There are hundreds of examples of this list out there, and each of them will have entries that people agree or disagree with. Any list like this is subjective. But these are the guys who’s work I admire the most (either a single film or a body of work), or who have otherwise in my opinion created something very special. There will be some that will appear on many lists like this, hopefully there will be one or two that no one has heard of before and are then inspired to check out.
- Stanley Kubrick
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Steven Speilberg
- Quentin Tarantino
- Ridley Scott
- Luc Besson
- John Huston
- Orson Welles
- James Cameron
- Robert Altman
- Woody Allen
- Joel and Ethan Coen
- Martin Scorcese
- David Lynch
- Tim Burton
- Bruce Beresford
- Peter Weir
- Danny Boyle
- Frank Capra
- Brian De Palma
- Christopher Nolan
- Billy Wilder
- George Lucas
- Jacques Tati
- Charlie Chaplin
- Michael Curtiz
- Cecil B DeMille
- David Lean
- William Wyler
You’ve got Frank Capra in twice (though different spellings), so instead of one of those, how about David Lean? And how could you miss out Howard Hawks of all people?
And (your saddest ommission I reckon), William Wyler, who gave us such varied classics as Ben Hur, Mrs. Miniver, Wuthering Heights and The Little Foxes.’
Nevertheles, quite a decent bunch.
Thanks for picking up that duplication. I’ve corrected it now. David Lean was good, even though I found some of his films dragged. I may add him and William Wyler (Ben Hur is a favourite film), but not Howard Hawks.