Top Ranked Films by Director Posts

Our Posts on Top Ranked Films by the Top 300 Directors
[Ranked by the director's overall points, shows # of film titles in the top 1000 and overall points for those films]

Hitchcock and Truffaut

[Updated 10.31.11]  Expanded to 300

Follow the links for each post.. we're adding them as we post each director

Rank-Director-#Films [Points]
1. Hitchcock, Alfred #14 [64881] Overrated [I'd have Kubrick or Kurosawa #1]
2. Kubrick, Stanley #11 [57302]
3. Scorsese, Martin #13 [54060]
4. Kurosawa, Akira #11 [47529]  *Underrated
5. Godard, Jean-Luc #12 [41002]  Overrated
6. Bergman, Ingmar #12 [40929]  Overrated
7. Spielberg, Steven #7 [38147]
8. Chaplin, Charles #8 [37417]  Overrated
9. Fellini, Federico #9 [35022]
10. Coppola, Francis Ford #4 [32229]
11. Ford, John #10 [32107]
12. Wilder, Billy #7 [31120]  *Underrated
13. Buñuel, Luis #10 [31040]
14. Welles, Orson #6 [27256]
15. Coen, Joel and Ethan #10 [26803]
16. Bresson, Robert #8 [25877]
17. Polanski, Roman #5 [25530] Overrated
18. Hawks, Howard #8 [25343]
19. Keaton, Buster #7 [22817]
20. Allen, Woody #6 [22541]
21. Tarantino, Quentin #5 [22495]  Overrated
22. Tarkovsky, Andrei #7 [21663]  Overrated
23. Renoir, Jean #8 [21372]  *Underrated
24. Leone, Sergio #4 [21210]  Overrated
25. Lang, Fritz #4 [21131] 
26. Antonioni, Michelangelo #6 [21045] 
27. Scott, Ridley #4 [20824] 
28. Lean, David #5 [20784]  *Underrated
29. Truffaut, François #5 [20408]
30. Lynch, David #6 [20400]  Overrated
31. Dreyer, Carl Theodor #5 [19997]
32. Cameron, James #5 [19369]
33. Altman, Robert #7 [19243]
34. Powell, Michael #8 [19155] *Underrated
35. Eastwood, Clint #5 [18885] 
36. Capra, Frank #4 [18411]
37. Eisenstein, Sergei #7 [18094]  *Underrated
38. Murnau, F.W. #5 [18076] 
39. Miyazaki, Hayao #6 [18021]  Overrated
40. Visconti, Luchino #8 [17919]
41. Huston, John #5 [17680] 
42. Lumet, Sidney #5 [17393] 
43. Jackson, Peter #3 [17076]
44. Nolan, Christopher #5 [16073] Will rise more over time
45. De Sica, Vittorio #3 [15777]  *Underrated
46. Mizoguchi, Kenji #5 [15534] 
47. Bertolucci, Bernardo #5 [15127]  *Underrated
48. Fleming, Victor #2 [15032]  Overrated [only 2 titles made the polls]
49. Forman, Milos #3 [14737]
50. Rossellini, Roberto #6 [14671]

Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini

"Scratch my back, and.. "

.. ok, here's the rest of the list of directors.. up to 301 anyway.
George Cukor, 108th? good grief..

51. Kieslowski, Krszystof #6 [14576]
52. Gilliam, Terry #4 [14392]  Overrated
53. Anderson, Paul Thomas #4 [13990]
54. Kazan, Elia #3 [13688]  *Underrated
55. Malick, Terrence #4 [13683] 
56. Herzog, Werner #5 [13638] 
57. Almodóvar, Pedro #5 [13429] 
58. Griffith, D.W. #3 [13198] Overrated
59. Resnais, Alain #5 [13162]
60. Sturges, Preston #4 [13154] 
61. Wyler, William #4 [13008]  *Underrated
62. Fassbinder, Rainer Werner #6 [12837]
63. Lasseter, John #3 [12806]  
64. Fincher, David #4 [12755] 
65. Ozu, Yasujiro #4 [12725] 
66. Cassavetes, John #5 [12669]  Overrated
67. Kiarostami, Abbas #7 [12625]  Overrated
68. Wong Kar-Wai #5 [12544]  *Underrated
69. Curtiz, Michael #3 [12398] *Underrated
70. McCarey, Leo #4 [11916]
71. Reed, Carol #3 [11909]  *Underrated
72. Lubitsch, Ernst #5 [11597]
73. Lucas, George #2 [11435] Overrated
74. Ophüls, Max #4 [11419]  *Underrated
75. Cronenberg, David #6 [11293] Overrated
76. Pasolini, Pier Paolo #4 [11149]
77. Wenders, Wim #4 [11082]
78. Demme, Jonathan #4 [10819]
79. Melville, Jean-Pierre #4 [10778]
80. Ray, Nicholas #4 [10267]  *Underrated
81. Tati, Jacques #3 [10100] Overrated
82. Sirk, Douglas #4 [10048]
83. Clouzot, Henri-Georges #3 [10033]  *Underrated
84. Ray, Satyajit #5 [9953]  *Underrated
85. Boyle, Danny #3 [9917]
86. Aronofsky, Darren #3 [9885]  *Underrated
87. Peckinpah, Sam #4 [9876]
88. Zemeckis, Robert #3 [9822]
89. Friedkin, William #2 [9575]
90. Roeg, Nicolas #4 [9472] *Underrated
91. Minnelli, Vincente #5 [9392]
92. Bird, Brad #3 [9188]
93. Reiner, Rob #3 [9078]
94. Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly #2 [8908]
95. Laughton, Charles #1 [8796] The highest ranked director with just one film, the lukewarm reception to his film The Night of the Hunter caused Laughton to vow to never again direct, and he kept his promise
96. Stanton, Andrew #2 [8535]
97. Anderson, Wes #4 [8524]
98. Nichols, Mike #2 [8476] *Underrated
99. Lee, Ang #3 [8153]  *Underrated
100. Lee, Spike #3 [8099]

101. Zinnemann, Fred #3 [7846]
102. De Palma, Brian #3 [7725]  Overrated
103. Cocteau, Jean #3 [7611]
104. Linklater, Richard #4 [7581]
105. von Stroheim, Erich #3 [7565]
106. Sharpsteen, Ben #3 [7377]
107. Weir, Peter #3 [7237]  *Underrated
108. Cukor, George #3 [7191]  *Underrated
109. Hill, George Roy #2 [7152]
110. Mankiewicz, Joseph L. #1 [7138]  *Underrated
111. von Sternberg, Josef #3 [7094]  *Underrated
112. Leigh, Mike #4 [7063] 
113. Wise, Robert #3 [6944]
114. von Trier, Lars #4 [6732]
115. Jarmusch, Jim #3 [6706]
116. Cuarón, Alfonso #2 [6643] 
117. Van Sant, Gus #4 [6641]  *Underrated
118. Whale, James #2 [6615]
119. Pontecorvo, Gillo #1 [6595]  *Underrated
120. Hanson, Curtis #1 [6589] L.A. Confidential is the film
121. Mann, Michael #2 [6467] 
122. Tourneur, Jacques #3 [6365]  *Underrated
123. Demy, Jacques #3 [7719]
124. Cooper, Merian C./Ernest B. Schoedsack #1 [6222] King Kong is it for these two
125. Stevens, George #3 [6214]  *Underrated
126. Darabont, Frank #2 [6117]
127. Carpenter, John #2 [6068]
128. Jonze, Spike #2 [6020]
129. Romero, George A. #2 [5996]  Overrated
130. Yimou, Zhang #3 [5992]  *Underrated
131. Frankenheimer, John #1 [5960]  *Underrated
132. Burton, Tim #3 [5890] 
133. Carné, Marcel #2 [5792]
134. Greengrass, Paul #3 [5779]  *Underrated
135. Vigo, Jean #1 [5761]
136. Kershner, Irvin #1 [5736]
137. Vertov, Dziga #1 [5704] 
138. Mendes, Sam #1 [5643]
139. Lanzmann, Claude #1 [5638]
140. Fosse, Bob #2 [5562]
141. Campion, Jane #1 [5506]  *Underrated
142. Schnabel, Julian #2 [5496]
143. Cimino, Michael #1 [5416]
144. Tornatore, Giuseppe #1 [5344]  *Underrated
145. Rivette, Jacques #2 [5312]
146. Meirelles, Fernando #1 [5269]  *Underrated
147. Preminger, Otto #2 [5254] 
148. del Toro, Guillermo #1 [5164]
149. Soderbergh, Steven #3 [5107]  *Underrated
150. Mulligan, Robert #1 [5072]
151. von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel #1 [5033] 
152. Penn, Arthur #1 [5002] 
153. Erice, Victor #1 [4931]
154. Yang, Edward #2 [4927]
155. Singer, Bryan #1 [4893]
156. Boorman, John #2 [4833] 
157. Hand, David #2 [4760]
158. Mackendrick, Alexander #1 [4732]
159. Gondry, Michael #1 [4634]
160. Ramis, Harold #1 [4538]
161. Kelly, Richard #1 [4481]
162. Clair, René #2 [4466]  *Underrated
163. Hou, Hsiao-Hsien #3 [4448]  *Underrated
164. Lester, Richard #1 [4436]
165. Angelopoulos, Theo #2 [4332]
166. Ashby, Hal #2 [4332]
167. Frears, Stephen #3 [4319]  *Underrated
168. Wachowski, Andy & Larry Wachowski #1 [4314]
169. Zwigoff, Terry #2 [4275]
170. Wajda, Andrzej #1 [4182]
171. Rocha, Glauber #3 [4166]
172. Akerman, Chantal #1 [4157] Overrated
173. Tarr, Béla #2 [4155]
174. Sokurov, Aleksandr #3 [4141]
175. Haneke, Michael #2 [4100] 
176. Hamer, Robert #1 [4100]
177. Hopper, Dennis #1 [4070]
178. Rossen, Robert #1 [4062] 
179. Denis, Claire #2 [3951]
180. McTiernan, John #1 [3930]  Overrated
181. Payne, Alexander #2 [3924]  *Underrated
182. Takahata, Isao #1 [3864]
183. Franju, Georges #1 [3857]
184. Iñárritu, Alejandro González #1 [3852]  *Underrated
185. Snow, Michael #2 [3842] 
186. Peterson, Wolfgang #1 [3800]
187. Ivory, James #3 [3771]  *Underrated
188. Burnett, Charles #1 [3765]
189. Jeunet, Jean-Pierre #1 [3746]  *Underrated
190. Hooper, Tobe #1 [3716]
191. Parajanov, Sergei #2 [3639]
192. Coppola, Sofia #1 [3610]
193. Park Chan-Wook #1 [3582] 
194. Edwards, Blake #2 [3559] 
195. Milestone, Lewis #1 [3534]
196. Hooper, Tom #1 [3518]
197. Brooks, Mel #1 [3498]  Overrated
198. Avildsen, John G. #1 [3491]
199. Raimi, Sam #2 [3446]
200. Pollack, Sydney #1 [3439]  *Underrated
201. Wiene, Robert #1 [3392]
202. Flaherty, Robert #2 [3362]
203. Riefenstahl, Leni #2 [3310]  *Underrated
204. Kore-eda, Hirokazu #2 [3308]
205. Docter, Peter #1 [3246]
206. Blomkamp, Neill #1 [3231]
207. Bogdanovich, Peter #1 [3226]
208. Besson, Luc #1 [3220]  *Underrated
209. Shaffner, Frank #1 [3218]
210. Stone, Oliver #2 [3196]  *Underrated
211. Pabst, G.W. #1 [3178]  *Underrated
212. Rohmer, Eric #2 [3169]
213. Hirschbiegel, Oliver #1 [3119]
214. Solondz, Todd #2 [3118]
215. Cantet, Laurent #2 [3105] 
216. Dardenne, Jean-Pierre & Luc #2 [3103]
217. Argento, Dario #1 [3100]
218. Reitman, Jason #2 [3085]
219. Varda, Agnès #2 [3051] 
220. Schlesinger, John #1 [3042]  *Underrated
221. Kaye, Tony #1 [3018]
222. Bong, Joon-ho #2 [2973] 
223. Donner, Richard #2 [2943]
224. Malle, Louis #2 [2940]  *Underrated
225. Kusturica, Emir #2 [2923]
226. Ki-duk Kim #1 [2897]
227. Sturges, John #1 [2895]
228. Gance, Abel #1 [2888]
229. Egoyan, Atom #1 [2885]  *Underrated
230. Rafelson, Bob #1 [2868] 
231. Loach, Ken #2 [2854]
232. Mungiu, Cristian #1 [2851]
233. Ritchie, Guy #2 [2812] 
234. Abrams, J.J. #1 [2778]
235. Dovzhenko, Alexander #1 [2774]
236. Rosenberg, Stuart #1 [2756]
237. Ferguson, Charles #2 [2755]
238. Chomet, Sylvain #2 [2748]  *Underrated
239. Attenborough, Richard #1 [2742]
240. Levinson, Barry #1 [2742]  *Underrated
241. Clément, René #1 [2723]
242. Duvivier, Julien #1 [2723]
243. Assayas, Olivier #2 [2721] 
244. Crowe, Cameron #2 [2713]  *Underrated
245. Becker, Jacques #2 [2692]
246. Park, Nick #2 [2677]  *Underrated
247. Feuillade, Louis #1 [2666]
248. Wright, Edgar #2 [2665]
249. Browning, Tod #1 [2656]
250. Marquand, Richard #1 [2638]
251. Campanella, Juan José #1 [2625]
252. Sandrich, Mark #1 [2622]
253. Allers, Roger & Minkoff, Robert #1 [2604]
254. Aldrich, Robert #1 [2580]
255. Rodriguez, Robert #1 [2568]
256. Deren, Maya #1 [2506]
257. Ghobadi, Bahman #2 [2501]  *Underrated
258. Jones, Terry #1 [2500]
259. Bigelow, Kathryn #1 [2479]
260. Paronnaud, Vincent & Satrapi, Marjane #1 [2464]
261. Selick, Henry #2 [2444]
262. Marker, Chris #1 [2424]
263. Begnini, Roberto #1 [2420]
264. Audiard, Jacques #1 [2412]
265. Meyer, Russ #1 [2392]  Overrated, should not be on the list
266. Pakula, Alan J. #1 [2367]
267. Panahi, Jafar #2 [2362]
268. Dassin, Jules #1 [2297]  *Underrated
269. Ichikawa, Kon #1 [2278]
270. Folman, Ari #1 [2275]
271. Minghella, Anthony #1 [2247]
272. Marsh, James #1 [2225]
273. Klimov, Elem #1 [2212]
274. Eustache, Jean #1 [2183]
275. Vidor, King #1 [2176]
276. Jordan, Neil #1 [2174]  *Underrated
277. McTeigue, James #1 [2136]
278. Menzel, Jirí #1 [2106]  *Underrated
279. Bacon, Lloyd #1 [2098]
280. Anderson, Lindsay #1 [2066]
281. Shyamalan, M. Knight #1 [2055]
282. Hughes, John #1 [2018]
283. Trousdale, Gary #1 [1980]
284. Carney, John #1 [1969]
285. Olmi, Ermanno #1 [1956]  *Underrated
286. Siegel, Don #1 [1944]
287. Banksy #1 [1922]
288. Beatty, Warren #1 [1848]  *Underrated
289. Oshima, Nagisa #1 [1817]
290. McDonagh, Martin #1 [1816]  *Underrated
291. Weerasethakul, Apichatpong #1 [1804]  *Underrated
292. Niblo, Fred #1 [1794]
293. Madden, John #1 [1791]
294. Hicks, Scott #1 [1790]
295. Meadows, Shane #1 [1786]
296. Granik, Debra #1 [1782]
297. Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin #1 [1773]  *Underrated
298. Rapper, Irving #1 [1764]
299. Berman, Shari, and Pulcini, Robert #1 [1762]
300. Chen Kaige #1 [1760]  *Underrated
301. Dayton, Jonathan & Faris, Valerie #1 [1721]

Women directors really got the shaft. All these should be on this list: Lina Wertmuller (Italy), Mira Nair (India), Deepa Mehta (Indian-Canada), Susanne Bier (Denmark), Lone Scherfig (Denmark).

India's Mira Nair should be ranked

..and so should Susanne Bier of

Denmark, Oscar® winner this year

for In a Better World