As for Fincher's commercials, same as the previous post, this is only a fraction of them, but it's mainly about the lighting and the camera movement. And then with a few of these, there's also an iconographic element, along with a cheeky playfulness as well…

In short, when you combine all of these things - Fincher's incredible filmography, his impact on the world of music videos, and his vast commercial career, directing some of the best campaigns for damn near every major American brand - IMO no other director, not even Spielberg, has had quite the influence on pop culture as a whole, over the past 35-ish years. Yes, Spielberg, Scorsese, Tarantino, Nolan, etc, are all household names, far more so than Fincher, and have had more impact cinematically. But none are as ubiquitous or influential across multiple mediums as Fincher. Not to mention, Fincher also created/directed House of Cards, Netflix's first, true streaming hit series, thus putting Netflix on the map in terms of TV, and ushering in the streaming age we live in today.

Like I said earlier... dude is an absolute legend.

Awesome, thanks. This is interesting stuff, and you explained it well to the layman.

I think technically Fincher is considered a master director.

I just think the entertainment level of his actual movies doesn't hold up the the "best known" directors.

So ultimately it could simply be that the material he has to work with is of a lesser caliber. Panic Room is beautifully shot.... It's just not that great of a action/thriller. IMO ditto with The Game. Insanely stylish, but just not a movie that can shake that 90's feeling. Zodiac is praised for how it was shot, and there's no doubting it's a good movie... but if it's on its background fare for me because it's rather boring.

As said before, the editing in The Departed is downright sad. Zodiac is 10x the technical film. But I'm watching the former when it's on, not as much the latter. Not because it was necessarily directed better, but because it's a more engaging story.

I think Fight Club and Se7en are where the two aligned -- his technical directing and a great screenplay/story. Which is why both are best in their respective classes.

At the same time you get a guy like Kubrick who gets one of the greatest horror novels of all time, changes almost the entire theme of it, and still churns out a masterpiece.

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3. Unmatched precision. From the performances to the cinematography to the production design to the editing, I genuinely believe there is no filmmaker on the face of the earth more deliberate, exacting, and precise than David Fincher. He is the very definition of a perfectionist.

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Curious, what puts him above Nolan for you in this particular category?

Our definition of "boring" is very, very different.

I was going to reference the Every Frame a Painting video if you didn't

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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3. Unmatched precision. From the performances to the cinematography to the production design to the editing, I genuinely believe there is no filmmaker on the face of the earth more deliberate, exacting, and precise than David Fincher. He is the very definition of a perfectionist.

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Curious, what puts him above Nolan for you in this particular category?

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First and foremost, Fincher is famous for the number of takes he does for any given shot/scene. For instance, he forced Eisenberg and Mara to do 99 TAKES of the opening scene of The Social Network. This has been a thing his entire career, one that some actors hate, most others love, but no one can argue with the results.

Fincher's lighting/camera movements are far more precise as well. Nolan utilizes a ton of hand-held shots and naturalistic lighting. I'm not at all saying one technique is better than the other, but Fincher's technique simply and objectively requires more planning/prep/setup.

Overall, Nolan isn't really known for being perfectionist (he hates ADR, for instance), nor is he super technical (he doesn't even own a cell phone, for one), whereas Fincher is maybe the most cutting-edge, technically proficient director alive. Yes, Fincher and Nolan both do a ****-ton of prep, but Nolan is just a bit more seat-of-his-pants when it comes to shooting.

Also funny where references to his work pop up in other films...

I dunno, I have a lot of respect for how dedicated Nolan is to doing as much in-camera as possible, whether it be a massive practical explosion, flipping a semi-truck, or dropping a plane's fuselage out of the sky with actors in it.

Also the amazing shots he's able to capture on IMAX cameras, such as from the inside of a WWII fighter in Dunkirk.

I think Nolan is just as much, if not more of a perfectionist than Fincher, just not as much in the acting/performance side of things.

I feel like what you're describing is just "great filmmaking," not necessarily signs of an insane perfectionist. I'm not saying Fincher is a better filmmaker than Nolan, I'm simply saying he's more exacting/precise.

The 4K UHD restoration of ‘SE7EN’ will be released in early 2025.

David Fincher has carefully overseen a brand-new 4K scan for the release. pic.twitter.com/qoSbTny8uK

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 21, 2024

Stumbled upon this today, maybe it was already well known - they originally made a bust/replica of Paltrow's head for the WHATS IN THE BOX scene but then opted to go with the "less is more" approach and not show it.

It was used 16 years later for her death scene in Contagion.