Jaymole

According to Empire magazine.

From IMDB:

Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg has been voted the greatest director of all time. Spielberg - the talent behind huge blockbuster hits including Schindler's List, E.T., Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and Saving Private Ryan - topped a poll commissioned by Britain's Empire movie magazine. The 58-year-old beat off competition from Psycho director Alfred Hitchcock and The Aviator creator Martin Scorsese, who came in second and third respectively. Empire's associate editor Ian Freer says, "Steven Spielberg is the closest thing in movies to resemble the impact of The Beatles. A cultural phenomenon, his adventures with sharks, UFOs, whip-crackin' archaeologists and ETs, plus searching historical dramas like Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan have defined the movie-going life of an entire generation." Surprisingly, acclaimed film-makers such as Star Wars director George Lucas, Charlie Chaplin, and Tim Burton, fell short of inclusion. The top ten is as follows: 1. Steven Spielberg, 2. Alfred Hitchcock, 3. Martin Scorsese, 4. Stanley Kubrick, 5. Sir Ridley Scott, 6. Akira Kurosawa, 7. Peter Jackson, 8. Quentin Tarantino, 9. Orson Welles, 10. Woody Allen.

Mr. Cinema

Couldn't agree more about Spielberg, but I gotta ask, where is Billy Wilder and John Huston?

I think Spielberg has the best overall mix of movies directed. Plus, he has had a hand in many films producing.

Superboy

Wow, I can't believe he was voted number 1 when it's very glaringly obvious at times what a poor director he actually is. Just because his movies were a smash doesn't mean he's the end all and be all.

pdinosaur

disagree. just ebcause i'm trained to. while i'd be more vehemently opposed to quentin and especially peter jackson being the #1, i'd find a reason to say there's a better #1 no matter who they chose.

i guess i dont mind the top 4 or so being up there, but ridley, peter and quentin appear in various ways out of place. only quentin might belong, in a lower #.

marty888

For those millions of us who haven't noticed how poor Spielberg is, perhaps you can point out some of those "very glaringly obvious" examples?

ytrez

Spielberg is a better filmmaker than I've given him credit for in the past but he's not number 1. I have no problems with him being in the top 10, along with:

Hitchcock
Scorsese
Kubrick
Kurosawa
Welles

But what about:
Renoir
Godard
Ozu
Capra
Ford
Chaplin
Lean
Murnau
Lang
Griffith
etc???

No surprise about Lucas.

Superboy

He can't direct action scenes worth crap. See "Minority Report", "The Lost World", "A.I.".

He massively sugarcoats all his films, and he makes his films in a manner such that if you criticize them, people will start to call you a monster (see Shindler's List).

He doesn't know when to stop. At the end of Shindler's List, was it really necessary to have that last scene? Were the bookends to Saving Private Ryan really needed? how many times does Frank have to run away in Catch me if you can? WE GET IT ALREADY. After 2.5 hours of intense drama, enough is enough.

He doesn't understand pacing. Most movies typically develop to a coda and then gradually fall. SPR began at a snails pace, exploded through the screen, then came to a grinding halt before punching the audience in the gut and then ending on a sappy note. Amistad was boring boring boring boring until that one scene he uses to horrify the audience then it was back to boring drivel.

It's also obvious that he steals other filmmaker's styles. For a second there, I though Scorsese directed Catch me if you can. Looks like he can also rip off Bruckheimer with War of the Worlds. That's when you know your career is going downhill; when you're imitating a medicore director.

"Jaws" was when I really noticed how crappy he was. I mean in the DC all he taks about is how he wanted to have more of this, more of that, and when it came down to it the technical limitations at the time really stopped it. He doesn't have restraint. And ultimately, that's why Jaws succeeded; because it was a suspsense movie that actually gave the viewers suspense. All those numerous shots of the shark were useless, and a good thing too, because even he acknowledged that the movie turned out all the better for it.

To me, Spielberg is really a mediocre director who got lucky. His movies would have been the same, if not better, without him attached. And now, the thing that he needs the most to make his movies successful, RESTRAINT, is not going to happen because of his massive star-status. The same can be said of George Lucas. I mean the best Star Wars movie was the one where he had the least amount of direct creative involvement!

chess

Add me to the list of folks who have no problem with this. Spielberg has put together an amazing body of work in a broad variety of genres.

I'm not even sure who I could make a legitimate case for to replace him at #1...other than possibly Hitchcock.

Concerning above post...is Bruckheimer a director?

DVD King

Having Peter Jackson on that top 10 makes me laugh-- but I get the sense that they're not judging completely on directorial skills. It's hard to deny the cultural impact Spielberg has had and I think that's mostly what they're looking at.

Johnny Zhivago

Riiiiight. But, whatever, different strokes and all that.

scott shelton

Truck chase in RAIDERS, dude. Truck chase...

Zodiac_Speaking

With Steven, he knows how to make a GREAT movie, but not art. Closest thing to art he makes is Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. But how can you compare JAWS, Duel, or ET, with anything of Hitchcock's, Murnua's, Scorsese's, Well's, ect.?

He really does make great, beloved movies of our time, but no way he's even in the Top 15 Best Directors of All-Time list.

Superboy

the action scenes in the Indiana Jones movies were directed by George Lucas.

cactusoly

He is a perfect choice. He has a perfect mix of hollywood blockbusters and critically acclaimed award winning films. His diversity makes him great.

marty888

Yeah, those action sequences in the Indiana Jones movies and in Jurassic Park put everyone to sleep, right?

Your comment re: War Of The Worlds tells me all I really need to know - once I realize that someone pre-judges and slams something they haven't even seen yet, I feel quite comfortable ignoring their critical opinions.

scott shelton

cleaver

Strong top 6, but where's John Freaking Ford? He's got as many Best Director Oscars as the top 10 combined!

Kal-El

from me.

PopcornTreeCt

I think he's a great director. Raiders of the Lost Ark is the great adventure film of all time. Jaws is a masterpiece. And he's made a few other decent films. He's a master storyteller who dives into different genres and succeeds at all of them.

garmonbozia

it's the Brits.........who consistently name Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as the best actors of all time....so you can't really take this poll seriously :P

PopcornTreeCt

Tim Burton fell short? What the hell? There's only about 30 other directors that should be listed higher than him.

pdinosaur

keep in mind when this list was created. it's a lot easier for people to relate to modern directors than those who've died off.

obviously there'll be people who curse than bergman, wilder et al., aren't on it. but my brother and sister don't know who they are (i think).

that said, it's even more reasonable to say that when you consider what illicit behaviors peter jackson had to do to get this 'honor' after having made only one well known movie.

The Ferret

Peter Jackson seems like the obvious 'who does not belong' candidate. He directs Lord of the Rings and is suddenly one of the best directors of all time?

I can understand Spielberg being #1, although he wouldn't be #1 on my list.

jiggawhat

I can't believe Tarantino made it into the top 10. He is so overrated.

Shannon Nutt

No love for Kevin Smith?!

Just kidding...

I have no problem with Speilberg being #1...although I think Scott, Jackson and Tarantino need booted off that list. I must say, I think the top four are exactly who they should be, although personally (just because I'm a huge fan), I'd find a place for Clint Eastwood on that list.