22. Jack (1996)
Sure, a Coppola and Robin Williams collaboration sounds great on paper, but Jack is a tough watch for fans of either one. Williams plays a young boy with a condition that makes him age rapidly, to the point where he appears 40 but has the mind of a 10-year-old.
21. Dementia 13 (1963)
A 70-minute indie horror movie shot in black and white, Dementia 13 was Coppola’s first feature following his erotic-film career. You can tell he didn’t have the biggest budget to work with, but his directorial instincts are already sharp. This slasher flick forges its own identity, with an ornate castle as the main location and some grisly axe murders. Still, Dementia 13 lacks the sophistication that would come to characterize the director’s greatest work.
20. You’re a Big Boy Now (1966)
You’re a Big Boy Now is a sex comedy in the vein of movies like The Graduate (though it came out a year before the Mike Nichols/Dustin Hoffman classic). The film stars Peter Kastner as the rich, stifled virgin Bernard Chanticleer, who moves out of his parents’ apartment—though they continue to admonish him for trying to host companions at his new digs. It’s a fun and breezy comedy, though not particularly memorable.
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19. Twixt (2011)
Coppola’s second-most-recent film (before Megalopolis, of course), Twixt returns him to the horror genre, where he takes some huge swings. Including combining a small-town murder mystery with bizarro misadventures in a dream world that mirrors the town. It’s a little busy! But if you like letting a surreal story wash over you, Twixt is a treat.
18. One from the Heart (1981)
A musical that received a lukewarm reception when it premiered, One from the Heart may not earn your investment in its central romance—or have the strongest nonsinging performances—but Coppola has some consistently refreshing visual ideas, especially concerning the sets and lighting.
17. Tetro (2009)
While you don’t hear about Tetro often in discussions of Coppola’s great works, the film shows how much style and intensity he can bring to a film noir. Starring Vincent Gallo and Alden Ehrenreich (in his feature film debut) as two brothers who have a rocky reunion in Buenos Aires, this drama makes up for occasional pacing issues with slick black-and-white visuals and very strong performances.
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16. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
This biopic of Preston Tucker, who attempted to challenge the Big Three auto manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler) with the Tucker 48, didn’t reinvent the genre wheel, but it’s crackling with energy and lots of fun. Jeff Bridges handles the title role magnificently, taking on Tucker’s rise and fall with equal enthusiasm.
15. Youth Without Youth (2007)
One of Coppola’s less appreciated movies, Youth Without Youth still has a lot of great moments that make it worth watching. Starring Tim Roth as an elderly, suicidal professor who is suddenly made young again—and granted psychic powers upon being struck by lightning!—it’s strangely spellbinding and feels very ahead of its time. You should ignore its Rotten Tomatoes score and form your own opinion on this extremely cool and unique film.
14. The Rain People (1969)
Coppola’s fourth film is a road drama following Shirley Knight’s character, Natalie, who suddenly leaves her life as a housewife for an odyssey across the country when she learns that she’s pregnant. With compelling stories and interesting character encounters, this would make an interesting double feature with other great American road films, like the same year’s Easy Rider or 1991’s Thelma and Louise.
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13. The Outsiders (1983)
Featuring early-career performances from heartthrobs like Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, and Tom Cruise, The Outsiders is a solid adaptation of the S.E. Hinton novel—even if it would later be overshadowed by many of its stars’ future projects. It was also praised for looking at tougher aspects of young people’s lives, including poverty and domestic violence.
12. Finian’s Rainbow (1968)
When one of your first feature films is a fantasy musical starring the one and only Fred Astaire, you’re doing something right as a director. Critics at the time were tired of movie musicals and balked at a more aged Astaire, but time has certainly been on this vibrant film’s side and it still looks incredible.
11. Peggy Sue Got Married
Starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage, this dramedy focuses on Peggy Sue after her separation from her high school sweetheart—as she wakes up and suddenly finds herself in high school in 1960 again. If you’re looking for a silly fantasy journey with a characteristically strange Cage performance, Peggy Sue Got Married makes for a fun, nostalgic movie night.
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10. The Godfather: Part III (1990)
This is an interesting case, since Part III certainly doesn’t reach the heights of the earlier Godfather films, but it’s unfairly derided by critics and film fans who declare it unwatchable. Sofia Coppola was unfortunately raked over the coals for her performance as Michael and Kay’s daughter Mary Corleone, even if she wasn’t the perfect choice. That said, there are more than enough quality moments here to make it worth your time to see Michael Corleone’s story to its conclusion.
9. The Cotton Club (1984)
One of Coppola’s most underrated gems, The Cotton Club tells the story of the Harlem jazz club of the same name in the 1930s and the real-life mobsters involved with it. The film sports some frenetic musical sequences and excellent performances by stars Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, James Remar, and Bob Hoskins, to name a few.
8. The Conversation (1974)
Coppola brings us a fascinating variation on a noir crime thriller with the story of a surveillance expert, played by Gene Hackman, who is sucked into a moral quagmire as he gets involved in the case of a couple he is assigned to listen to. The Conversation is a tight, tragic mystery with an impeccable cast and amazing tension. Incredibly, Coppola made this excellent film between the production cycles of the first two Godfather movies.
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7. Rumble Fish (1983)
Coppola kept very busy in the ’80s and made some great films, even if he’s most known for his work in the ’70s. For a sense of how prolific he was, consider that he wrote this film with S.E. Hinton on days off from shooting his other Hinton adaptation, The Outsiders. Rumble Fish is more experimental, with an avant-garde soundtrack and high-contrast black-and-white cinematography. Need another reason to check this out? Coppola himself has ranked it as one of his strongest films.
6. Gardens of Stone (1987)
In Gardens of Stone, James Caan plays a jaded and traumatized Vietnam and Korean War veteran assigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment, the honor guard for the funerals of soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. He finds motivation in his new routine when joined by Jackie Willow, the young son of an old friend and fellow soldier, and tries to discourage him from going to Vietnam.
5. The Rainmaker (1997)
A legal drama that excellently captures the mood of the John Grisham novel it’s based on, The Rainmaker stars Matt Damon and Danny DeVito as a (very) small-time lawyer and paralegal who bite off more than they can chew when they sue a huge insurance company for refusing to cover a bone marrow transplant for a young cancer patient. The kinetic directing and jazzy soundtrack keep the film buzzing while it still takes its tough subject matter very seriously.
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4. Apocalypse Now (1979)
One of the most famously difficult film productions ever staged. Coppola and his crew shot a radically ambitious war movie in the Philippines despite facing enough problems to fill a documentary (1991’s Hearts of Darkness). Adapted from the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness—but with the setting changed from 19th-century Africa to Cambodia during the Vietnam War—it contains battle sequences that are exhilarating in their scale but chilling in their brutality.
3. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is epic, beautifully captured, and all-out bonkers in the best way. The production and costume design almost carry the film on their own, but Coppola offers a great take on the classic horror tale that isn’t afraid to be a little weird. Sure, make fun of Keanu Reeves’s accent all you want, but he’s still a memorable Jonathan Harker.
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