Best Director of Each Decade

Who do you think was the best filmmaker of each decade? For me:

50s and 60s: Alfred Hitchcock

70s: Francis Ford Coppola

80s: James Cameron (I guess. Nobody else really had a slew of masterpieces during this time period)

90s: Martin Scorsese

00s: Christopher Nolan

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Just starting with the 1980s, I hardly think Jim Cameron's output of The Terminator, Aliens, and The Abyss (not even counting Piranha II: The Spawning) could reasonably be considered the "best" director of that decade. You'd have to argue pretty hard.

Off the top of my head, Woody Allen made about ten films in that period, including Crimes & Misdemeanors, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Purple Rose of Cairo, and Zelig (among others). Rob Reiner's career started off like gangbusters with This is Spinal Tap, The Sure Thing, The Princess Bride, Stand by Me and When Harry Met Sally.... Peter Weir had a great decade starting with Gallipoli, ending with Dead Poets Society and sandwiching Witness, The Mosquito Coast and The Year of Living Dangerously. Marty Scorsese had Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, After Hours, and The Last Temptation of Christ (plus The Color of Money). Spielberg had an "OK" run, I think you'll admit, with Raiders of the Lost Ark and the first two Indiana Jones sequels, E.T., The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun and Always. Even John Carpenter I'd argue had a better overall decade than Cameron, with The Thing, Starman, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, Christine, They Live, The Fog. Barry Levinson started out very fine with Diner, Tin Men, The Natural, Good Morning Vietnam and Rain Man. Hell, even John Hughes with Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes Trains and Automobiles, Uncle Buck, Weird Science and She's Having a Baby.

Those are not obscure names, and all of them had more than only three films in the 1980s. And that's not even getting into filmmakers working in foreign languages or the more arthouse fare.


But you can pick Cameron if you want.

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I do not like these kinds of threads, but they apparently make the world go 'round.

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@HitchFan97

How is James Cameron the Best director for the 80s and Hitchcock the Best director for BOTH the 50s and 60s?? Coppola has made too few films to be called the best of the 70s anyway.

This is a very subjective question but the answer I think would depend more on the quality of work than the quantity. If I was to compare two Japanese directors whose work I know very well, I would have to say that even though Takeshi Miike made far more movies than Takeshi Kitano, Kitano's overall quality is higher.

If I compare Coppola's work to Woody Allens, I still like Coppola. Here's a case of Allen where he's consistency in making good movies is no doubt better but after all is said and done, he still has not made a movie that will never be fogotten such as Godfather and Apacolypse Now. How does one compare Annie Hall or Match Point to that?

Keep in mind, I haven't seen many films outside of Hitchcock from the 50s or 60s. But between Godfather I & II and Apocalypse Now, Coppola was a no-brainer for the 70s, imo.

I'm not going to base mine off quantity, I will base it off of the quality that I have seen:

30's- Capra
40's- Ford
50's- Hitchcock
60's- ?
70's- ?
80's- ?
90's- Spielberg
00's- Eastwood

00s: Christopher Nolan,Martin Scorsese,Woody Allen

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What about the 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s ?

Man, the original poster could barely get the '50s and '60s, you think he's going back to the beginnings of the industry?

Another Bergman fan.

20s- Buster Keaton
30s- ?
40s-?
50s- Hitchcock
60s- TIE Kubrick & Polanski
70s- Coppola
80s- Spielberg
90s- Coen Brothers
00s- Tarantino
10s- so far Nolan

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50s: Hitchcock.

60s: Kubrick.

70s: Tough choice... Coppola, Hooper, Spielberg, Friedkin, Peckinpah... if I had to pick just one... Coppola.

80s: Again, tough choice... Hooper, Spielberg, Cameron, Verhoeven, Donner, Dante... if I had to pick just one... Donner.

90s: Another tough desicion... Tarantino, Cameron, Zemeckis, Spielberg, Scorsese, Coen Brothers... if I had to pick just one... Cameron.

00s: Nolan.

10s: Nolan.



The 70s, 80s and 90s were the Golden Era of movies for me... many, many good directors/writers... many, many decent movies.

Those that were at the top of their game, way back in the day, have now gone stale and most of the new guys are poop too.

These days the movie biz is a bit like the 50s and 60s, it's a very exclusive club with only a handful of genuinely talented Directors.

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50s: Alfred Hitchcock
60s: Stanley Kubrick
70s: Francis Ford Coppola
80s: Steven Spielberg
90s: David Fincher
20s: Christopher Nolan
10s: Verdict is still out but I have to say I think that P.T Anderson is going to make some great films this decade. But so far Christopher Nolan.

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Let me get this straight, everyone citing Nolan for 2010s is doing so off the back of Inception or in presumption of TDKR being good?

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I think that cinemaffi has a point. This is a pretty controversial topic and I think that the majority of responses should be based mostly on quality, but I think quantity has to be considered to somewhat. For me, I would say that a director having made 3 films that year would be the limit in regards to the 'director of the decade' eligibility. However, they have to be great films, too, obviously. Woody Allen might have made 30 or so films in the 80's or whatever, but I certainly couldn't care less about them, so why list them just because he's a name and made a lot of films? Subjectivity is the MAIN key here, but other factors should be taken into consideration is all i'm saying. I also think that financial success can be considered somewhat.


00's: Christopher Nolan Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. In the SAME decade before the age of 40. These aren't just critically acclaimed films that often pop up in a lot of Top 100's too, these films made an incredible amount of money. I don't think that any filmmaker could have asked for a better decade. You all can look to filmmakers outside the US and UK, but I can't think of anyone who's contributed as much as Nolan has. Not even close.

90's: Krzysztof Kieslowski - This was the toughest for me. You've got Scorsese, Spielberg and Tarantino. Any one of these three would have been worthy, however, this man is pretty much the definition of 'going out on a high'. At first I was a bit put off with his directing, but then I realised the beauty and genius of it. First moment that really made me appreciate him was that moment in Blue where Julie just spends what seems like a long time staring at her tea/coffee. I would have put him here for the Three Colours Trilogy alone, but add The Double Life Of Veronique and you've got somebody who, imo, dominated the 90's. Would love to have seen his Heaven, Hell and Purgatory trilogy. Runner up: Martin Scorsese

80's: John Hughes - Can't believe i'm actually putting him in, non of his films made it into my Top 100 list, but yeah, he was the man during the decade. Not keen on comedies, but Planes Trains and Automobiles, The Breakfast Club, She's Having A Baby, Pretty In Pink and Uncle Buck are some of the few comedies that I can not only tolerate, but genuinely enjoy too. The Granddaddy of the 80's. Runner up: James Cameron

70's: Rainer Werner Fassbinder - Hugely influenced by Doug Sirk, this is the man who put New German Cinema on the map, and it's the 70's in which, on paper, he seems to have dominated for me. He made some gems during that period, but the ones that stand out the most are Fear Eats The Soul and The Marriage Of Maria Braun. I'm not as big on experimental film as most 'arty' types, but Fassbinder often made it work, even though he went through as much genres styles as any other filmmaker.

60's: Jean-Luc Godard - I haven't seen enough Bergman films to really put him on the list so went with Mr French New Wave himself. I remember doing an entire on French New Wave films, most of which I thought were very interesting. It's been awhile since I have seen them, but the one that stood out the most was Week End, dark comedy at it's finest. Was surprised at home much I enjoyed it and very grateful to be introduced to a director who clearly influences some of today's masters through my studies. Runner up: Alfred Hitchcock

50's: Alfred Hitchcock - The Master Of Suspense. Made his best films in this decade, hugely influential. Not much else to say, really. Runner Up: Douglas Sirk.

I've cited him for the 00s and the 10s. Not just for Inception or TDKR... but all of his work over the past number of years has been movie history.

The new Batfilm is probably going to be the first time ever that a movie series has actually been finished properly. History in the making. Mark my words.

Return of the King?

Also the 2010s have only been around for 3 years. Chill the **** out people.

Right? Has anyone of note (besides Woody Allen and Nolan in a few days) actually made more than one film in this decade so far?