Top 10 Most Overrated Film Directors

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

He cemented the idea of non-linear films into hollywood says one of the comments (? ). The idea from non-linear storytelling comes from Stanley Kubrick's movie " The Killing ". The movie " Pulp fiction " is just a copy of that movie with ingredients of another 50's movie, Robert Aldrich's " Kiss me deadly ". There's no originality in his movies and I think it's right like another comment says that he should stop " paying homage to exploitation films ". Taking ideas from existing movies from the past and write a script with those ideas, is not what I call " being talented ". Overrated!

The most overrated director working currently in modern society. While his 90's work still holds up extremely well today, his 21st century work is nowhere near as good. They are over stylish films with little substance, unpleasant violence and are too bleeding long. He should spend less time paying homage to the exploitation films he grew up and be concerned about making great films that stand alone. And get back into that editing room for God's sake!

2 James Cameron James Cameron is a Canadian film director, producer, screenwriter, and deep-sea explorer. He is best known for his films, The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Titanic, and Avatar. He is also the third person in history to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean and the only person to do it solo and unassisted.

He is seriously highly overrated. Only terminator 2 and aliens are his good movies but the rest of them suck. Ranging from the scientifically inaccurate, unrealistic avatar to the the boring and lengthy titanic. This director has done it all

I quite frequently argue that 'The Terminator' and 'Aliens' are his best films, because they were the ones in which he had the least creative control, because he has no creativity.

His technical achievements are marvelous, but he can't manage to develop characters.

3 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),... read more

His movies are just Hot Topic pandering at this point. Not everything has to be gothic, but Burton is a one-trick pony and doesn't seem to get that. Making every project of his dark and moody for the sake of it. He's predictable and boring. I enjoyed his earlier work when he was trying to get his foot in the door but enough is enough. I'd like to see him try doing something different for once. He's like stale weeks-old milk. I'd like to see some range. Good Directors have a wide range of styles and change things up every now and then but Burton continues to bash the same tired old drum over and over. It's boring and it makes him overrated as a result.

His films are rubbish. He's been acclaimed for years, has a huge fan base and just makes the same films over and over with the same cast.

He was good until he started doing the same crap over and over, nearly every single one of his new films just looks like he's trying to duplicate Nightmare Before Christmas but it just never works

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

Well, I don't think he deserves to be #1, but yeah he is still pretty overrated. While he has directed and wrote many great films over the course of his career, many people say that he is the best of the best and that his movies are totally flawless and perfect in every way. I'm, sorry people, but he is not a flawless director nor his films are. They all sometimes have prentetious dialogue, the pacing can really drag and most of his movies's endings feel weak. There are many other flaws that his films have, but I think people overlook them because the good stuff work so well, that they overshadow the things that are kinda boring, bland and prentetious. Overall he is a great director, but calm down people... he is not a god per say.

Fanboys. em.

Good director.
GOOD.

Nothing more. Oh sorry, apparently he's the next holy grail.
Fires me up that such incredible visionaries are overshadowed by people who went to see a movie at the cinema, and it was better than most other blockbusters they saw (ie transformers, fast and furious- the usual Hollywood drivel) and that makes him the god of film.

Maybe, for once in your lives, you should try to THINK- before you say something.

Not BAD, but so horribly overrated it kills me.
Try PT Anderson, Leone, Tarkovsky, Kurosawa, Bergman, Tarantino, Scorsese, Melville, Renoir, Hitchcock... ANYONE

And for those who say he's the next Kubrick- It is very clear you have never seen a Stanley Kubrick film. At least I hope not.

Nice to see him at no.3. At least some people agree

5 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.

Lucas might have borrowed some good concept, but his directing has always been very heavy-handed and questionable. The first Star Wars movie, though wildly popular on its release does not hold up but the Empire Strikes Back, in the hands of a qualified director, still looks good. Lucas' repackaging of the original three Star Wars films is an abomination. And really, let's not forget Howard The Duck and Willow.

Not at all overrated, but his talent window was sadly brief. THX1138 and Star Wars were masterpieces... and then *poof*

How is he overrated. He made the best movie franchise. Get him off right now please

6 Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor, and photographer. He is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most influential directors in cinematic history. He died at the age of 71.

He's a great director but there are others that are better than him.

I know he's revered and I might be making myself look stupid by admitting this but, I don't understand any of his films

His movies are good, but they always come with side effects like unnecessary scenes, overlong runtime, boredom, etc

7 Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, was an English-American film director and producer, at times referred to as "The Master of Suspense".

Alfred Hitchcock every time. Every Hitchcock I've ever seen always ended stupidly. It always looked like it would get interesting but it NEVER DID! In "Rear Window", there was an exciting tension scene that led to not very much. There's a small fight and they "confirm" the murders! Disappoints. In "Vertigo", there was the scene that everybody's heard of before and is tired with, and the rest is basically following this girl and not learning much for an hour, and then another hour watching the characters get to know each other again, before the most stupid ending in which there's a huge drama about them COMPLAINING about the scene that everyone's seen! In "Dial "M" for Murder", the film itself is OK, but it ends in spectacular stupidity, when they know that the detectives know who did it, but they just watch him for tedious minutes and then the film ends, without anyone seeing them do anything afterwards! In "The Birds", there is no ending to it. It all ends in the middle of the main event, where you leave it in the most random of all points in the story! We establish that birds attack people for some reason, and nothing else! That's like saying that mosquito brains are necessary for survival, or that blue cars are better than black cars, but not saying why!

So why do people like Hitchcock?! He doesn't know how to conclude a storyline and puts in a couple of good scenes that everyone's sick of hearing about, letting the rest of the film stink like medieval socks! What did anybody see in him?!?! That's a rhetorical question, there's nothing to see in him!

8 Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. Following his commercial breakthrough with the science fiction horror film Alien, further works include the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner, historical drama Gladiator, and science fiction film The Martian.

Well he was good... but not anymore... just like every other old directors... they don't go wit the flow... they're still stuck in the 80's... they are just old fashioned...

9 Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing big-budget action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic visuals and extensive use of special effects, including frequent depiction of explosions.

When in the history of mankind has anyone ever OVERRATED Michael Bay? I won't say he's underrated, but he's vastly under-appreciated. If his job is to make money for the studio... then it would only follow that the man is tremendously good at what he's being hired to do. Bay suffers from McDonald's syndrome; make something good enough for mass culture and advertise the hell out of it, then watch as the hordes empty their pockets before you. Everyone will buy your product and hate you later.

Sorry guys, Bay is a winner. The only man in his position to have ever earned his team more money is weirdly above him on this list.

I just have to respond to that stupid comment because of how stupid it is. That stupid question" When in the history of mankind has anyone ever OVERRATED Michael Bay" would be as stupid of a question if you replaced his name with the name of any stupid pop star on that question. So since he made a bunch of money for himself and the people he worked with, that makes him a great man? Gee, that would mean that El Chapo is a great man since he made a bunch of money for himself and many murderous drug traffickers. Bay does not have McDonald's syndrome, which is obviously something that you made up. Bay does not appeal to everyone, and neither does McDonald's, since most people aren't fat, and many people never were. Bay mostly appeals to teens and people with ADHD problems. That doesn't make Bay a winner. That just means that he appeals to his target audience. If he's a winner, then so are the people that made the baby geniuses films, the twilight films, or the films of the scary movie franchise. Another thing, several film directors made more for the people they worked with than Bay did, not just whatever director you claimed was the only one to earn more for his team than Bay did. The amount someone makes wouldn't matter to most people outside that person's inner circle. That's why most people could care less about how much money Escobar or El Chapo had made. Bay is the worst big budget filmmaker in history.

10 Spike Lee

A several-decade long career of inciting racial tensions and yelling at Reggie Miller with a small break to film Inside Man like a sane person.

Racist scumbag! There's no putting it gently.

The Contenders
11 Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing material for television in the 1950s, mainly Your Show of Shows (1950–1954) working alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon. He also... read more

Same jokes over and over again. Maybe two or three movies with a descent ending but otherwise his endings sucks on so many of his movies. His characters are most of the time always the same ( a lawyer, a girl who works on a art gallery, an artist, a writer... ). He's suposed to be great and the best director in showing us New York ( but it's always Mannathan, the village... I think that Martin Scorsese is a Thousand times better to show us the " real " New York ). There's also too many jewish comments and humor in his movies ( he's suposed to be an atheist? ). His ideas of most of his films have no originality ( most of his stories are rewritings of Ingmar Bergman movies ). I'm not saying that he's one of the worst directors and some movies ( not many ) are worth watching but he gets too many credits. Overrated!

Woody Allen: Do you like jazz?
Me: Ye-
Woody Allen: I mean do you really like jazz?
Me: Yeah I d-
Woody Allen: But seriously, do you like jazz?
Me: Shut Up!
Woody Allen: Ooh, I'm a neurotic Jewish New Yorkan, Oh, I need therapy, ooh.

12 Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their distinctive visual and narrative styles.

"Style over substance" or "All sizzle, no steak" are the expressions that come to mind when I think of Wes Anderson films.

All quirkiness and little substance.

13 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.

No. This is just...no. This man is a prolific director: Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones, ET, Schindler's List. Even Hook, while not a perfect movie, is still entertaining and well directed. There is no reason for this man to be on the list.

I hate it when people say "He makes movies for children." because that's not all true! So you really think Temple of doom, Schindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan are for kids? Of course not!

Steven Spielberg has made some good blockbusters, but none are good enough to be considered all time greats. Being prolific does not make you a great film director.

14 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... read more

If you vote this man higher on the list, I will assume that you've never seen anything the man directed before The Frighteners.

He gutted LOTR and he Hobbit, turning them into mindless and stupid action movies.

15 Zack Snyder Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder is an American filmmaker, best known for his action and science fiction films.

His only good film is his 1st film, the Dawn of the Dead remake, then he married his way into the industry, marrying a Warner Bros. chief executive and making the most pretentious pieces of garbage I've ever seen, e.g. Watchmen, Batman V Superman. There's nothing clever about hamfisted Jesus symbolism... Nothing! (Especially when it has no relation to the film what so ever)

He only made 3 good movies: Man of Steel, Dawn of the Dead, and 300! He made Sucker Punch, Batman v Superman, Legend of the Guardians, and Watchmen... All of which were bad... Or average.

Legend of the Guardians and Watchmen were both good but Man of Steel was trash.

16 Hayao Miyazaki Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist.

So tired of hearing about him, and how "great" his movies are.

17 Kenji Mizoguchi
18 Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of Midnight Express (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake Scarface (1983). Stone achieved prominence as writer and director of the war drama Platoon (1986), which won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. Platoon... read more

Let me ask ya something kids, do you think George Bush orchestrated 9/11? Yeah? Well do I have the director for you!

With the exception of 'Platoon' and 'Salvador,' and some of his edgier work, each of his films are American schmultz.

Platoon was amazing! What are you talking about?

19 David Lynch David Keith Lynch is an American director, screenwriter, producer, painter, musician, actor, and photographer. He has been described by The Guardian as "the most important director of this era".

Mulholland Drive made me want to jump off a cliff.

His movies are pretty weird but are great.

20 Danny Boyle
21 David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film director, film producer, television director, television producer, and music video director.

Said I do hearing about this guy everywhere I go. Yes such an overrated hack.

22 Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, and podcaster.

Kevin Smith and the end of the 90s was kind of like when a hippie stops doing so many drugs and realizes they have no idea why they were listening to the Grateful Dead that whole time.

23 Paul Greengrass
24 Paul Thomas Anderson

His films too self absorbed and long winded for me. I think I've tried to watch every single one of his movies and the only one I made it through was Magnolia (which I actually liked). The rest of them I never made it more than halfway through

The worst of all. Its impossible to stand his movies, Most of the scenes are useless and take movie in no direction. But major disaster is the dialogues, all his films require superb edit. In turn good edit can chop off those films by 45%

The dollar store Kubrick. An absolute hack fraud.

25 Darren Aronofsky

A one trick player! Can't even direct to save his life! Mother is going to bomb the box office! Why the hell is anyone even anticipated for it? Black Swan was his only good movie and the rest are trash! Take lessons from Spielberg or Ridley Scott please! But since he's already an insult to those great directors, I highly doubt it. Cause he is too busy hooking up with an overrated to the extreme annoying actress! Yeah, I'm talking to you, J Law.

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