Every Francis Ford Coppola film ranked from worst to best

“Supernova” was never going to be a good film. From the start, it had a weak script and suffered from creative differences between director Walter Hill, who wanted it to be a dark and gory sci-fi horror film like “Alien” (which he previously produced), and MGM, who wanted it to be a slick and sexy space film. When Hill quit after the first test screening, Jack Sholder was brought in to do re-shoots and Francis Ford Coppola was hired to do the re-editing and subsequently received an unofficial directing credit. Surprisingly, the latter likely made the movie even worse, cutting out most of special effects, adding a second zero-gravity sex scene and leaving something of an awkward Franken-film as the result. Watching it is such a joyless experience that it doesn’t even qualify for so-bad-it’s-good status.

Few people remember that the director of 1996’s “Jack” was the same guy who directed “The Godfather.” That’s likely because the latter is a masterpiece and the former is terrible. And deceivingly terrible at that. If you recall, the plot centers on Jack (Robin Williams), who is born with an extreme version of Werner syndrome that causes him to age four times faster than the average person. For most of the film, Jack is a ten-year-old stuck in a 40-year-old’s body, which lends itself to some amusing situations and hijinx, but eventually the consequences of his illness catch up to the protagonist, shifting the movie from a lighthearted comedy to a depressing drama (even though the movie tries to end on an inspiring note). Critics correctly saw “Jack” as a bland Disney film, a poor excuse for a comedy, and a waste of talent for both Coppola and Williams, as well as co-stars Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Bill Cosby, Fran Drescher and Michael McKean.

The 2012 horror film “Twixt” doesn’t fall betwixt being a good and bad film, it’s just bad. Despite boasting familiar names like Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern and Elle Fanning—as well as being written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola—critics deemed “Twixt” not scary, they said Coppola’s direction was uninspired and some even called the film frustratingly unwatchable. Despite “Twixt” possessing some creepy imagery, horror fans, like us, were even less kind.

There are confusing films like Christopher Nolan’s 2010 thriller “Inception,” which has both a complex plot and an ambiguous ending, and there are confusing films like Francis Ford Coppola’s 2007 dramatic fantasy film “Youth Without Youth,” which simply found critics and audiences alike scratching their heads throughout all 124 minutes. Still, some folks enjoyed the wild, imaginative ride and its associated visuals, and Tim Roth gave a solid performance as the films’ protagonist, Dominic Matei, an old professor who is struck by lightning, becomes younger and develops psychic powers around the time World War II is breaking out around him. On a much deeper level, Coppola described “Youth Without Youth” as a commentary on human consciousness.

Overall, “New York Stories” was a solid film. However, it was actually a three-segment movie directed by three different directors—Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola—and Coppola was easily the worst of the three. Scorsese’s “Life Lessons” segment starred Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette and Steve Buscemi, and was universally praised; Allen’s “Oedipus Wrecks” divided viewers; and Coppola’s “Life Without Zoë” (which he also wrote) was weak and uninteresting.

A career soldier (James Caan) disillusioned with the Vietnam War takes under his wing a new recruit (D.B. Sweeney) eager to serve his country overseas. “Gardens of Stone” is not really a traditional war movie, but instead one about the emotions and conflicts that surround soldiers both on and off the battlefield. Caan was praised for his performance in the film, which most critics thought was an endearing drama that just missed the mark when it came to the story. “Every moment is right, and yet the film as a whole is incomplete,” as Roger Ebert poignantly put it. Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones, Mary Stuart Masterson, Dean Stockwell and Laurence Fishburne appeared in supporting roles.

In 1982, Coppola turned out a romantic musical film, “One From the Heart,” which was acclaimed for its dazzling visuals and cinematography. As a whole, however, it divided critics who thought it was merely a pretty movie with not much else to offer, and others who also enjoyed the story of a couple (Frederic Forest and Teri Garr) who split after five years to look for something newer and hopefully better. To the credit of Coppola, who also co-wrote the film, “One From the Heart” has gained more favor in recent years. The director, however, has called it a mess in interviews.

The first big-budget film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, “Finian’s Rainbow” featured Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in a fantasy musical about an Irish father and daughter who steal a leprechaun’s pot of gold and flee to America, only to get caught in a land dispute spearheaded by a racist judge. Trust us, it’s better than the plot sounds. In fact, “Finian’s Rainbow” actually earned four Golden Globe and two Academy Award nominations, but lost most of the categories to “Oliver!” Audiences agreed with the positive assessment, as the film earned $11,600,000 against a budget of just $3.5 million.

We're into “good movie” territory now, next up is the 1983 drama “The Outsiders.” A coming-of-age film set in Oklahoma about a young, working-class gang that clashes with a more affluent gang, which results in the death of a teen in the latter group, forcing two boys to go on the run. Reviews for the film were generally favorable, but “The Outsiders” is most notable for its cast of near-unknowns that have since become big stars. The famous faces include C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Diane Lane, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Leif Garrett and Tom Waits.

Aside from a couple sexploitation films, “Dementia 13” was Francis Ford Coppola’s first turn at directing a legitimate movie. Also written by Coppola, the low-budget horror flick was meant to be a cheap copy of “Psycho,” but actually earned some recognition in its own right. “Dementia 13” was dark, gory and even shocking at times, which entertained horror fans that could see past the clunky script and other signs of a rushed and limited production—even if the critics could not.

Despite falling in the lower half this of list, “The Godfather Part III” isn’t really a bad film. Released 15 years after “The Godfather Part II” and set in 1979, the third and final installment serves as an epilogue to the originals and stars Al Pacino reprising his role as Michael Corleone, who is now remorseful for his previous actions and working to repair his reputation. Due to the acclaim and success of the first two films, critics and fans alike were divided in their reception of “The Godfather Part III,” which earned $136 million at the box office and seven nominations at both the Golden Globe and Academy Awards...but also won two Razzies. In addition to directing, Coppola produced and co-wrote the film.

“Rumble Fish” was released in the same year as “The Outsiders,” it also focuses on Oklahoma street gangs, is also based on a novel by S. E. Hinton, and also stars Matt Dillon and Diane Lane—in addition to Dennis Hopper, Nicolas Cage and Mickey Rourke. However, “Rumble Fish” tanked at the box office and fiercely divided critics and audiences, many of whom walked out during screenings. The drama nevertheless impressed some critics with both its content and filming techniques, and has earned greater praise in later years, even eclipsing “The Outsiders.”

Although 10 years elapsed between 2007’s “Youth Without Youth” and Coppola’s previous film, it took him only two years to release another, 2009’s “Tetro.” And Coppola didn’t just direct the Argentina-set film noir drama, he also wrote and produced it. Starring Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich and Maribel Verdú, “Tetro” was brilliant at times, and it reminded audiences how good Coppola can be when we works with his own material.

Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Nicolas Cage, Fred Gwynne, Laurence Fishburne and Tom Waits are just a sample of the impressive talent featured in “The Cotton Club,” a movie Coppola only agreed to write and direct because he racked up quite a bit of debt following “One From the Heart.” The crime drama took five years to make, and at first the return wasn’t promising: against a budget of $58 million, “The Cotton Club” only earned $26 million. However, it garnered critical praise and earned two nods at both the Golden Globe and Academy Awards.

One of the main reasons for the success of the 1992 film “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” was that it was actually an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula.” For too long, Dracula has suffered from silly, campy, subpar adaptations, but director Francis Ford Coppola and screenwriter James V. Hart restored the eerie, gothic and romantic elements with their joint effort. It also helped that the horror film boasted a cast of Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” amassed $216 million at the box office and four Academy Awards nominations, including wins for Best Costume Design and Art Direction—testaments to just how beautiful the movie is.

Upon its 1969 release, with a few exceptions (Roger Ebert loved it), people generally didn’t care for “The Rain People.” Modern reviews, however, are much more favorable for the film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Shirley Knight, James Caan and Robert Duvall. “The Rain People” is now viewed as a classic road trip movie akin to “Easy Rider,” which was released in the same year and received similar acclaim.

Adapted from the John Grisham novel of the same name, “The Rainmaker” starred Matt Damon as a young lawyer who finds himself in over his head on his very first case. Damon was part of a highly praised powerhouse cast that also featured Danny DeVito, Mickey Rourke, Claire Danes and Jon Voight, among others. About a dozen Grisham films have been turned into movies, but “The Rainmaker” is easily the best reviewed one, even if the box office numbers don’t reflect it.

Early in his career, Coppola wrote and directed the coming-of-age comedy “You’re a Big Boy Now,” which starred Peter Kastner, Elizabeth Hartman, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn and Karen Black, and was based on a 1963 novel by David Benedictus. Page earned the film’s sole Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actress, but didn’t win. At the Golden Globes, Page and Hartman both earned nods, with an additional nomination for the film in the Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical category.

In 1948, Preston Tucker’s motor company released the Tucker 48, which could have been a worthy competitor to the best-selling vehicles being released by the “Big Three” Detroit automakers. But only 51 Tucker 48’s were produced before the company shut down due to an SEC investigation (which was eventually dropped) and the associated negative publicity. “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” is Preston’s story, albeit with a more comedic tone, and Jeff Bridges playing Tucker. The biopic earned three Oscar nods, including Best Supporting Actor (Martin Landau), Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. Landau lost, but won the same category at the Golden Globes. Interestingly, Francis Ford Coppola actually owns one of the 51 Tucker 48s.

Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage star in the romantic dramedy “Peggy Sue Got Married,” which was written by the husband-and-wife team of Gary Leichling and Arlene Sarner. The plot centers on a woman (Turner) who recently separated from her husband (Cage) of almost 25 years just prior to her 25th high school reunion, but time travels back to her senior year and has to decide whether or not to take the same path again. “Peggy Sue Got Married” earned more than twice its budget and cemented itself as a classic comedy thanks to positive reviews and three Oscar and two Golden Globe nominations, including a Best Actress nod for Turner at both and a Best Motion Picture shot for the latter.

Let’s settle this right now: “Apocalypse Now Redux,” the 2001 heavily re-edited version of the 1979 war epic “Apocalypse Now” that includes 49 minutes of extra content, is not better than the original. It’s close, and it’s admirable that Coppola wouldn’t just recut the 1979 movie and instead went back to the original footage, but the recut slows down a near-perfect film that doesn’t need any help in that department.

Nominated for four Academy Awards and three Golden Globes (including Best Picture and Best Screenplay nods at both events for Coppola) as well as the winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, “The Conversation” is the kind of film most directors would love to have on their resume, because it could easily be the best of their career. For Francis Ford Coppola, it’s only his fourth-best film. Gene Hackman stars in this edge-of-your-seat mystery that’s about technology and surveillance, and is still relevant 45 years later. “The Conversation” was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry in 1995. 

Loosely adapted from Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella “Heart of Darkness” and influenced by the 1972 German film “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “Apocalypse Now” is often named among the best films ever made. The Vietnam War epic also has one of the most impressive casts, with Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper and Laurence Fishburne representing just part of it. Despite earning eight Academy Award nominations (and wins for Best Sound and Best Cinematography), three Golden Globe wins (including Best Director) and the Palme d’Or at Cannes—and also the fact that it took three arduous years to painstakingly shoot and edit the film—Coppola was disappointed with many aspects of the final product, and initial critical reviews were mixed. The latter group soon came around to view the film as the gem it truly is, but Coppola nevertheless held on to his desire to re-edit the film, releasing the aforementioned “Apocalypse Now Redux” in 2001—some 22 years after the original.

Remember when we said Coppola’s “The Conversation” was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar and lost? Well, the film it lost to was “The Godfather Part II,” which also happened to be released in 1974. Written, produced and directed by Coppola, “The Godfather Part II” is both a prequel and sequel to the 1972 original, and some critics and fans consider it to be the best in the trilogy. Detractors might point to the slow pace or shifting timeline as faults, but most people can still agree “The Godfather Part II” is one of the greatest films ever made, as evidenced by its Academy Award wins for Best Picture, Director, Actor (Robert De Niro, who did not appear in the first film), Screenplay, Art Direction and Music, as well as five addition nominations including a Best Actor nod for Al Pacino.

What can we say about “The Godfather” that hasn’t been said countless times already? It is acclaimed, accomplished (three Oscar wins and eight nods), beloved, revered, and almost always finds its way into the conversation for best movie ever made. It also has one of the best casts, including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda and Alex Rocco, among many others. With Mario Puzo’s 1969 book “The Godfather” selling nine million copies in two years, one would think any director would jump at the chance to adapt it into film, but Sergio Leone, Peter Bogdanovich, Peter Yates, Richard Brooks and nine other directors turned down offers from Paramount—including Francis Ford Coppola, who initially said he didn’t care for the novel. However, Coppola needed a payday to bail out his studio, changed his mind, and the rest is history.