Even celebrated filmmakers sometimes criticize their own creations. Studio interference, creative compromises, or evolving tastes can leave directors feeling disappointed. Alfred Hitchcock dismissed Rope as a “failed experiment,” and David Fincher disowned Alien 3, citing studio constraints. Stanley Kubrick went so far as to call his early film, Fear and Desire, amateurish, while Francis Ford Coppola described One from the Heart as a career-altering financial failure.
Interestingly, some directors have also been vocal about disliking the work of their peers. Orson Welles famously criticized Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, claiming its experimental style detracted from the storytelling. Likewise, Quentin Tarantino expressed his disdain for Natural Born Killers, directed by Oliver Stone, though Tarantino wrote the film’s original script.
Whether directed at themselves or others, these critiques highlight the passionate, subjective nature of filmmaking. For more stories of directors and the films they disapproved of, read the original article here.