A great director can be defined by at least three main criteria; they have complete understanding of the film technology available, they are able to translate the script visually on film, and they know how to work with actors to make them avoid becoming caricatures of themselves. Say hello to Sam Raimi.
Sam Raimi is the epitome of the Hollywood filmmaker’s dream. He started making films with his BFFs Bruce Campbell and Rob Tappert and brothers Ted and Ivan back in high school in the backwoods of Michigan. After high school they begged, borrowed, and stole to make a little horror movie called Evil Dead and eventually sold it, where it is now heralded as one of the best cinema horrors ever.
They went to Hollywood, where Raimi made a bunch more movies with ever increasing budgets, reaching A-list ranking by helming the very profitable original Spider-Man trilogy and his newest work, Oz: The Great and Powerful which should be an interesting take on the Wizard of Oz.
Raimi has managed to avoid the burn-out phase which generally occurs happens upon hitting the high of Hollywood. He has maintained his loyalties to those that have helped him pursue his dreams and maintained working relationships with those that shared in making Evil Dead and has never forgotten where he came from.
Raimi’s signature trademark is the ’73 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that he casts in near every movie and has become the fun of a neat drinking game on the side. And most of the time, despite studio executives protests, he always tries to find a role for brother Ted or BFF Bruce. That’s true loyalty right there. Oh yeah, he was also a driving force behind TV’s Xena, Princess Warrior and Hercules as a side project when he wasn’t making films.
Being an admitted fan of Raimi’s, and to celebrate the release of Oz: The Great and Powerful, here are Raimi’s films ranked from worst to best…
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14 Comments
Well, I think this list have to do with personal taste.
How could you forget the ultimate line from Evil Dead 3 “Hail to the king baby”. Classic!
my bad…i thought i dad have it in there. I should have also added the klattu barrada niktu line.
Hail to the King baby is a great closer anytime.
Nice list. I wonder where Oz falls into it.
So according to you, Spider-Man 3 is better than The Dark Knight Rises?
Spider-Man 3 is a much better film than The Dark Knight Rises. Or rather, it’s less of a messy, trainwreck of a film.
I know this a list based on personal taste but Spider-Man 2 was a way better film than Spider-Man 1.
at the risk of drawing The Nolan Army ire, MY GOD YES, Spider-Man 3 was way better than TDKR (and i was a huge fan of Nolan’s previous films)- not that i will ever watch either of them again.
And after watching the reboot Amazing Spider-Man and keeping in mind that Raimi followed the laws of franchise super-heroes by introducing sympathetic leading characters, creating a believable storyline, staying somewhat loyal to the comic and to top it all off, help America forget about 9/11, made Raimi’s Spider-Man 1 near perfect. Spider-Man 2 had great action and set-up for Doc Ock but a lot of the back story had already been established. Without SM1 there would be no SM2.
Hail to the King, baby.
I can not imagine a more perfect Peter Parker than Tobey McGuire. He nailed it.
It’s not a finger-breaking scene, it’s a finger-cutting scene.
‘Darkman’ is kind of lousy overall, but it has some amazing stuff. Now that CGI is everywhere, the extended helicopter fight at the end of the movie really stands out. And Neeson is terrific in it. He really gives himself over to the Raimi acting style that the role requires.
@sean – you’re right, my bad. that probably explains why it was such an awful finger-breaking scene; i mean, come on, he cut the guy’s fingers off! plus, i agree about the helicopter fight, it was one of the positive things i remember about it.
“It required one to believe that an early ’20s blonde with little education could become an assistant manager of a bank”
…Wow.
Does anyone else here think Sam Raimi would have been perfect for and indeed should have been directing ‘The Hobbit’… he has a similar sensibility and background to Peter Jackson – both came from the horror genre – and would have given it a simultaneous lightness of touch and darkly comic feel with all kinds of crazy camerawork that would have been a natural fit… a better choice that Guillermo del Toro, I think…
Uh… when did it become common thesis that Spider-Man 3 is better than TDKR? Because none of Raimi’s Spider-Man films are as good as TDKR.
Is this personal taste or did you get whacked upside the head? You give way too much credit to Spider-Man 3. It should be towards the bottom of the list. You think that the finger chopping scene in Darkman was lame? As if it wasn’t lame that Tobey Maguire’s transition into his dark side was pulling down the bangs of his hair. Darkman and For Love of the Game are better than Spider-Man 3. You must be high when you think S-M 3 is better than the Dark Knight Rises. Both suffer from third movie syndrome, but Tom Hardy’s Bane was light years away from Topher Grace’s Eddie Brock/Venom. Yes they were both bastardized versions from their comic counterparts, but Tom Hardy is a better actor and better chosen. S-M 3 is what happens when a director and idiot producers face off behind the scenes–in the end you get an uninspired mess of subplots that called itself Spider-man 3. TDKR is what happens when idiot producers shut-up and let the director do his thing–what you get is a bold and ambitious conclusion.