Every director has a level of film quality they can generally achieve, a certain percent that they will have in making a good film. For some directors, it’s very high because they pick a lot of good projects. Others are very sporadic, ending up mediocre because they have too many misses bringing down an otherwise top-notch record. And some directors manage to make one or two good movies in a series of bad ones. This month we take a look at famous directors and see what kind of average they have in terms of making a good movie. What would Steven Spielberg’s batting average be in terms of his ability to make continuously good movies? For Spielberg, and everyone else on our list, we’ve decided to compile their film careers and boil it down to one of two categories: Hit or Miss.
If a film would rate more than 3 ½ Buckets on our 5 Bucket Scale, a film is considered a Hit for our purposes. Anything less is a Miss. We’ve compiled our lists, sat through plenty of films we otherwise hadn’t seen and compiled our results in an easy to use format. Enjoy!
Edward Zwick is one of those directors whose films everyone tends to enjoy but doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. Having been at the helm of a number of monumental television shows like “thirtysomething,” Zwick consistently makes great movies but doesn’t do them at a regular pace. Averaging several years between films, Zwick makes his film choices very carefully and it shows when looking at his film resume. Virtually everything he does has been excellent over the years, even if it hasn’t struck box office gold.
Batting Order:
1. Blood Diamond (2006) – Hit – A dud at the box office but a critical darling of last year, Blood Diamond is a terrific film that showed just how versatile Leonardo DiCaprio has become. An action thriller that netted several Academy Award nominations, it’s a terrific combination of good acting, drama and features some of the best action sequences of the year.
2. The Last Samurai (2003) – Hit – My personal choice for the best film of the year, it’s weird to look back at this film and think that Tom Cruise’s sanity was still largely presumed to be intact at this point. Honestly, a film about a white guy who fought with Custer deserting a contract position in Japan to fight with samurai in traditional armor? It seems crazy but somehow it works because of its great script. With some of the year’s best battle scenes, it may get history completely wrong but it does so in entertaining fashion.
3. The Siege (1998) – Hit – It’s awkward to watch this film after the events of 9/11, as having lived through a major terrorist attack by Muslims is a reality as opposed to merely being fictional, but even now it’s still a terrific drama despite the newfound world in which we live in. Denzel Washington is his usual terrific self and it’s fascinating to see action hero Bruce Willis hold his own with a two-time Academy Award winner.
4. Courage Under Fire (1996) – Hit – The first military-based film from the first Gulf War, though technically not the first true war film from that particular war (which would be Jarhead), Zwick works well once again with Denzel Washington in a terrific thriller. Following the events of an investigator (Washington) who’s looking into the awarding of the Medal of Honor to a courageous helicopter pilot, and the incidents involving it and the crew of the downed chopper.
5. Legends of the Fall (1994) – Miss – The only reason why anyone wants to see this film is because women love long-haired Brad Pitt.
6. Leaving Normal (1992) – Miss – An inferior film with poor timing, Leaving Normal came out after Thelma & Louise and wasn’t nearly as good in the “crazy women go on the lamb” genre that briefly came into vogue in the early 90s.
7. Glory (1989) – Hit – One of the great under-rated war films of our time, Glory follows the first all-black unit of the Civil War. Following the trial and tribulations of the man (Matthew Broderick) assigned to train and lead them, as well as the prohibitive racism of the era, the film is a fascinating look at both the Civil War and a group of men who want to fight for a good cause.
8. About Last Night (1986) – Hit – Zwick’s first film, and perhaps his best, is a modern romantic film about two people (Rob Lowe and Demi Moore) developing a relationship in a modern way (80s style, of course).
Batting Average 6/8, .750 average
Final Thoughts: Edward Zwick may not be the most famous director in Hollywood, and easily one of its most non-prolific members, but the man has good taste in what he chooses to pursue in cinema.
