Better Director: James Cameron vs David Fincher

Malick and PTA maybe, but personally I would look a bit further afield than that for the best directors working today, I didn't really want to name names but since you asked: Directors like Andrey Zvaginstyev, Lars von Trier, Alfonso Cuaron, Celine Sciamma, Hirokazu Koreeda, Andrea Arnold, Michael Haneke, Darren Arronofsky, Chang Dong Lee, Park Chan Wook, Bong Joon-Ho, Xavier Dolan, Lynn Ramsay, Pawel Pawlikowski, Rueben Ostlund, Claire Denis, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Those are guys who, to me, seem to understand the medium and how to make it beautiful, more than most.

He probably is one of the best but because he's bloody good, not because of profits at the box office.

That's nuts. Makes it sound like de Caprio has the same remit as the Warner Bros Marketing Director.

I like Malick but he's FAR from being of my favorites, his post-TTOL work is atrocious on every single measurable level. His first 5 films are pretty good and have amazing cinematography though. So while I get what you say, I don’t think that makes you on par with people such as Coppola and Spielberg.

I like Arronofsky, Cuaron and Park-Chan Wook out that list, ill check some of the others.

Yeah, I agree with that.

Love me a bit of Park Chan Wook

This is off topic but Joint Security Area is solid, Handmaiden is great, Oldboy is a masterpiece and I like both vengeance movies.

Haven’t seen the rest of his filmography but he’s a great director. On par with Bong John Hoo.

The Handmaiden my favourite of his.

Oldboy for me.

Count me in as another supporter of the Assembly Cut of Alien3. Just bear in mind that, like the name suggests, it was "assembled" by, I think the editor and some other crew member, from unused footage and cut scenes without the involvement of Fincher. Because of that, there are some incongruencies, I think, but it is definitely superior to the Theatrical Cut which, like you said, feels "unfinished" and chopped up.

But yeah, Fincher's production woes during that film are well documented. He abandoned the film during post-production, after constant clashes with the studio, and he doesn't even list it among his films.

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I know about that, and honestly it really does not feel like a Fincher film. I'll give it a watch next week.

His streak after it was pretty solid though.

Just be aware that while the narrative flow has been significantly improved in The Assembly Cut, and now actually makes sense, there is at least one scene where they couldn't salvage the original audio, so it becomes tough to hear certain lines etc. It's a rough cut, to be sure, but is still miles better than the theatrical, which says a lot.

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I kinda enjoyed it, far better than the theatrical but some issues are still here.

The ending is totally changed btw, but atleast it fixes some unexplained moments and becomes a more complete film:

Agree. Still a flawed flick, but...

He did his best considering all the troubles during production.