The Director's Guide — 30 Legendary Filmmakers Ranked by Audience Score

Christopher Nolan

Start with: Inception

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Interstellar (2014)92%

The Dark Knight (2008)92%

Memento (2000)90%

Inception (2010)87%

Insomnia (2002)87%

Oppenheimer (2023)83%

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)82%

Batman Begins (2005)82%

Dunkirk (2017)82%

The Prestige (2006)79%

Following (1999)74%

Tenet (2020)72%

Steven Spielberg

Start with: Jurassic Park

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Schindler's List (1993)93%

Saving Private Ryan (1998)91%

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)91%

Jurassic Park (1993)90%

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)89%

Bridge of Spies (2015)89%

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)87%

Duel (1971)87%

War Horse (2011)86%

Catch Me If You Can (2002)85%

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)85%

Jaws (1975)83%

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)83%

Minority Report (2002)82%

The Terminal (2004)82%

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)81%

Lincoln (2012)81%

The Color Purple (1985)79%

Hook (1991)79%

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)78%

Empire of the Sun (1987)78%

War of the Worlds (2005)78%

The Post (2017)75%

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)75%

Always (1989)75%

1941 (1979)75%

Munich (2005)74%

The BFG (2016)74%

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)74%

Ready Player One (2018)73%

Amistad (1997)72%

The Fabelmans (2022)71%

West Side Story (2021)63%

Quentin Tarantino

Start with: Pulp Fiction

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Pulp Fiction (1994)91%

Django Unchained (2012)91%

Reservoir Dogs (1992)91%

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)91%

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)90%

Inglourious Basterds (2009)88%

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2011)88%

Jackie Brown (1997)86%

The Hateful Eight (2015)83%

Death Proof (2007)81%

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)74%

Martin Scorsese

Start with: Goodfellas

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The Departed (2006)91%

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)90%

Casino (1995)90%

GoodFellas (1990)89%

Shutter Island (2010)89%

Kundun (1997)89%

Taxi Driver (1976)88%

Gangs of New York (2002)87%

New York, New York (1977)86%

The Irishman (2019)84%

The King of Comedy (1982)82%

Cape Fear (1991)82%

The Color of Money (1986)82%

Raging Bull (1980)81%

Mean Streets (1973)79%

After Hours (1985)76%

The Aviator (2004)75%

Bringing Out the Dead (1999)74%

Hugo (2011)73%

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)73%

Silence (2016)73%

Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)66%

The Age of Innocence (1993)62%

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)51%

Alfred Hitchcock

Start with: Psycho

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Rear Window (1954)91%

Notorious (1946)88%

The Lady Vanishes (1938)88%

Dial M for Murder (1954)87%

Rebecca (1940)87%

Strangers on a Train (1951)87%

Psycho (1960)85%

Spellbound (1945)85%

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)84%

The 39 Steps (1935)84%

Suspicion (1941)84%

Vertigo (1958)83%

North by Northwest (1959)83%

Frenzy (1972)83%

The Trouble with Harry (1955)83%

Saboteur (1942)83%

Lifeboat (1944)82%

The Wrong Man (1956)82%

I Confess (1953)82%

Rope (1948)80%

The Birds (1963)80%

Torn Curtain (1966)79%

Family Plot (1976)78%

To Catch a Thief (1955)77%

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)76%

Under Capricorn (1949)75%

Marnie (1964)70%

Stanley Kubrick

Start with: 2001: A Space Odyssey

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Dr. Strangelove (1964)92%

The Shining (1980)88%

A Clockwork Orange (1971)87%

Full Metal Jacket (1987)87%

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)84%

Killer's Kiss (1955)82%

Paths of Glory (1957)79%

Barry Lyndon (1975)78%

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)78%

Spartacus (1960)75%

Lolita (1962)72%

The Killing (1956)70%

Fear and Desire (1953)70%

Akira Kurosawa

Start with: Seven Samurai

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Seven Samurai (1954)93%

Sanjuro (1962)93%

Dersu Uzala (1975)92%

High and Low (1963)91%

Yojimbo (1961)91%

Ikiru (1952)90%

The Hidden Fortress (1958)90%

Throne of Blood (1957)89%

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (1952)81%

Ran (1985)80%

Francis Ford Coppola

Start with: The Godfather

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The Godfather (1972)90%

The Godfather Part II (1974)89%

Apocalypse Now (1979)89%

The Godfather Part III (1990)88%

The Outsiders (1983)86%

The Conversation (1974)83%

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)83%

Dementia 13 (1963)79%

Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)76%

Rumble Fish (1983)74%

Jack (1996)73%

The Rainmaker (1997)71%

Megalopolis (2024)45%

David Fincher

Start with: Seven

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Fight Club (1999)92%

Se7en (1995)91%

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)86%

Zodiac (2007)86%

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)85%

The Social Network (2010)83%

Mank (2020)53%

Ridley Scott

Start with: Alien

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Black Hawk Down (2001)90%

Gladiator (2000)89%

The Martian (2015)89%

Alien (1979)87%

Blade Runner (1982)87%

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)85%

American Gangster (2007)84%

Thelma & Louise (1991)75%

1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)75%

Alien: Covenant (2017)75%

A Good Year (2006)74%

Robin Hood (2010)74%

Legend (1985)74%

The Duellists (1977)73%

Gladiator II (2024)71%

The Last Duel (2021)70%

Body of Lies (2008)67%

House of Gucci (2021)66%

Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)64%

Matchstick Men (2003)62%

Napoleon (2023)59%

All the Money in the World (2017)55%

The Counselor (2013)49%

James Cameron

Start with: Aliens

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Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)95%

Titanic (1997)93%

The Terminator (1984)91%

True Lies (1994)91%

Aliens (1986)90%

The Abyss (1989)90%

Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)88%

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)87%

Avatar (2009)85%

Denis Villeneuve

Start with: Arrival

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Dune: Part Two (2024)89%

Incendies (2010)89%

Polytechnique (2009)88%

Sicario (2015)84%

Arrival (2016)83%

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)78%

Dune (2021)77%

Prisoners (2013)76%

Maelström (2000)74%

Enemy (2014)68%

Peter Jackson

Start with: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

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Heavenly Creatures (1994)88%

Braindead (1992)87%

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)86%

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)85%

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)85%

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)83%

They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)80%

The Lovely Bones (2009)80%

Bad Taste (1987)79%

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)77%

King Kong (2005)77%

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)76%

The Frighteners (1996)70%

Greta Gerwig

Start with: Lady Bird

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Little Women (2019)78%

Lady Bird (2017)78%

Barbie (2023)74%

Bong Joon-ho

Start with: Parasite

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Guillermo del Toro

Start with: Pan's Labyrinth

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Pan's Labyrinth (2006)91%

Frankenstein (2025)91%

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)89%

The Devil's Backbone (2001)87%

Blade II (2002)87%

Hellboy (2004)84%

Pacific Rim (2013)80%

Cronos (1993)80%

Mimic (1997)78%

The Shape of Water (2017)75%

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)72%

Crimson Peak (2015)72%

Nightmare Alley (2021)55%

Wes Anderson

Start with: The Grand Budapest Hotel

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Moonrise Kingdom (2012)89%

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)89%

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)88%

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)86%

Rushmore (1998)86%

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)85%

Isle of Dogs (2018)83%

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)80%

Bottle Rocket (1996)79%

The French Dispatch (2021)71%

The Phoenician Scheme (2025)70%

Asteroid City (2023)63%

Hayao Miyazaki

Start with: Spirited Away

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Spirited Away (2001)95%

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)95%

Princess Mononoke (1997)94%

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)94%

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)93%

Castle in the Sky (1986)92%

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)92%

Ponyo (2008)90%

Porco Rosso (1992)89%

The Wind Rises (2013)89%

The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)88%

The Boy and the Heron (2023)88%

Woody Allen

Start with: Annie Hall

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Take the Money and Run (1969)89%

Midnight in Paris (2011)88%

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)87%

Radio Days (1987)84%

Sweet and Lowdown (1999)84%

What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)84%

Zelig (1983)83%

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)82%

Sleeper (1973)81%

Annie Hall (1977)80%

Deconstructing Harry (1997)80%

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)80%

Broadway Danny Rose (1984)79%

Match Point (2005)78%

Bullets Over Broadway (1994)78%

Manhattan (1979)77%

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)77%

Stardust Memories (1980)76%

Small Time Crooks (2000)76%

Blue Jasmine (2013)75%

Everyone Says I Love You (1996)75%

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)74%

Hollywood Ending (2002)74%

A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)74%

Husbands and Wives (1992)73%

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)72%

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)72%

Whatever Works (2009)71%

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)70%

Celebrity (1998)70%

Scoop (2006)66%

Irrational Man (2015)66%

Café Society (2016)66%

To Rome with Love (2012)66%

Bananas (1971)63%

A Rainy Day in New York (2019)63%

Cassandra's Dream (2007)63%

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)63%

Anything Else (2003)61%

Rifkin's Festival (2020)56%

Love and Death (1975)55%

Wonder Wheel (2017)54%

Melinda and Melinda (2004)54%

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (1972)51%

David Lynch

Start with: Blue Velvet

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The Straight Story (1999)89%

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)88%

The Elephant Man (1980)86%

Lost Highway (1997)85%

Eraserhead (1977)84%

Mulholland Drive (2001)83%

Inland Empire (2006)82%

Dune (1984)76%

Blue Velvet (1986)75%

Wild at Heart (1990)75%

Sofia Coppola

Start with: Lost in Translation

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Lost in Translation (2003)86%

Marie Antoinette (2006)80%

Priscilla (2023)76%

The Virgin Suicides (2000)72%

The Bling Ring (2013)65%

On the Rocks (2020)59%

Somewhere (2010)54%

The Beguiled (2017)52%

Spike Lee

Start with: Do the Right Thing

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Malcolm X (1992)89%

Do the Right Thing (1989)86%

BlacKkKlansman (2018)85%

25th Hour (2002)80%

Summer of Sam (1999)79%

He Got Game (1998)75%

Inside Man (2006)70%

Da 5 Bloods (2020)69%

Oldboy (2013)62%

Paul Thomas Anderson

Start with: There Will Be Blood

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There Will Be Blood (2007)91%

Boogie Nights (1997)86%

The Master (2012)80%

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)80%

Phantom Thread (2017)72%

Magnolia (1999)71%

One Battle After Another (2025)70%

Hard Eight (1997)68%

Licorice Pizza (2021)63%

Inherent Vice (2014)63%

Joel Coen

Start with: Fargo

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Fargo (1996)88%

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)87%

No Country for Old Men (2007)86%

The Big Lebowski (1998)86%

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)83%

Raising Arizona (1987)82%

Barton Fink (1991)81%

True Grit (2010)80%

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)80%

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)79%

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)78%

Burn After Reading (2008)78%

Blood Simple (1985)75%

The Ladykillers (2004)72%

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)69%

Miller's Crossing (1990)67%

A Serious Man (2009)66%

Hail, Caesar! (2016)63%

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)58%

Pedro Almodóvar

Start with: All About My Mother

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Law of Desire (1987)87%

All About My Mother (1999)85%

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)84%

Volver (2006)83%

The Skin I Live In (2011)81%

Talk to Her (2002)80%

Pain and Glory (2019)79%

Bad Education (2004)79%

Matador (1986)79%

Broken Embraces (2009)78%

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990)78%

Dark Habits (1983)78%

Labyrinth of Passion (1982)78%

What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)76%

The Flower of My Secret (1995)76%

Parallel Mothers (2021)75%

Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980)75%

Julieta (2016)73%

Kika (1993)71%

High Heels (1991)70%

The Room Next Door (2024)68%

I'm So Excited! (2013)68%

Live Flesh (1997)65%

Alfonso Cuarón

Start with: Children of Men

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Children of Men (2006)87%

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)85%

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)82%

Gravity (2013)79%

A Little Princess (1995)74%

Roma (2018)73%

Sólo con tu pareja (1992)66%

Great Expectations (1998)62%

Clint Eastwood

Start with: Unforgiven

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Million Dollar Baby (2004)91%

Gran Torino (2008)89%

The Bridges of Madison County (1995)85%

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)83%

Play Misty for Me (1971)82%

Sudden Impact (1983)82%

Unforgiven (1992)81%

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)81%

Juror #2 (2024)81%

Mystic River (2003)80%

A Perfect World (1993)79%

American Sniper (2014)79%

Sully (2016)78%

Space Cowboys (2000)78%

Flags of Our Fathers (2006)77%

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)76%

The Gauntlet (1977)76%

Pale Rider (1985)75%

Richard Jewell (2019)74%

The Mule (2018)74%

Absolute Power (1997)74%

Changeling (2008)73%

Firefox (1982)73%

High Plains Drifter (1973)72%

True Crime (1999)72%

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)70%

Invictus (2009)69%

Blood Work (2002)65%

The Rookie (1990)65%

Jersey Boys (2014)64%

The 15:17 to Paris (2018)60%

Cry Macho (2021)59%

Hereafter (2010)55%

J. Edgar (2011)54%

Honkytonk Man (1982)52%

Terrence Malick

Start with: The Thin Red Line

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Badlands (1974)77%

The New World (2005)76%

The Thin Red Line (1998)75%

Days of Heaven (1978)71%

A Hidden Life (2019)68%

Knight of Cups (2015)63%

The Tree of Life (2011)62%

Voyage of Time: Life's Journey (2017)60%

To the Wonder (2013)58%

Song to Song (2017)51%

Darren Aronofsky

Start with: Requiem for a Dream

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Requiem for a Dream (2000)89%

The Wrestler (2008)87%

Black Swan (2010)84%

The Whale (2022)82%

Caught Stealing (2025)80%

Pi (1998)73%

The Fountain (2006)69%

Noah (2014)62%

mother! (2017)56%

Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Start with: Birdman

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