10 Famous Directors Who Dislike Movies That Everyone Else Loves

Movie directors can be notoriously harsh on their films, although it’s not as often that they speak openly against other filmmakers’ works. However, occasionally, a movie has left such a bad impression on another director that they couldn’t help but speak out against it or, in some way, let their dislike of the movie be known by the public. While audiences often view famous directors through the lens of the movies they create, it’s also important to remember that filmmakers are also film audiences whose opinions on the latest release can sometimes go against the popular consensus and lead to them disliking movies that everybody else seemed to love.

While the widespread use of the internet and modern culture has led to more directors voicing their opinions online, filmmakers publicly deriding their contemporary’s work was nothing new and dated back to the earliest days of Hollywood. Iconic director Ingmar Bergman notably voiced his hatred for the acclaimed classic Citizen Kane, and even as recently as 2024, John Carpenter explained that he did not understand the hype around Oppenheimer. When famous directors disliked movies everyone else loved, it can be a great insight into their unique creative process.

10 Ingmar Bergman

Citizen Kane (1942)

Orson Welle’s Citizen Kane has been widely regarded as among the greatest movies ever made, but another acclaimed director, the Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, was less convinced by Charles Foster Kane’s life and legacy. When asked about it, Bergman described Citizen Kane as boring (via Far Out) and did not hold back from explaining why. Bergman called Welles “a hoax” and said that the movie was empty, not interesting, and dead. “The critics’ darling, always at the top of every poll taken, but I think it’s a total bore,” Bergman said.

Bergman thought the performances in Citizen Kane were “worthless” and reiterated that the amount of respect the movie gained was “absolutely unbelievable.” It’s interesting to hear Bergman being so harsh on a film he felt was boring, as his style of filmmaking was notably alienating with long, dialogue-heavy scenes and slow pacing that could potentially also appear dull to certain viewers. However, Bergman was entitled to his opinion, as, like Welles, he’s regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived.

9 Andrei Tarkovsky

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The release of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 was a massively important moment in the history of American science fiction movies, although one director who was not impressive was the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky, who called the movie “phony” (via Far Out.) Tarkovsky took issue with Kubrick’s description of 2001: A Space Odyssey as a “premonition” and said that for a work of art to be effective, “the fake must be eliminated.” Tarkovsky added that the movie’s characters and examination of technological progress in Kubrick’s vision amounted to “a lifeless schema with only pretensions to truth.”

Tarkovsky not only talked the talk but also walked the walk, as, four years later, he released his own trailblazing science fiction movie about man and his place in the universe called Solaris. This sought to bring greater emotional depth than had previously been seen in science fiction as it explored the limits of rationalism and the power of the human unconscious. Tarkovsky continued to explore these ideas in his later sci-fi work, Stalker.

8 Quentin Tarantino

Groundhog Day (1993)

Quentin Tarantino has never been shy about expressing his opinions on other people’s movies and has regularly revealed his favorites and praised countless filmmakers. However, Tarantino will also let it be known when he does not like something, and a piece in InsideHook listed all of his least favorite movies, including the beloved Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day. Tarantino’s issue with Groundhog Day came from his rejection of the idea that “Bill Murray’s characters needed redemption.”

While the story of Groundhog Day saw Phil Connors (Murray) learn to be kinder, get the girl, and escape from his daily time loop, Tarantino pondered if “a less sarcastic Bill Murray is a better Bill Murray?” It seemed Tarantino would have liked Groundhog Day much more if Murray was allowed to stay true to his character and not learn a valuable lesson before the credits rolled. Although this would mean he would never escape the never-ending Groundhog Day he was trapped in, but maybe that’s a better ending.

7 Francis Ford Coppola

Crash (1996)

The filmmaker David Cronenberg has made plenty of alienating movies as his exploration of body horror and deep psychological themes can be intense, and one director who reportedly did not take to challenging style was Francis Ford Coppola. Although Cronenberg won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his erotic drama Crash, which was about people who were aroused by auto accidents, Cronenberg stated that Coppola was opposed to giving him the award (via Indiewire.) Cronenberg said Coppola was “totally against it,” and he got the award as “the jury’s attempt to get around Coppola’s negativity.”

Crash received widespread acclaim when it was released, but it was also quite controversial, as its vivid depictions of graphic violence and sexual content upset some viewers. Coppola was the Cannes president that year, but Cronenberg explained, “They had the power to create the award without the president’s approval.” For this reason, Cronenberg was awarded the special accolade that was not given every year that represented the daring originality of his film.

6 Paul Thomas Anderson

Fight Club (1999)

David Fincher’s Fight Club was a highly controversial movie that has since gone on to become a cult classic, but one director who was outspoken in his opposition to the film was Paul Thoams Anderson, whose movie Magnolia came out the same year. Anderson (via Indiewire) said he only “watched 30 minutes” of Fight Club but wanted to “pretend as if I haven’t seen it.” Anderson took offense to Fight Club’s presentation of cancer as Edward Norton’s character falsely attended support groups, leading Anderson to state, “I wish David Fincher testicular cancer, for all of his jokes about it.”

Fincher himself looked back on Anderson’s comments years later and, in 2021, stated he understood the offense he caused but that he “didn’t think that we were making fun of cancer survivors or victims” and his movie, and the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, was about “empathy vampirism.” Fincher said, “If you’re in a rough emotional state and you’ve just been through something major,” he understood why somebody would feel that way. Fincher added that his father died of cancer, and “my dad probably liked ‘Fight Club’ even less than Paul did.”

5 Hayao Miyazaki

The Lord of the Rings (2001 – 2003)

The legend of Japanese animation Hayao Miyazaki was responsible for Studio Ghibli classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, but one cinematic classic he did not like was The Lord of the Rings. In an interview (via Kotaku), Miyazaki explained his issues with Hollywood movies and was particularly harsh about The Lord of the Rings, which he said included “endless numbers” of killings “with no separation between civilians and soldiers.” Miyazaki linked the violence seen in Hollywood productions to the American military in the Middle East and seemed to try to draw parallels between violence in movies and real life.

While it’s true that The Lord of the Rings was distributed by the American production company New Line Cinema, the director, Peter Jackson, was from New Zealand, where he filmed the movies. This did not stop Miyazaki from lumping The Lord of the Rings with Americans who “shoot things, and they blow up and the like, so as you’d expect, they make movies like that.” Miyazaki’s issues with Hollywood also extended to Indiana Jones, which he said starred a “white guy” who just “shoots people,” and those who watched these films without “self-awareness” were “unbelievably embarrassing.”

4 Martin Scorsese

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (2008 – Present)

From Taxi Driver to Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese was one of the greatest directors ever and has left an undeniable mark on contemporary cinema. However, one aspect of the modern movie landscape that Scorsese took issue with was the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which he said, in an interview with Empire, that he tried to watch but doesn’t anymore because it is “not cinema.” Scorsese explained that the MCU was more akin to “theme park rides” and less about “human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences.”

Scorsese’s comments received widespread coverage, to the point that he responded with a follow-up essay in the New York Times where he acknowledged everybody’s tastes were different but that he does “not enjoy watching these movies.” In his essay, Scorsese lamented the nature of modern franchises, where everything was “market-researched, audience-tested, vetted, modified, revetted and remodified” until it was “ready for consumption.” It’s no surprise Scorsese felt this way, as the sprawling cinematic universe of Marvel was so far removed from the individual, auteur-based New Hollywood era he came out of.

3 David Lynch

Dune (2021)

This seemed to have less to do with director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune and much more to do with David Lynch’s personal experience with the Frank Herbert novel. The director David Lynch famously released his version of Dune in 1984, but he did not have complete creative control, was unhappy with the result, had his name removed, and was instead credited as Alan Smithee. This negative experience meant that Lynch said he would “never watch” the latest version of Dune (via Far Out.)

Even though Lynch’s version of Dune was released 40 years ago, he’s still not entirely over it. In a Q&A, he said, “I don’t even like talking about Dune, really,” as when he allowed final cut to be taken away from him, he felt like he was “selling out.” Thankfully, the future didn’t repeat itself, and Villeneuve’s version received widespread critical acclaim, although this wasn’t enough to change Lynch’s view and the negative feelings he was subjected to whenever he thought about Dune.

2 Paul Schrader

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (2023)

Director and screenwriter Paul Schrader was responsible for films like Taxi Driver and Raging Bull and directed fantastic movies like Blue Collar and First Reformed. However, Schrader has also developed a reputation for speaking his mind on his Facebook profile, where he did not hold back expressing his dislike for the Tom Cruise movie Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning. Schrader said of the film: “Such tiresome claptrap. There’s no reason that AI, given the correct prompts, could not have written this script.”

Although Schrader was intensely harsh on the latest Mission: Impossible movies, he’s also remained vocal about what he likes. Similarly, Schrader took his Facebook to lavish praise on Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which he called the “most important film of this century.” While Schrader stated he was no “Nolan groupie,” he assured his followers that “this one blows the doors off the hinges.” That’s quite the disparity between Schrader’s thoughts on Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.

1 John Carpenter

Oppenheimer (2024)

Despite receiving widespread acclaim from both audiences and critics, one filmmaker who did not understand the hype about Oppenheimer was John Carpenter. While Carpenter may be a legend of the horror genre, having directed such classics as Halloween and The Thing, in an interview with the journalist Larry Fitzmaurice for the Last Donut of the Night newsletter, he made the shocking reveal that he thought Oppenheimer was “just OK” before adding “it was alright.” Carpenter said he was confused by how well-received Oppenheimer was and stated, “Everyone’s praising it as the movie of the century—I don’t know about that.”

At the same time, Carpenter had high praise for Bradley Cooper’s movie Maestro, which was about the composer Leonard Berstein, and for which Cooper lost the Academy Award to Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer. Carpenter said, “I liked Maestro a great deal” and that he “thought that was terrific.” It appeared Carpenter had issues with both films from the Barbenheimer phenomenon, as when Fitzmaurice asked his thoughts on the Greta Gerwig movie Barbie, he said, “Did I like it? No comment.”

Sources: Far Out (Citizen Kane), Far Out (2001: A Space Odyssey), InsideHook, Indiewire (Crash), Indiewire (Fight Club), Kotaku, Empire, New York Times, Far Out, Last Donut of the Night