Directors who totally missed the mark

Damn this forum and the server 🙂...Alright, let's start over. The question is: can a director lose their touch? Obviously, yes. I’ve been watching certain directors—who, by the way, used to make absolute masterpieces—fall into these massive slumps. Some of them have been coasting in the gutter for years now. 😁😁...

1. Wim Wenders - Poor Wim is basically the internet's favorite punching bag these days. He went from being a cult icon to the guy you can mock without anyone bothering to defend him. And honestly, he kind of invited it. Back in the 80s, everyone was saying he'd already peaked by making everything worth seeing, including *Paris, Texas*. 😍...

Slump duration: roughly 15 years and counting.

2. Martin Scorsese - Say what you want, but his decline is a constant. Look, I know he’d sell his soul for an Oscar, but those last two shameless flops really make you want to just walk away from him. Go dig up some old VHS tapes from back when he was actually delivering.

Slump duration: about 10 years.

3. The Coen Brothers - Just pure tragedy. They’ve completely lost the plot. Maybe they're young enough to snap out of it, but judging by their announced projects, even they don't seem to know what they're doing anymore.

Slump duration: 4 years (maybe 5...).

4. Kevin Smith - The textbook definition of a total collapse. He went from a brilliant debut to someone I don't even know what he does anymore, nor do I care.

Slump duration: about 7 years, and looks like it'll stretch on forever.

5. Wes Craven - What is he even directing lately? 😕

Slump duration: roughly 15 years.

Those were the first ones that popped into my head. Your turn. Who else used to be a heavy hitter but has been struggling lately?

Coppola. Ridley Scott. Mark Kelly19.

If it weren't for Gosford Park, I could easily say: Robert Altman...

But honestly, I think Francis Ford Coppola takes the lead...

Jonathan Demme.
That masterpiece The Silence of the Lambs from '91? Absolute gold—super gripping, actually kind of witty.

But then man just goes straight to hell: Philadelphia, then Oprah, then that totally pointless Charade remake... honestly, in that lineup, even the mediocre The Manchurian Candidate feels like a massive step up.🙄

John Carpenter—this whole crisis has been dragging on since somewhere back in 1988...🙄

Ethan Perez97 said:John Carpenter—this slump has been dragging on since, what, 1988?🙄

:2up: kill it :2up:

John McTiernan😢 😢 Basic and Rollerball🙄

Paul Verhoeven😲 😲 The Invisible Man🙄

I just remembered another one: Roland Joffe. The guy delivers hits like The Killing Fields and The Mission, but then falls off with City of Joy and Vatel in the nineties, followed by that total disaster, The Scarlet Letter (starring Demi Moore)...
Honestly, I feel for him. Those first two films were truly, genuinely excellent, and he really seemed like a director with massive potential...

Jose Chase2 said:Go kill yourself :2up:

Are you actually kidding me right now? 😁

Escape from L.A., Vampires, Village of the Damned, Ghost of Mars...

for a director who gave us Halloween, The Thing, Prince of Darkness, They Live, and Escape from New York, these are all absolute garbage...

Is nobody actually going to mention James Cameron?!?!
I mean, seriously. After delivering hits like Alien, Terminator, and Abyss, how do you just pivot straight down to Titanic and some random TV series?!?!? In my humble opinion, he’s the biggest letdown out there.

Jose Chase2 said:So vampires just aren't worth it now????

Give me a break...👎

Carpenter’s take on vampires was a total disaster, mostly because of that pathetic script and whatever Daniel Baldwin was doing with his performance...🙂

John McTiernan...

I guess he hasn't really hit it out of the park for me since Die Hard III

his absolute lowest point? Probably Rollerball

it feels like this slump has been dragging on for maybe ten years now

Then there's Joe Dante...

The last thing I saw from him that actually worked was Matinee back in '93, and then I haven't really kept up with his stuff lately (not sure how that Looney Tunes: Back in Action turned out)

the slump there: about 12 years😢

Oh yeah, and then there's Ivan Reitman too, I guess.

Bottom line: It’s all about the evolution.

The slump has pretty much been going on since Dave's era—so, like, maybe twelve years now? That was actually a really solid movie, but ever since then, it's just been a total disaster. 👎 It's almost like someone went in and just surgically removed his talent or something.

quietdriver3 said:John McTiernan...

He hasn't directed anything truly great since Die Hard III—not even close.

In a way, you're right—but let's not forget he wasn't even the editor on "The 13th Warrior" or that infamous "Rollerball." Personally, I find "Basic" so over the top that it actually works for me.

northerncrane4 said:I mean, you’ve got a point there, but I guess we should probably remember that movies like "The 13th Warrior" and that infamous "Rollerball" were actually edited without him having any say. And honestly, "Basic" is just so over the top for me that it isn't even a total disaster, I suppose.

fair enough

maybe he belongs on a thread titled "directors who were just victims of bad luck"😉

him and John Landis

quietdriver3 said:He didn't really nail anything for me in Malevolence III.

What about Thirteen Ghosts? Even if it's a bit of a mess, I still thought it was killer.

quietdriver3 said:I'm not sure what that Looney Tunes: Back in Action movie is like.

Ever seen Space Jam? Well, Back in Action is totally different—it's upbeat, playful, fast-paced, crazy, and smart, all at once. Honestly, an absolute classic. It also happens to be the last film Jerry Goldsmith scored.😢

Feel free to grab it from the video store; Dante did a solid job on this one.👍

Jose Chase2 said:Have you seen 'Space Jam'? Well, 'Back in Action' is a totally different beast—it’s upbeat, playful, fast-paced, wild, and actually pretty smart all at once. Such a killer movie. Plus, it’s the final score by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith.😢

Go ahead and grab it from the rental shop; Dante really nailed the job on this one.👍

I've seen it, and honestly, it's great! If you have Max, it’ll be streaming there on the 27th. 😁 😁

Jeremy Bishop5 said:If you've got Max, it'll be out on the 27th of this month. 😁 😁

Look, I live way out in the sticks👎—so please, let's not talk about Max anymore.😠 😁 😠 😁 😠 😁

Jose Chase2 said:Have you ever sat down and watched 'Space Jam'? Well, the sequel, 'Back in Action,' is just... I don't know, it's totally different. It feels way more upbeat, playful, fast-paced, kind of wild, but also smart? It’s all of those things at once. Honestly, it's such a great movie. And I guess it was actually the last time Jerry Goldsmith did any of the music, too.😢

You should definitely grab it from the video rental place if you can; I think Joe Dante really nailed it on this one.👍

Yeah, I heard somewhere that the whole thing started because they wanted to rebel against the first 'Space Jam,' and that Dante just decided he wanted to make a proper movie using the Looney Tunes characters...

okay... I'll definitely have to pick it up.👍

It’s nice to see him back in top form, I suppose.🙂

Brenda Williams13 said:Is nobody going to mention James Cameron?!?!
After Alien, Terminator, and Abyss, pivoting to Titanic and some mediocre TV shows?!?!? In my humble opinion, he completely missed the mark.

This has to be a joke, right? 😕