Best Movie Directors that are talented, likable, & most interesting...
by eragonbookfan | created - 07 Sep 2014 | updated - 25 Feb 2023 | PublicScorsese, Tarantino, Kubrick, Hitchcock??? PAH! Get the HECK out of here! I don't care an *iota* about those cliche'd overrated guys, or even their movies - their flicks are weird, harsh, and mostly just downright uncomfortable to sit through! This is a list dedicated to those directors who can make great movies that appeal to major general audiences - some who particularly deserve a lot more attention.
1. Alex Kendrick
Actor | Courageous
Born in Athens, Georgia as the middle of Rhonwyn and Larry Kendrick's three sons. He grew up in Smyrna, Georgia and graduated from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor's degree in Communications. He worked as a Christian DJ for two radio stations before attending New Orleans Baptist ...
Facing the Giants was indeed a GIANT surprise - quite compelling, moving, creative, funny at times, and all with great acting!
2. Walt Disney
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Flora Disney (née Call) and Elias Disney, a Canadian-born farmer and businessperson. He had Irish, German, and English ancestry. Walt moved with his parents to Kansas City at age seven, where he spent the majority of ...
Hey, his films are what most of us have been introduced to at a young age! ;) BTW, if a biopic of Walt is ever made... GET EDWARD NORTON to play him!! He looks a LOT like him!!
3. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
Lord of the Rings & the Hobbit all the way, baby!
(Though don't bother spending time watching "King Kong" - that was an overrated & offensive disappointment.)
4. George Lucas
Writer | Star Wars
George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...
Say what you want, but I'm a fan of the Star Wars movie, prequels & originals!
5. David A.R. White
Producer | God's Not Dead
David A.R. White has been a working actor, director and producer in Los Angeles for over twenty years. He was raised in a small Mennonite farming community outside of Dodge City, Kansas.
At the age of 19, David moved to LA, and only six months after moving, landed a recurring role on the hit top 10,...
I think his film "The Encounter" (2010) is a much dialogue film than "pulp fiction" for sure. lol
6. Jim Henson
Soundtrack | The Muppet Show
Jim Henson never thought that he would make a name of himself in puppetry; it was merely a way of getting himself on television. The vehicle that achieved it was Sam and Friends (1955), a late-night puppet show that was on after the 11:00 news in Washington DC. It proved to be very popular and ...
Childhood all his material!
7. Joss Whedon
Producer | Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Joss Whedon is the middle of five brothers - his younger brothers are Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon. Both his father, Tom Whedon and his grandfather, John Whedon were successful television writers. Joss' mother, Lee Stearns, was a history teacher and she also wrote novels as Lee Whedon. Whedon was ...
WOW, man!
That MARVEL was one of the best movies I've ever seen EVER!
(Almost like Brad Bird's long-lost cousin!)
8. Nick Park
Writer | Chicken Run
Nick Park was born on December 6, 1958 in Preston, Lancashire, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Chicken Run (2000), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers (1993).
The British "Jim Henson", of Plasticine!
9. Harold Ramis
Writer | Ghostbusters
Born on November 21, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, Harold Allen Ramis got his start in comedy as Playboy magazine's joke editor and reviewer. In 1969, he joined Chicago's Second City's Improvisational Theatre Troupe before moving to New York to help write and perform in "The National Lampoon Show" ...
Ramis will be remembered because of Groundhog Day and his GENIUS directing skills! He deserved an OSCAR for that film!
10. Noboru Nakamura
Director | Koto
Noboru Nakamura was born on August 4, 1913 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Twin Sisters of Kyoto (1963), Sekishun (1967) and Nami (1952). He died on May 20, 1981 in Japan.
Directed my most favorite movie of all time, a Japanese film, called "Shiokari Pass".
11. Phil Vischer
Actor | Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
Phil Vischer is an American animator, writer, voice actor and director who is known for co-creating VeggieTales alongside his friend Mike Nawrocki. He is the founder of Big Idea, an animation company that also made 321 Penguins and LarryBoy: The Cartoon Adventures. He voiced dozens of characters ...
VeggieTales, VeggieTales, VeggieTales, VeggieTales...
12. Frank Oz
Actor | The Muppet Show
Frank Richard Oznowicz was born in Hereford, England to puppeteers Frances and Isidore Oznowicz. His family moved to Montana in 1951, eventually settling in Oakland, California. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice puppeteer at Children's Fairyland amusement park. He is one of the primary ...
His "Indian in the Cupboard" was a pleasant little surprise!
13. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
Hook, The Terminal, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List.... He's even Jewish, and that makes a lot of sense why they're so good!
14. Cecil B. DeMille
Producer | The Ten Commandments
His parents Henry C. DeMille and Beatrice DeMille were playwrights. His father died when he was 12, and his mother supported the family by opening a school for girls and a theatrical company. Too young to enlist in the Spanish-American War, Cecil followed his brother William C. de Mille to the New ...
Ten Commandments & The Greatest Show on Earth are MUST-WATCH films!
15. Ben Affleck
Producer | Argo
Benjamin Géza "Ben" Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to mother Chris Anne (Boldt), a school teacher, and father Timothy Byers "Tim" Affleck, a social worker. Ben has a younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, who was born in 1975...
I didn't necessarily like Argo, but I certainly did find "The Town" to be quite impressive. Batman
16. Chris Columbus
Producer | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, Chris Columbus was first inspired to make movies after seeing "The Godfather" at age 15. After enrolling at NYU film school, he sold his first screenplay (never produced) while a sophomore there. After graduation Columbus tried to sell his fourth script, "...
17. Penelope Spheeris
Director | Suburbia
Spheeris is often referred to as a 'rock 'n roll anthropologist'.
In 1974 she formed the first Los Angeles music video production company, ROCK 'N REEL. She concluded her music video work with the Grammy-nominated, "Bohemian Rhapsody" video for "Wayne's World". Spheeris' feature film debut was the ...
I LOVE "The Little Rascals" still to this day!
18. Justin Lin
Producer | Better Luck Tomorrow
Justin Lin is a Taiwanese-American film director whose films have grossed $2 billion worldwide. He is best known for his work on Better Luck Tomorrow, The Fast and the Furious 3-6 and Star Trek Beyond. He is also known for his work on television shows like Community and the second season of True ...
19. Roberto Benigni
Actor | La vita è bella
Roberto Benigni was born on October 27, 1952 in Manciano La Misericordia, Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany, Italy. He is an actor and writer, known for Life Is Beautiful (1997), The Tiger and the Snow (2005) and Down by Law (1986). He has been married to Nicoletta Braschi since December 26, 1991.
Life certainly is beautiful Roberto when you choose to look at it that way.
20. Michael Bay
Producer | Armageddon
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Michael Bay spent his 20s working on advertisements and music videos. His first projects after film school were in the music video business. He created music videos for Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Lionel Richie, Wilson Phillips, Donny Osmond and Divinyls. His work won...
Say what you want about the "Transformers" franchise - they ROCK!!! I've never really understood the negativity bashed against these films, and I likely never will.
21. Jon Favreau
Producer | Chef
Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.
The amiable, husky-framed actor with the ...
Iron Man = amazing!
22. Sam Raimi
Director | Spider-Man
Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood, Raimi was a fan of the cinema and, before he was ten-years-old, he was out making ...
Though forget the "Evil Dead" franchise - that series is one steaming pile of outright disgusting GARBAGE!
23. Nancy Meyers
Writer | It's Complicated
Nancy Jane Meyers is an American filmmaker. She has written, produced, and directed many critically and commercially successful films including Private Benjamin (1980), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), Baby Boom (1987), Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), The Parent ...
"The Parent Trap" with Lindsay Lohan was perhaps even better than the Haley Mills version. ;)
24. Rob Reiner
Actor | All in the Family
Robert Reiner was born in New York City, to Estelle Reiner (née Lebost) and Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer, and producer Carl Reiner.
As a child, his father was his role model, as Carl Reiner created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Estelle was also an inspiration for him to become a ...
THE PRINCESS BRIDE!!! C'mon, guys! Feature this on Reiner's iMDb profile next time!
25. Stephen Sommers
Producer | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Stephen Sommers was born on March 20, 1962 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, he attended St. John's University and the University of Seville in Spain. Afterward, Sommers spent the next four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout ...
Jungle Book (1994) is quite underrated, and I hope this remake may draw quite a bit of attention to it ;)
26. Zack Snyder
Director | 300
Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and ...
Batman & Superman have gotten a director they both need & deserve!
27. Bille August
Director | The House of the Spirits
Bille August was born on November 9, 1948 in Brede, Denmark. He is a director and writer, known for The House of the Spirits (1993), Pelle the Conqueror (1987) and Les Misérables (1998). He is married to Sara-Marie Maltha. He was previously married to Pernilla August, Masja Dessau and Annie ...
In my opinion, his version of Les Miserables (1998) was better than the 2012 remake.
28. Brad Bird
Writer | The Incredibles
Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...
Also, don't forget "the Iron Giant" - that cartoon was the first film of his I ever saw!
29. Dean DeBlois
Writer | Lilo & Stitch
Dean DeBlois is a Canadian writer, director, and producer known best for having co-written and co-directed Disney's Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon (2010), both Oscar nominated. While working as an assistant animator and layout artist for Hinton Animation Studios ...
In my opinion, he should've won the Oscar for How To Train Your Dragon, instead of Toy Story 3.
30. Lionel Jeffries
Actor | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
With his bald head, firm jawline and bristling moustache, Lionel Jeffries played a nice line of English eccentrics. This belied his RADA training. Following military service in WWII, he played his major roles - everything from Grandpa Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) to the Marquis of ...
I did not KNOW that he directed Railway Children. ;)
31. Pete Docter
Writer | Up
Pete Docter is the Oscar®-winning director of "Monsters, Inc.," "Up," and "Inside Out," and Chief Creative Officer at Pixar Animation Studios. He is currently directing Pixar's feature film "Soul" with producer Dana Murray, which is set to release June 19, 2020.
Starting at Pixar in 1990 as the ...
Monsters Inc, Up, and now Inside Out! WHOA! Ain't he a talent! Just love his movies than can entertain both children & adults! ;D
32. Robert Rodriguez
Producer | El mariachi
Robert Anthony Rodriguez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, USA, to Rebecca (Villegas), a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. His family is of Mexican descent.
Of all the people to be amazed by the images of John Carpenter's 1981 sci-fi parable, Escape from New York (1981), none ...
His Spy Kids films are actually the best to watch!
33. Andrew Stanton
Writer | WALL·E
Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...
WALL-E & Finding Nemo were just incredibly breath-taking!
34. Sylvester Stallone
Actor | Rocky
Sylvester Stallone is an athletically built, dark-haired American actor/screenwriter/director/producer, the movie fans worldwide have been flocking to see Stallone's films for over 40 years, making "Sly" one of Hollywood's biggest-ever box office draws.
Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946, ...
I saw Rambo (2008), and it was AMAZING! Intense, violent, prolific, but all-round amazing!
35. John Lasseter
Writer | Toy Story 2
Although born in Hollywood, John and his twin sister Johanna were raised in Whittier near Los Angeles. His parents were Jewell Mae (Risley), an art teacher, and Paul Eual Lasseter, a parts manager at a Chevrolet dealership. His mother's profession contributed to his interest in animation and ...
Toy Story 2 is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies and favorite movies ever!
36. Ben Stein
Actor | Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Ben Stein (Benjamin J. Stein) was born on Nov. 25, 1944 in Washington, D.C. The son of noted economist and writer Herbert Stein, he grew up in Silver Spring, Md., and attended Montgomery Blair High School. Some of his classmates included journalist Carl Bernstein, and actors Goldie Hawn and ...
Say what you want... EXPELLED was quite an important & well-informative documentary, especially in this day & age.
37. Ben Stiller
Producer | Tropic Thunder
Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City, New York, to legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. His father was of Austrian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent, and his mother was of Irish Catholic descent (she converted to Judaism).
His parents made no real...
38. Harold Cronk
Director | God's Not Dead
Harold Cronk is known for God's Not Dead (2014), The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure (2012) and War Prayer (2006).
39. Charles Beeson
Director | Revolution
Charles Beeson was born on May 10, 1957 in Isle of Wight, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for Revolution (2012), The Whispers (2015) and Timeless (2016). He died on April 24, 2021 in Teddington, Middlesex, England, UK.
40. David L. Cunningham
Director | To End All Wars
David L. Cunningham is an international filmmaker known for striking visuals, authentic performances and dynamic subject matters.
For more than two decades, Cunningham has directed big budget Studio films (Fox, Disney, ABC), experimental and pioneering independent features, as well as hard hitting ...
41. Andrew Erwin
Producer | American Underdog
Andrew Erwin, is a director/ producer who began his career working as a duo with his brother Jon, known as the Erwin Brothers. After many years of directing award winning music videos for artists like Skillet, Switchfoot, Michael W. Smith, and Amy Grant, they went on to produced the award winning 9...
42. Jon Erwin
Producer | I Can Only Imagine
Jon & Andrew Erwin are a directing team that focus on developing and producing unique stories of redemption, faith, and triumph of the human spirit. The duo began their career as teenagers in their hometown of Birmingham, AL, working as camera operators for ESPN. Local games at the university of ...
43. Andrew Davis
Director | The Fugitive
Director/Producer/Writer) Andrew Davis is a filmmaker with a reputation for directing intelligent thrillers, most notably the Academy Award-nominated box-office hit The Fugitive (1993), starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. The film received seven Academy Award nominations including Best ...
44. Robert Stevenson
Director | Mary Poppins
Robert Stevenson was born on March 31, 1905 in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Mary Poppins (1964), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and Nine Days a Queen (1936). He was married to Ursula Henderson, Frances Holyoke Howard, Anna Lee and Cecilie L Leslie. He ...
45. Steven Crowder
Actor | The Covenant
Born in the US state of Michigan and raised in Quebec, Canada, Steven Crowder really had nothing going for him until he turned twelve. It was at that age that he was awarded the coveted role of voicing the character "The Brain" in the hit children's TV series, Arthur (1996). The role immediately ...
46. Rob Letterman
Writer | Monsters vs. Aliens
Rob Letterman is known for Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), Goosebumps (2023) and Shark Tale (2004).
47. Ron Clements
Writer | Hercules
Ron Clements is an American animated film director who collaborates with John Musker. They directed various Disney animated films including The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet, The Princess and the Frog and Moana. The Little Mermaid and Aladdin are ...
48. John Musker
Writer | Hercules
John Musker is an American animated film director who collaborates with Ron Clements. They directed various Disney animated films including The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet, The Princess and the Frog and Moana. The Little Mermaid and Aladdin are ...
49. Jeremiah S. Chechik
Director | Benny & Joon
Jeremiah S. Chechik was born in 1955 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a director and producer, known for Benny & Joon (1993), Christmas Vacation (1989) and Gossip Girl (2007).
TALL TALE (1995) is one of my favorite Disney westerns...!!
50. Jeff Fowler
Director | Sonic the Hedgehog
Jeff Fowler is an American filmmaker, animator and visual effects artist who directed the Sonic the Hedgehog film series and the Knuckles show, adapted from the best selling Sega video game franchise of the 1990s. He also directed the short Gopher Broke at Blur Studio and animated Where The Wild ...
51. Dallas Jenkins
Director | The Chosen
Dallas Jenkins produced the independent feature Hometown Legend at the age of 25 and shepherded it to distribution by Warner Brothers. He made his directing debut with the short film Cliché, and his next short film, Midnight Clear, starring Stephen Baldwin, won a Crystal Heart Award from the ...
52. Paris Barclay
Producer | NYPD Blue
A preeminent force in television entertainment, Paris Barclay has directed nearly 200 episodes of television and was active as a Director/Producer for series including: Station 19, Pitch, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Cold Case, City of Angels and NYPD Blue. He also has directed episodes of a wide...
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