'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

What are the biggest one hit wonder directors out there?

Please post their "one hit" film with the name, it'll help me with this :D Thank you!

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

First one that comes to mind is Richard Kelly, who directed Donnie Darko.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, directed The Lives of Others then made The Tourist.

Charles Laughton only directed Night of the Hunter so I'm not sure if he counts.

I think there's a thread on this around here somewhere, at least similar.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

It depends what "one hit" means.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Paul WS Anderson with Event Horizon.


The rest is dodgy at best yet he still gets gigs.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Richard Kelly for Donnie Darko
James McTeigue for V For Vendetta
Sam Mendes for American Beauty

Up to you posting that I thought the Wachowski's directed V. Mendes has some good flicks. I don't even think American Beauty is his best.

From the looks of it, it appears to be about filmmakers who have only made one good film while the rest have all been...not good. At least, that is my understanding and Cole can clarify if it he wants to.

That being said, I had that exact idea for a thread ages ago but obviously never got around to posting a thread (oh, well). My two main candidates for the "one good film" stipulation are Bruce Robinson and Alex Cox on the basis of Withnail & I and Repo Man respectively.

If a director's only known success is one movie and one movie only.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Guy Ritchie for Snatch

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

What about Billy Bob Thornton with Sling Blade.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Judy Berlin (1999) by Eric Mendelsohn.

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was great too. But then he went to sh*t, so we agree post Snatch.

LSaTSB was a mini-snatch! :p

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

A few of these really don't count.

Even if you don't like any of Guy Ritchie's movies other than Snatch, he made truckloads of money with the Sherlock Holmes films. Even if American Beauty is the only Mendes film you enjoy, he made the 11th highest grossing film of all time...

That does narrow it down an awful lot. I think Bruce Robinson would still count because Withnail & I is a cult success, while everything else he's directed hasn't matched up (not even The Rum Diary). Alex Cox might be different because I'm sure plenty of people will care more about Sid and Nancy than about Repo Man.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Peter Jackson with LOTR Trilogy.


The Hobbit trilogy isn't a patch on LOTR, King Kong is overblown and has little rewatch value. The rest of his stuff before LOTR is highly amateur and the stuff since LOTR has been bloated and full of hot air with little payoff.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Be interesting to see which directors are the opposite of a One Hit Wonder.


As in, every movie they've made has been gold, except for just one.

I wouldnt say gold, but Fincher's movies minus Alien3 are all good.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Tony Kaye - American History X
Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez - Blair Witch Project

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Also maybe Gregory Hoblit with Primal Fear.

I haven't seen any of his other films but I haven't heard anything great about them either.

Guy Ritchie has some decent films..... I think RocknRolla was a very entertaining and good film.

as was Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels :)

Tony Kaye also made ''Detachment'' which is a very good movie in my opinion...

The 1981 comedy classic Arthur was directed by Steve Gordon, who died a year later. I'm also pretty sure that the 1955 film Night of the Hunter was the only film directed by Charles Laughton and the 1972 film Beware the Blob! was the only film directed by Larry Hagman.

I think people are going by how good they think the films actually are as opposed to how much money they made.

Although I'd agree with both of those directors because they have other films that are well acclaimed.

Some of the names mentioned in here are incredibly subjective though and I doubt people have even seen many of the directors other films, like Tony Kaye, I think he made a documentary about abortion that was meant to be really good, and Detachment too. Loads of people love Jackson's horror films too.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

I thought the subject of the thread was directors who only directed a single film.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

I think "American Beauty" is a great example. Road to Perdition and Jarheads were alright, but I don't think he'll ever do a picture like his first.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Shouldn't it be other way around as the the latter film was made first? :p

WTF?!?!?!

Am I the only person who liked Skyfall?!?! (no, since it made over a billion dollars!!!)

Stuart Gordon - Re-animator
Tobe Hooper - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
M. Night Shyamalan - The Sixth Sense
Guillermo Del Toro - Pans Labyrinth
Joss Whedon - The Avengers
Mel Gibson - Braveheart
Kevin Smith - Clerks
The District 9 guy - District 9
James Cameron - The Terminator
John Carpenter - The Thing
d.W. Griffith - The Birth of a Nation
Alfred Hitchcock - that one movie that he kept making over and over again

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

M Night - Unbreakable
John Carpenter - Escape from New York, Halloween, Big Trouble in Little China
Alfred Hitchcock - You mean a revolutionary thriller he made over and over again? Don't see it as a problem.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Michael Cimino- The Deer Hunter (1978)

Yeah, I forgot about that one. I think you can still make a case for Shyamalan though, as Unbreakable isn't The Sixth Sense.
:sick::sick: I suppose it's just my prejudice against Carpenter. You could've even mentioned several more, but personally The Thing is really the only one of his films that I think of highly.
I have some thoughts on this statement, but I'll hold it for a more appropriate thread. Please excuse the slight argument bait; I really said that last one on impulse :D

Uh. What? Haven't you seen Intolerance or Broken Blossoms?

Also disagree with John Carpenter and Alfred Hitchcock, the rest I can see someone liking just one of their films though.

- Tobe Hooper I'm not agree because Poltergeist is also a great flick
- I'm agree with M.Night Shyamalan even if I don't like The Sixth Sense
- Guillermo Del Toro I'm not agree because he made several very good movie...
- Joss Whedon also made Age Of Ultron which is better than the first one Avengers in my opinion.
- I don't like Mel Gibson at all...
- Kevin Smith also made Clerks 2 which is in my opinion better than Clerks.
- James Cameron even if I HATE him he made several blockbuste like Avatar , Titanic and Aliens
- John Carpenter I'm TOTALLY disagree because Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13 are both masterpiece.
- I'm agree with your statement about Hitchcock but Psycho is an awesome movie.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

I agree with Shyamalan, even though the only movie by him I actually like is Signs.

I don't agree with Del toro though I absolutely loved Pacific Rim and few others by him

And I have to disagree with Sam Mendes as well I loved Road to Perdition unlike most people

Not a single one of those directors is a one hit wonder. Zero out of twelve. That's pretty bad.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

By the way, everyone who's seriously saying that Hitchcock just kept making one movie over and over again is extremely out of touch.

Do you know the definition of "One Hit Wonder"? :confused:

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

What is wrong with this world?

Oh boy....
I still stand by most of my list. I didn't write it to cater to popular opinion. I suppose it's more a reflection of my tastes. Yes, I'm aware that James Cameron made T2, Aliens, Titanic, and Avatar. Yes, I'm aware that Joss Whedon has a long resume of successful TV shows. And so on...
I also think it's a mistake to make the black-and-white Statement that none of these are one-hit wonders. It's my list and it's my tastes, not yours. It's as if you want me to adhere to popular opinion, which was absolutely not my intention. There are widely popular opinions and there are even films/directors that are factually well-made etc. but that doesn't mean I have to be on the bandwagon or even agree with the majority.
Yes, I know the definition of a one-hit wonder.
I kind of want to start a thread about this Hitchcock stuff, but maybe the egos are too much...

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Start it. I would love to know how his movies are the same thing over and over.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Person who signs up to forum to criticise other people's tastes and makes statement that Hitchcock makes the same film over and over again (despite making over 60 films) = not got a big ego

People who think Hitchcock hasn't made the same film over and over again in his large filmography = definitely lots of egos there.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

lol at person saying James Cameron is a one hit wonder.......he's like the direct opposite of a one hit wonder.

I'd love it if we could put aside who has the better movie tastes who's an idiot etc. for a minute.
I joined this website to talk movies, and not much more. I plan to continue doing this as of right now. I think the ideal kind of community for this sort of discussion is one where I can feel comfortable sharing my opinions etc. without being belittled or laughed at. I actually think that defeats the purpose of these kind of communities. To me, some pretty elementary qualities of good discussion is differed opinions and friendly debate. I think shutting down other people etc. devolves it to YouTube-style banter.
I'll leave it at that. My feelings aren't severely hurt or anything, and I plan to still visit these forums. I'm not too angry at anybody; I just believe that we can have more adult and interesting conversations than ones like these.

Psycho and Strangers on a Train are the two masterpiece of Hitchcock in my opinion... movies like Vertigo and Rear Window did absolutely nothing for me

He's not a ''one hit wonder'' he's more like a ''no hit wonder'' I completely hate him

If you're going to be extreme statements that are obviously going to be unpopular, you need to be prepared to back them up and willing to discuss them.

I don't think this has anything to do with opinions. You are entitled to your opinion.

I'm also not a fan of some of the directors that you named, but you still have to admit that they have already proven themselves as successful directors who are not "one hit wonders".

A "one hit wonder" is a director who has either only made one movie, or has made several movies, but only one of those movies was a hit. The directors that you named have all had multiple hits.

I would love to do that ;)

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

This forum is very open and welcoming. We were all new once and we will all tell you the same. However if you make extreme statements or throw out an extreme rating you will get an extreme response. We have all been there too. :)

I think saying Hitchcock, one of the most beloved directors of all time, has made the same movie over and over qualifies as an extreme statement.

I'm not saying I like his movies (there's a few I do like) but a lot of his movies have been financial monsters and critically acclaimed that's why I don't consider him a one hit wonder.

You made that post to get a reaction - you can't then complain about the reaction you receive. If you didn't post it to get a reaction then claiming that the dude who directed the two most successful movies of all time is a one hit wonder may be the worst post I have ever seen ;)

I like that one movie of his where the blonde lady is terrorised by outside forces and occasionally dies.

Anyway, the only truly objective way by which we can define a film as a success is on a financial scale, and in that sense many of Edo's choices don't fit because they are directors with multiple commercial successes under their belts. Edo seems like they would be aware of that distinction, and since this thread is full of subjective answers then of course they would follow suit.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

That's fine to say but we could literally do that with any genre or director, right? In truth there are not a lot of stories to tell. What is interesting is how compelling those outside forces are and what kind of stakes they create. The characters that are up against those outside forces. How it effects them and those around them.

I don't know if your actually agreeing with him or just having fun. Either way I can't imagine anyone watching Psycho, Rear Windiw, Dial M, and Rope and saying they have seen the same movie.

You got me, I was joking.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

When I hear "One hit" for a director I tend to first think of Michael Cimino. But even that is debatable. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot made money (but no one talks about it) but he hit Oscar gold with The Deer Hunter. Problem is after that Heaven's Gate was a financial disaster. Now the movie was hacked to death (and the original cut is now restored), but the theatrical release was a HUGE flop. After that was box office flops and disappointments and one final straight to DVD film.

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

I'd have to go with the man.... err I mean woman that directed the movie in my avatar. American Psycho.

EDIT: Might be smart if I put the director's name lmao.. Mary Harron.

True apart from Sam Mendes who also directed skyfall

Re: 'One Hit Wonder' directors?
 

Meir Zarchi for I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez for The Blair Witch Project
Xavier Palud and David Moreau for Ils - Them
Mark Waters for Mean Girls