7. Francis Ford Coppola
The 1970's are often considered the glory years of American film and no director had a bigger impact on that decade than Francis Ford Coppola. Although his output declined rapidly after the decade, he made four great films during the 70's, three of which routinely place at the very top of greatest movie lists. Already a successful screenwriter, Coppola parlayed his success into the directorial job of one of the most groundbreaking, profitable, and artistically successful films of all-time with 1972's The Godfather. Winner of a host of Academy Awards and routinely called the greatest American film of all-time, Coppola combined a genre that had been overused for decades with a sense of artistry seen only sporadically in all of Hollywood history, resulting in perhaps the defining picture of New Hollywood. Over the next few years, Coppola turned out classics such as The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now, all of which are considered some of the best movies of that era if not ever. He never again reached those heights but those four movies alone push him above all but a few directors in history. In addition, Coppola has been critically important as a producer helping the careers of numerous young directors, including his friend George Lucas, off the ground. Coppola's most lasting contribution to American cinema was a sense of artistry that had been lacking since the heyday of Ford, Wilder, and Huston. His best films were epics in the truest sense, telling stories that spanned generations, and that took audiences to uncharted territory. Even if his heyday was short, 99.9% of film directors would gladly trade their careers for his.