List of Directors' Best Films

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)




Last Updated: 9/23/26
Note: A ranked list of films is compiled for each director that's judged to be among his best works. The only requirement is he must have more than five films that received a rating of at least '7' from me.

Multiple parts (i.e. duology, trilogy, etc.) can be put together as one if there's a continuation in the narrative. Miniseries and telefilms are fair game, but documentaries are excluded. These films have made the cut when I think about cultural phenomenon, uniqueness, famous movie moments, iconic scenes and/or lines, cinematic power, and timelessness.



  1. Robert Aldrich
  2. Robert Altman
  3. Michael Apted
  4. Harold Becker
  5. James Cameron
  6. John Carpenter
  7. Larry Clark
  8. Brian De Palma
  9. Richard Donner
  10. Clint Eastwood
  11. Francis Ford Coppola
  12. Miloš Forman
  13. John Frankenheimer
  14. William Friedkin
  15. John Guillermin
  16. Alfred Hitchcock
  17. John Huston
  18. Stanley Kubrick
  19. Sidney Lumet
  20. Michael Mann
  21. Mike Nichols
  22. Rob Reiner
  23. Michael Ritchie
  24. Paul Schrader
  25. Joel Schumacher
  26. Martin Scorsese
  27. Tony Scott
  28. Don Siegel
  29. Steven Spielberg
  30. Oliver Stone
  31. Robert Wise
  32. William Wyler