10 Iconic Directors Who Don't Have A Film In The IMDb Top 250

5. Terrence Malick

Best Known For: Badlands, The Thin Red Line, The Tree Of Life Most Deserving IMDb Top 250 Candidate: Badlands Terrence Malick's arty movies aren't for everyone, but yet - as far as the critics are concerned - he does stand as one of the most acclaimed directors of modern times. Sometimes it feels like everyone in the business claims to have been "inspired" by Malick in some capacity, and he made what is arguably the most ambitious picture since 2001: A Space Odyssey with The Tree of Life in 2012. His films stay with you, to say the least. His earlier pictures - Badlands and Days of Heaven - are perhaps his strongest films. You'd think that, given the length of his career and the acclaim that has the majority of his pictures have been met with, that at least one of those pictures would have made it to the Top 250, but they're curiously absent - perhaps they're too mediative for the IMDb audience. The Thin Red Line, Malick's "war" movie, also comes close but just misses the mark (7.6.).