10 Unsung Film Directors Who Never Get Their Due

9. Peter Hyams

No one but the geekiest of movie geeks are likely to know who he is. He€™s not a superstar whose name can sell a movie. He has helmed many successful films, but never a runaway blockbuster. None of them are classics or ever won an Oscar in any category. None will ever be lovingly restored by Criterion for a multi-disc Special Edition. There€™s never been a Peter Hyams film festival or college course focusing on his body of work. But if you€™ve been around a while, there€™s a 90% chance are you have seen and thoroughly-enjoyed at least one of his movies (probably more than one) on cable or DVD (you can find a lot €™em in Wal-Mart budget bins). None are high-art, but most are really fun, fast and clever (some written by Hyams himself, making him a bit more than a director-for-hire). Here€™s worked with a lot of Hollywood icons: Elliot Gould, Michael Douglas, Sean Connery, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gene Hackman, Harrison Ford, Billy Crystal, to name a few. No one will ever confuse Hyams with Hitchcock or Spielberg, and yeah, the guy has made some cr*ppy movies, but even Spielberg screwed the pooch on several occasions. When you look back at Peter Hyams€™ entire filmography, he directed a surprising number of really good films, such paranoid thrillers as Capricorn One, Outland, Narrow Margin and The Star Chamber. This is also the guy who had the balls to write and direct the sequel no one was asking for (2010), yet somehow avoided sh*tting all over 2001€™s legacy. Not only that, he coaxed decent performances from Jean Claude Van Damme (Timecop, Sudden Death) and directed the best Alien rip-off ever made (The Relic).