Directors who peaked early in their career vs those who peaked late

[ThePhantasm]

Spielberg's sci-fi peaked early. Now he's hitting a historical drama peak.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I think Spielberg's historical peak was Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.

His blockbuster peak was Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and ET.

But of course even his lesser movies are better than most films in general.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Tarantino is an interesting case.

He came out blazing, then went off to re-discover his artistic voice. Now after a short run of weaker efforts he's at the top of his game again.

If I had to rank his films, his first two and last two movies would top the list.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Lincoln? Really.

 

[Drizzle]

Spielberg never really fell off the peak, really. He's had misfires, but he'll usually follow those up with something great (like "Jurassic Park" after "Hook" or "Munich" after "War of the Worlds"), and as a director he's had many hits and few misses.

 

[dark_b]

a bad Spielberg movie is still a good movie if you know what i mean.

 

[Pink Ranger]

a bad Spielberg movie is still a good movie if you know what i mean.

Like pizza and sex.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I have to disagree. War of the Worlds. That is all.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

a bad Spielberg movie is still a good movie if you know what i mean.

Even 1941 has its fans.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Yup and Hook, which was panned critically, probably has a few websites dedicated to it.

 

[jonathancrane]

I like Hook, even though it has a large number of flaws.

Another director: Brett Ratner. Except I view him as a one-hit wonder: namely, with Red Dragon.

 

[TheVileOne]

Does Richard Donner count?

Also Martin Bhrest (?).

 

[Pink Ranger]

I like Hook, even though it has a large number of flaws.

Another director: Brett Ratner. Except I view him as a one-hit wonder: namely, with Red Dragon.

Anyone who knows me here knows I do not like Brett Ratner, but I will say this: he has neither peaks nor valleys. His work is very consistent.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I would count Richard Donner. He seemed to stop making good movies when the 80s ended. The last movie of his I really liked was Lethal Weapon 2. Since then the best thing he's turned out is Maverick.

 

[C. Lee]

Even 1941 has its fans.

I love it....it's hilarious.

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

I'm putting John Hughes into the hat for directors who peaked early.

 

[childeroland]

Peaked early:
Orson Welles
Victor Erice
If you count his sound films, Josef von Sternberg
Joseph Mankiewicz
Dario Argento (sorry, but everything after Tenebrae--except maybe Opera--...no, just no)
Agnieszka Holland
Lukas Moodyson
Jean Vigo
Chantel Akerman
Uli Edel


Late peakers:
Except for Liebelei, Max Ophuls
Alain Renais
Hiroshi Teshigahara
Yasujiro Ozu
Hitchcock, more or less
Michael Powell

 

[Gort Baringa]

What has Francis Ford Coppola contributed since he did Dracula?

 

[cabel]

What has Francis Ford Coppola contributed since he did Dracula?

Jack.

 

[A Necessary Evil]

Nolan.

Following is just ****ing amazing.

 

[A Necessary Evil]

Yup and Hook, which was panned critically, probably has a few websites dedicated to it.

I adore Hook.

 

[dude stannis]

I'd say Tarantino, Fincher and Ridley Scott kind of hit a plateau. Even their lesser efforts are clearly films they believe in artistically.

I'd put Michael Bay as an early peaker, Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon is a pretty good hat trick.

Kathryn Bigelow was a b grade genre director, now she's an a-list awards calibur film maker.

 

[scifiwolf]

I saw someone mention Cameron as an early peaker. Couldn't be further from the truth. The guy went off and did his own personal things for a good 10 years. It's not like he was still putting out feature films that didn't live up to his early work. When he came back and made his next movie, it was the first one in that time span to top his previous work at the box office.

I would've said George Lucas, but that's actually an interesting one to discuss. He's not been able to match THX-1138, American Graffiti, or Star Wars with critical acclaim, but his later directorial efforts were equally tremendous successes. There's a lot more analysis to be had with George's career, but I'll let others get that going.

 

[redhawk23]

I've said it before but it still amazes me that one director could put out AI Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Catch Me If You Can in the span of a year and half. I know I'm a bigger fan of AI than most people (I can, and have, write endlessly about why), but still, great output from a director decades into their career.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I think Artificial Intelligence is gravely misunderstood and under-appreciated.

To me it's easily one of top ten sci-fi movies since the year 2000.