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Apparently, these are the best directed movies ever made. Agree?

The Directors Guild of America, celebrating its 80th year, asked its members to vote for the best directed movies since 1936. And now, they’ve revealed the top 80.

Updated on: May 5, 2016, 15:24:25 IST
Hindustan Times | By , New Delhi
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The Directors Guild of America, celebrating its 80th year, asked its members to vote for the best directed movies since 1936. And now, they’ve revealed the top 80.

A still from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.
A still from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

Here is the top 10

1. The Godfather Francis Ford Coppola 1972

2. Citizen Kane Orson Welles 1941

3. Lawrence of Arabia David Lean 1962

4. 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick 1968

5. Casablanca Michael Curtiz 1942

6. The Godfather: Part II Francis Ford Coppola 1974

7. Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola 1979

8. Schindler’s List Steven Spielberg 1993

9. Gone With the Wind Victor Fleming 1939

10. Goodfellas Martin Scorsese 1990

The most notable takeaway from this top 10 is that three Francis Ford Coppola films have been included. Each one deservedly so. Citizen Kane was named number one in the American Film Institute’s top 100 films of all time, but the directors have pushed it to number two in favour of Coppola’s crime epic.

Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.
Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.

While the list does a great job of including the most obvious choices, it doesn’t quite find room for some modern classics. There’s room for just one Coen Brothers movie (Fargo) and one by Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood). Surprisingly, there’s no Christopher Nolan or Michael Mann film in the list. Directors with multiple films featured on the list include Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Staley Kubrick, Sergio Leone and James Cameron.

Read: WGA reveals 101 funniest movie scripts ever, are you amused?

Read: The BBC released its top 100 American films list, and it’s a joke

Here’s the rest of the list for you to debate over:

11. Chinatown Roman Polanski 1974

12. The Wizard of Oz Victor Fleming 1939

13. Raging Bull Martin Scorsese 1980

14. Jaws Steven Spielberg 1975

15. It’s a Wonderful Life Frank Capra 1946

16. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick 1964

17. The Shawshank Redemption Frank Darabont 1994

18. The Graduate Mike Nichols 1967

19. Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope George Lucas 1977

20. Blade Runner Ridley Scott 1982

21. On the Waterfront Elia Kazan 1954

22. Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino 1994

23. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Steven Spielberg 1982

24. Annie Hall Woody Allen 1977

25. Saving Private Ryan Steven Spielberg 1998

26. Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa 1954

27. A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick 1971

28. Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg 1981

29. Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock 1958

30. Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder 1950

31. To Kill A Mockingbird Robert Mulligan 1962

32. Psycho Alfred Hitchcock 1960

33. The Searchers John Ford 1956

34. Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis 1994

35. Singin’ in the Rain Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly 1952

36. 8 ½ Federico Fellini 1963

37. The Third Man Carol Reed 1949

38. The Best Years of Our Lives William Wyler 1946

39. Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock 1954

40. The Bridge on the River Kwai David Lean 1957

41. North by Northwest Alfred Hitchcock 1959

42. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Miloš Forman 1975

43. The Sound of Music Robert Wise 1965

44. Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese 1976

45. Titanic James Cameron 1997

46. The Shining Stanley Kubrick 1980

47. Amadeus Miloš Forman 1984

48. Doctor Zhivago David Lean 1965

49. West Side Story Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise 1961

50. Some Like it Hot Billy Wilder 1959

51. Ben-Hur William Wyler 1959

52. Fargo Ethan Coen, Joel Coen 1996

53. The Silence of the Lambs Jonathan Demme 1991

54. The Apartment Billy Wilder 1960

55. Avatar James Cameron 2009

56. The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow 2008

57. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre John Huston 1948

58. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Alejandro G. Iñárritu 2014

59. All About Eve Joseph L. Mankiewicz 1950

60. The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino 1978

61. There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson 2007

62. The Sting George Roy Hill 1973

63. The Wild Bunch Sam Peckinpah 1969

64. Alien Ridley Scott 1979

65. Rocky John G. Avildsen 1976

66. The Conformist Bernardo Bertolucci 1970

67. Gandhi Richard Attenborough 1982

68. The Bicycle Thief Vittorio De Sica 1948

69. Cinema Paradiso Giuseppe Tornatore 1988

70. Brazil Terry Gilliam 1985

71. The Grapes of Wrath John Ford 1940

72. All the President’s Men Alan J. Pakula 1976

73. Barry Lyndon Stanley Kubrick 1975

74. Touch of Evil Orson Welles 1958

75. Once Upon a Time in America Sergio Leone 1984

76. Unforgiven Clint Eastwood 1992

77. The Usual Suspects Bryan Singer 1995

78. Network Sidney Lumet 1976

79. Rashomon Akira Kurosawa 1950

80. Once Upon a Time in the West Sergio Leone 1968

Have any other movie on your mind? Sound off below

 (Casablanca)
(Casablanca)