El Sindicato de Directores de Estados Unidos celebra el 2016 su 80 aniversario seleccionando las 80 películas mejor dirigidas. La selección fue realizada con la participación de todos los afiliados al sindicato, unos 2.189 realizadores. Entre los 80 largomentajes tan solo aparece uno dirigido por una mujer, En tierra hostil, de Kathryn Bigelow. Encabeza el ranking El padrino, de Francis Ford Coppola; seguido muy de cerca por Ciudadano Kane, de Orson Welles. Completan los cinco primeros puestos Lawrence de Arabia, de David Lean; 2001: una odisea en el espacio, de Stanley Kubrick; y Casablanca, de Michael Curtiz.
La lista completa:
- The Godfather Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
- Citizen Kane Orson Welles (1941)
- Lawrence of Arabia David Lean (1962)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick (1968)
- Casablanca Michael Curtiz (1942)
- The Godfather: Part II Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
- Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola (1979)
- Schindler’s List Steven Spielberg (1993)
- Gone With the Wind Victor Fleming (1939)
- Goodfellas Martin Scorsese (1990)
- Chinatown Roman Polanski (1974)
- The Wizard of Oz Victor Fleming (1939)
- Raging Bull Martin Scorsese (1980)
- Jaws Steven Spielberg (1975)
- It’s a Wonderful Life Frank Capra (1946)
- Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Stanley Kubrick (1964)
- The Shawshank Redemption Frank Darabont (1994)
- The Graduate Mike Nichols (1967)
- Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope George Lucas (1977)
- Blade Runner Ridley Scott (1982)
- On the Waterfront Elia Kazan (1954)
- Pulp Fiction Quentin Tarantino (1994)
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Steven Spielberg (1982)
- Annie Hall Woody Allen (1977)
- Saving Private Ryan Steven Spielberg (1998)
- Seven Samurai Akira Kurosawa (1954)
- A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick (1971)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark Steven Spielberg (1981)
- Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
- Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder (1950)
- To Kill a Mockingbird Robert Mulligan (1962)
- Psycho Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
- The Searchers John Ford (1956)
- Forrest Gump Robert Zemeckis (1994)
- Singin’ in the Rain Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly (1952)
- 8 ½ Federico Fellini (1963)
- The Third Man Carol Reed (1949)
- The Best Years of Our Lives William Wyler (1946)
- Rear Window Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
- The Bridge on the River Kwai David Lean (1957)
- North by Northwest Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Miloš Forman (1975)
- The Sound of Music Robert Wise (1965)
- Taxi Driver Martin Scorsese (1976)
- Titanic James Cameron (1997)
- The Shining Stanley Kubrick (1980)
- Amadeus Miloš Forman (1984)
- Doctor Zhivago David Lean (1965)
- West Side Story Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise (1961)
- Some Like It Hot Billy Wilder (1959)
- Ben-Hur William Wyler (1959)
- Fargo Ethan and Joel Coen (1996)
- The Silence of the Lambs Jonathan Demme (1991)
- The Apartment Billy Wilder (1960)
- Avatar James Cameron (2009)
- The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow (2008)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre John Huston (1948)
- Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Alejandro G. Iñárritu (2014)
- All About Eve Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1950)
- The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino (1978)
- There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson (2007)
- The Sting George Roy Hill (1973)
- The Wild Bunch Sam Peckinpah (1969)
- Alien Ridley Scott (1979)
- Rocky John G. Avildsen (1976)
- The Conformist Bernardo Bertolucci (1970)
- Gandhi Richard Attenborough (1982)
- The Bicycle Thief Vittorio De Sica (1948)
- Cinema Paradiso Giuseppe Tornatore (1988)
- Brazil Terry Gilliam (1985)
- The Grapes of Wrath John Ford (1940)
- All the President’s Men Alan J. Pakula (1976)
- Barry Lyndon Stanley Kubrick (1975)
- Touch of Evil Orson Welles (1958)
- Once Upon a Time in America Sergio Leone (1984)
- Unforgiven Clint Eastwood (1992)
- The Usual Suspects Bryan Singer (1995)
- Network Sidney Lumet (1976)
- Rashomon Akira Kurosawa (1950)
- Once Upon a Time in the West Sergio Leone (1968)