Best Directing Debuts

[robk]

Among directors whose careers behind the camera got off to a fine start:

Orson Welles(Citizen Kane)
Kenneth Branagh(Henry V)
Kevin Costner(Dances With Wolves)
Steven Spielberg(Duel)
John Singleton(Boyz N the Hood)
Clint Eastwood(Play Misty for Me)
Barbra Striesand(Yentl)
Jodie Foster(Little Man Tate)
Denzel Washington(Antwone Fisher)
Dennis Hopper(Easy Rider)
Tom Hanks(That Thing You Do)
Ron Howard(Night Shift)
Rob Reiner(Stand By Me)
Mel Gibson(The Man Without a Face)
Roman Polanski(Knife in the Water)

[Grebdron]

Troy Duffy-Boondock Saints

[rushmore beauty]

Henry Selick - The Nightmare Before Christmas
Sam Mendes - American Beauty
Wes Anderson - Bottle Rocket
Richard Kelly - Donnie Darko

[Jasonite]

I agree with quite a few of your choices robk, but I'd add to that list:

Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
Christopher Nolan (Following)
and
Sam Mendes (American Beauty)



J

[syxxpac]

Bill Paxton - Frailty

[Mick]

Mark Romanek - One Hour Photo
Terry Gilliam - Monty Python and The Holy Grail

[notchreturns]

Terrence Malick - BADLANDS
Joel and Ethan Coen - BLOOD SIMPLE
Sofia Coppola - THE VIRGIN SUICIDES
Tood Field - IN THE BEDROOM
Spike Jonze - BEING JOHN MALCOVICH
Tim Roth - THE WAR ZONE
Alex Proyas - THE CROW
Quentin Tarantino - RESERVOIR DOGS
Kevin Smith - CLERKS
Robert Redford - ORDINARY PEOPLE

[Jerk Shapiro]

QT- Reservoir Dogs

Orson Welles- Citizen Kane

[JCLC11]

American Beauty - Sam Mendes
The Virgin Suicides - Sofia Coppola

[ColinM]

My favorites are the previously mentioned Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and Orson Welles (Citizen Kane).

[Buck Turgidson]

John Huston - The Maltese Falcon.

Plus, he wrote the screenplay, adapting the novel perfectly. An indicator of all his future greatness.

[charliebobo]

American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
In The Bedroom (Todd Field)
Ordinary People (Robert Redford)
The Brothers McMullen (Ed Burns)
Say Anything... (Cameron Crowe)

[JCLC11]

Originally posted by charliebobo
American Beauty (Sam Mendes)
Citizen Kane (Orson Welles)
In The Bedroom (Todd Field)
Ordinary People (Robert Redford)
The Brothers McMullen (Ed Burns)
Say Anything... (Cameron Crowe)

I cannot believe I forgot Field and Crowe!!!

[Voodoodoll]

Pretty much agree with everyone :)

I wanted to add Sam Raimi - Evil Dead and I think Pi was Darren Aronofsky's first (?)

[the movie guy]

Everyone previously mentioned...

... plus George Clooney for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

[bankholdup]

Kevin Smith - Clerks
Quentin Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs
Orson Welles - Citizen Kane (he was amazing)
Paul Thomas Anderson - Hard Eight

[Lady Summerisle]

Keith Gordon, former child actor (DRESSED TO KILL) -THE CHOCOLATE WAR . He went on to do some impressive films after his debut.

[ColinM]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Plus, he wrote the screenplay, adapting the novel perfectly. An indicator of all his future greatness.

*SPOILERS*

Agreed, I just wish he had the guts to kill off Gutman like in the novel. Regardless, though, a spectacular director and filmmaker...

[SIREN30]

If Citizen Cane was indeed Orson Welles' directorial debut, then it would have to be the most impressive...my Gosh!

However, if not, I'd have to say Peter Weir's immaculate Picnic At Hanging ROck was a marvelous directorial debut.

[Sparrow]

One I haven't seen mentioned: Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alan Cumming's "The Anniversary Party."

[quoth_the_raven]

Steven Spielberg's duel

i only saw this recently, on british tv, but i was totally blown away by it,. i really think its a hell of a movie.

[Scarface98.9]

I can't believe no one said this:

Mel Brooks-The Producers

[BadCoverVersion]

Tim Roth - The War Zone
Sofia Coppola - The Virgin Suicides
Mike Nichols - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Gary Oldman - Nil by Mouth
Richard Kelly - Donnie Darko
Bruce Robinson - Withnail and I
Quentin Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs
Lynne Ramsay - Ratcatcher*
Rob Reiner - This is Spinal Tap

*Lynne Ramsay directed 2 shorts before her film debut.

[Pootie]

sam mendes

[bob]

I'm pretty sure all of these have been mentioned before, but:

Orson Welles: Citizen Kane
Mel Brooks: The Producers
Wes Anderson: Bottle Rocket
Kevin Smith: Clerks
Sam Raimi: Evil Dead (only because it spawned two of the funniest movies of all time)

[notchreturns]

And another...


David Mamet - HOUSE OF GAMES

[MickeyKnox]

Sam Mendes wins a Oscar for his first movie that has to tell yah somehthing the guy can direct!

[markuskorpela]

Quentin Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs
George A. Romero - Night of the Living Dead
Peter Jackson - Bad Taste

[charliebobo]

Wasn't 12 angry men Lumet's first movie? If so, add him to my list

[pat00139]

How about:

Red Soghum (Zhang Yimou)
Boys Don't Cry (Kimberley Pierce)
Akira (Katsushiro Otomo, was his first full-length feature, did some segments in anthologies before)

Not that it's one of my favorite movies, but in terms of historical importance: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper)

Definitely agree with Mallick and Mendes (even though he's not the first first-time director to win the Oscar).

Not to be anal or anything, but Spielberg's Duel was originally a TV-movie (and not even his first one at that). That doesn't make his theatrical debut any less impressive: Jaws.

[The Professional]

Originally posted by pat00139

Not to be anal or anything, but Spielberg's Duel was originally a TV-movie (and not even his first one at that). That doesn't make his theatrical debut any less impressive: Jaws.

hehe, it was actually The Sugarland Express.

[The Professional]

Katherine Bigalow - Near Dark
Luc Besson - Le Dernier Combat
George Miller - Mad Max
Micheal Cimino - Thunderbolt & Lightfoot
Joel Coen - Blood Simple
Lawrence Kasdan - Body Heat
Alex Cox - Repo Man
Dan O' Bannon - Return of The Living Dead
James Toback - Fingers
Micheal Mann - Thief
George Armatage - Miami Blues
Boaz Yakin - Fresh
Curtis Vondie-Hall - Gridlock'd
Sean Penn - The Indian Runner
Peter Bogdonavich - Targets
Haskel Wexler - Medium Cool
William Peter Blatty - The Ninth Configuration
Clive Barker - Hellraiser
Bound - Wachowski's
Jean-Jaques Beineix - Diva