Wildly Different Movies You Didn't Know Were By The Same Director

We all have our favourite directors, right? Just like a certain genre or trope might appeal to you more than others, the work of a filmmaker can sometimes be so distinctive and attuned to your tastes that you just can’t help but love everything they do.

Some directors, like Quentin Tarantino, for example, are so consistent in the tone and style of their work that it’s easy to recognise one of their movies immediately. Even someone like Stanley Kubrick, who ventured into various genres, had a clear voice and visual code that made his work unmistakable.

On the flipside, some filmmakers can truly surprise us. You may think you know their modus operandi, but you’d be wrong. Here, we pick out ten directors who have bucked the trend at some point in their careers to make movies you would never expect them to, for better or worse.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and Babe: Pig in the City (1998) – George Miller

The crazy world of Max Rockatansky comes from the mind of Australian filmmaker George Miller. All of the Mad Max movies get progressively more wild, culminating in the brilliant Mad Max: Fury Road and its prequel, Furiosa. You’d be forgiven for thinking that Miller, who has spent the last 45+ years spawning stories from the Wasteland, was entirely devoted to dystopian tales. You’d be wrong, though.

Before he got to bring his fourth Mad Max film to life in 2015, Miller showed his softer side and made something completely against the grain of what you’d expect from him. Miller was brought in to direct 1998’s Babe: Pig in the City, a sequel to Babe, in a move which saw the acclaimed filmmaker swap death and destruction in the desert for talking animals on a farm. While Babe will always have a special place in my heart for being the first film I ever saw in a cinema, there’s something bizarrely brilliant about Miller being involved in its follow-up. Funnily enough, while it’s obviously a very light-hearted family movie, you can definitely spot Miller’s dark sense of humour at times.

2. The Godfather (1972) and Jack (1996) – Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola may have made riveting character studies like Apocalypse Now and The Conversation, but he will always be most famous for directing The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II. They are quite literally, officially, two of the very best movies ever made – if you don’t believe us, watch them on Paramount Plus now and tell us we’re wrong. The story of the great Don Corleone and his Italian-American crime family, The Godfather trilogy, is violent, gritty, and a sprawling epic in every sense of the word.

However, in 1996, 22 years after earning widespread praise for The Godfather: Part II, Coppola made Jack, for some reason. The comedy drama stars Robin Williams as a boy who grows four times faster than he should due to a rare medical condition, resulting in a socially stunted ten-year-old boy who looks like a middle-aged man. Is it a fun film? Sure. Robin Williams is always good value, and there’s some great slapstick humour in there. But is it a film suited to Coppola’s style and voice? Absolutely not.

3. Terminator (1984) and Piranha 2 (1982) – James Cameron

Another man who made two of the greatest movies of all time, James Cameron, rocked the world when he brought The Terminator to our screens in 1984. Seven years later, he rocked it even more with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. What’s interesting about those two films is that the first is essentially a sci-fi slasher, with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s relentless robotic killer hellbent on taking out his targets. The sequel, however, is far lighter in tone and is all-out action. They’re both perfect, and Cameron has since gone on to make waves with his Avatar movies, as well as making bank with Titanic in the ‘90s.

Before all that, though, Cameron paid his dues and brought the monstrosity that is Piranha II: The Spawning to our screens. The B-movie horror was a riff on Jaws, in many ways, but obviously nowhere near as effective. It’s also a film Cameron himself disowns, especially given he was fired before the project was completed. Still, his name is on the credits as director, and he can’t escape all the blame as he was even the one responsible for writing the script, too.

4. Spider-Man (2002) and The Evil Dead (1981) – Sam Raimi

Before the great comic book movie boom with the birth of the MCU in 2008, Sam Raimi was the man bringing your favourite superheroes to the big screen in style. His Spider-Man trilogy still stands as one of the benchmarks for films of this ilk (though the less said about Spider-Man 3, the better). Perhaps Raimi was lucky in that he found the perfect Peter Parker in Tobey Maguire, but there’s no denying that the director brings incredible visual flair, a great understanding of the characters, and can deliver fantastic action set-pieces across his three movies.

It may be surprising to some to know that Raimi actually started in the horror genre. In fact, the superhero stuff is very much a side gig for the esteemed filmmaker, who always relishes diving back into the world of demons, blood, and gore. His 1981 cult hit, The Evil Dead, is widely regarded as one of the best indie horror movies ever made. It may lean into the tropes of teenage victims being punished for their foolish, hedonistic ways, but The Evil Dead was startlingly fresh and original in its no-holds-barred depiction of supernatural horror.

5. Near Dark (1987) and Point Break (1991) – Kathryn Bigelow

More recently, Kathryn Bigelow has directed tense, taut thrillers like Zero Dark Thirty, Detroit, and A House of Dynamite. They’re all movies that are very politically-charged and full of social commentary. However, her best work to date is Point Break. The 1991 hit is riotously good fun, with Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze hitting hitherto undreamt of levels of ‘guys being dudes’. Bank robberies, extreme surfing, jumping out of planes; Point Break has it all and is one of the quintessential action movies of the ‘90s.

You would never imagine that Bigelow would have been involved in a dark and violent vampire movie before all of that, but Near Dark is a fine example of how a skilled filmmaker can turn their hand to any genre and make it work. Sadly, no streaming services are holding Near Dark in their libraries right now, but if you’re a fan of movies like 30 Days of Night and The Lost Boys, you really should try to track it down. And when you look beyond the difference in genre, there are actually pretty similar themes at the heart of Point Break and Near Dark: both stories centre around one man’s reluctant induction into a dangerous gang – the only difference is, one of them needs to feed on blood.

6. Elf (2003) and Iron Man (2008) – Jon Favreau

Remember when we mentioned the inception of the MCU earlier? Well, Jon Favreau had a massive role to play in that cultural shift in the world of cinema, having directed the first Iron Man movie back in 2008. He also directed the sequel, as well as playing a key role in the movies as Happy Hogan, Tony Stark’s loyal bodyguard. These early Marvel movies are big, loud, bombastic productions, intended to match the characteristics of the hero at the heart of them.

Just how he made the jump to that realm after making one of the best Christmas movies of all time is beyond me, but I’m glad he did. Elf is a modern classic that simply has to be watched every time the festive period swings around, and you can absolutely tell that Favreau, Will Ferrell, and just about everyone involved is having the time of their lives making this movie. James Caan might not have found Ferrell funny, but I’d argue his role as Buddy the Elf is one of the best comedy performances of the 21st century.

7. Superman (1978) and The Omen (1976) – Richard Donner

Speaking of superhero movies, we go way back to 1978 for Richard Donner’s Superman. Now this is a true classic of the genre and is still heralded as the greatest Superman movie to this day, despite the likes of Zack Snyder and James Gunn trying their best to emulate what Donner achieved all that time ago. Like Sam Raimi and Spider-Man, Donner was blessed with the ideal actor for the dual role of Clark Kent and the Man of Steel in Christopher Reeve, who not only looked the part but was phenomenal at flitting between the two personas with ease.

Just two years before asking us all to look to the sky, though, Donner had us hiding behind our hands in fear as he brought The Omen to life on the big screen. While some of its special effects are rather dated now, almost 50 years later, The Omen is truly horrifying at times, and is another one of those horror movies that has been the blueprint for so many more to follow. The tonal shift between The Omen and Superman, in such a short space of time, is unthinkable, but Donner really was a magical moviemaker.

8. Shutter Island (2010) and Hugo (2011) – Martin Scorsese

It would be highly reductive to say that Martin Scorsese only makes mobster movies, even if he is very, very good at crafting those kinds of stories. With the likes of Mean Streets, Goodfellas, and The Irishman under his belt, it’s easy to forget that Scorsese also put out great movies like After Hours, The King of Comedy, and my personal favourite, the very dark, disturbing, and thought-provoking Shutter Island.

The twists and turns in this harrowing mystery thriller showcase Scorsese’s work at its most dynamic and gripping. Shutter Island also produces one of the best final scenes of all time, with Leonardo DiCaprio doing incredible work next to Mark Ruffalo. But did you know Scorsese also made the warm and fluffy family movie, Hugo? Just one year after embracing his dark side with Shutter Island, Scorsese poured his heart and soul into a tale celebrating his love of cinema. There’s no blood or violence in this one, just a filmmaker trying to show the world just how much cinema means to him by living vicariously through his characters.

9. Moonlight (2016) and Mufasa: The Lion King (2024) – Barry Jenkins

When Barry Jenkins broke onto the scene with his Oscar-winning romance movie Moonlight, it looked like we had one of the great modern storytellers emerging out of nowhere. Obviously, themes of sexuality, rejection, abandonment, and, more than anything, family, are deeply rooted in Moonlight, and that’s what makes it so mesmerising. It’s authentic and heartfelt, and it has something truly important to say to us as an audience.

It was quite disappointing, then, to see Jenkins eventually become a director for hire to make Mufasa: The Lion King. In fairness, he was attracted to the screenplay, which tackled themes of community – something he has covered previously in his work – and he was excited by the idea of building on The Lion King’s lore. He didn’t do a bad job, either, and he probably made enough money to fund a couple of indie movies in the process. But it will always be a shame that such a distinct voice was busy making live-action Disney movies instead of exploring the nitty-gritty of the human condition.

10. Fish Tank (2009) and Cow (2022) – Andrea Arnold

There’s a good chance that a lot of people won’t have even heard of or watched Fish Tank, and the same probably applies to Cow, too. Some of you might not even know who Andrea Arnold is, but you really should. If the above applies to you, please get on Disney+ and watch Fish Tank, and then log in to Mubi and watch Cow. I promise you won’t regret it. 

The former is a hard-hitting, coming-of-age social realism movie about a young girl who has to deal with teenage life while her mother is distracted by her enigmatic new boyfriend (played by Michael Fassbender, no less). Fish Tank is one of my favourite indie movies, and I still remember how I was blown away by it when I was shown the film at university. It’s very visceral and unflinching, but it’s also packed with stunning shots and powerful symbolism to drive home its messages around adolescence and the idea of freedom.

Meanwhile, Cow is a rather experimental, very direct documentary that offers the viewer the POV of (as you may have guessed) a cow on a farm. There’s no narration, which can be a little jarring for some, but in the end, the impact of this lack of human influence is very effective indeed. While the framing devices of these two Andrea Arnold movies are polar opposite and the divide between fiction and reality is crossed, there’s actually a clear pattern in the director’s work around themes of captivity, albeit with starkly different outcomes.