# Most Disappointing Film Directors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 22, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128 "2019-10-22T11:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/1 "2019-10-22T11:50:08Z")
Growing out of the “favorite directors” thread: What legendary director disappointed you the most when you finally encountered his work after hearing raves about it from his many fans? For me it’s Preston Sturges, though Tod Browning is a close second. Blake Edwards is up there, but I could see flashes of brilliance as late as the 80s with him, so he gets a pass. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/2 "2019-10-22T12:12:13Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Growing out of the “favorite directors” thread: What legendary director disappointed you the most when you finally encountered his work after hearing raves about it from his many fans? For me it’s Preston Sturges, though Tod Browning is a close second. Blake Edwards is up there, but I could see flashes of brilliance as late as the 80s with him, so he gets a pass. Can you explain _why_ you think thee are “disappointing”. I can understand Browning, in a way – _Dracula_ could’ve been a much more impressive film if Browning had allowed his cinematographer to move the camera around more, like he wanted to. And if you compare his work with that of George Melford (who worked on the same story, albeit in Spanish, on the very same sets) you can see how much more dramatic it could have been. still, Dracula managed some very good shots, and it wasn’t al static. _Freaks_ is widely regarded as a failure, but it’s an impressive film. And Browning’s silent films were apparently successes (although I’ve seen few of those). Your inclusion of Blake Edwards puzzles me, though. I haven’t seen enough of Sturges’ work. I’d argue for **J. Lee Thompson**. Although I loved _Guns of Navarone_, and he did the original _Cape Fear_, as well as _Tras Bulba_ and the offbeat _Kings of the Sun_, he ended his career with some abominable flicks like the 1985 _King Solomon’s Mines_ (a wonderfully terrible movie with an impressive wasted cast) and the laughable _Firewalker_, starring Chuck Norris and Lou Gossett. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/3 "2019-10-22T13:10:45Z")
Sturges is a favorite of mine, though I suppose you had to have a liking for broad slapstick between the clever dialog. _Miracle of Morgan’s Creek_ is a comedy classic, and even funnier today when you see the hoops he had to jump through to get it past the censors. I’d also disagree with Edwards, but he, too, was prone to broad slapstick, so that’s probably not your cup of tea. Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Tree Colors” trilogy is the first that comes to mind. _Blue_ made its point over and over and over and over and over and over again, then resolved it all in a trite and emotionally ridiculous deus ex machina. _White_ reached potboiler status toward the end, but _Red_ was completely forgettable. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/4 "2019-10-22T13:20:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Can you explain _why_ you think thee are “disappointing”. I can understand Browning, in a way – _Dracula_ could’ve been a much more impressive film if Browning had allowed his cinematographer to move the camera around more, like he wanted to. And if you compare his work with that of George Melford (who worked on the same story, albeit in Spanish, on the very same sets) you can see how much more dramatic it could have been. still, Dracula managed some very good shots, and it wasn’t al static. _Freaks_ is widely regarded as a failure, but it’s an impressive film. And Browning’s silent films were apparently successes (although I’ve seen few of those). > > Your inclusion of Blake Edwards puzzles me, though. I haven’t seen enough of Sturges’ work. Well, I came of age a bit before the VCR became commonplace. So when I wound up living down the street from a “psychotronic” movie rental place in the late 80s, I binged on a lot of movies I’d heard about in college but had never had the opportunity to see in theaters or on TV. _Freaks_, Tod Browning’s other masterpiece, was at its heart a 30s romantic melodrama and I was expecting something much more disturbing (I realize the treacly ending where the heartbroken dwarf finds true love with a girl dwarf may have been pushed on him by the studios or the popular tastes of the day.) Preston Sturges, famous for his “screwball” comedies of the 40s, went for overblown gags and boy did he overblow them. I found _Sullivan’s Travels_ almost painful to watch. Blake Edwards, his stylistic heir, also tended to telegraph his jokes to their detriment. He had a lot going for him: stellar casts, beautiful cinematography, Harry Mancini, and he still often came off as Billy Wilder’s disappointing twin. But there was an acidic cynicism that showed its face just often enough to redeem him, like showing just how far Holly Golightly could fall, over and over, without the audience ever hating her for it. When I say “disappointing,” I mean capable of making a beautiful, great, important film but containing some inevitable urge to keep shooting himself in the foot and delivering films that come up tantalizingly short. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/5 "2019-10-22T14:58:23Z")
Lars von Trier. Most of his films are joyless slogs reveling in misogyny. Apparently, that describes both his personal life and working lives as well. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/6 "2019-10-22T15:08:36Z")
George Lucas. He made one excellent adult film, American Graffiti, and a bunch of mediocre overrated serial films. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/7 "2019-10-22T21:41:51Z")
Lars von Trier, as previously mentioned, by far. How anyone thinks his films are good, I’ll never understand. How he can get actresses to appear in them even more so. And he even got people to sign onto his Dogme thing. To a lesser extend, John Ford. His films are n’t bad, but filming every movie, no matter where it is set, in Monument Valley is a bit much to these modern eyes. (truly, he is not the only offender.East Texas looks nothing like True Grit, either, and the Appalachians look nothing like The Deer Hunter. Still, Ford is known for it.) in a different way, M Night is the most “disappointing”, because almost none of his subsequent films are anywhere near as good as The Sixth Sense. And it is disappointing to not have more moviues like that. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/8 "2019-10-22T21:48:14Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > in a different way, M Night is the most “disappointing”, because almost none of his subsequent films are anywhere near as good as The Sixth Sense. And it is disappointing to not have more moviues like that. Black Mirror picked up where he left off (and he left off a very long time ago.) Except without any supernatural elements. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/9 "2019-10-22T22:06:04Z")
M. Night for sure. Sixth Sense was great, I do think Split(very recent movie) is also amazing, but most of his movies are huge misfires. He either makes great movies or absolutely terrible ones. Great ones: Sixth Sense Unbreakable Split Signs \<–I liked this one Terrible ones: The Village Lady in the Water Last Airbender After Earth The Happening I will admit that Glass is almost good and might be considered inbetween, but some of his choices at the end were so bad, it almost becomes terrible. > [@madsircool](#): > > George Lucas. He made one excellent adult film, American Graffiti, and a bunch of mediocre overrated serial films. Very true, though he did some decent work as a producer. But he is not a great director, that is for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/10 "2019-10-22T22:41:52Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > George Lucas. He made one excellent adult film, American Graffiti, and a bunch of mediocre overrated serial films. Star Wars is not overrated. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/11 "2019-10-23T00:10:45Z")
Star Wars is not overrated, but it was mercifully saved from George Lucas the editor. I’d still include Lucas as disappointing. For all his vision and early promise, he really didn’t seem to know to include and not include in a story, nor what order to put it all in. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/12 "2019-10-23T04:44:24Z")
I would add Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer to the list. _Scary Movie_ was a great comedy and funny as hell. All of the other parody movies they made after that (_Date Movie_, \*Epic Movie \*, _Meet the Spartans_, among others) were horrible and bombed at the box office. (For the record they had nothing to do with sequels to _Scary Movie_.) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/13 "2019-10-23T05:18:01Z")
I’m gonna toss myself under the bus, but let me first say, I don’t know shit about films, or how they are made, or what the actual fuck a director does, but… Scorsese. I just don’t like many of the films I’ve seen of his. I know, I know. It’s _ME_, not him. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/14 "2019-10-23T16:26:33Z")
John Waters. Maybe he’s someone you either get or don’t get. I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/15 "2019-10-23T21:11:28Z")
Eric Rohmer. Young beautiful people in wonderful scenery talking and talking and never getting to business because of always…talking. Couldn’t get more boring. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/16 "2019-10-23T21:20:53Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’m gonna toss myself under the bus, but let me first say, I don’t know shit about films, or how they are made, or what the actual fuck a director does, but… > > Scorsese. I just don’t like many of the films I’ve seen of his. > > I know, I know. It’s _ME_, not him. I’m with you. He’s a director I \*should \*like, cause I generally like New Hollywood, his fellow directors and his casts, but his films leave me cold. He never did anything nearly as impressive as Coppola with the first two _Godfathers_ or _Apocalypse Now_. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/17 "2019-10-23T21:25:08Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Well, I came of age a bit before the VCR became commonplace. So when I wound up living down the street from a “psychotronic” movie rental place in the late 80s, I binged on a lot of movies I’d heard about in college but had never had the opportunity to see in theaters or on TV. _Freaks_, Tod Browning’s other masterpiece, was at its heart a 30s romantic melodrama and I was expecting something much more disturbing ( **I realize the treacly ending where the heartbroken dwarf finds true love with a girl dwarf may have been pushed on him by the studios or the popular tastes of the day.** ) [my bold] That’s not like I remember the ending of Freaks. :eek:. I remember a diva mutilated into a duck creature presented as a…FREAK! ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/18 "2019-10-23T21:49:47Z")
I thought Mel Brooks had some potential after his work on Your Show of Shows, but other than The Producers, I was mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/19 "2019-10-23T22:00:51Z")
Mel Brooks after _Young Frankenstein_. George Lucas after _American Graffiti_. Both started with their best work and went downhill thereafter. George rapidly, Mel after a few. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128/20 "2019-10-23T22:10:38Z")
Woody Allen, even before all the scandals came out in the 1990s. Back in the mid-80s, I wasn’t a fan of his contemporary stuff. Fans insisted I would probably prefer his earlier “funny” stuff. With one exception, _Everything you wanted to know about sex…_, nope. _Sleeper, Bananas, Love and Death_ all left me cold. (Never saw _Take the Money and Run_, which I was told “that’s the best one”, but I’d already been disappointed too many times) I could see where the jokes were supposed to be, but they didn’t make me laugh. I think the one exception worked for me because there was no narrative, just a loosely connected bunch of short sketches, so nothing had the chance to go on too long, and I didn’t have to spend more than a few minutes with an unpleasant character. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-disappointing-film-directors/842128.md?page=2)