Top 10 Good Movies by Bad Directors

Article by Gabe Zia
Last week, I took a look at some of the best directors, and some of their worst films. Now, I'm going for the reverse, talking about some directors who aren't that great, but have made a film (or a few in some cases) that have stood out from the pack. Like last week, this list is ranked based partially on the quality of the main film, but more in comparison to the rest of the directors films.

10. A Time to Kill - Joel Schumacher

Other films by Joel Schumacher: Trespass, Batman & Robin, Twelve

Starting off the list is the director I feel the strangest about putting on this list. With most directors, you can tell based on their filmography that they're a good or bad director. This isn't really the case with Schumacher, with films ranging from great to total stinker. I knew I was going to have to go with one of his films on here, so I'm going with A Time to Kill. This film is emotionally powerful, filled with great characters and great writing. This is especially made clear in contrast to things like "The Bat Credit-Card".

9. Independence Day - Roland Emmerich
Other films by Roland Emmerich: White House Down, Godzilla, 2012

In the past, I've expressed my dislike for Roland Emmerichs films such as 2012 and White House Down. However, in my opinion, there is one good film amongst these films, and that film is Independence Day. It has some of Emmerichs clichés, but overall it's an entertaining movie. Cool set peices, some memorable action sequences, and the best motivational speech in any movie all work to separate this film from the rest of his films.

8. The Mummy - Steven Sommers
Other films by Steven Sommers: GI Joe: Rise of Cobra, Van Helsing, The Scorpion King

Now I know not everyone likes this film, I even know some people downright hate it. And although it's not The Godfather, I still think The Mummy is a really enjoyable, and well done adventure film. The characters are entertaining and memorable,  and the mythology of the film is really cool. This is especially impressive considering this is the same guy who made the godawful first GI Joe film.

7. The Fugitive - Andrew Davis
Other films by Andrew Davis: Above the Law, A Perfect Murder, The Guardian

Andrew Davis films aren't usually awful, but they're always either really cheesy or mediocre at best. However, The Fugitive is neither of these, being a smart and intuitive crime thriller. Again, The Fugitive isn't Davis's only good film (he also did Under Seige and Holes), but these are three films against a lot of crappy or just not good films. And that's why it's on this list.

6. The Empire Strikes Back - Irvin Kershner
Other films by Irvin Kershner: Never Say Never Again, Robocop 2, The Eyes of Laura Mars

Never Say Never Again and Robocop 2 aren't the worst in their respective franchises, but they're close enough. Both being incredibly cheesy, poorly acted, and just not good as movies. On the other hand, Empire Strikes Back is one of the most beloved films of all-time, agreed by many to be the best in the franchise. The only reason this isn't higher is because Irvin Kershner doesn't have an overwhelming amount of other films to go on. But these are enough.

5. Red Dragon - Brett Ratner
Other films by Brett Ratner: Rush Hour, X-Men 3, The Family Man

When talking about Brett Ratner in respects to which film is good over the rest of really bad films, some go with Rush Hour, others go for Red Dragon. I'm one of the latter group, having thouroughly enjoyed Red Dragon, and hating the rest of his films. Most of his films are sloppy and poorly written messes that comprise into a bunch of moving pictures and sound, so they technically qualify as movies.

4. The Rock - Michael Bay
Other films by Michael Bay: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Pain & Gain, Pearl Harbor

Oh, Michael Bay. By far, one of the most infamous directors to date (if not ever.), with a whole bunch of shenanigans, including: Taking advantage of a tragedy to make an action film (twice), firework explisions for no reason, casting John Malkovich, Frances Mcdormand, and John Toturro into one movie to trick you into thinking it's a coen brothers movie. But The Rock does none of these things, and isn't just a good movie. It's a great movie.

3. Unbreakable - M. Night Shyamalan
Other films by M. Night Shyamalan: The Happening, Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender

The Happening, The Last Airbender, After Earth, and Lady in the Water are astoundingly bad movies. They call have a common reason for being bad, M. Night Shyamalan. His films nowadays stink, bad. However, back in 2000, he came out with a film called Unbreakable. This smart, intuitive superhero film creates an original take on the most oversued genre in hollywood (no easy task).

2. Rampage - Uwe Boll
Other films by Uwe Boll: Postal, Alone in the Dark, Far Cry

Uwe Boll has become sort of a cult legend for his undescripitevly bad films. Films that go above and beyond "so bad it's good". Most of his films go full spectrum, meaning they are so bad, they go around good and come back to bad. However, Rampage is different. Sure, the acting is still hammy and the plot is a little odd. But a little odd and just hammy makes this a masterpeice in comparison to some of his other collassal stinkpiles. The film can even be seen as a dark and thought provoking metaphor, just as long as you keep in mind this is Uwe Boll we're talking about here.


However, despite all that, there's a film that goes beyond simple juxtaposition. A film that is the complete polar opposite from the rest of the films by a certain director.

1. Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly
Other films by Richard Kelly: The Box, Southland Tales, Domino

The Box and Southland Tales are both godawful films, each for their own unique reasons. The Box is awful for being a pretentious and boring film, which is almost as cliche and convoluted as the average Shyamalyn film nowadays. Southland Tales is a completely nonsensical film, which could appear to be an attempt at a social satire, but ends up becoming a part of the problem. Donnie Darko, on the other hand, is a masterpeice. Richard Kelly seemed to be the next Stanley Kubrick with his brilliant sci-fi thriller/coming of age story. However, the following ten years only serve to show that Richard Kelly may have been a good director, but he's probably not anymore. Which totally sucks, because Donnie Darko is brilliant.