Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
05-03-20 | 07:26 PM
#1
Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
I was thinking about this earlier today, what the longest hot streak for a director ever was. I settled on 3 because I feel that very few directors have managed even this feat. Here's a couple that I came up with off the top of my head.
Stanley Kubrick (4):
Dr. Strangelove -> 2001 -> A Clockwork Orange -> Barry Lyndon
Francis Ford Coppola (4):
The Godfather -> Part II -> The Conversation -> Apocalypse Now
Alfred Hitchcock (3):
Vertigo -> North by Northwest -> Psycho
Andrei Tarkovsky (3):
Andrei Rublev -> Solaris -> The Mirror
Charlie Chaplin (3):
City Lights -> Modern Times -> The Great Dictator
David Lean (3):
The Bridge on the River Kwai -> Lawrence of Arabia -> Doctor Zhivago
Obviously this is going to be very opinion oriented, but what do you got?
Stanley Kubrick (4):
Dr. Strangelove -> 2001 -> A Clockwork Orange -> Barry Lyndon
Francis Ford Coppola (4):
The Godfather -> Part II -> The Conversation -> Apocalypse Now
Alfred Hitchcock (3):
Vertigo -> North by Northwest -> Psycho
Andrei Tarkovsky (3):
Andrei Rublev -> Solaris -> The Mirror
Charlie Chaplin (3):
City Lights -> Modern Times -> The Great Dictator
David Lean (3):
The Bridge on the River Kwai -> Lawrence of Arabia -> Doctor Zhivago
Obviously this is going to be very opinion oriented, but what do you got?
05-03-20 | 07:37 PM
#2
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Terrence Malick - Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World, Tree of Life
Peckinpah - The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Straw Dogs
Bergman - Smiles of the Summer Nights, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries
Peckinpah - The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Straw Dogs
Bergman - Smiles of the Summer Nights, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries
Last edited by dex14; 05-03-20 at 07:42 PM.
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IBJoel (05-05-20)
05-03-20 | 07:51 PM
#3
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Kurosawa has at least 5 in a row. I haven’t seen some of the others in between other masterpieces, so it’s possibly an even longer chain (for me).
The Hidden Fortress
The Bad Sleep Well
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
High and Low
The Hidden Fortress
The Bad Sleep Well
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
High and Low
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IBJoel (05-05-20)
05-03-20 | 07:54 PM
#4
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Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Leone (Man with No Name Trilogy, OUaTitW, Fistful of Dynamite), Scorsese (Gangs of NY, The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo, Wolf of Wall Street), Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, Hateful 8, OUaTiH) have never done wrong by me.
05-03-20 | 07:58 PM
#5
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Of all the strings of Scorsese movies you could have listed you choose one with Gangs of New York and Shutter Island in it. Yeesh.
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05-03-20 | 07:59 PM
#6
DVD Talk Gold Edition
05-03-20 | 08:00 PM
#7
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
I love many of the directors mentioned so far, but would hesitant to call all of the films listed masterpieces. But hey, that's what makes discussion fun. 
Steven Spielberg nearly rattled off 4 classics in a row but ruined it with 1941:
Jaws -> Close Encounters -> 1941 -> Raiders of the Lost Ark -> E.T.
Steven Spielberg nearly rattled off 4 classics in a row but ruined it with 1941:
Jaws -> Close Encounters -> 1941 -> Raiders of the Lost Ark -> E.T.
05-03-20 | 08:01 PM
#8
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Raging Bull, King of Comedy, After Hours / Goodfellas, Cape Fear, The Age of Innocence, Casino
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill
05-03-20 | 08:04 PM
#9
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Scorsese seemed to like mixing up his classics with good-to-mediocre films.
Mean Streets (classic) -> Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (very good) -> Taxi Driver (classic) -> New York, New York (average) -> The Last Waltz (classic) -> Raging Bull (classic)
Mean Streets (classic) -> Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (very good) -> Taxi Driver (classic) -> New York, New York (average) -> The Last Waltz (classic) -> Raging Bull (classic)
05-03-20 | 08:07 PM
#10
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
PTA - Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, The Master
Billy Wilder - Sunset Blvd, Ace in the Hole, Stalag 17
Billy Wilder - Sunset Blvd, Ace in the Hole, Stalag 17
05-03-20 | 08:09 PM
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Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
yeah, those were really his solid string In a row. Others came in between some classics...
05-03-20 | 08:13 PM
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05-03-20 | 08:14 PM
#14
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Hal Ashby - Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Shampoo, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, Being There
05-03-20 | 08:14 PM
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05-03-20 | 08:15 PM
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05-03-20 | 08:17 PM
#17
05-03-20 | 08:17 PM
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05-03-20 | 08:19 PM
#19
05-03-20 | 08:25 PM
#20
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Altman had an extremely strong run in the 70s. I haven’t seen them all but I’m sure there is a string there.
Woody Allen’s early efforts as well.
Woody Allen’s early efforts as well.
05-03-20 | 08:32 PM
#21
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Quentin Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown
05-03-20 | 08:41 PM
#22
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Jean Pierre Melville- Le Deuxieme Souffle, Le Samourai, Army of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge
Jules Dassin- Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves Highway, Night and the City, Rififi
Jules Dassin- Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves Highway, Night and the City, Rififi
05-03-20 | 08:50 PM
#23
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
If you don't count short films Federico Fellini had: Nights of Cabiria, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2
05-03-20 | 08:53 PM
#24
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
Going back to the OP, I wouldn’t stop at Barry Lyndon for Kubrick. I would go all the way until EWS.
05-03-20 | 08:54 PM
#25
Re: Directors with three or more consecutive masterpieces
On a seperate note, if you were to ask what director had the most masterpieces, with NONE falling consecutively, John Huston has 10+ without ever making 2 in a row.