Goodfellas is one of the greatest movies of all time, but Scorsese recently revealed that Marlon Brando almost talked him out of directing it. The movie is an important entry in Scorsese's filmography that marks an incredible run of movies. But Scorsese isn't the only director with a near-impossible five-movie run.
Redditors have discussed at length which directors, who aren't necessarily the best filmmakers in the world, have the best success streaks ever. While the likes of Steven Spielberg and other prolific directors have portfolios full of great movies, their runs are cut short by duds in their catalogs. That's why no Reddit user mentioned Spielberg, Ron Howard, or other beloved auteurs.
Denis Villeneuve
Chuck_Foolery notes, "Currently, I'd say Denis Villeneuve is on one hell of a run." Villeneuve hasn't made a bad movie in his career yet, and not only does he have a great run that's yet to be ruined, but he's becoming extremely prolific, too. Between 2013 to 2017, the filmmaker directed a movie every year, with every one of them being universally acclaimed and pushing the envelope of whichever genre he was working within.
Prisoners is the best thriller of the 2010s not directed by David Fincher, and Sicario is a weirdly hypnotic expectation-subverting depiction of the war on drugs. On top of that, movies like Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Dune have cemented him as an elder statesman of science fiction.
Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner's name doesn't get mentioned enough when it comes to the all-time greats, even though he has a number of classics under his belt as well as being a terrific actor. The director was operating on a level above any other in the 80s and early 90s, and Infinite-Promotion75 reckons that he had an amazing run starting with his directorial debut, the hilarious mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap.
Following that, Reiner directed one comedy hit after the next, including The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally, but he also had an incredible range that wasn't limited to rom-com. The filmmaker made two of the greatest movie adaptations of Stephen King's work ever with Stand By Me and Misery, and that was all within six years.
Stanley Kubrick
When debating which directors had the best run ever, ElSordo91 notes, "Stanley Kubrick probably wins here." Kubrick made one of the best movies of each genre, as Full Metal Jacket is one of the greatest war movies of all time, The Shining is one of the best horror movies of all time, and 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. And even though Kubrick had a reputation for being demanding and tough to work with, he still had a funny bone, as Dr. Strangelove is one of the best comedies ever made too.
Kubrick has one of the most dedicated fanbases ever, as there are exhibitions held all around the world based on his work, and there are even movies that explore theories surrounding his films. And while Some Redditors think Kubrick is overrated, based on the audience and critical reception, he has never made a bad movie.
Walter Hill
Walter Hill is another name that rarely gets mentioned but deserves way more recognition. RadomirPutnik puts it best, explaining that his films are "Not the best of all time, but a distinct style and good watching." At the very least, Hill's films are unique and aesthetically pleasing, as he directed lavish nighttime crime movies like The Warriors, The Driver, and 48 Hrs.
His late 70s and early 80s movies make for one of the very best runs from a director, and it's even better if the movies he wrote but didn't direct are taken into account. Hill penned the screenplays for several 70s action thrillers as well as had a big hand in producing the horror classic, Alien.
Christopher Nolan
AdamvHarvey simply sums up Christopher Nolan's filmography with, "Solid career." Outside of the Dark Knight trilogy, Nolan has an extensive career full of epic sci-fi and suspenseful thrillers, and sometimes they're a perfect blend of both. Few filmmakers have as much power in the movie industry as Nolan, but that's because he doesn't have a single dud in his career.
Nolan's most recent films are still very good, but they don't have the "greatest of all time" reputation that his other movies do. Though Dunkirk is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorite movies, it doesn't quite reach the heights of Nolan's other work. And while Tenet's action scenes are the most impressive in the director's career, it finally reached the point where Nolan included too much exposition, and his films had been heading that way for a while.
James Cameron
James Cameron has advanced the movie industry by years, and maybe even decades, with his revolutionary motion-capture techniques and digital effects. Whether it's Terminator 2: Judgement Day or Avatar, audiences are always amazed by what Cameron can pull off in terms of effects.
However, it's Cameron's lesser-known films that Several_Rip4185 brings to attention. The Redditor notes, "It's easy to forget that The Abyss and True Lies were part of his portfolio." The Abyss is criminally underrated and the first movie of Cameron's to show just how obsessed with water the director really is, as Titanic and Avatar 2: The Way of Water both followed.
Martin Scorsese
Pal_Pacino notes, "Scorsese hasn't made a bad movie since the early 70s. Even his 'weak' films like Gangs of New York, Age of Innocence, and Cape Fear are still on par with most directors' best." The director is best known for his gangster epics, whether it's Goodfellas, The Departed, or The Irishman, but he's also made some passion projects that are criminally overlooked in his filmography. And the older the 79-year-old director gets, the more consistent he becomes.
Fans could argue that any decade in Scorsese's career saw the director's best five-movie run. The 70s was full of thematically dark movies that were grimy depictions of New York. The 80s saw him delve into comedies and sports movies. The 90s saw his most epic and ambitious work ever. And the 2000s saw him join forces with Leonardo DiCaprio for several inspiring biopics.
Paul Thomas Anderson
Moviessuck votes for Paul Thomas Anderson, the 1990s wunderkind, as the director with the best-ever run. The Redditor posits, "Paul Thomas Anderson has never made a bad film, 9 for 9." And as far as Metacritic goes, the Reddit user is not wrong. Anderson's lowest Rotten Tomatoes score is 77, which was given to Magnolia, his three-hour melodramatic epic.
After Magnolia, the director settled into making epic period dramas such as There Will Be Blood and The Master, and thanks to the set and costume design, they all feel like they're truly taking place in their respective time periods. Anderson makes the best-looking, best-sounding, and best-acted dramas of the 2000s, with the most recent being the surprisingly exciting 70s-based Licorice Pizza.
Edgar Wright
Kieran_05 thinks Edgar Wright has the best run of movies, as he has directed six visually slick action comedies in a row. The director would have an even better run if it wasn't for all of Wright's unrealized movies. The filmmaker had planned to direct a Shaun of the Dead sequel and a B-movie-inspired horror flick called Don't.
The Redditor argues, "Edgar Wright has only made amazing films and is currently on a great run." The recently released Last Night in Soho didn't reach quite the level of acclaim other Wright-directed movies have gotten, as its third act didn't stick the landing, but it's still a fun movie, especially for fans of Wright's frenetic style.
David Fincher
David Fincher is the best thriller director working today, and he has been unrivaled in the genre for decades at this point. He is the modern-day Alfred Hitchcock, and a deleted user argues that he had the best run of any director. In 20 years, the filmmaker directed nine incredible movies, five of which are classics. If it wasn't for Mank, Fincher would still be on an amazing run that started all the way back in 1995 with Se7en.
Unfortunately, the 2020 movie about the making of Citizen Kane was polarizing amongst audiences, and it was Fincher's first movie since his directorial debut, Alien 3, that wasn't a unanimously praised suspenseful thrill ride. However, with his upcoming movie, The Killer, scheduled to be released on Netflix soon, it could be a return to form for the director and the start of a new run.