67th Golden Globe Awards, Scorsese was the recipient of the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. On September 18, 2011, at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, Scorsese won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for his work on the series premiere of Boardwalk Empire. In 2011, Scorsese received an honorary doctorate from the National Film School in Lodz. At the awards ceremony he said, "I feel like I'm a part of this school and that I attended it," paying tribute to the films of Wajda, Munk, Has, Polanski and Skolimowski.[259] King Missile wrote "Martin Scorsese" in his honor. On February 12, 2012, at the 65th British Academy Film Awards, Scorsese was the recipient of the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award.


Scorsese's motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
On September 16, 2012, Scorsese won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming and Outstanding Nonfiction Special for his work on the documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World.[260] In 2013, the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Scorsese for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities. He was the first filmmaker chosen for the honor.[261] His lecture, delivered on April 1, 2013, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was titled "Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema".[262] Scorsese was appointed to the Polish Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis on April 11, 2017, in recognition of his contribution to Polish cinema.[263] He received the Medal on May 29, 2025.[264]


Jon Stewart with Scorsese at the Peabody Awards in 2006
Scorsese has also garnered favorable responses from numerous film giants including Ingmar Bergman,[265] Frank Capra,[266] Jean-Luc Godard,[267] Werner Herzog,[268] Elia Kazan,[269] Akira Kurosawa,[270] David Lean,[271] Michael Powell,[272] Satyajit Ray,[273] and François Truffaut.[274] He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2008.[275] He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Oxford on June 20, 2018.[276] As of 2021, four of Scorsese's films (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas) have been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[277] In commenting on Scorsese's 2019 film The Irishman, Guillermo del Toro cited Scorsese's ability as a director for the depiction of character development comparable to the films of "Renoir, Bresson, Bergman, Oliveira or Kurosawa".[278] Sam Mendes, in his acceptance speech after winning the 2020 Golden Globe Award for Best Director for 1917, praised Scorsese's contribution to cinema, stating, "There's not one director in this room, not one director in the world, that is not in the shadow of Martin Scorsese... I just have to say that."[279] Bong Joon-ho, in his acceptance speech for the 2020 Academy Award for Best Director for Parasite, said, "When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart, which is, the most personal is the most creative." He then said that this quote had come from Scorsese, which prompted the audience to give Scorsese a standing ovation.[280]

The quotes in bold I think especially show the widespread reverence that is held for him as a filmmaker. The shockwaves that were sent through the industry when he criticized Marvel movies are even more evidence for this.

Body of work:
Scorsese >> Bresson > Truffaut

This is where I think Scorsese takes this, the sheer number of great films he's made is matched by few directors. His body of work is clearly among the top 5-10 all time.

Bresson vs Scorsese
Influence: Bresson
Acclaim: Scorsese close
Body of Work: Scorsese fairly easily

Truffaut vs Scorsese
Influence: Truffaut fairly easily
Acclaim: Scorsese
Body of Work: Scorsese easily

David Lynch
Lynch's highly recognizable surrealist style has put him among the upper echelon of the most respected and critically acclaimed modern directors, especially with younger cinephiles. He's also been highly influential on bringing that surrealist style to the mainstream, especially if we're taking into account the impact his works have had on peak TV. Lastly, his body of work is extremely consistent with every single one of his features both being in the top 2500 on TSPDT and having more than 150k ratings on Letterboxd, showing the lasting acclaim and popularity of his filmography.


Some breakdowns
vs Luchino Visconti
Influence: close
Acclaim: close
Body of work: Lynch fairly easily

vs Roman Polanski
Influence: Close
Acclaim: Lynch
Body of work: Close

vs Dziga Vertov
Influence: Vertov
Acclaim: close, but Lynch
Body of work: Lynch easily

vs Abbas Kiarostami
Influence: Lynch, close
Acclaim: Kiarostami, close
Body of Work: Lynch fairly easily

vs Robert Altman
Influence: Altman
Acclaim: Lynch
Body of Work: close, but Lynch

vs Woody Allen
Influence: close
Acclaim: Lynch close
Body of work: close

vs Mizoguchi
Influence: Close, but Mizoguchi
Acclaim: Close, but Mizoguchi
Body of Work: Lynch

So I'd say he should probably be between Mizoguchi and Allen

Hayao Miyazaki
Universally respected and admired in a way that clearly elevates him beyond any other director primarily working in animation (which I guess is already reflected in his current placement). He's also highly influential due to his role in popularizing anime in the west, and inspiring countless filmmakers since, even extending beyond the realm of animation with Wes Anderson, Cameron and Spielberg citing him, just to name a few. His body of work is also even more consistent than Lynch's, being the only director who has made 10+ films (unless I've overlooked someone) to have all of them be on our decade lists (except for Kiki's Delivery Service, which is a very glaring omission from the 1980s list).

Some breakdowns
vs Donen
Acclaim: Miyazaki
Influence: Close
Body of Work: Miyazaki

vs Vertov
Acclaim: Close
Influence: Vertov
Body of Work: Miyazaki by a landslide

vs Kiarostami
Acclaim: Kiarostami
Influence: Miyazaki, Close
Body of Work: Miyazaki easy

vs David Lean
Acclaim: Close, leaning towards Miyazaki
Influence: Lean
Body of Work: Leaning towards Miyazaki
So I guess he should be between Lean and Kiarostami

James Cameron
By far the most important director when it comes to the implementation of CGI while the Terminator films were hugely influential on the dark action films that came after, as well. Acclaim is definitely his weakest category, though he is probably the strongest in that regard in the action genre. His body of work is small, but very strong as well, with all of his films (aside from Piranha II obviously) being commercially successful and well received, and having 5 of the top 150 films of all time.

Some breakdowns
vs Coens
Influence: Cameron fairly easily
Acclaim: Coens
Body of Work: Coens far more prolific, but Cameron's greatest films are a lot greater, leaning towards Cameron

vs Tarantino
Influence: Cameron
Acclaim: Tarantino
Body of Work: Cameron

vs Donen
Influence: Cameron
Acclaim: Donen
Body of Work: Cameron

vs Visconti
Influence: Cameron
Acclaim: Visconti fairly easily
Body of Work: Cameron

vs Polanski
Influence: Cameron
Acclaim: Polanski
Body of Work: Leaning towards Cameron

vs Capra
Influence: Cameron
Acclaim: Capra
Body of Work: Close

vs Vertov
Influence: Leaning towards Vertov
Acclaim: Vertov
Body of Work: Cameron easily

Maybe Cameron should be somewhere between Vertov and Capra

Sergio Leone
Does well in all of the criteria, pioneered the spaghetti western, small filmography, but most are classics to this day, and highly acclaimed as well.

Some breakdowns

vs Bertolucci
Acclaim: Close
Influence: Close, but Leone
Body of Work: Leone fairly easily

vs Spike Lee
Acclaim: Leone, close
Influence: Lee, Close
Body of Work: Leone fairly easily

vs Coens
Acclaim: Close
Influence: Leone
Body of Work: Coens, close

vs Tarantino
Acclaim: Leaning towards Leone
Influence: Close
Body of Work: Tarantino close

vs Herzog
Acclaim: Herzog close
Influence: Leone close
Body of work: Leone close

vs Donen
Acclaim: close
Influence: close
Body of Work: Leaning towards Leone

vs Visconti
Acclaim: Visconti
Influence: close
Body of Work: Leone

So I'd say between Visconti and Donen

Directors I'd have Lower:

Erich Von Stroheim
Huge influence, but his acclaim has waned a bit over the years and his body of work doesn't have much lasting popularity and acclaim (or even initial popularity) compared to other directors in the top 40-50.

Some breakdowns
vs Rosselini
Influence: Von Stroheim Close
Acclaim: Rosselini
Body of Work: Rosselini

vs Mizoguchi
Influence: Von Stroheim
Acclaim: Mizoguchi
Body of Work: Mizoguchi

vs Altman
Influence: Von Stroheim
Acclaim: Altman close
Body of Work: Altman fairly easily

vs Lean
Influence: Von Stroheim
Acclaim: Lean close
Body of Work: Lean fairly easily

vs Miyazaki
Acclaim: Miyazaki
Influence: Von Stroheim fairly easily
Body of Work: Miyazaki easily

vs Kiarostami
Acclaim: Kiarostami
Influence: Von Stroheim fairly easily
Body of Work: Kiarostami

I'd say he should be between Miyazaki and Kiarostami

Jean Vigo
Highly influential and acclaimed, but his reputation rests on only a few films that I'd argue are not quite great enough to warrant his current placement.

Some breakdowns
vs Donen
Acclaim: Vigo, close
Influence: close
Body of Work: Donen fairly easily

vs Coens
Acclaim: Vigo, close
Influence: Vigo
Body of Work: Coens easily

vs Flaherty
Acclaim: Vigo fairly easily
Influence: Flaherty fairly easily
Body of Work: Leaning towards Flaherty

vs Lee
Acclaim: Vigo
Influence: Lee, close
Body of Work: Lee

vs Walsh
Acclaim: Vigo fairly easily
Influence: Walsh, close
Body of Work: Walsh easily

I could see him between Flaherty and Lee

Lastly, I'm curious about how the #6-9 range breaks down.

Here's how I'd break them down
Acclaim: Renoir/Welles/Kubrick > Eisenstein
Influence: Eisenstein > Welles > Kubrick/Renoir
Body of Work: Kubrick > Eisenstein/Renoir/Welles

Based on this I'd say
6. Eisenstein
7. Welles
8. Kubrick
9. Renoir

[ManPerson]

So, basically, I'm suggesting


1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Charles Chaplin
3. John Ford
4. Akira Kurosawa
5. D.W. Griffith
6. Sergei M. Eisenstein
7. Orson Welles
8. Stanley Kubrick
9. Jean Renoir
10. Georges Melies
11. Fritz Lang
12. Luis Bunuel
13. Jean-Luc Godard
14. Federico Fellini
15. F.W. Murnau
16. Ingmar Bergman
17. Carl Theodor Dreyer
18. Howard Hawks
19. Yasujiro Ozu
20. Martin Scorsese
21. Robert Bresson
22. Francois Truffaut
23. Cecil B. DeMille
24. Satyajit Ray
25. Steven Spielberg
26. Andrei Tarkovsky
27. Ernst Lubitsch
28. Michelangelo Antonioni
29. John Cassavetes
30. Billy Wilder
31. Buster Keaton
32. Roberto Rossellini
33. Kenji Mizoguchi
34. David Lynch
35. Woody Allen
36. Robert Altman
37. David Lean
38. Hayao Miyazaki
39. Erich Von Stroheim
40. Abbas Kiarostami
41. Dziga Vertov
42. James Cameron
43. Frank Capra
44. Roman Polanski
45. Luchino Visconti
46. Sergio Leone
47. Stanley Donen
48. Werner Herzog
49. Michael Powell (& Emeric Pressburger)
50. Quentin Tarantino
51. Joel & Ethan Coen
52. Francis Ford Coppola
53. Robert J. Flaherty
54. Jean Vigo

[Tim]

The current list had Ford > Chaplin and Buñuel > Lang but I guess your order makes sense by criteria.

Influence: Chaplin
Acclaim: Ford
Body of Work: Chaplin

Influence: Lang
Acclaim: Buñuel
Body of Work: Lang

[ManPerson]

I kind of forgot I made those changes, since I've been thinking about this for a while. I do stand by those changes and the breakdowns you gave, though.