# He made the best of films he made the worst of films
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 10, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312 "2006-01-10T15:10:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/1 "2006-01-10T15:10:03Z")
I just finished watching _In The Name Of The Father_, a very fine movie written, produced and directed by Jim Sheridan. It used to be in the IMDB Top 250 Movies of All Time but has recently dropped out. However _In America_ which he also wrote, produced and directed is still there at #249.
His latest production/direction effort _Get Rich or Die Tryin’_ is currently ranked the 34th worst movie ever made on IMDB.
Have any other directors made both ends of the scale?
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/2 "2006-01-10T16:28:22Z")
I don’t know if Martin Brest ever made the top 250, but **Scent of a Woman** can’t be too far down–while as **Gigli** is indeed at the bottom of the barrel.\*
- I haven’t seen it yet, admittedly.
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### Author:  [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/3 "2006-01-10T17:00:12Z")
[William Friedkin](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001243/) went from [The French Connection](http://imdb.com/title/tt0067116/) and [The Exorcist](http://imdb.com/title/tt0070047/) to [C.A.T. Squad](http://imdb.com/title/tt0090783/), [C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf](http://imdb.com/title/tt0094823/) and [Jade](http://imdb.com/title/tt0113451/).
Also, more meteoric was [Michael Cimino](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001047/) from [The Deer Hunter](http://imdb.com/title/tt0077416/) to [Heaven’s Gate](http://imdb.com/title/tt0080855/) in two years.
Understood that Heaven’ Gate has been favorably reappraised in recent years
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### Author:  [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/4 "2006-01-10T17:02:16Z")
Oops, my bad, was just thinking of extremes, didn’t consult IMDB rankings before posting. Mod delete post if wish. :smack:
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### Author:  [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/5 "2006-01-10T17:03:06Z")
The guy who directed “Diehard” and “The Hunt for Red October” also directed “Rollerball”.
Some might be surprised that the guy who directed Robocop and Total Recall is the same guy who directed Starship Troopers and Showgirls. Some.
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### Author:  [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/6 "2006-01-10T17:07:35Z")
John Singleton went from wunderkind Oscar nominated director of his first film, BOYZ IN THE HOOD, who launched the careers of Nia Long, Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding, Jr. to the dude who remade “The Sons of Katie Elder,” with the truly mediocre FOUR BROTHERS.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/7 "2006-01-10T17:08:53Z")
I consider Dan Ackroyd to be the great hit-or-miss auteur of our time. The man who was the vision behind The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters was also the utter banality behind Blues Brothers 2000 and Ghostbusters 2.
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### Author:  [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/8 "2006-01-10T18:38:07Z")
Two words: John Carpenter. You never know what you’re going to get. Could be a modern classic ( **The Thing** ) or a gargantuan waste of time and talent ( **Ghosts of Mars** ).
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/9 "2006-01-10T18:47:24Z")
Until I saw _Convoy_ recently for the first time (Kris Kristofferson and Ali MacGraw and a cast of lackluster actors) I had thought Sam Peckinpah could do no wrong. _The Getaway_ and _The Wild Bunch_ are top dollar flics. _Convoy_ could be cut up and used for ukelele picks and serve humanity better.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/10 "2006-01-10T18:47:27Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#):
>
> [William Friedkin](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001243/) went from [The French Connection](http://imdb.com/title/tt0067116/) and [The Exorcist](http://imdb.com/title/tt0070047/) to [C.A.T. Squad](http://imdb.com/title/tt0090783/), [C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf](http://imdb.com/title/tt0094823/) and [Jade](http://imdb.com/title/tt0113451/).
>
> Also, more meteoric was [Michael Cimino](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001047/) from [The Deer Hunter](http://imdb.com/title/tt0077416/) to [Heaven’s Gate](http://imdb.com/title/tt0080855/) in two years.
> Understood that Heaven’ Gate has been favorably reappraised in recent years
I consider both these movies to be in my top 100 of all time.
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### Author:  [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/11 "2006-01-10T18:56:57Z")
Well, there’s always George Lucas. From \*THX1138, American Graffiti, \* and _Star Wars_ to, well, the prequels.
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### Author:  [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/12 "2006-01-10T19:09:37Z")
Currently coming in at #152 is \*\*A Christmas Story \*\* directed by Bob Clark.
He also directed **Baby Geniuses 2** , currently at #4 of the Bottom 250 and **Baby Geniuses** , at #37. And for good measure, **Rhinestone** , which falls in at #81 from the bottom.
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/13 "2006-01-10T20:58:59Z")
Francis Ford Coppola:
From _The Godfather_, _The Godfather Part II_, _The Conversation_, and _Apocalypse Now_, to _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_, _Supernova_, and _The Godfather Part III_.
John Frankenheimer:
Ground-breaking sociopolitical thrillers like _The Manchurian Candidate_ and _Seconds_, and intelligent actioneers like _Ronin_ and _The Train_ to utter dreck such as _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ and _Prophecy_. A brilliant, literate, erudite director (just listen to his commentary track on _Ronin_) but he somehow had a way of alternating between worthwhlie material and hideously unworkable projects. The things drink will do to a man…
Terry Gilliam:
From _Brazil_ (which compares to _Citizen Kane_ in terms of how it revolutionized cinematography, and stands on the personal short-list of desert island movies), _12 Monkeys_, and _The Crimson Permanent Assurance_ to _Jabberwocky_ and _Tideland_.
Scorsese hasn’t exactly dipped to the dregs of the bottle yet, but compared to his better work (at which he has been sufficiently prolific to evade any accusations of one-trickism) he’s chucked out some real dogs; not just the early Cormam-produced “Boxcar Bertha” but some of his more recent arfs, like _Bringing Out The Dead_ and _Gangs of New York_ (We’ll forgive _New York, New York_ as an honest attempt to do something original.) Maybe he should consider opening up a winery…
Welles plugged out a few dogs, but they seem to have largely been due to studio interference. If he’d just had his way with money and editing…he’d probably have ended up like Terry Gilliam. Maybe it’s better that we remember him from his compromised and half-finished projects where his brilliance shines like a diamond hidden in a pile of dung.
Stranger
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/14 "2006-01-10T21:31:49Z")
[Steven Spielberg](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/)–Sandwiched between “Close Encounters” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was “1941.”
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [January 10, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/15 "2006-01-10T22:31:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> [Steven Spielberg](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000229/)–Sandwiched between “Close Encounters” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was “1941.”
I’d rather watch a 24-hour \*1941 \*marathon with weasels strapped to my face than watch 13 seconds of _Hook_.
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### Author:  [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/16 "2006-01-11T03:26:58Z")
**Stanley Kubrick** – Always hit-or-miss IMHO, but when he missed, he missed BIG! To begin your career with _Paths of Glory_ and _Dr. Strangelove_ , not to mention _2001_ and _A Clockwork Orange_ and still manage to make such detritus as _Barry Lyndon_ , _The Shining_ , and to end it with _Eyes Wide Shit_ …errr, _Shut_ --no one has ever hit both ends of the quality spectrum like that.
Just MHO, ya understand. 🙂
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/17 "2006-01-11T05:41:52Z")
I’m still too staggered by the fact that Jim Sheridan was involved in “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” to add any more names.
I didn’t know that. I’m just aghast.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/18 "2006-01-11T06:50:25Z")
If TV shows count (they wouldn’t be counted on imdb.'s bottom 250, obviously), I’d like to nominate director [Roland Joffe](http://imdb.com/name/nm0423646/). His 1984 works [The Killing Fields](http://imdb.com/title/tt0087553/) and [The Mission](http://imdb.com/title/tt0091530/) aren’t in the Top 250 but should be. His 1995 jawdropper [The Scarlet Letter: Demi Does Dimmesdale](http://imdb.com/title/tt0114345/) and 1993’s [Super Mario Brothers](http://imdb.com/title/tt0108255/) isn’t in the bottom 250 but should be. But if TV shows could be counted, I’ve few doubts that MTV’s [Undressed](http://imdb.com/title/tt0190106/), a cheesy nightly sitcom that was basically the production values of soft core porn without the soft core porn, would easily make the list.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/19 "2006-01-11T07:08:21Z")
> [@lissener](#):
>
> I’d rather watch a 24-hour \*1941 \*marathon with weasels strapped to my face than watch 13 seconds of _Hook_.
But wouldn’t the weasels get in the way?
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-made-the-best-of-films-he-made-the-worst-of-films/339312/20 "2006-01-11T12:06:34Z")
How about **J. Lee Thompson**?
As a director, he made **The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear, Taras Bulba** , asnd the quirky but good **Kings of the Sun**. Even then, though, he made the bizarrely awful **John Goldfarb, Please Come Home**. He went on to **Battle for the Planet of the Apes** , **The White Buffalo** and descended into **Firewalker** and **King Solomon’s Mines** , two spectaculaly awful and unfunny comedies with big names in them. Of course, he also did **Murphy’s Law** in there.
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