The Best Film Directors!
by Eidet | created - 13 Jan 2012 | updated - 04 Apr 2022 | PublicA list of the top 30 film directors of any film era. I have chosen the directors because of their ability to make good-looking, intelligent, original and complex films, and the order of these people are in descending order according to my own personal liking. I think, although this list is subjective, that many of you will find the list interesting. Be sure to comment if you like the list or listings, or if you disagree with them.
1. 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 ...
Known for directing: "Following", "Memento", "Insomnia", "Batman Begins", "The Prestige", "The Dark Knight", "Inception", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Interstellar", "Dunkirk", "Tenet"
2. 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 ...
Known for directing: "Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", The King of Comedy", "Goodfellas", "Casino", "Gangs of New York", "The Aviator", "The Departed", "Shutter Island", "Hugo", The Wolf of Wall Street"
3. 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, ...
Known for directing: "Jaws", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial", "The Color Purple", "Jurassic Park", "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan", Catch Me If You Can", "Munich", "Lincoln", "Bridge of Spies", "The Post"
4. 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...
Known for directing: "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction", "Jackie Brown", "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", Kill Bill: Vol. 2", "Death Proof", "Inglourious Basterds", "Django Unchained", "The Hateful Eight"
5. Hayao Miyazaki
Writer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.
Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...
Known for directing: "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro", "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", Castle in the Sky, "My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery service, "Porco Rosso", "Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Ponyo", "The Wind Rises"
6. 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...
Known for directing: "Alien 3", "Se7en", "The Game", "Fight Club", "Panic Room", "Zodiac", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "The Social Network", "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "Gone Girl"
7. 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 ...
Known for directing: "The Killing", "Paths of Glory", "Spartacus", "Lolita", "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "A Clockwork Orange", "Barry Lyndon", "The Shining", "Full Metal Jacket", "Eyes Wide Shut"
8. James Cameron
Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water
James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...
Known for directing: "The Terminator", "Aliens", "The Abyss", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", "True Lies", "Titanic", "Avatar"
9. Clint Eastwood
Actor | Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood 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 Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...
Known for directing: "The Outlaw Josey Wales", "Pale Rider", "Unforgiven", "The Bridges of Madison County", "Mystic River", "Million Dollar Baby", "Flags of Our Fathers", Letters from Iwo Jima", "Changeling", "Gran Torino", "American Sniper", "Sully"
10. Sidney Lumet
Director | 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...
Known for directing: "12 Angry Men", "Serpico", "Murder on the Orient Express", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Network", "Find Me Guilty", "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead"
11. 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 ...
Known for directing: "The 39 Steps", "Rebecca", "Saboteur", "Shadow of a Doubt", "Notorious", "Rope", "Strangers on a Train", "Dial M for Murder", "Rear Window", "Vertigo", "North by Northwest", "Psycho", "The Birds", "Frenzy"
12. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
Known for directing: "Bad taste", "Meet the Feebles", "Braindead", "The Frighteners", "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy", "King Kong", "The Hobbit Trilogy"
13. Sergio Leone
Writer | Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...
Known for directing: "A Fistful of Dollars", "For a Few Dollars More", "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Duck, You sucker", "Once Upon a Time in America"
14. 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 ...
Known for directing: "Alien", "Blade Runner", "Thelma & Lousie", "Gladiator", "Hannibal", "Black Hawk Down", "Matchstick Men", "Kingdom of Heaven", "American Gangster", Body of Lies", "The Martian"
15. Denis Villeneuve
Director | Dune
Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), ...
Known for directing: "Polytechnique", "Incendies", "Prisoners", "Enemy", "Sicario", "Arrival", "Blade Runner 2049", "Dune: Part One"
16. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
Along with brother Ethan Coen, they are known for directing: "Blood Simple", "Raising Arizona", Miller's Crossing", "Fargo", "The Big Lebowski", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "The Man Who Wasn't There", "No country for Old Men", "A Serious Man", "True Grit", "Inside Llewyn Davis", "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"
17. Sam Mendes
Producer | 1917
Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...
Known for directing: "American Beauty", "Road to Perdition", "Jarhead", "Revolutionary Road", "Skyfall, "Spectre", "1917"
18. Robert Zemeckis
Writer | Back to the Future
A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...
Known for directing: "Back to the Future Trilogy", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Forest Gump", "Contact", "Cast Away", "The Polar Express", "Beowolf", "A Christmas Carol, "Flight, "The Walk"
19. 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...
Known for directing: "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz", "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", "The World's End", "Baby Driver"
20. 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 ...
Known for directing: "Shallow Grave", "Trainspotting", "28 Days Later...", "Millions", "Sunshine", "Slumdog Millionaire", "127 Hours", "Trance", "Steve Jobs", "T2 Trainspotting"
21. Alfonso Cuarón
Producer | Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...
Known for directing: "Y tu mamá también", "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", "Children of Men", "Gravity", "Roma"
22. Paul Greengrass
Director | United 93
Paul Greengrass started his filmmaking career with a super 8 camera he found in his art room in secondary school. Those short movies were animation horror films he made using old dolls, artist dummies, and the general art room clutter.
After studying in Cambridge University he got into Granada ...
Known for directing: "The Theory of Flight", "Bloody Sunday", "The Bourne Supremacy", "United 93", The Bourne Ultimatum", "Green Zone", "Captain Phillips", Jason Bourne"
23. Brad Bird
Writer | The Incredibles
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...
Known for directing: "The Iron Giant", "The Incredibles", "Ratatouille", "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol"
24. Charles Chaplin
Writer | The Great Dictator
Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...
Known for directing: "The Kid", "The Gold Rush", "City Lights", "Modern Times", "The Great Dictator", "Monsier Verdoux"
25. Alexander Payne
Director | Nebraska
Director, producer and screenwriter Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Peggy (Constantine) and George Payne, ran a Greek restaurant. His father is of Greek and German ancestry, and his mother is of Greek descent; the family name was originally Papadopoulos. He is the youngest...
Known for directing: "Citizen Ruth", "Election", "About Schmidt", "Sideways", "The Descendants", "Nebraska"
26. 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 ...
Known for directing: "The Godfather", "The Conversation", "The Godfather: Part II", "Apocalypse Now", "The Godfather: Part III", "Dracula", "The Rainmaker"
27. Darren Aronofsky
Writer | Pi
Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...
Known for directing: "Pi", "Requiem for a Dream", "The Wrestler", "Black Swan"
28. Frank Capra
Director | It's a Wonderful Life
One of seven children, Frank Capra was born on May 18, 1897, in Bisacquino, Sicily. On May 10, 1903, his family left for America aboard the ship Germania, arriving in New York on May 23rd. "There's no ventilation, and it stinks like hell. They're all miserable. It's the most degrading place you ...
Known for directing: "It Happened One Night", "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", "Lost Horizon", "You Can't Take It with You", "Arsenic and Old Lace", "It's a Wonderful Life"
29. George Lucas
Writer | Star Wars
George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...
Known for directing: "THX 1138", "American Grafitti", "Star Wars", "Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace", "Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith"
30. Andrew Stanton
Writer | WALL·E
Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...
Known for directing: "A Bug's Life" (Co-director), "Finding Nemo", "WALL-E", "Finding Dory"
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