The Greatest Directorial Debuts Of All Time
Believe it or not, some of the greatest films of all time were also some of the greatest directorial debuts to date. It's not too often a director's first go at overseeing an entire production ends up on a list of the best movies, but it does happen. Considering this, we've probably all seen an awesome movie and thought, "What a great job by the director" without even realizing it was the director's first movie. Regardless of what thoughts you might have had, below you'll find a list of who are now famous directors' first movies. Just consider that next time you watch one of these top flicks of the past.
From hilarious comedies to full-on thrillers, these debut films from top directors would be impressive even if they weren't the directors first. Just take a look at some of the great movies on the list. Does the classic Reservoir Dogs ring a bell? Yep, that was Quentin Tarantino's directorial debut. How about the 2018 hit Get Out? Sure enough, Jordan Peele of Key & Peele nailed it on his first crack at directing. And that's only the start of a long list of incredible debuts.
While you may find many of them surprising, check out the list of directorial debuts below and vote up the films you find most impressive.
- Frank Darabont
- Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown
- Released: 1994
Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover and is sentenced to a tough prison. However, only Andy knows he didn't ...more - Orson Welles
- Actors: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane, Agnes Moorehead
- Released: 1941
When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane's (Orson Welles) dying words, his investigation gradually reveals the fascinating portrait of a complex man who rose from ...more - Quentin Tarantino
- Actors: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi
- Released: 1992
A group of thieves assemble to pull of the perfect diamond heist. It turns into a bloody ambush when one of the men turns out to be a police informer. As the group begins to question each other's ...more - James Cameron
- Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen
- Released: 1984
Disguised as a human, a cyborg assassin known as a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) travels from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Sent to protect Sarah is Kyle Reese (Michael ...more - John Lasseter
- Actors: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn
- Released: 1995
Woody (Tom Hanks), a good-hearted cowboy doll who belongs to a young boy named Andy (John Morris), sees his position as Andy's favorite toy jeopardized when his parents buy him a Buzz Lightyear (Tim ...more - George A. Romero
- Actors: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea, Karl Hardman, Keith Wayne, Judith Ridley
- Released: 1968
A disparate group of individuals takes refuge in an abandoned house when corpses begin to leave the graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to devour. The pragmatic Ben (Duane Jones) does his best ...more