Who’s the Better Director? Sergio Leone or Martin Scorsese

Welcome to round three of Face/Off! For the next six weeks we will be pitting two directors who won their round two matches against each other and letting YOU, the commenters, decide on who reigns supreme!

You have to decide which director is better than the other? Various factors could play into your decision from who takes the biggest risks to who has the more distinctive style. Remember, it isn’t so much about which director has made the most money at the box office or won the most awards, but, in your mind, which director simply makes better films.

Let’s analyze the filmography of today’s challengers.


Sergio Leone

Who He Beat in Round Two: Werner Herzog (12 to 6)

1950s to 1980s Directorial Features: The Last Days of Pompeii (1959), The Colossus of Rhodes (1961), A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), Duck, You Sucker! (1971), Once Upon a Time in America (1984)


Martin Scorsese

Who He Beat in Round Two: Michael Mann (21 to 2)

1960s to 1980s Directorial Features: Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967), Boxcar Bertha (1972), Mean Streets (1973), Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1982), After Hours (1985), The Color of Money (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

1990s to 2010s Directorial Features: Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), The Age of Innocence (1993), Casino (1995), Kundun (1995), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010), Hugo (2011), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Silence (2016), The Irishman (2019)


Only one can move on to the Battle Royale. Let the Face/Off begin!

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Face/Off: Leone vs. Scorsese

Who's the better director?


Discuss in the comments below your favorite films from each director and who should advance to the quarterfinals.

Author: Marmaduke Karlston

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute Doc, uh, are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?"