Which filmmaker of this generation (thus far) will go down as the greatest?

[ToiletBug]

THis is hard simply because guys like Nolan, Jackson, and Singer still could do a lot. But if time stopped now I probably would have to go PJ simply because of the his trilogy. But it isnt an easy argument to make simply because of Nolans top 3 or 4 being awesome and Singer too.

What you guys think?

And it isnt who you think is the best but who you think will go down as the greatest like Hitchcock for the 40s and 50s. Or Spielberg for 80s 90s.

I forgot to put the Coens and Darabount in. If they get your vote....make a point of it

[ilovemovies]

Ranking them:

1. Quentin Tarantino
2. Sam Mendes
3. Christopher Nolan
4. Peter Jackson
5. Steve Soderbergh
6. David Fincher
7. Mel Gibson
8. Michael Mann
9. Sam Raimi
10. The Wachowski Brothers
11. Bryan Singer


They are all terrific though.

[Terror Australis]

Hmmm....It's pretty hard to choose 'cause some of them are pretty worthy. If I had to choose, i would have to go with Peter Jackson. Followed by Quentin Tarantino.

[Pulp_Joker]

From the poll:

1.Soderbergh
2.Tarantino
3.Nolan
4.Mann
5.Fincher
6.Jackson
7.Raimi
8.Singer
9.Wachowski's (all i will remember about these guys is the wicked awesome sex scene between Gershon and Tilly in Bound)
10.Ritchie
11.Gibson

The final should not be on the list. Plus I would throw in PTA, Alexander Payne, Wes Anderson, and the Coens. They would be ahead of 4 and after for sure.

[Rick-James]

Tarantino already made his place in film history. Peter Jackson too.

[jeo4]

Tarantino

[JackassFan]

Tarantino and Jackson.

[cuckoo2]

I voted for fincher but paul thomas anderson is the one that gets my vote

[ToiletBug]

Wait Paul T Anderson you think will go down as the greatest from our time??? Barely anyone in the mainstream has heard of him!

It isnt who you think IS the greatest...but who will GO DOWN as the greatest.

[Shockwave]

Tarantino for me.

[Le_Big_Mac]

Tarantino

[athf1980]

I voted for Peter Jackson because He as made one best of the triliogies, remake and splatters movies of all time

[creekin111]

Peter Jackson has already established himself as the Spielberg of the new century. Quentin comes in a close second because his buddy Rodriguez is a bad influence on him.:mad:

[Tagia_Romero]

I'm quite partial to Fincher.

[urbanlegend23]

PJ!

[RandalGraves]

In my eyes, none of these guys, but most people will prolly say Tarantino

[redorblue01]

Peter Jackson for sure and with good reason.
It's too bad Tarantino is getting this much recognition. He wouldn't be in my top 5 of these directors.

[bigred760]

While he still has a way to go, especially to get past and do more than just the LOTR trilogy, Peter Jackson made a great start post-LOTR with King Kong.

[echo_bravo]

I voted for Fincher. I just love the distinct look to his films. The cinematography is one of a kind and can be beatiful and chilling at the same time. There are also elements of Hitchcock in him too.

Those are a lot of good directors on there so there really isnt a wrong answer.

[Kikabi]

From the poll - top five

David Fincher
Peter Jackson
Christopher Nolan
Steven Soderbergh
Michael Mann

My favorites - top five:

Guillermo del Toro
David Fincher
Peter Jackson
Christopher Nolan
Alfonso Cuaron

I don't consider Mel Gibson, the Wachowski's or Guy Ritchie to be great filmmakers.

I'll probably get a lot of boo's here, but I don't think much of Tarantino as a director. I think he's a better writer. I disagree with creekin111. Tarantino could learn a lot from Robert Rodriquez about how to actually make use of the camera in creative ways. And I feel that Tarantino is slipping into becoming overrated.

Res Dogs - great
Pulp Fiction - great
Jackie Brown - Ok, gets points for actual characterization
Kill Bill Vol. 1 - most self-indulgent and shallow movie I've seen since Ballistic - Ecks vs Sever. Loses points for sheer lack of depth in the characters. I couldn't care less about the fate of the Bride at the end of this waste of 111 minutes, so I didn't bother seeing Kill Bill Vol 2..

Haven't see Grindhouse, but plan to, so maybe Death Proof will restore some faith in Tarantino. I hope so. But I wish he'd stop with the re-hashing exploitation movies and use his creative genius to give us something that's completely, uniquely his own.

[ToiletBug]

I agree about Tarantino. I NEVER liked him. And I thought KIll Bill was not good. My opinion of course as many love him.

[Cronos]

Peter Jackson

[Darth Frodo]

Peter Jackson

[Hominid]

Well if we're dealing with popularity here, Peter Jackson by far. Though even without it being a popularity contest the man is a genius.

[evilmonkey]

Tarantino is practically revered as a god even now, he's already going down as a great filmmaker. Same with Jackson but to a lesser extent. My pick would be Fincher. With Fight Club, Se7en, and Zodiac under his belt, he'll be remembered for his great style and unique stories. I think PT Anderson and Christopher Nolan will probably become more and more appreciated as time passes. However, Guy Ritchie shouldn't even be on the list. He's already nearly forgotten.

[ToiletBug]

Tarantino is no god. He writes a GREAT script but has NO IDEA how to make a shot interesting. His visual style fucking sucks...wait he doesnt have one. Nevermind there is nothing to actually suck.

[franky4fingerz]

I cant believe I was the first to vote for mann.Come on guys,jackson?seriously? the CG king. I did like king kong and dead alive though

[DrJellyfingers]

Originally posted by franky4fingerz
I cant believe I was the first to vote for mann.Come on guys,jackson?seriously? the CG king. I did like king kong and dead alive though

I love Mann but he will not go down as the greatest. Tarantino will.

[ToiletBug]

Tarantino will not go down as the greatest. He will go down as a director that made a certain kind of film that certain people will like. Peter Jackson has gone on to make arguably the most popular film ever made. And then King Kong after it which was pretty damn good. And PJ is the CG king simply because he knows how to use it and make it effective. Guys like Lucas just use it everywhere. The New star wars trilogy looks more like a fucking Pixar film then a star wars movie.

[JCPhoenix]

I'm not a big fan of Tarantino - I like his work, even love some of it, but as a whole, his filmography just doesn't impress me.

He makes highly post-modern films that are pastiches of other films - which is fine, I guess, but that kind of filmmaking turns me off. Don't get me wrong - I love postmodern films, but I need them to have a heart, to have some kind of core, and I like them to have some kind of meaning. His films feel empty to me and quite frankly, soulless. And he still hasn't moved past the homage stage, going from Kill Bill to Grindhouse - both films I dig (more so with Kill Bill) but which lack anything insightful. Essentially, his movies are exercises in style without any substance as far as I've seen.

To me, he's almost the equivalent of someone like Michael Bay - except that he's the film world's golden boy. I like the work of both, even love it sometimes, but to me, it's not much more than popcorn entertainment. Which is fine and all. Just that to me, a director needs more than that to be a "great" director.

That all said, I think he will go down in history as one of the greatest. That's already been shown considering his name recognition is way above any of the other directors listed.

In any case my personal ranking would be (this is not who I think will be considered the greatest but who I dig the best):

01. Christopher Nolan
02. Sam Mendes
03. Steven Soderbergh
04. David Fincher
05. Peter Jackson
06. Michael Mann
07. Quentin Tarantino
08. Bryan Singer
09. Sam Raimi
10. Guy Ritchie
11. Mel Gibson
12. The Wachowski Bros

As far as the greatest goes, I think Tarantino, followed by Mann, Soderbergh, and Jackson have the best chances right now. But again, that's because a lot of the other directors mentioned haven't done enough yet to prove their worth. And like others have said, there's a few directors missing...PT Anderson would be top 3 for me both in personal favorites and as greatest directors go...Coens would be somewhere in the top bunch as well.

[Kikabi]

Originally posted by franky4fingerz
I cant believe I was the first to vote for mann.Come on guys,jackson?seriously? the CG king. I did like king kong and dead alive though

I like Michael Mann a lot - he's in my top five of who I think are the best directors of this lot. I prefer Fincher and Jackson as #2.

In defense of Peter Jackson, he's hardly the CG King. That would be George Lucas. Unlike Lucas, Jackson showed how CG can be used effectively to tell a story without the CG constantly hitting you over the head. Jackson used one CGI character in the triology to great effect, whilst Lucas used, what, at least a dozen, to lesser effect, imo.

Lucas hired Marton Csokas to play Poggle the Lesser something or another, then decided he wanted a CGI Poggle instead. So Csokas wore the silly CGI suit and played the scenes, knowing, at the time, Lucas intended to use his voice for the dialogue. But then, in post, Lucas changed his mind about using Csokas's voice for the scenes and had it all dubbed over with another actor's. So, I suppose what's left of the real actor's performance is some of the CGI Poggle's movements.

At least Marton Csokas got paid for his work. But I find Lucas's attitude is downright scary.

Didn't mean to go on. I guess the point is that Lucas erased an actor to make the character completely CGI. Jackson started off believing that Smeagol was going to be completely CGI but realized along the way the best way to do that is to have the actor fully participating. Thus, Andy Serkis got a well-deserved cast credit for LOTR. Marton Csokas received none for Attack of the Clones.

[ToiletBug]

Tarantino has a solid fanbase but I do disagree with a lot of you guys when you are saying that he will go down as that great of a director. He still needs a couple more masterpieces before that happens. Im not a die hard fan at all of this guy but I think his films can range from eh to pretty solid. I agree with the above poster though...this man is NO better then Michael Bay. NO BETTER. It is a shame in society that is not the case. I think Michael Bay crushes Tarantino.

[Kikabi]

Originally posted by ToiletBug
Tarantino has a solid fanbase but I do disagree with a lot of you guys when you are saying that he will go down as that great of a director. He still needs a couple more masterpieces before that happens. Im not a die hard fan at all of this guy but I think his films can range from eh to pretty solid. I agree with the above poster though...this man is NO better then Michael Bay. NO BETTER. It is a shame in society that is not the case. I think Michael Bay crushes Tarantino.

While I agree with the majority of what JCPhoenx wrote, I wouldn't go so far as to say Michael Bay "crushes" Tarantino. Tarantino deserves to be considered with the other directors listed here. Bay does not.

But, again, I agree with JC's assesment. I love Res Dogs. I love Pulp Fiction. But I was so let down by Kill Bill Vol. 1 that I got bruises on my ass from the fall. Everyone's loving this movie, and I just don't get it because while I watched it, I couldn't believe how shallow it was. Tarantino can create such interesting characters, yet I developed no sense of interest, let alone sympathy, for The Bride. I'm waiting for someone to assure me that Kill Bill Vol. 2 is so much better and will make Vol. 1 seem more that it is. Or something.

I believe, years and decades from now Tarantino will have his place in history, but not as one of the greatest of our time (1990's-2010, let's say) as a director. History tends to sort these things out.

Yes, the Coen Brothers deserve to be listed here. If done over, I'd say, erase Ritchie and Walchowskis and put in the Coens and Anderson, at least. Sad to say, my feelings about PT Anderson is that his masterpiece, Magnolia, is so far behind him, that he may well be remembered only for that. But I suppose we'll have to see how his There Will Be Blood turns out.

[DrJellyfingers]

Originally posted by Kikabi
While I agree with the majority of what JCPhoenx wrote, I wouldn't go so far as to say Michael Bay "crushes" Tarantino. Tarantino deserves to be considered with the other directors listed here. Bay does not.

But, again, I agree with JC's assesment. I love Res Dogs. I love Pulp Fiction. But I was so let down by Kill Bill Vol. 1 that I got bruises on my ass from the fall. Everyone's loving this movie, and I just don't get it because while I watched it, I couldn't believe how shallow it was. Tarantino can create such interesting characters, yet I developed no sense of interest, let alone sympathy, for The Bride. I'm waiting for someone to assure me that Kill Bill Vol. 2 is so much better and will make Vol. 1 seem more that it is. Or something.

I believe, years and decades from now Tarantino will have his place in history, but not as one of the greatest of our time (1990's-2010, let's say) as a director. History tends to sort these things out.

Yes, the Coen Brothers deserve to be listed here. If done over, I'd say, erase Ritchie and Walchowskis and put in the Coens and Anderson, at least. Sad to say, my feelings about PT Anderson is that his masterpiece, Magnolia, is so far behind him, that he may well be remembered only for that. But I suppose we'll have to see how his There Will Be Blood turns out.

if you didn't have sympathy for her when she was shot in the head, had her baby taken away and went into a coma, part 2 probably won't change your mind.

[SpikeDurden]

I voted for Peter Jackson because The Lord of the Rings is such a massive achievement, and King Kong is a great film, not to mention his earlier horror and drama work.

But, I would've like to seen the Coen Brothers and P.T. Anderson on the list.

[LordSimen]

Originally posted by ToiletBug
Tarantino is no god. He writes a GREAT script but has NO IDEA how to make a shot interesting. His visual style fucking sucks...wait he doesnt have one. Nevermind there is nothing to actually suck.

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to heavily disgaree with you here, one of my favorite parts about Kill Bill 1 and 2 was his stylistic camera choices and shot frames. He's good at both.

He is a god, at least in my eyes, and has always struck gold with each of his work. He hasn't made a bad film yet (in my opinion) and is still going strong.

[LordSimen]

Originally posted by Kikabi

Didn't mean to go on. I guess the point is that Lucas erased an actor to make the character completely CGI. Jackson started off believing that Smeagol was going to be completely CGI but realized along the way the best way to do that is to have the actor fully participating. Thus, Andy Serkis got a well-deserved cast credit for LOTR. Marton Csokas received none for Attack of the Clones.


Actually he originally was going to go practical with Smeagol and was very skeptical about CG until he saw the test footages that showed it could be done. Now he loves CG.

I guess, in that way, he's like the modern day Spielberg, who had the same kind of reaction with Jurassic Park.