Film is an interesting field. We’ve seen many directors make or break their careers with one singular film. We have also witnessed directors go on steady runs that last an entire career like Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese and some that shoot to the moon with a great feature film and then fizzle out like Richard Kelly with Donnie Darko or Tony Kaye with American History X. Today, we’re honing in on directors who had great four film runs. Before we get to the winners, we’ll glance at those who just missed the cut with a bad film, or one that’s not on the level of their other three films.
Just Missed The Cut
Sam Mendes (1999-2008)
Films: American Beauty, Road To Perdition, Jarhead, Revolutionary Road
Turd In The Punch Bowl: Revolutionary Road
Sam Mendes is a risky director that has directed many different styles of movies. He’s taken on films in the James Bond series, war movies like 1917 and Jarhead, and romantic films like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road. Over his illustrious career though, he hasn’t had a perfect four film run. His closest attempt came from 1999-2008. He kicked things off with one of my all time favorites, American Beauty, which won Best Picture over The Green Mile and The Sixth Sense in 2000. Mendes followed that up with a noir Chicago mob flick that put Tom Hanks in a different light with Road To Perdition. In that, he uses Daniel Craig, Paul Newman, and Jude Law in unique ways that work.
A few years later in 2005, Mendes directed an epic war flick with Jarhead. Jarhead follows the sorrows that U.S. troops battle with in boot camp, in war, and after war while in the Gulf War. He perfectly portrays PTSD and shenanigans that soldiers go through. He was almost perfect, but he then directed Revolutionary Road. To put it nicely, Revolutionary Road stinks. It’s pacing is off and the dialogue is thin even though DiCaprio and Winslet exhibit great chemistry.
David Fincher (2007-2011)
Films: Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Turd In The Punch Bowl: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher is my all-time favorite director, but even I can acknowledge that he’s not perfect. Every run that’s come close is broken up by a movie that’s not great whether it’s Alien 3, Panic Room, or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The closest run he had to being perfect was from 2007 to 2011. I remark Zodiac as the second best film of the 2000s and The Social Network as maybe the second or even the best of the 2010s. He also added in at the end of this run The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It’s an interesting thriller that was directed masterfully where our two main characters don’t cross paths until about forty minutes in.
What breaks up this near perfect run is Fincher’s ambitious attempt with the 2008 romantic fantasy drama, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. While I don’t think The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a bad film, it’s not one that’s really in Finchers stylistic wheelhouse. It’s interesting that he took on the challenge with two great performers in Pitt and Blanchett, but the film was far too long and didn’t work for me.
Jordan Peele (2017-2022)
Films: Get Out, Us, Nope
Turd In The Punch Bowl: ONLY HAS THREE FILMS
Had Jordan Peele directed one more film on the level of Nope, he’d be with the winners. While I don’t really love Us, it’s a solid film that wouldn’t bring Peele down. Get Out is a modern day, horror masterpiece that challenges your mind as it tackles racism through an obscure plot line. I personally loved Nope and think that in an era where sci-fi flicks have become diluted, Nope was excellent. Once he drops his next film, I’ll have to re-vist this and see where Peele stands.
Darren Aronofsky (2000-2010)
Films: Requiem For A Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan
Turd In The Punch Bowl: The Fountain
If you want to feel traumatized, lonely, and gutted, watch any film in Aronosky’s filmography. He had an almost awesome run between 2000-2010, but the main flaw in this time period was The Fountain. Now much like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for Fincher, The Fountain was ambitious. The 2006 drama felt too manic for my liking while also being boring and overindulgent. His other films in this run were great. He had Requiem For A Dream which will completely change the words “ass to ass” for you after viewing it. It’s disturbing and at times gross, but it’s about real people and that’s where Aronofsky excels.
The other two films were The Wrestler, which almost revitalized Mickey Rourkes career. Again, this is a film about someone who feels like a real person. Someone that you can relate to. The final film in this stretch is the 2010 mental health masterpiece, Black Swan. Again, Aronofsky makes you feel like you’re following a real person and that you’re struggling alongside them.
The Winners
Stanley Kubrick (1968-1980)
Films: 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining
There are many ways that you could craft the perfect four film Kubrick run. You could pick from Paths of Glory to Dr. Strangelove, Lolita to A Clockwork Orange, or even Barry Lyndon to Eyes Wide Shut. He’s maybe the only director ever to not miss. In his twelve feature films, only four have a Letterboxd rating under four stars.
Kubrick’s Thoughts On The Future Through Film
The run for Kubrick I deem the best is from 1968 to 1980. In this time, he directed 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and The Shining. He kicked this run off with what’s regarded as the greatest sci-fi movie ever, 2001: A Space Odyssey. It’s an aesthetically pleasing film with minimal dialogue and beautiful shots of space. It also incorporates one of the most famous opening scenes in film history. That was in 1968, and at the time this film was so advanced and so appreciated in the film community. Three years later, Kubrick released the disturbing dystopian crime film, A Clockwork Orange. Again, this was a revolutionary film for the 1970s as you see what Kubrick’s thoughts are on a futuristic society run by gangs of delinquents. It’s personally my favorite from Kubrick.
Picturesque Shots Add Layers To Barry Lyndon And The Shining
Kubrick followed up A Clockwork Orange with Barry Lyndon four years later in 1975. While I don’t necessarily adore the plot of Barry Lyndon, many of the shots look like magnificent paintings from the 1750s. Many of those shots don’t even look real. They look like something you’d see in an art gallery whilst perusing Europe. Kubrick capped off his great run with what I would consider the greatest horror movie ever, The Shining. While filming The Shining nearly killed Shelley Duvall, you still must acknowledge the great writing and plot line. Right from the opening scene, Kubrick delivers a beautiful shot of the Colorado mountains. By doing this, it almost softens the message of the film early before you see three people delve into true mental anguish. It’s three hours long and delivers in every second that you’re watching it from the beautiful scenes, horror sequences, and deep dialogue.
Christopher Nolan (2006-2012)
Films: The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises
In today’s day and age of film, a great twist can elevate a film from good too great. No director has been able to do that better than Christopher Nolan. Or should I say HIMstopher Nolan? Maybe not. Much like Kubrick, Nolan has minimal misses in his filmography. I toiled over what four film run to write about and it came down to 2000-2006 with Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, and The Presitge or 2006-2012 with The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises. I ultimately chose 2006-2012.
Obsession Can Be Your Demise
In Nolan’s entire filmography, The Prestige gets forgotten about because it came out in the midst of The Dark Knight trilogy. It’s an awesome film that showcases two great lead performances from Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. Nolan directed a film that really challenged your mind, but not to the extent where it confuses you and delivers a jaw dropping twist that made me fall in love with the film. Another great layer to it is how this is an obsession film. You are watching two men goto any length to sabotage one another and it ultimately results in the demise of one of them.
Two years later, Nolan released The Dark Knight. Some may argue this, but I’d say it’s the greatest superhero movie of all time. Nolan’s wild mind gives us the greatest villain ever with Heath Ledger as the Joker, some very beautiful shots, and even better action scenes with my favorite being the funeral parade scene. The Dark Knight trilogy peaked with the second film right in the middle and Nolan does a very good job telling the beginning story in Batman Begins, climaxing with The Dark Knight, and then cutting the story off with The Dark Knight Rises.
If You’re Going To Direct Inception, You Need A Little Imagination
Nolan had a nice two year pattern going on this run because in 2010, he released the mind bending action drama, Inception. While this twist and plot is far more advanced than The Prestige, the massive cast he assembles of DiCaprio, Caine, Gordon-Levitt, Watanabe, Hardy, Page, Murphy, and Berenger paired with unreal action scenes makes Inception a masterpiece of a film. Again, Nolan adds layers by making the main mission in Inception very high stakes on whether Leonardo DiCaprios character can return to the U.S. or not.
To cap this run off, he directed the third installment of The Dark Knight trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises. Of all the films in this trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises has the best action scenes and it’s not even close. It starts right from the jump with the plane scene and ends with the final battle in Gotham, but has an interlude of a football field and bridges blowing up. At every turn, you’re left a little more shocked and even more disgusted with Bane’s tyranny and you’re waiting for Batman to return to save the city. Like I mentioned, there’s a lot of ways to go with Nolan, but from The Prestige to The Dark Knight Rises feels the most proper.
Francis Ford Coppola (1972-1979)
Films: The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now
While judging films is subjective, I think this is the definitive correct answer for the best four film run from a director. And what’s even more wild is how Francis Ford Coppola didn’t direct anything close to as good as the four films in this run. Francis Ford Coppola from 1972 to 1979 was on an absolute heater.
Dialogue Is King And Coppola Knows That
Coppola began his legendary four film run with a film that many people would regard as the greatest film of all-time. Personally, I don’t, but here’s why. The Godfather is really great, but it serves a larger purpose and that’s to set up The Godfather Part II. The Godfather Part II is one of the best films ever and I prefer it, but with out The Godfather, we don’t get The Godfather Part II. Coppola introduces two of the most iconic characters in cinema history with Al Pacino as Michael Corleone and Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone. We’re also introduced to maybe the most famous line in film history: “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Two years later, he followed up The Godfather with an all time Gene Hackman performance in The Conversation. The Conversation is sometimes the forgotten film in this four film run because of how great the three others are, but Gene Hackman and John Cazale in this mystery thriller deliver entertainment from start to finish. Seeing Hackman’s character as a recluse with no friends is super captivating. I’m used to him as a bold character in The Royal Tenenbaums or Mississippi Burning, but he completely flips the script from those characters.
The Godfather Part II And Apocalypse Now Cap Off This Great Run
The same year Coppola released The Conversation, he also released The Godfather Part II. To put out two films that are as remarkable as those two in the same year is bonkers. Just wild.
Like I mentioned prior, I think The Godfather is great but it really does a better job setting up The Godfather Part II. I really loved seeing the development of Vito Corleone through flashbacks. It was an ambitious move to cut between present day and flashbacks, but it works perfectly. What I really love and the scene I think of is the “You broke my heart Fredo” scene. That’s an emotional sequence that kind of guts you as a viewer. You see the weaker brother finally crumble like the coward he is, but you still feel sad.
To end this legendary run of film, Coppola directed Apocalypse Now. Just the thought of Apocalypse Now brings a smile to my face. It’s the most perfect war movie of all-time from start to finish and when you really watch it, you come to the realization that there are three storylines that could be movies on their own. But somehow, through painstaking efforts, Coppola directed this tour de force film. There are some many examples of Coppola being a genius in this film. The first scene that really exemplifies this is the “Ride of the Valkyries” scene. That’s a badass scene as you gaze upon helicopters riding into battle blaring Richard Wagners opera song.
After the “Ride of the Valkyries” scene, we embark up the river with Martin Sheen and company and that’s an even wilder ride. We witness debauchery amongst soldiers, the Vietnam terrain and wildlife make themselves known, and eventually arrive at the final destination in the clutches of Marlon Brando’s character. There’s so much perfect about this film and it’s the perfect cap to a magical four film run.
