Best Modern Film Directors (1980-Present)

The Top Ten
1 Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, film critic and author. His films are characterized by frequent references to popular culture and film history, nonlinear storylines, dark humor, stylized violence, extended dialogue, pervasive use of profanity, cameos and ensemble casts. ...read more.
2 David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film director, film producer, television director, television producer, and music video director.
3 Richard Linklater
4 Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan, CBE (born 30 July 1970), is a British-American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films have grossed more than US$5 billion worldwide and have garnered 11 Academy Awards from 36 nominations.

Born and raised in London, Nolan developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. After studying English literature at University College London, he made his feature... read more
5 Joel and Ethan Coen
6 Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their distinctive visual and narrative styles.
7 Edgar Wright
8 Paul Thomas Anderson
9 Darren Aronofsky
10 Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton is an American film director, producer, artist, writer, and animator. He is known for his dark, Gothic, eccentric, and quirky fantasy films such as Beetle-juice (1988), Edward Scissor-hands (1990), the animated musical The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), the biographical film Ed Wood (1994), the horror fantasy Sleepy Hollow (1999), and later efforts such as Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Dark Shadows (2012), and Frankenweenie (2012). He is also known for blockbusters such as the adventure comedy Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), the superhero films Batman (1989) and its first sequel Batman Returns (1992), the sci-fi film Planet of the Apes (2001), the fantasy drama Big Fish (2003), the musical adventure film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), and the fantasy film Alice in Wonderland (2010), which garnered a worldwide gross of over $1 billion.
The Contenders
11 Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson is a New Zealand filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, both of which are adapted from the novels of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkein. He is also known for cult films like Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, Dead Alive (Braindead), Heavenly Creatures, Forgotten Silver, and The Frighteners.
12 Rob Reiner Robert Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, and writer. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael Stivic on All in the Family, a role that earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s.
13 George Miller

By 1980-present, I mean they have to have started no earlier than 1980. Therefore, despite being great directors, Martin Scorsese and George Miller are ineligible for this list.

14 Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese (born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, four British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Directors Guild of America Awards. Scorsese has received various honors including the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2012. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". ...read more.
15 Bong Joon-ho
16 Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era, as well as being viewed as one of the most popular directors and producers in film history.
17 George Lucas George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as the founder of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic.
18 Greta Gerwig
19 Sam Raimi
20 Alejandro G. Iñarritu
21 Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and former special effects makeup artist.
22 Bernardo Bertolucci
23 Jean-Pierre Jeunet
24 Denis Villeneuve
25 Rian Johnson
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