Famous directors are famous due to them making consistently great movies, and while making multiple critically acclaimed films is a big accomplishment, making back-to-back masterpieces is even more impressive. It is rare for a director to make one fantastic film and then immediately make another one, with instances of this occurring being few and far between. Many movie fans don’t even know that some of these films were made back-to-back, with these 10 directors jumping from one great film to the next.
Although many of the most acclaimed directors of all time have made some fantastic films, almost everyone has had one or two disappointing films. Sometimes making a masterpiece can take a lot out of a person, with their follow-ups being a bit of a letdown in comparison. However, these 10 pairs of films contain two hugely popular and critically acclaimed projects, with their respective directors making these movies one after the other.
10 Jurassic Park & Schindler’s List – Steven Spielberg
Director Steven Spielberg has made a lot of masterpieces, such as Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but the beloved filmmaker famously made 1993’s Jurassic Park and 1993’s Schindler’s List back to back. Almost immediately after filming wrapped on Jurassic Park, Spielberg began filming Schindler’s List, with Spielberg often shooting Schindler’s List in the morning and editing Jurassic Park during the evening. Both films are considered to be the best movies of 1993, which is why it’s so impressive that Spielberg made Schindler’s List immediately after Jurassic Park.
9 Reservoir Dogs & Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is one of the most consistent filmmakers of all time, with all nine of his films so far being critically acclaimed. Although all of Tarantino’s movies have fans, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction are often considered to be his two best – and Tarantino did them back-to-back. 1992’s Reservoir Dogs was Tarantino’s first feature film, with Tarantino starting work on 1994’s Pulp Fiction almost immediately after. These early Tarantino films were made even more impressive by their consecutive releases.
8 2001: A Space Odyssey & A Clockwork Orange – Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick is another master of his craft, with him working on two of his most acclaimed films consecutively: 1968’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and 1971’s A Clockwork Orange. Kubrick had begun working on A Clockwork Orange before 2001: A Space Odyssey had even been released, but he didn’t fully focus on the film until 2001‘s release. Although Kubrick had made great films before, releasing these two masterpieces back-to-back cemented him as one of the best filmmakers of all time.
7 The Sixth Sense & Unbreakable – M. Night Shyamalan
Although M. Night Shyamalan has had a spotty track record in recent years, he was considered to be one of the most exciting up-and-coming directors upon the release of his early films. 1999’s The Sixth Sense wasn’t Shyamalan’s first film, but it was the film that fully launched his career and made supernatural twists a staple of his filmography. The director moved on to 2000’s Unbreakable soon after making The Sixth Sense, with these two back-to-back films being the peak of his directorial career.
6 Little Women & Barbie – Greta Gerwig
Director Greta Gerwig’s filmmaking career has really taken off in recent years, with Lady Bird being the movie that sprung her into the limelight. 2019’s Little Women and 2023’s Barbie took Greta Gerwig from an award-winning indie filmmaker to a massive box office success, with the two films bringing the director an immense amount of popularity. Gerwig has plenty of exciting films lined up for the future, but it will be hard to beat the duo of Little Women and Barbie.
5 The Last Temptation Of Christ & Goodfellas – Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese is one of the most well-known filmmakers, with the director having an almost unparalleled winning streak from the 1970s until now. However, within this streak of successes, Scorsese made 1988’s The Last Temptation of Christ and 1990’s Goodfellas, two of the most iconic and well-received movies in his filmography. Scorsese has made plenty of other great movies consecutively, but these two films are what turned him into a household name.
4 North By Northwest & Psycho – Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock was a genre-defining filmmaker who stretched what was possible with film after the Hays Code was done away with. Alfred Hitchcock was known not only for his quality but for his speed, with him having a new movie release almost every year. Hitchcock went straight from 1959’s North by Northwest to 1960’s Psycho, two of the director’s most well-known movies. The drastic shift in genre, tone, and scale makes this pairing even more impressive, as Hitchcock went from a crowd-pleasing spy film to a controversial low-budget thriller. While Hitchcock made great movies before and after, North by Northwest and Psycho were two of his most legendary.
3 The Dark Knight & Inception – Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan is one of the biggest names in modern filmmaking, with him having hit after hit as his films have gone from independent thrillers to big-budget biographical box office hits. Interestingly, two of the most popular films directed by Christopher Nolan were actually released back to back: 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2010’s Inception. Both films were massive successes, with The Dark Knight being the first superhero film to cross $1 billion at the box office, and Inception being one of the most successful original properties of the decade, meaning that Nolan hit it out of the park twice in a row.
2 Fargo & The Big Lebowski – The Coen Brothers
The Coen brothers are a directorial duo known for their style, quick-witted dialogue, and violence, traits that were all firmly established in 1996’s Fargo and 1998’s The Big Lebowski. The Coen brothers made these two iconic films back-to-back, with the films helping to establish the Coens are some of the most influential filmmakers of the decade. While they have made other great films, like No Country for Old Men and True Grit, these two movies from the 1990s granted the Coen brothers the legendary status they still hold today.
1 Back To The Future & Who Framed Roger Rabbit – Robert Zemeckis
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, director Robert Zemeckis used his films to constantly push what was technically possible, with him meticulously developing new ways to innovate in each of his films. Zemeckis used makeup and special effects to masterfully age up actors in 1985’s Back to the Future, only for him to combine animation and live-action in a way that is still unmatched in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. These are two of the most popular movies of Robert Zemeckis’ career, with their back-to-back releases showing just how good he was around this time.
