Great Movies by Bad Directors

[Chaos]

Can you think of any? I can't... but I thought it might be fun to bring up, as a counterpoint to the bad movie / great director thread.

So, what shitty directors actually managed to pull off a successful film? Was it by accident? Was it because of the source material? Discuss!

[mrbasehart]

Hm...That's kinda tough.  Jan de Bont's Speed is a decent movie, but he followed it up with Twister, Speed 2, and the execrable Haunting remake.  Paul WS Anderson's Even Horizon is the only decent thing on his CV.  And (this might be a bit of a stretch) that Lindsay Anderson never lived up to the promise of his short films or the excellent ...If. 

[Chaos]

An otherwise intelligent friend of mine insists that Lord of the Rings is the only good thing Peter Jackson ever did. King Kong was certainly crap, but his older movies (though hard to find, and definitely only of "cult" caliber) are glorious examples of cheesy campy goodness. And Forgotten Silver was, in my opinion, a hilarious little film, superbly executed.

I'm SURE that there are some other directors who I could think of who have managed one smash hit and nothing else, but they escape me right now (which is part of the reason I posted the thread). We certainly won't be seeing anybody like Uwe Boll on the list.

[GregMcduck]

Brokeback Mountain was good, and The Ice Storm was OK, but the rest of the Ang Lee films I've seen have been crap.

[mrbasehart]

Brokeback Mountain was good, and The Ice Storm was OK, but the rest of the Ang Lee films I've seen have been crap.

Sense and Sensibility are better than both of them. 

[TeamRAD]

An otherwise intelligent friend of mine insists that Lord of the Rings is the only good thing Peter Jackson ever did.

I really hope your friend mentioned/referenced Heavenly Creatures at some point while considering Jackson's body of work? If not, I believe that's a crime or something. 

That and I'll take Bad Taste, Braindead, & Meet the Feebles over LOTR any day...hands down....and I like LOTR. 

[a pretty girl is like]

Brokeback Mountain was good, and The Ice Storm was OK, but the rest of the Ang Lee films I've seen have been crap.

Sense and Sensibility are better than both of them. 

Eat Drink Man Woman is better yet.   

Also American Graffiti is a good movie by a horrible horrible horrible terrible detestable execrable half a mongoloid retard director.

[Darth Geek]

Star Wars: A New Hope is the only thing Geargoe Lucas directed that was any good. Sorry, APGIL, I don't care much for American Grafitti. And THX 1138 is a college film, so I don't count it.

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

And THX 1138 is a college film, so I don't count it.

That reminds me a lot of Phase IV....without the egg laying scenes.

[a pretty girl is like]

Star Wars: A New Hope is the only thing Geargoe Lucas directed that was any good. Sorry, APGIL, I don't care much for American Grafitti.

Fair enough. 

[Relaxing Dragon]

That and I'll take Bad Taste, Braindead, & Meet the Feebles over LOTR any day...hands down....and I like LOTR. 

Full agreement here, especially can't go wrong with Meet the Feebles

[doggans]

I knew this thread was coming.

Now. I wouldn't call Zemeckis necessarily a bad director...but all of his films are tremendously overrated EXCEPT the BTTF trilogy and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which are fantastic in every way, shape, and form.

[Trumpysgirl]

Barry Sonnenfeld directed Get Shorty and then went on to create that cinematic gem Wild Wild West. Quite a turnaround, there.

Good producer, though.

[Charles Castle]

Russell Mulcahy, the guy that made Highlander has made a lot of really bad movies (including Highlander 2), but Highlander is fracking sweet.

[DarthChimay]

There were a couple that sprang to mind...

Stephen Sommers - The Mummy is pretty darn entertaining, though I suppose I wouldn't call it a "great" movie. Still, it is a helluva lot better than his other flicks.

Michael Cimino - The Deer Hunter deserves the lauding it often receives; the rest of his CV is mediocre at best, shit at worst.

John Alvidsen - Rocky is a truly great movie. Lean on Me is also wonderful. The rest of his flicks? Not so much. And don't even try to say that The Karate Kid is great.

Jack Arnold - Possibly a controversial choice, but The Creature from the Black Lagoon is a classic.

Jack Sholder - The Hidden is great.

I toyed with adding Barry Levison to this list, but even The Natural isn't all that brilliant.