Spielberg Voted Best Director

[Harryz]

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg has been voted the greatest director of all time. Spielberg - the talent behind huge blockbuster hits including Schindler's List, E.T., Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Saving Private Ryan - topped a poll commissioned by Britain's Empire movie magazine. The 58-year-old beat off competition from Psycho director Alfred Hitchcock and The Aviator creator Martin Scorsese, who came in second and third respectively. Empire's associate editor Ian Freer says, "Steven Spielberg is the closest thing in movies to resemble the impact of The Beatles. A cultural phenomenon, his adventures with sharks, UFOs, whip-crackin' archaeologists and ETs, plus searching historical dramas like Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan have defined the movie-going life of an entire generation." Surprisingly, acclaimed film-makers such as Star Wars director George Lucas, Charlie Chaplin, and Tim Burton, fell short of inclusion. The top ten is as follows:

1. Steven Spielberg
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Stanley Kubrick
5. Sir Ridley Scott
6. Akira Kurosawa
7. Peter Jackson
8. Quentin Tarantino
9. Orson Welles
10. Woody Allen

Unsuprisingly really. I personally think Peter Jackson hasn't directed enough movies to do be in the top 10 of

 

[kupocake]

I'd have personally gone with Miyazaki as my favorite director, but I suppose live action is all that counts in the eyes of most film enthusiasts. Meh. And Speilbergo probably deserves the accolade.

 

[$kelet0r]

i'd say that top 10 is pretty accurate

thank the gods jerry bruckheimer isnt in it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[Adrien C]

Yeah, Jerry dude sucks ass.

 

[Ames]

The list seems pretty on the spot, I say congratulations to those who made it on.

 

[Direwolf]

Well Bruckheimer is thought of as a producer, not really a director.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Pretty accurate, though Tarantino should definitely be abit higher in my opinion.

 

[Harryz]

Yeah, Bruckheimer has never directed a movie..

 

[Nid Banikeri]

George Lucas should be on that somewhere for sure

 

[Reginald]

Spielberg is too highly rated. I'd put him at about 3 or 4. James Cameron should be there instead of Jackson.

Then it's pretty much perfect.

 

[D.L]

i love tarantinos work, hes my favourite director, but other than that its pretty accurate to mine

 

[Reginald]

i love tarantinos work, hes my favourite director, but other than that its pretty accurate to mine

I would have said Tarantino about 3 years ago when I was 12. I thought it was supremely grown-up to watch Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. But now... I have amtured and while they are still supoib films, I prefer the more artistic stuff of Kubrick.

 

[Harryz]

George Lucas should be on that somewhere for sure

I hope your joking. Hes only directed 2 good movies, American Graffiti and A New Hope.

 

[smwScott]

For me it's Tarantino, Kubrick, and Francis Ford Coppola in that order.

 

[SenorDingDong]

what has Peter Jackson done besides Lord of the rings? He shouldnt be on there just for those...

 

[Reginald]

what has Peter Jackson done besides Lord of the rings? He shouldnt be on there just for those...

I agree with that. King Kong should be pretty good though.

 

[Doppelgofer]

where is lynch? i suppose hes a bit too alternate cinema really

 

[FictiousWill]

Lotr-man doesn't belong in the list. The others are brilliant artists, though I'd group them as the best as a group, not with them in order to the absolute best, because they're incomparable.

 

[Direwolf]

I don't know. I don't think its so insane that Jackson gets on there for LOTR. People have based careers on far less.
Although I bet Cameron had to be a runner-up.

 

[SenorDingDong]

I don't know. I don't think its so insane that Jackson gets on there for LOTR. People have based careers on far less.
Although I bet Cameron had to be a runner-up.

that reminds me about him. James Cameron should be on there way before Peter Jackson.

 

[Viperidae]

I don't agree at all with that poll. Kurosawa 6th?

 

[craig]

Peter Jackson is very deserving of being in that list IMO.. even though he's has a 20 year career making movies that most people are totally unaware of he deserves to be in that list just for LOTR.

Making those movies was an epic achievement the likes of which we'll never likley see again _ever_ and so much came out of those movies (techniques, etc) in a similar manner to Star Wars that his impact on modern cinema is pretty big and still growing.

I'm not sure how I feel about Spielberg being at the top of the list tbh.. but then I think back to every film I enjoyed as a kid (Indiana Jones, E.T., Back to the Future, etc) and he pretty much had involvement in all of them.

In recent years however >93 he's not really done much that was overly-exciting (aside from maybe the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, which totally blew me away and possibly the under-appreciated Minority Report).

I've got high hopes for War of the Worlds, but we'll see...

Oh and yeah, James Cameron totally deserved to be in that list even though he did make Titanic he's done some awesome films and has a very unique vision.

 

[IonizeMyAtoms]

I think that poll is a joke (imo)

 

[Lemonking]

omg Germany is making an ueber army again get Indiana Jones fast!!

 

[Datrix]

I think Steven Spielberg deserves the number one spot. I don't think I've seen a movie of his that I didn't enjoy.
But god help him If War Of The Worlds is crap.

 

[Burn]

what has Peter Jackson done besides Lord of the rings? He shouldnt be on there just for those...

Yes, he should be, no way should he be at the top (and he is not, which is good)

The best directer is NOT the best film award, or based on how many films the person has done, everyone should remember that. Jackson has to work on all three lord of the rings films at the same time, from going from cheap films to taking on the role of leading three major films, at the same time, dealing with everything that was going on.. He has a right to be on that list.

 

[MilkMan12]

Yes, he should be, no way should he be at the top (and he is not, which is good)

The best directer is NOT the best film award, or based on how many films the person has done, everyone should remember that. Jackson has to work on all three lord of the rings films at the same time, from going from cheap films to taking on the role of leading three major films, at the same time, dealing with everything that was going on.. He has a right to be on that list.

You have no idea how many other directors have to deal with that same shit and more. Not to mention that they dont have half of their movies in special effects, directing in real time is a lot harder than directing special effects. I mean alot of the beautiful shots and cinematography are all phony...he didnt wait for the right time to make that shot...he didnt search for that spot...he just had a massive computer build it for him. Tarantino, Spielberg, all those guys do not rely on special effects at all...and when they do its not the center of attention or the thing that makes the shot so good.

War of The Worlds is probably gonna be your argument against me...but once you see the movie...you will see the special effects arent what makes the shot so great...or even half of what makes each shot so great. Maybe Im wrong about that...but still Jackson has only done shots with special effects and thats it. Even with all the special effects in WoTW just go to Universal Studios and see how much work spielberg put into one set of that movie...thats what makes a true director. Did jackson really make gondor? No...Did Speilberg really make Europe in Saving Private Ryan-Yes.

Tarantino is probably the only director on there that has ONLY real directing 100%. No special effects except for like 1 scene in KB or something. He relies solely on himself...and makes all those scenes entirely from scratch and shoots them with a real camera and real backgrounds that he sets up perfectly.

 

[Stigmata]

Tarantino is probably the only director on there that has ONLY real directing 100%. No special effects except for like 1 scene in KB or something. He relies solely on himself...and makes all those scenes entirely from scratch and shoots them with a real camera and real backgrounds that he sets up perfectly.

I guess technically the blood and anime and so forth would be considered special effects... Perhaps you're thinking of computer-generated effects instead?