These films shocked us - in a good way!
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00:00Not to mince words, but film directing is a difficult line of work.
00:04Whilst internet ghouls such as ourselves make bread and butter from dunking on disastrous
00:08directors, the fact is that sometimes the talents of even the most dismal helmer yield
00:13great results.
00:14So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, and here are 10 Great Films from
00:19Bad Directors.
00:2010.
00:21The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan
00:24Okay, fair enough, this one's a little tenuous.
00:27M. Night Shyamalan can't be considered a truly bad director, hence the high placement
00:31on this list, but measuring up the average quality of his filmography does not yield
00:36flattering results.
00:38Responsible for total turkeys like the last, Airbender, Shyamalan's cinematic output
00:42has statistically been more negative than positive.
00:45Whilst he has seen a slight return to form in recent years with the excellent Split,
00:50the okay Glass, and the above average depending on who you ask Old, he is still a far cry
00:55from his early genre efforts like Unbreakable and Signs.
00:58With that in mind, we posit that The Sixth Sense still stands head and shoulders above
01:02the rest of his work.
01:03It's easy to forget the sheer impact this film had at the time of its release, netting
01:07several coveted award nominations such as the Academy's Best Picture and Best Director
01:13categories.
01:14Not only did The Sixth Sense sport an excellent script, brilliant direction, and tense atmosphere,
01:18but it also gave us one of the greatest plot twists in cinematic history, making Shyamalan
01:23a household name practically overnight.
01:26There were even some claiming him to be the next Steven Spielberg, this being long before
01:31the director ran his plot twist trope deep into the ground.
01:34Over 20 years later, it's still by far his best movie.
01:379.
01:38Pretty Woman by Gary Marshall
01:40Despite receiving mixed reviews at the time of its release, Pretty Woman has unquestionably
01:45reached classic status over the years.
01:47Telling the tale of charming sex worker Vivian and her corporate client Edward, the plot
01:52follows their descent into mutual love.
01:54Pretty Woman is a joyful tale of good chemistry, good humor, and learning to trust those close
01:59to you.
02:00As retold in Netflix's brilliant documentary series The Movies That Made Us, 3000, as it
02:05was originally titled, was meant to have a much darker, more realistic tone.
02:10Had it not been for the inexperience of director Gary Marshall, as well as his blatant disregard
02:14for the script, this is a film we would have gotten.
02:17Marshall opted to record several takes of each scene with wildly different tones in
02:21each, and also let lead actors Richard Gere and Julia Roberts simply improvise many of
02:25their scenes.
02:27This risky maneuver paid off in dividends, as letting the lead's natural chemistry
02:31speak for itself is arguably what made the film so great.
02:34Its romantic conclusion was all the more satisfying when the characters themselves were given
02:39the breathing room to endear themselves to the audience, and for that, we have Marshall
02:43to thank.
02:448.
02:45Star Wars Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back by Irving Kirchner
02:51Widely regarded as one of the best Star Wars films ever made, even the best by some, it's
02:55easy to forget that our second foray into a galaxy far, far away wasn't actually helmed
03:01by creator George Lucas.
03:03Following on from the events of A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back continues the story of
03:07the Rebel Alliance and their attempts to undermine the Galactic Empire.
03:10Along the way, Luke trains with Master Yoda, discovers the truth about Daddy Vader, and
03:15loses an entire limb in a lightsaber duel with said father.
03:18Praised for its incredible action set pieces and overall darker tone, The Empire Strikes
03:23Back remains a firm favorite among Star Wars aficionados and casual fans to this very day.
03:30Director Irving Kirchner's other work?
03:32Not so much.
03:33The Barbra Streisand-starring stinker Up the Sandbox and the disappointing Robocop 2 both
03:38spring to mind when examining Kirchner's very mixed filmography.
03:41Whilst 007's spoof Never Say Never Again could be considered something of a cult classic,
03:47this wasn't due to Kirchner's directing abilities, and The Empire Strikes Back remains
03:51his greatest ever effort behind the camera.
03:547.
03:55Event Horizon by Paul W.S. Anderson
03:58Perhaps best known these days for his mixed bag of a Resident Evil franchise, Paul W.S.
04:03Anderson is a bad director who can at least be said to make some really fun movies.
04:08The first Alien vs. Predator is a campy action horror that deserves way more praise than
04:13it gets, and 1994's Shopping was surprisingly slick for a directorial debut.
04:18Far and away the director's best work was 1997's Event Horizon, a sci-fi horror that
04:24went massively underappreciated upon release.
04:27Event Horizon has grown beyond a cult film into a bona fide sci-fi horror classic.
04:33Concerning a rescue crew sent to investigate the reappearance of an experimental warp ship,
04:38the situation aboard the Event Horizon quickly goes south as the crew succumb to terror,
04:43sadness, and perhaps the trappings of hell itself.
04:45Also, out of character for Anderson, the film doesn't feature a single scene of Mila Jovovich
04:51naked.
04:52Very strange.
04:53A somewhat typical ghost ship story coloured with tinges of cosmic horror, Event Horizon
04:57was rightfully reassessed as a flawed masterpiece in the years since its home video release.
05:03Anderson supports this view, saying he was immensely proud of the work he and the crew
05:06put in, and that the film didn't get a fair shake at its initial debut.
05:116.
05:12The Mummy by Stephen Sommers
05:14A childhood classic for many, and an awakening for bisexuals the world over, 1999's The
05:20Mummy was a swashbuckling take on the classic universal monster property that managed to
05:25reinvigorate the action-adventure genre at the time.
05:29Following the world's greatest librarian, Evie, as she enlists the help of tomb raiding
05:33stallion Rick O'Connell to find the lost fortune of Hamunaptra, the group instead awaken
05:38a cursed mummy by the name of Imhotep.
05:40Now faced with a world-ending magical threat, the group teams up with a group of ancient
05:44Egyptian warriors to slay the monster and end the curse once and for all.
05:49The Mummy is high on the list of greatest films ever for 90s kids, and we have director
05:54Stephen Sommers to thank for that.
05:56Much like Paul W.S. Anderson, Sommers makes some really fun movies.
06:00Deep Rising and Van Helsing are low-key cult classics in their own right, but none of his
06:05work has ever reached the heights of this Brendan-literal-angel-frasier vehicle.
06:10Sommers doesn't attempt anything too flashy with The Mummy, instead letting the fun script
06:14and excellent cast do the heavy lifting.
06:16This isn't to say his work was complacent, as oftentimes it's very difficult for directors
06:21to step back and let their films breathe, as Sommers did here.
06:245.
06:25Donnie Darko by Richard Kelly
06:28Donnie Darko was a critical and cult hit for the ages, launching the career of star Jake
06:33Gyllenhaal and convincing an entire generation of edgy teenage cinema-goers they were probably
06:38like, so intellectual, dude.
06:40Following troubled teen Donnie as he witnesses visions of his death, a cursed rabbit with
06:44apocalyptic messages, and commitment to various crimes while sleepwalking, the film gives
06:49little away, instead encouraging the viewer to seek out their own answers as well as rewarding
06:54repeat viewings.
06:55On a first watch, this all seemed like it was guided by the careful hands of a true
06:59film auteur.
07:00Richard Kelly's intense and abstract directorial style appeared to be responsible for the arguable
07:05masterpiece we all ended up watching, but to our disappointment, this was not the case.
07:11We've discussed this here before, how it was actually studio interference that crafted
07:16the original cut of Donnie Darko into the excellent film we all loved, but it was mainly
07:21Kelly's follow-up efforts that exposed the director as a bit of a hack.
07:25Saturn Tales was a confusing mess that seemed to be trying to one-up Darko as being weird
07:30for weirdness' sake, and The Box was a tedious Twilight Zone adaptation that didn't set
07:34any worlds on fire.
07:35At least we'll always have Gary Jules' mad world.
07:384.
07:39Speed by Jan de Bont
07:40The most 90s thriller to ever thrill in the 90s, this Keanu Reeves action vehicle is a
07:47much-beloved relic of late-century action cinema.
07:51Speed follows Maverick cop Jack Traven as he boards a speeding LA bus that will explode
07:56if it goes below 50 miles per hour.
07:58Featuring excellent performances from everyone involved, particularly Dennis Hopper as the
08:03unhinged terrorist responsible, Speed blew up at the box office, grossing nearly 10 times
08:08its original budget.
08:09It did well critically, too, even netting a couple of Oscar nods for its trouble.
08:13The film's impact has seen it lovingly parodied in everything from Robot Chicken to Father
08:18Ted, which makes you think the director of the work must be a real talent, no?
08:22This was actually Helmut Jan de Bont's directorial debut, no small feat given the film's runaway
08:27success and should have charted an excellent career for the young Dutch director.
08:32Alas, de Bont never helmed anything of note ever again, returning for the much-lampooned
08:36Speed 2 Cruise Control, the limp 1999 remake of The Haunting, and the disappointing Tomb
08:42Raider Cradle of Life sequel.
08:44Sometimes, beginner's luck really counts for a lot, and this appears to be the case
08:48here.
08:49De Bont appears to have retired from Hollywood altogether, with his last credit as a cinematographer
08:53being in 2012.
08:553.
08:56Independence Day by Roland Emmerich
08:59During the late 90s, two genres reigned supreme, the disaster movie and the sci-fi action movie.
09:05In 1996, Roland Emmerich blew the doors off both genres with Independence Day.
09:10Set on present-day Earth as the world is devastated by a highly advanced and hostile alien race,
09:16we follow humanity banding together to destroy the alien threat.
09:19To say Independence Day was epic would be an understatement.
09:23Never before had audiences ever seen action set pieces of this scale, with the World Monuments
09:29destruction scene being both terrifying at the time and utterly iconic.
09:32What's more, we had an excellent cast of human interest characters to keep the simple
09:37plot moving forward, particularly Will Smith, Captain Hiller, Jeff Goldblum's quirky scientist,
09:42and Bill Pullman as the greatest big-screen US President we've ever seen.
09:46The Independence Day speech scene is simply chef's kiss.
09:51What makes this classic bit of action cinema all the more intriguing is that director Roland
09:55Emmerich never got close to repeating his success.
09:58Despite his name becoming a byword for big-budget disaster movies, most of his filmography is
10:03sadly lacking.
10:05His Godzilla remake was universally panned, nobody on Earth saw Anonymous, and his most
10:10recent effort Moonfall has been lampooned across the whole internet as an utterly silly
10:15affair.
10:16Even 2004's The Day After Tomorrow, which is widely accepted as an okay movie, failed
10:21to create that perfect marriage of character, story, and spectacle he reached with Independence
10:26Day.
10:27The more he said about its sequel resurgence, the better.
10:302.
10:31Darfur by Yuva Boll
10:32Do not wash out your ears, do not consult a doctor, you did in fact hear me correctly.
10:38Legendary turkey Yuva Boll actually has a decent film to his name.
10:42The German director is infamous for his long line of terrible video game adaptations.
10:47Not satisfied with ruthlessly butchering games that showed narrative promise, Boll also had
10:52a tumultuous relationship with his critics, regularly calling them out on Twitter, blog
10:57posts, and challenging them to literal boxing matches.
11:01Despite being a far better boxer than he is a filmmaker, Boll has bravely forged on with
11:06his chosen career.
11:07Likely through the laws of averages rather than a sudden burgeoning talent, Boll managed
11:12to create Darfur in 2009.
11:14When a talentless, exploitative filmmaker like Boll decides to helm a biographical piece
11:19about real-life conflict, alarm bells start to ring.
11:22Thankfully, Darfur is a decent movie that handles its sensitive subject matter pretty
11:26well.
11:27To say it's a masterpiece would be a huge stretch, but considering the bar is at the
11:31earth's core when it comes to Yuva Boll movies, this is actually quite impressive.
11:35Both Billy Zane and Edward Furlong are also on point as the movie's leads, and Amnesty
11:40International even reported being impressed by the film's quality and credibility.
11:44Unfortunately, this film was released back in 2009, an interim in which Boll had managed
11:49to helm a whopping 13 Stinkers since then.
11:52Truly obliterating any good faith this work gave his directorial abilities.
11:571.
11:58The Room by Tommy Wiseau
12:00Could it really have been anyone else?
12:02Tommy Wiseau's unhinged melodrama is commonly cited as the Citizen Kane of bad movies.
12:08So utterly detached from reality is Wiseau's vision, it regularly feels like a work cobbled
12:13together from an AI forced to watch 10,000 hours of hallmark romance films.
12:18Serving as the film's writer, director, producer, and lead actor, Tommy himself seems
12:22to be a singularly gifted filmmaker in the area of bad movies.
12:26Plot lines appear, then vanish into thin air, the camera work sometimes looks out of focus,
12:31the script is littered with non-sequiturs, and everyone's line delivery feels like it
12:34was beamed directly out of the actors' mouths by an alien force.
12:38And yet, truly, The Room is a great film.
12:41It's great for all the wrong reasons, but great nonetheless.
12:44Enchanting viewers the world over, and often selling out cinemas re-screening the film,
12:49The Room has captured hearts all over the world, based purely on its demented execution,
12:54plastic spoons and all.
12:55There is absolutely no doubt that no one but Tommy Wiseau could have made a film this entertaining,
13:02intentionally or unintentionally.
13:04And that concludes our list.
13:06If you can think of any other examples, then do let us know in the comments below.
13:09And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
13:13Also head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
13:16just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
13:18I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real soon.