For me, Spielberg’s worst film is “Hook”. I like "1941 for the glorious mess that it is.
Tom Hanks underrated?yeah,right,please elaborate….
Terminal and War are arguably worse films than 1941 is,at least 1941 is enjoyable in its silliness,War is a pathetic “disaster”,not even a b-movie style and Terminal is more sugar than a fuckin’ pointless Ephron movie is…
Dimitris – Your right to say that “The Terminal” is sugary, but I thought that the first half, especially, had some pretty fun stuff. Spielberg has said in interviews that he was trying to channel Jacques Tati, and while I don’t think he quite pulled it off, there are some graceful moments of tender comedy that come close to Tati.
Indy 4 is by far Spielberg’s worst film. The Terminal was pretty unbearable but Indy 4 takes the cake because it not only was an awful movie but it took a big dump all over a cool franchise.
As for his best, maybe Jaws. But Schindler’s List is obviously more important, especially when you look at what the Shoah Foundation has done.
kubrick Worst: Eyes Wide Shut
Scorsese Worst: the color of money
I think it’s amazing how popular Spielberg is in relation to how many of his films are any good. In my opinion of the 27 films he’s directed only 7 are any good. Those 7 range from pretty good to excellent but that’s not a very good batting average.
Rumplesink – I disagree with you on Spielberg. I am by no means a big fan of Spielberg and don’t pay much attention to his releases (in other words, I don’t go see a Spielberg film simply because he directed it; I’ll see it if it looks interesting to me). But I can think of very few Spielberg films that are truly terrible. I’m not too fond of Minority Report but I don’t know if I can honestly say it’s a terrible film. I think Indy 4, The Terminal, and Catch Me If You Can are really the only Spielberg films I really hated (I haven’t seen 1941, Always, War of the Worlds, The Sugarland Express). Everything else I either liked or thought was whatever. I do agree he has made only a handful that are truly great but the rest I see as about average (very similar to Scorsese actually) which isn’t too bad given his lengthy career.
yeah,i have to second the wretchedness of Indy 4,i mean..what was the point???
and now he’s making Tin Tin,mercy me,i smell another massacre of a classic animation much like with Asterix…sigh…
and let me not mention the Oldboy remake…
allen
best: the purple rose of cairo, worst: anything else
truffaut
best: jules and jim worst: two english girls
chabrol
best: les bonnes femmes worst: the bridesmaid
godard:
best: le mepris worst: weekend
Robert Altman Best:McCabe and Mrs. Miller Worst:O.C. and Stiggs
Brian DePalma Best:Carlito’s Way Worst: Redacted
Martin Scorcese Best:Taxi Driver Worst:The King of Comedy
Steven Spielberg Best:Munich Worst:The Color Purple
Hey, what’s with all the hate for The Terminal? Sure, it may not have been great, but it was certainly good. Maybe I should see it again, since I saw it last about four years ago…
Also, Catch Me If You Can, a bad movie? Really? Frankly, I’m not a big Spielberg fan, either, especially considering hordes of people who, when you ask them who the greatest director is, say “Spielberg,” but he tends to have a solid grip on most of his films, and they tend to be pretty good (from what I’ve seen). He is, under no circumstances, the greatest director to ever live (that’s Bergman), but he certainly makes some pretty good movies.
Savvy
woody allen— best: manhattan; worst: scoop
jim jarmusch— best: down by law; worst: ghost dog
alfred hitchcock— best: the lady vanishes; worst: marnie
wong kar wai— best: chungking express/happy together; worst: my blueberry nights
martin scorsese— best: goodfellas; worst: bringing out the dead
gus van sant— best: mala noche; worst: finding forrester
coen brothers— best: blood simple; worst: the ladykillers
jean-luc godard— best: contempt/alphaville; worst: la chinoise(still good though)
david fincher— best: zodiac; worst: alien 3
roman polanski— best: repulsion; worst: vampire killers
tim burton— best: ed wood; worst: charlie and the chocolate factory
federico fellini— best: juliet of the spirits; worst: ?
stanley kubrick— best: 2001; worst: ?
michelangelo antonioni— best: l’avventura; worst: ???
Zabriskie Point???
Kubrick’s worst beats many a filmmakers’ best.
Robert Altman
Best – Nashville
Worst – Pret a Porter
Man, I love LIFEBOAT and STAGE FRIGHT and think Hitch built both on ditinct gimmicks he wanted to experiment with (and pulled off in both cases).
I love Marnie.
Ben Simington: On Stage Fright, for me it’s wasn’tt the story I disliked, but the blandness of the actors.
Jean-Luc Godard
Best: Pierrot le Fou
Worst: King Lear
Werner Herzog
Best: Heart of Glass
Worst: Invincible
Martin Scorsese
Best: Taxi Driver
Worst: Bringing Out the Dead
Chris Marker.
Best; Sans soleil
Worst; The Case of a Grinning Cat (which is amazing, by the way. Calling out his worst movie is like calling out the slowest Ferrari.)
Godard.
Best; Histoire(s) du cinema, Nouvelle Vague and L’Origine du XXI siècle. I can’t decide.
Worst; Soft and Hard.
I love this topic. Some of my fave directors have made some of my most hated films. I’ve wondered how many directors I’ve dismissed because I was introduced to their worst films first.
Kubrick – Best: Lolita / Worst: The Shining
Hitchcock – Best: Notorious / Worst: The Paradine Case
DePalma – Best: Casualties of War / Worst: Redacted
Altman – Best: Nashville / Worst: too many…O.C. and Stiggs, Quintet, H.E.A.L.T.H, Kansa City, A Perfect Couple, A Wedding, Beyond Therapy…in fact I can’t think of any director whose films are either one or the other. He work is either amazing or terrible. Pauline Kael once quipped (in a review of Images?)that every second Altman film was great and that she couldn’t wait for his next film (or something to that effect).
Robert Siodmak – best: The Spiral Staircase; worst: The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
John Sturges – best: Last Train from Gun Hill; worst: The Sign of the Ram
Otto Preminger – best: Laura; worst: Daisy Kenyon
Anthony Mann – best: Winchester ’73; worst: The Heroes of Telemark
John Frankenheimer – best: Black Sunday; worst: The Island of Dr Moreau
William Wyler – best: The Good Fairy; worst: Detective Story
William Wellman – best: The Ox-Bow Incident (so hard to choose!); worst: The Next Voice You Hear…
Preston Sturges – best: The Palm Beach Story; worst: The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend
John Ford – best: My Darling Clementine; worst: 3 Godfathers
Some off the top of my head…
David Lynch
Best: Eraserhead
Worst: Mulholland Drive
Peter Weir
Best: The Mosquito Coast
Worst: Green Card
Brian De Palma
Best: A tie between Greetings and Hi, Mom! (two tragically underrated films)
Worst: Scarface (possibly the worst remake in history)
It’s difficult for me to pick a worst film from Paradjanov & Tarkovsky (although I’ve never connected with Tarkovsky’s later films—Stalker, Nostalghia, Sacrifice.)
*Side Note: I’m going to add “Underrated” where applicable.
Chaplin
Best: Three-way tie between The Gold Rush, City Lights, & Modern Times
Worst: King in New York
Underrated: The Pilgrim
Kurosawa
Best: Dersu Uzala (of course, Ikiru is close.)
Worst: Kagemusha or Dreams
Underrated: The Idiot (SO underrated!)
Antonioni
Best: The Passenger
Worst: La Notte or Red Desert (Antonioni’s treatment of malaise is at its most sluggish here.)
Bergman
Best: Winter Light (of course The Seventh Seal & Wild Strawberries are close.)
Worst: The Passion of Anna
Fellini
Best: Amarcord (of course, La Dolce Vita is close.)
Worst: Satyricon, Roma, City of Women (all those self-indulgent messes.)
Melville
Best: Le Samourai
Worst: Les Enfants Terribles (because it’s not trademark Melville.)
Malick
Best: The Tree of Life
Worst: The New World (Malick’s ponderous philosophizing at its slowest and without any revelations.)
Scorsese
Best: Mean Streets
Worst: The Departed (the personal, almost autobiographical, moments in Mean Streets humanize and give depth to the characters, a depth which disappears in Goodfellas & Casino, and is completely gone in the utter waste that is The Departed.)
Oh, and New York, New York (stay away from musicals Marty!)
And his ’80s films (except Raging Bull.)
John Huston
Best: The Asphalt Jungle (copied, most blatantly by Godard, but never matched.)
Worst: Annie
Underrated: We Were Strangers (my favorite Huston film.)
Nick Ray
Best & Underrated: On Dangerous Ground (more than merely a solid noir, this film is poetic and spiritual.)
Worst: Bigger Than Life (did they really expect us to take this over-the-top drama seriously?)
“And his ’80s films (except Raging Bull.)”
Come on, After Hours is fantastic ;)
Tim Burton
Best: Big Fish
Worst: Alice in Wonderland
Oliver Stone
Best: Born on the Fourth of July
Worst: Alexander
Steven Spielberg
Best: Munich
Worst: War of the Worlds
David Fincher
Best: Zodiac
Worst: The Social Network
Tony Scott
Best: Spy Game
Worst: The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
George Lucas
Best: Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
Worst: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Jean Renoir: Best- Rules of the Game. Worst- Woman on the Beach
Akira Kurosawa: Best- Seven Samurai. Worst- The Most Beautiful
Ingmar Bergman: Best- Fanny and Alexander. Worst- Now About all These Women.
Luis Bunuel: Best- The Exterminating Angel. Worst- The Young One.
Orson Welles: Best- Citizen Kane. Worst- Mr. Arkadin.
Michelangelo Antonioni: Best- L’avventura. Worst- Zabriskie Point.
Robert Altman: Best- Short Cuts. Worst- A Perfect Couple.
Werner Herzog: Best- Aguirre the Wrath of God. Worst- Where the Green Ants Dream.
Wong Kar Wai: Best- Fallen Angels. Worst- As Tears Go By.
Hayao Miyazaki: Best- Spirited Away. Worst- Porco Rosso.
Really hoping this thread is a joke.
@DAN8700
Why? Every great director has a dud (and most dud directors have at least one redeeming film). So let’s see what people think.
McBean
Actually that’s a good point. I haven’t seen every single Hitchcock film, and no I haven’t seen Topaz or Family Plot. Then again maybe I’ll never see these two now that people are saying they’re no good – there are too many films people say are great for me to catch up on without taking a chance on something with a bad rep. So for now The Trouble With Harry it is for me.