He might be more well-known for his direction and production of two of the Star Wars sequel films now, but JJ Abrams has had an impressive career in the world of film and TV since the early 1990s. He created Lost, and while most people just remember the very questionable ending, that show was absolutely brilliant once upon a time.
We’ve used IMDb to rank the five best films he ever directed or produced, and have compared them to the five worst.
BEST: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (7.4)
After directing just one Mission: Impossible film, Abrams became a regular producer working in the Tom Cruise-centric franchise. Abrams directed the third film in the franchise, which is considered to be one of the poorer entries in the franchise.
Mindless action and huge explosions define Rogue Nation, with Abrams’ production ability probably bringing quite a lot of intelligence.
WORST: Morning Glory (6.5)
Comedy might not be the area of filmmaking that JJ Abrams typically exists around, but he still landed a role as producer on the 2010 comedy Morning Glory.
The critical reception wasn’t awful, but its box office performance was pretty terrible, especially considering it had Harrison Ford on the cover. Maybe this is where Ford and Abrams met, leading to him being able to convince Ford to reprise the role of Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
BEST: Mission: Impossible – Fallout (7.7)
J.J. Abrams also produced Mission: Impossible-Fallout, which was met with critical praise and earned Paramount a pretty penny at the box office in 2018.
His true calling in this action-heavy universe must come from production, with the sixth film ending up being praised almost across the board for keeping a series experiencing newfound success afloat.
WORST: Forever Young (6.3)
This is an interesting one because despite starring Mel Gibson, Forever Young was not a hit at all. The sci-fi romance had big ambitions but failed to make an impact amongst critics.
Perhaps this is down to how early on in Abrams’ career the film came. Not only was he the film’s executive producer, but he wrote the entire thing himself. This would have been an impressive achievement if it had been considered well-written...
BEST: Star Trek Into Darkness (7.7)
It’s interesting to ponder whether J.J. Abrams had any idea that within a few years of becoming a name synonymous with the Star Trek universe, he would also be synonymous with Star Wars.
He handles the cinematic universe of what is a campy, very old franchise with poise, and was able to give it a new lease of life and some incredibly positive reviews.
WORST: The Cloverfield Paradox (5.5)
One of the more recent ventures for Abrams is the 2018 horror film The Cloverfield Paradox. The film is the third in the franchise, and, like the first two, is produced by JJ Abrams.
While he was able to inject a spark of life into the first two films, it seems that his magic touch wasn’t really able to bring much to this film, leaving it to be remembered as the worst of the three.
BEST: Star Trek (7.9)
Before his work on the sequel discussed above, Abrams was given the role as director in the reboot of the Star Trek franchise. He was able to use the characters everyone knew and loved, but he provided them all with new faces, and it all ended up going rather well.
It was a box office smash, a critical success, and one of the many films that have seen collaboration between Simon Pegg and JJ Abrams.
WORST: The Pallbearer (4.9)
This romantic comedy showcases the youthful faces of David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow right on the poster for the film. How a film with two actors who were about to become two of the biggest names in the world was this bad is quite the mystery.
Even though Abrams would go on to create Lost and be at the helm of two films in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, his work on The Pallbearer didn't help the film much.
BEST: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (7.9)
The first new Star Wars film since George Lucas wrapped up his almost universally-despised prequel trilogy was JJ Abrams’ The Force Awakens. It was an inoffensive flick that provided some great new characters, locations, and abilities while keeping the references to the much-loved work of the past at the forefront.
The reception to the next two films in the series (including Abrams’ own Episode IX) was a little less consistent...
WORST: The Suburbans (4.2)
One of his earliest credits as a producer saw Abrams working with the likes of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Will Ferrell. The film was a huge commercial failure, and as such, is barely remembered. In fact, almost all of the reviews from people that watched the film are negative.