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Martin Scorsese vs Steven Spielberg - who has the best filmography?

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F

Fevaweva

Member
martin-scorsese_612x380_1.jpg

VERSUS
Steven-Spielberg-9490621-1-402.jpg


They both have inarguably some of the best and most diverse filmographys ever and have been making films for about as long as one another. Both have their own styles, choices of subject matter and have directed some of the best actors ever.

So the question is:

Whose filmography do you prefer?

FYI some highlights from their respective filmographys:

Martin Scorsese
Mean Streets
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
The Color of Money
The Last Temptation of Christ
Goodfellas
Cape Fear
Casino
Gangs of New York
The Aviator
The Departed
Shutter Island
Hugo
Wolf of Wall Street

Steven Spielberg
Jaws
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Color Purple
Empire of the Sun
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Jurassic Park
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Minority Report
Catch Me If You Can
War of the Worlds
Munich
The Adventures of Tintin
Lincoln
 
D

DeathyBoy

Banned
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
Goodfellas

Game. Set. Match.

If Scorsese had only made those three films, he'd win. The fact he's made other classics...
 
B

Bishop89

Member
raiders of the lost ark alone makes spieldberg have the better filmography.

Then you have The last Crusade, Jurassic Park.
 
F

Fevaweva

Member
Moff said:
luckily I don't have to decide. depending on the mood I would pick one or the other
Click to expand...

What if you had to decide?

You would obvious choose Speilberg thanks to A.I. Artificial Intelligence originally being a Kubrick film, right?

/s
 
I

Ignatz Mouse

Banned
Scorsese. I'm not a big fan of Spielberg's "average" output although I really like some of his high points.

But Scorsese's top pictures are in another league, and even his "average" movies are better to me.
 
V

Viewt

Member
Spielberg's made more amazing films, but I'd still rather see a film made by Scorcese these days. Wolf of Wall Street is not a film made by an aging, out of touch director. It's fucking electric and made with wild abandon. Spielberg's still got juice, but nothing like that.
 
D

DeathyBoy

Banned
Ignatz Mouse said:
Scorsese. I'm not a big fan of Spielberg's "average" output although I really like some of his high points.

But Scorsese's top pictures are in another league, and even his "average" movies are better to me.
Click to expand...

I think people also forget that the dude has a varied career. He's known for crime dramas, but if you dig deeper he's hit up a ridiculous number of genres.
 
J

JB1981

Member
Spielberg.

It's hard for me to articulate but I don't really "enjoy" Scorsese's output. He is undeniably talented but I can't even tell you the last time I actually sat down and watched one of his movies.
 
O

OctoMan

Banned
King of Comedy is Scorsese's best and not in the op...


Tough choice. So different. Spielberg is the GOAT at blockbusters but ill take scorsese
 
M

Moppeh

Banned
Scorsese for sure. Spielberg is a great filmmaker, but none of his work affects me on the same level as Taxi Driver or Raging Bull.
 
F

Fevaweva

Member
JB1981 said:
Spielberg.

It's hard for me to articulate but I don't really "enjoy" Scorsese's output. He is undeniably talented but I can't even tell you the last time I actually sat down and watched one of his movies.
Click to expand...

Why don't you enjoy his films?
 
D

dofry

That's "Dr." dofry to you.
Both have better early inputs, then they kinda become worse directors with worse material. Based on the earlier stuff I like Scorcese even though Spielberg has the bigger blockbusters that I love.
 
P

Phinor

Member
Since deciding is impossible, I used math. There's 2 movies for both directors I haven't seen but as for the rest, Scorese averages 8.5/10 and Spielberg is only at 8.31/10. Happy to live in a world where both directors exist, though.
 
D

DeathyBoy

Banned
Finaika said:
Spielberg has more variety.
Click to expand...

Kings of Comedy
Goodfellas
Raging Bull
Taxi Driver
Shutter Island
Last Temptation of Christ
Colour of Money
Kundun
The Aviator.

Spielberg has variety, but Scorsese is criminally underrated. He's known for crime films, but even they are wildly different in tone and approach. Mean Streets is nothing like Goodfellas is nothing like Casino is nothing like The Departed. Shit, the only critique I have of The Departed is 'it's not Goodfellas.' By any other stretch, The Departed is a rock solid film.
 
J

JB1981

Member
Moppeh said:
Scorsese for sure. Spielberg is a great filmmaker, but none of his work affects me on the same level as Taxi Driver or Raging Bull.
Click to expand...

See that's the thing, those movies don't affect me. Raging Bull is about an unsympathetic psychopath. Taxi Driver the same. Goodfellas is a classic and thoroughly entertaining but again it's about vile people with no redeeming qualities.

Even Kubrick, who often explored the darker side of man, did it with subtlety and elegance. Scorsese's films are gritty and visercal but I feel like they thematic complexity. He treads the same ground a lot. Actually two of my favorite movies of his are Last Temptarion of Christ and Age of Innocence
 
L

Loxley

Member
How kind of the OP to omit Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from Spielberg's list ;)

They're equal for different reasons, but Schindler's List remains one of the single-most powerful film's I've ever seen, so I'm going to give the edge to Spielberg - though I think Scorsese is more consistent.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
I can't think of a single Scorsese movie I haven't thought was at least great.

I can think of several Spielberg movies that fall below great, down to mediocre.

They're both top of the bill, but Scorsese is on another level for me.
 
F

Fevaweva

Member
Phinor said:
Since deciding is impossible, I used math. There's 2 movies for both directors I haven't seen but as for the rest, Scorese averages 8.5/10 and Spielberg is only at 8.31/10. Happy to live in a world where both directors exist, though.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Who has the highest high and the lowest low?
 
BibiMaghoo

BibiMaghoo

Member
They both have excellent but very different style and themes of film. There are Scorsese films I like more than Spielbergs, but the latter has more films I enjoy. The former is also very adult in theme, where as the latter tends to aim more family, so it's a hard call.

But I'd have to go with Spielberg for volume of quality.
 
H

H2intensity

Member
Spielberg has more variey in his record, he can do sci-fi, adventure, animated, drama, comedy, thriller, action and most of all great quality.
While Scorserce is great but his movies kinda the same.
Spielberg wins for me.
 
SpaceHorror

SpaceHorror

Member
I appreciate both for different reasons, but if I had to choose I'd say Scorsese.

For the most part I feel his greatest movies are better than Spielberg's and he is more consistent.

Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy and Goodfellas for Scorsese vs Jaws for Spielberg in that rank.
 
I

Ignatz Mouse

Banned
I don't know how Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, Shutter Island, and The Departed are indicative of a lack of variety. And those are just the most recent.
 
S

Sephzilla

Member
It's kind of a push in my opinion.

Scorsese kind of has his own "style" and does his own thing, and does that style amazingly well. Spielberg is a lot more diverse than Scorsese is and he can adapt a lot more. If I absolutely had to pick one, I'd probably go with Spielberg due to the variety in his filmography but I don't think there's a wrong choice here.
 
Finaika

Finaika

Member
TreyoftheDead said:
I appreciate both for different reasons, but if I had to choose I'd say Scorsese.

For the most part I feel his greatest movies are better than Spielberg's and he is more consistent.

Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy and Goodfellas for Scorsese vs Jaws for Spielberg in that rank.
Click to expand...

I agree that Scorsese is more consistent, while Spielberg has more stinkers.
 
A

aerts1js

Member
They are both DAMN good... I'm going to go with Spielberg today only because I feel that he's more diverse; but I don't know. Too close to call.
 
M

Morts

Member
I just watched Jurassic Park last night so I'm biased, but the T Rex escape is probably still one of the best scenes in any movie.
 
R

ramparter

Banned
Not a fan of Spielberg at all, I think Catch my if you can is the only movie in the OP that I really liked.

I've enjoyed more Scorsese's films.
 
M

Moppeh

Banned
JB1981 said:
See that's the thing, those movies don't affect me. Raging Bull is about an unsympathetic psychopath. Taxi Driver the same. Goodfellas is a classic and thoroughly entertaining but again it's about vile people with no redeeming qualities.

Even Kubrick, who often explored the darker side of man, did it with subtlety and elegance. Scorsese's films are gritty and visercal but I feel like they thematic complexity. He treads the same ground a lot. Actually two of my favorite movies of his are Last Temptarion of Christ and Age of Innocence
Click to expand...

I wouldn't necessarily say the characters themselves affect me that much either. For me, it's the relationship between the characters and what occurs in the films. Travis Bickle is a product of his environment, so you need to focus on his surroundings to gain anything substantial from Taxi Driver.

For me, a lot of Spielberg's films utilize what feels to me like manufactured sentimentality. I don't connect with the characters or the event in the film, instead, I get musical swells in emotional moments that tell me I'm supposed to be feeling something. It reminds me of a laugh track in a sitcom getting me to laugh. I still really like Spielberg's stuff, but for whatever reason, a lot of his films don't feel genuine to me. Scorsese, on the other hand, gets me all the time, even when dealing with criminals and sociopaths.

I will be honest though, part of what makes Raging Bull so great to me has to do with the history of the film's production and Scorsese's personal relationship with the film. If the film didn't "save his life", I probably wouldn't have adored it as much.
 
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