# Worst Film Directors of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2003, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490 "2003-04-27T15:13:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![torben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@torben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torben)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/41 "2003-04-28T05:37:49Z")
I’ll put my vote in for Kevin Williamson. He can write but he sure as hell can’t direct. Anyone remember **Teaching Mrs. Tingle**? ---
**Author:** ![torben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@torben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torben)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/42 "2003-04-28T05:41:01Z")
One more thing. I’ll put my vote in for Kevin Williamson. He can write but he sure as hell can’t direct. Anyone remember **Teaching Mrs. Tingle**? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/43 "2003-04-28T06:23:09Z")
> [@](#): > > How did I know I was going to have to come in here and defend Paul Verhoeven? I haven’t seen Showgirls, so I won’t comment on that. But RoboCop and to a lesser extent Starship Troopers were really clever parodies. There are a lot of different metaphors and themes in RoboCop but sadly most people couldn’t see past the violence in the film. As for Starship Troopers, I think a lot of the bashing of that film is unfairly in response to Verhoeven’s open contempt for the source material. Robocop is exactly what it appears to be; a good SF action movie with some clever humor in it. I’ve also seen several other Verhoeven movies, including some of his early European work. Verhoeven’s problem is that he thinks he’s smarter than the material he works on. And he’s wrong. If he was willing to accept his limitations and work on projects that are at his level, he’d make better movies. ---
**Author:** ![sirtonyh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@sirtonyh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirtonyh)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/44 "2003-04-28T07:14:22Z")
Wow , can’t believe some of the names mentioned here; David Lynch - Have you not seen Blue Velvet, Elephant Man, Wild at Heart of Straight Story. Now, Eraserhead is unquestionably a bizarre movie, but that doesn’t make Lynch a bad director Paul Voerhoven - I wouldn’t consider him to be a great director but he turned an awful script for Basic Instinct into an almost watchable film. Robocop, Starship Troopers and Hollow Man are all watchable and the first two at least almost work. His earlier work, like Soldier of Orange, is very good. John Woo - His hollywood work (except maybe Face/Off) isn’t too great but no where near bad enough for him to qualify as worst director. His Hong Kong work is exceptional; try watching anything he did with Chow Yun Fat (Killer, Hard Boiled, Better Tomorrow etc.) and you’ll see he is a very, very competent director in general but a simply outstanding action film director. Paul Thomas Anderson - Again, he has made 4 movies (Hard 8, Boogie Night, Magnolia & Punch Drunk Love) of which none could reasonably be considered awful. A lot of people on the list are better writers than directors (Kevin Smith, Kevin Williamson, Paul Thomas Anderson & I’d add Quentin Tarantino to that list) but that doesn’t make them bad directors. Joel Schumacher is another who has made some bad movies, but nowhere near consistently bad enough to qualify. Falling Down, Tigerland, Phone Booth, Flawless & Flatliners are all reasonable movies. My vote, btw, goes to Ed Wood. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/45 "2003-04-28T07:46:29Z")
I’ll second **George Lucas** for ruining Star Wars. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/46 "2003-04-28T10:06:18Z")
Easy. **Renny Harlin**. Hands down. His magnum opus, _Driven_, is so badly directed that it’s hillarious to watch. Horrible. Terrible. Prententiousness on a whole new level. ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/47 "2003-04-28T12:13:41Z")
I’d nominate **Albert Brooks** , writer-director-star of such movies as Mother, Modern Romance, Lost in America and The Muse. He’s in the same category as Henry Jaglom as someone who’s spent most of his time making the same movie over and over again to widespread public indifference. But what makes Brooks worse is that whilst obviously influenced by Woody Allen (which itself begs the question “Why?”) he consistently exceeds the awfulness of Woody’s shittiest pictures. Woody Allen has probably directed more terrible and excruicating movies than anyone else mentioned here, but at least he did Sleeper and a couple of other classics. Also **Barbra Streisand**. Obviously. (And not to get into a vast debate, but Lynch cannot be such a bad director because achieves precisely what he sets out to do. If you were trying to make a Stepmom-style sensitive family drama and it came out like Eraserhead, you would be a bad director, but if you were trying to make the freakiest thing in the world and ended up with Eraserhead, then you’ve hit the spot.) ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/48 "2003-04-28T12:16:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Torgo \* > **Worst No-Budget Director: > Coleman Francis** Nope. Bill “Monster a-Go-Go” Rebane is even worse. Just. ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/49 "2003-04-28T12:23:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Easy. **Renny Harlin**. Hands down. His magnum opus, _Driven_, is so badly directed that it’s hillarious to watch. Horrible. Terrible. Prententiousness on a whole new level. \*\* The Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea are terrible, yet entertaining enough to save him from my “worst ever” vote. And it would help if he would fire whoever does special effects for him. Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/50 "2003-04-28T12:35:23Z")
I don’t know about “Worst of all time…” but Courtney Solomon (Dungeons & Dragons(2000)) gets a serious nod. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/51 "2003-04-28T15:32:52Z")
Michael Bay is the worst director ever to draw breath. Just look at his filmography: [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Bay,+Michael](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Bay,+Michael) Show me one good movie on that list. The worst part is that he spends tons and tons of money on his movies–money that could be making GOOD movies. Or hell, money that could be doing something–ANYTHING–besides funding **Armageddeon**! At least Ed Wood didn’t waste millions making dreck. And, as has already been pointed out, lots of idiots go see these movies and producers make more crap as a result. For the love of Orson Welles and all that is good and right in American filmmaking, I beg everyone reading these words not to go see **Bad Boys II** , the remake of **The Texas Chainsaw Massacre** , or anything with his or Jerry "Kangaroo Jack’ Bruckheimer’s name on it. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/52 "2003-04-28T15:43:38Z")
Leaving aside Ed Wood, Bill Rebane, who directed (if you can call it that) _The Giant Spider Invasion_, as **got** to rank right up there in the Worst Directors list… ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/53 "2003-04-28T16:05:47Z")
I’m going to disagree with Michael Bay. First, I’ll mention _The Rock_ as a good film of his (_Armageddon_ and _Pearl Harbor_ sucked, never saw _Bad Boys_). But more than that, I think you have to look at what he’s trying to do. He has no sublte messages or themes in his movies, no higher purpose, he’s simply a commercial action film director. And judging by the amount of money his movies have made, I’d say he’s pretty good at what he does. He’s not trying to be clever and cool at the same time. Studios are simply telling him “Here’s $50 million, turn that into a couple hundred”, and he does. ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/54 "2003-04-29T00:55:21Z")
Good call, Elwood. Until Don Simpson died, you could depend on a Bruckheimer/Simpson production to be damned good summertime films. _Top Gun_ speaks for itself. Is it great cinema? Nope. Is it a good “movie”? Damn straight. Things went well until _Pearl Harbor_, when, apparently, Jerry Bruckheimer decided that he wanted to be Steven Spielberg, only without a) directing and b) a soul. Now, I’ve not seen _Pearl Harbor_, and don’t feel the need to. I know that no one involved with the making of it is capable of telling the kind of story that would need to be told. Michael Bay is an excellent technical film maker – not quite as good with the medium as Oliver Stone is – but is not an emotional filmmaker. Jerry Bruckheimer is good at producing summertime blockbusters, but, for the love of God, I am willing to become a depressed cocaine addict just to prevent anymore movies like _Kangaroo Jack_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/55 "2003-04-29T01:25:58Z")
Oh yes, how could I forget. The Polonia brothers. Directed Feeders, and Feeders 2. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/56 "2003-04-29T01:29:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by torben \* > \*\*But then he redeemed himself with Starship Troopers. 😛 \*\* Don’t make me come over there… ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/57 "2003-04-29T02:21:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*Nope. Bill “Monster a-Go-Go” Rebane is even worse. Just. \*\* I stand by Coleman Francis. His editing is unmatched; why in just a few short seconds you can actually forget which film you’re watching, or where you are. Plus I don’t think even Rebane can claim that he accidentally dropped the audio track to one of his films into Lake Tahoe _(The Beast of Yucca Flats)_. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/65b543/32.png) [@Quiddity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/58 "2003-04-29T03:21:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ender\_Will \* > \*\*Regarding David Lynch, from **Equipoise** > > As I said, watch “Eraserhead” > > The film is so monstrously awful that even if every other film he ever made won the Palme D’Or (Good God, I butchered that spelling, but you know what I mean. That big prize at Cannes), Best Picture, and was on every Top Ten list, he should still be mentioned in a “Worst Director” list. > > I could launch into a Pit-worthy rant on Lynch and his fans, but I really don’t care to, and will say no more about him, his fans, or his movies. \*\* I can’t find much info about this one (not carried by Netflix and they have _everything_!) … but it has a [perfect 100% rating](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Eraserhead-1006679/) at [RottenTomatoes.com](http://RottenTomatoes.com) Whats the deal? ---
**Author:** ![RawkStah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@RawkStah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RawkStah)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/59 "2003-04-29T03:56:31Z")
I’ve posted twice in this thread, and haven’t listed my “worst”, so I’m gonna go with Coleman Francis – the only man who made a movie so bad that it made Cambot cry. _Red Zone Cuba_, IIRC. “A woman’s handbag… Man on the moon…” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490/60 "2003-04-29T05:02:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I can’t find much info about this one (not carried by Netflix and they have everything!) > … but it has a perfect 100% rating at [RottenTomatoes.com](http://RottenTomatoes.com) > Whats the deal? _Eraserhead_ is one strange movie. Beyond that, there isn’t a lot of consensus. Some people (including myself) love it and think it’s a masterpiece. Others hate it and think it’s an overhyped piece of garbage. The interpretation that I believe is true is that _Eraserhead_ is supposed to be a dream that the protagonist is having. Being a dream it doesn’t have a subject or plotline, but it does concern itself with the protagonist’s anxiety about the impending birth of his first child. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-film-directors-of-all-time/171490.md?page=4)