The Movie Brats stand as perhaps the greatest and most influential era of filmmakers in the history of Hollywood. Defying the studio order of their time, and strong-arming the film industry into making the kinds of movies that served them, the Movie Brats established themselves as true auteurs of the cinematic arts, and set a high bar for the filmmakers who would come after them. To this day, many of the Movie Brats continue to make an impact on cinema, and remain at the top of their creative powers. This list, while by no means exhaustive, serves as a tour of the Movie Brats contribution to cinema, and highlights their impact on Hollywood, ranking some of their best films against one another.
12 John Milius - Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Universal Pictures
Directed by John Milius, Conan the Barbarian became a cult-favorite blockbuster film that thrust Arnold Schwarzenegger into a decade spanning era of box office dominance. While not as iconic a name as his fellow Movie Brat counterparts, Milius would make a greater impact as a writer in Hollywood circles, lending his talents to iconic films like Apocalypse Now and the Dirty Harry franchise. His student film, Marcello, I’m Bored won first place at the USC School of Cinema in 1967, and he would go on to be an influential voice in the development of his fellow peers work across the industry. Perhaps, less known than Conan, but similarly influential, Milius directed film, Red Dawn, became the calling card for a generation of young teenagers coming up in the era of the Cold War, and served as a flash point for many new up-and-coming stars of Hollywood, perhaps most iconically, a young Patrick Swayze.
11 George Lucas - THX 1138 (1971)
Warner Bros.
Bearing the same name as his student film from USC, THX 1138 was the first feature film directed by the legendary father of Star Wars, George Lucas. Taken under the wing of Francis Ford Coppola, another Movie Brat legend who had recently secured a multi-film deal with Paramount at the time, Lucas was given the green light to direct THX 1138 under Coppolas’ American Zoetrope banner. While the film was not considered a great success, either through box office or critical reception, it has since gained an influential cult following, sharing many themes, and concepts with another entry of Lucas’ legendary filmography; Star Wars. Lucas would ultimately be given another shot after Paramount execs worried about his ability to deliver the goods, and with Coppola’s support, he directed a more earthbound film that found its place among the hot-rod youth culture of the time in his film, American Graffiti.
10 Paul Schrader - Hardcore (1979)
Columbia Pictures
Hardcore remains one of Paul Schrader’s most successful films, and like Milius, Schrader would find most of his success as a scribe for his peers, rather than their contemporary as a film director. A UCLA alum, Schrader had a knack for violence in his films, and his stories often challenged, quite brutally, the status quo of 70s era sensibilities, taking full advantage of a film industry no longer entangled in the censorship of the Hays Code. Lending his considerable talent as a screenwriter to various films of the era, most notably with films like Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, Schrader would go on to become one of the most influential writers of the Movie Brat era, and serve as a critical voice for the films that his peers would go on to direct, inspiring generations of filmmakers after them.
9 Brian De Palma - Carrie (1976)
United Artists
There is little doubt that Carrie serves as the most iconic teen horror movie of all time. Directed by Brian De Palma, a graduate of the Sarah Lawrence College’s theater department, Carrie went on to become a surprise blockbuster film for the director, and allowed him to take greater chances with future films from his catalog. While not as iconic a name as Scorsese, or Coppola, or Spielberg, De Palma remains one of the more respected names in the Movie Brat era, and his films of the ’80s, like Scarface, and The Untouchables, speak to his tremendous talent as a film director. Thematically, De Palma has often used his films to create insight around controversial topics of his time, most notably, the Vietnam War and the role America played in the conflict, and like many contemporaries of his era, this more critical approach to filmmaking resulted in a lack of commercial success, especially in later film offerings.
8 George Lucas - American Graffiti (1973)
A coming-of-age story centered around the hot-rod scene of a small California town, American Graffiti established George Lucas as an influential voice of his generation, and allowed him, after the financial and critical failure of THX 1138, the space and opportunity to create what he has most iconically become known for; Star Wars. With its more earthly setting, and anchored narrative to real world hot-rod culture, American Graffiti dealt with authentic teen angst centered around growing up, and leaving your hometown world of lifelong friends for good. Lucas drew from his real life experience growing up in the hot-rod scene of Modesto, California, and used it as a source of inspiration that lent the film its sense of credibility, and invoked a sense of nostalgia in audiences who experienced growing up in the ’60s.
7 Steven Spielberg - Jaws (1975)
The most commercially successful filmmaker of the Movie Brat era, Steven Spielberg began the modern day infatuation audiences have with the Hollywood blockbuster. When released, Jaws not only changed the business of Hollywood forever, but also how audiences would interact with the ocean for decades to come. As a graduate of California State University, Spielberg began his filmmaking career young, having shot his first film by the age of 12 using his fathers film camera. In 1969, Spielberg signed on with Universal Studios, and became the youngest film director to sign with a major studio. One of his earliest director gigs was on a made-for-television movie called Duel, and showcased his tremendous cinematic style and flair, albeit for television audiences. A master of his craft, Spielberg remains one of the most influential directors, even in modern times, and his commercial success is unrivaled, no matter the era.
6 George Lucas - Star Wars (1977)
Twentieth Century Fox
If Jaws began audiences obsession with the modern day blockbuster, Star Wars made it a love affair. Breaking every conceivable record of the time, including the ones that Jaws set, Star Wars delivered science fiction fantasy to the masses, and spawned the most iconic film franchise of all time. Directed by George Lucas, Star Wars, and the films after, catapulted Lucas into Hollywood stardom, the likes of which had never been seen before. His films combined mythical storytelling with character archetypes that spoke to the most elemental forms of human storytelling, and the music wasn’t bad either. Together with Spielberg, the most commercially successful director of the Movie Brat club, Lucas holds claim to the most influential stories of the modern mythmaker, with franchises like Indiana Jones under his spell casting wand, as well.
5 Martin Scorsese - Taxi Driver (1976)
Merging the talents of Hollywood scribe, Paul Schrader, with the unique vision of Director Martin Scorsese, Taxi Driver was a violent tour de force of cinematic vigilantism. Following the story of Travis Bickle, a lonely, and mentally afflicted war veteran, Taxi Driver served as both a critique of the American war machine that left countless veterans unable to adapt to life after war, and the morally bankrupt nature emerging from society of that time. Perhaps more than any filmmaker of Movie Brat ilk, Scorsese is widely regarded as the greatest living director, remaining as culturally relevant now, in modern film circles, as he was at his most poignant. Scorsese continues to make waves with his love for cinema, serving as its steward for modern times, and protecting it from its perceived enemies, most notably, comic book films.
4 Francis Ford Coppola - Apocalypse Now [1979]
Apocalypse Now continued the critical eye toward war that many films during the ’70s shared, and filmmakers of this era did not shy away from showing the horrors that war could inflict upon the veterans returning home. Graduate of UCLA, Francis Ford Coppola emerged as the de facto leader of his generation, shooting films for major studios even while completing his film degree and taking junior filmmakers like George Lucas under his wing. Coppolas’ filmography leading up to Apocalypse Now was already substantial, but his struggle with legendary producer Robert Evans throughout his career, especially during the production of The Godfather, is the stuff of legends. While not his most iconic film, Apocalypse Now is regarded as perhaps the greatest war film to ever grace the silver screen, and it remains the measuring stick that all war films since have had to live up to.
3 Steven Spielberg - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
DreamWorks Pictures
Combining world-class storytelling with Spielbergs’ universally regarded cinematic style, Saving Private Ryan showcased a director at the very apex of his creative and technical powers, having mastered decades of previous filmmaking expertise into the greatest scenes of combat ever captured on film. A faithful and terrifying rendering, Saving Private Ryan’s cinematic capture of allied forces on D-Day storming the beaches of Normandy remains unrivaled in both scope, and realism. Two decades after Jaws created a new understanding of what Hollywood blockbusters could be, Spielberg defined his generation of filmmakers by making the horrors of war beautiful; a major critique of war pictures that remains pertinent to this day. As the end-all-be-all of Movie Brat directors, Spielberg is the purest definition of a Movie Brat, showcasing his love of cinema by unleashing it upon the world.
2 Martin Scorsese - Goodfellas (1990)
Like Spielberg, Scorsese’s mastery of craft and genre didn’t come until much later in his career. While films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Mean Streets defined him, it was films like Goodfellas that showcased Scorsese as a true cinematic master, combining all of his experience up to that point into one perfect film that encapsulated what it meant to watch a Scorsese flick. The height of creative and technical craft, Goodfellas remains the genre-defining gangster movie that perhaps out of any other film in Scorsese’s vast filmography, we’ll remember him most for. As a Movie Brat, Scorsese inhabits the most crystallized style that one can identify from frame alone, and as an auteur of the gangster film, it’s Scorsese who is the most iconic Movie Brat of them all.
1 Francis Ford Coppola - The Godfather (1972)
Paramount Pictures
Before Goodfellas was The Godfather of all gangster films. Four years removed from the ashes of the Hays Code, The Godfather challenged traditional films of the era in both subject matter, and style. Based on the best-selling novel by Mario Puzo, The Godfather served as the career-crowning achievement of Francis Ford Coppola, a height of excellence he has yet to match again. Produced by Robert Evans, who claimed the lions share of the film’s success as his own, Coppola would struggle for dominion over the soul of The Godfather, creating a rift between the two juggernauts that wasn’t fully resolved until the Oscars celebrating the film’s 50th anniversary in 2022. As a leader and mentor to his fellow filmmakers, Coppola’s role as the Godfather of the Movie Brat era is secure, and he pursues his passion for cinema in current times, as his decade spanning dream film Megalopolis is currently in development.
