Everybody knows names like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Wes Anderson. Each director has a plethora of popular titles to their name, which have a global following, fanbase, and army of supporters. The issue with the luck of the movie industry is that some films fall under critics’ radar. Most come from directors without a name for themselves, but sometimes even the major magic makers have underrated flops.

Without further ado, here are ten of the less appreciated gems from the directors that everybody knows and loves. Each pick has been denoted for being wonderfully moving and impactful yet not having an impact on the everyday. That said, there will be no repeat of any director, as the film denoted will be their most underappreciated.

10. Tim Burton: The Storyteller and his Big Fish

Tim Burton kicks off the list as one of the most unique well-known directors. His style consists of hazy morals and a grim yet unique style. He is not the only director on this list known for recreating Batman. Other than Batman and Batman Returns, Burton’s fanbase adores his stylistic films such as the heartbreaking romance of Edward Scissorhands, the classic Beetlejuice, the claymation phenomena Corpse Bride, and the adapted musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. His lesser known film, lesser most likely because it does not emphasize Burton’s style nearly as much as some of his other films, Big Fish has a magnificent cast, story, and works as a completely solid adaptation of the novel by Daniel Wallace.

Big Fish involves Hollywood greats such as Billy Crudup, Helena Bonham Carter (a Burton favorite), Marion Cotillard, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, and Ewan McGregor as the main character. The script was almost given to Steven Spielberg, but he passed after considering it to focus on Catch Me If You Can. Burton took the film in a whole new direction, one that he quickly gave his brilliant imagination to. Richard Bloom’s quest to understand his father’s outlandish stories takes the audience through a mystical forest and to a wild circus where he falls in love. The story has Burton’s signature passion and almost distant sort of style that feels like a fairytale. The themes of love and imagination could not be clearer, and if moviegoers are looking to ease into Burton’s style with a beautiful film, Big Fish is the clear option.

9. David Fincher: One Intense Panic Room

David Fincher has some serious titles to his name. His most famous hit is easily Fight Club, but Gone Girl, The Social Network, Se7en, even The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo are known at minimum by name by any basic moviegoer. With Se7en and Fight Club to his name, Fincher took on David Koepp’s script (Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible) and perfected the thriller aspect that the film needed. The film stars the remarkable Jodie Foster at the height of her career as well as Kristen Stewart in her first notable role. The film acts as a single location thriller following a single mother (Foster) and her daughter (Stewart) as three burglars (Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, and a young Jared Leto break into their home to steal the former owner’s belongings.

As for why Panic Room lacks a cult following like Fincher’s other hits, the film has considerably less depth than the usual hardcore stories Fincher tells. While the mainstay of his films include flashbacks, deep character motivation, and intense unique choices, Panic Room has a simple and clear plot with few complications beyond the thrill of a mother-daughter duo surviving three robbers. That said, the film adheres to Fincher’s great use of suspense and intensity with impressively realistic stakes. Panic Room is worth any Fincher fan or just any general fan of solid suspense.

8. Quentin Tarantino: His Lady Jackie Brown

Few people today do not know Quentin Tarantino’s name. Because of his wide following, finding a film of his that does not receive full appreciation is difficult. In a room full of people, someone is going to know a specific Tarantino film. Tarantino makes movies inspired by history’s greatest and most fascinating events and movements. Based around peak Hollywood, Nazi controlled France, the harsh West, the Japanese warrior films, and the American frontier during the slave trade, Tarantino takes already unique history and propels it with violence. Jackie Brown pays homage to the blaxploitation genre from the 70’s while increasing adrenaline.

Jackie Brown stars Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda, Chris Tucker, and Tarantino’s resident favorite actor, Samuel L Jackson, as well as Pam Grier as the film’s namesake. Grier shines as the airline hostess moving half a million dollars, stuck in a calamity where a plethora of criminals are after her. The film combines the expected violence and blunt comedy for a treat of an afternoon watching these all stars get a chance to explore truly unique characters. Jackie Brown deserves more attention but gets overshadowed by Taratino’s awe inspiring lineup.

7. Ridley Scott: Driving with Thelma and Louise

Ridley Scott is one of those directors whose films are bigger household names than the director himself. His powerful classics include groundbreaking Blade Runner, the enticing Gladiator, and the simply perfect Alien, but he has returned to the public spotlight in recent years with The Martian, The Last Duel, and House of Gucci. Thelma and Louise is overlooked as an in-between era for Scott before his modern return to theaters and his classics era. Yet, the film, despite its lack of everyday appreciation, was a cultural phenomenon, receiving six Academy Award nominations and winning Best Original Screenplay. Even the United States Library of Congress chose to preserve the film in the National Film Registry.

The movie stars Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis and Louise and Thelma respectively but also includes the likes of Harvey Kietel, Michael Madsen, and Brad Pitt. The inciting action sees Thelma nearly raped, so Louise shoots her assailent, leading to a cross country chase where the two women get closer in a stunningly written female relationship. The story is a refreshing taste of a wonderfully unique and beautiful development of two deep characters. The film has Scott’s usual grim outlook that requires a mature audience but is worth the time.

6. Martin Scorsese: After Hours

A general warning, After Hours does not include Robert De Niro or Leonardo DiCaprio. That being said, it’s set in New York. Scorsese’s lineup has recently gotten attention by his modern group of fans, those fans praising The Wolf of Wall Street, Goodfellas, The Departed, Shutter Island, and Taxi Driver especially. He released another one of his organized crime stories in 2019 with The Irishman which kept him in modernity. As for After Hours, the frustrating calamity-centric centers on Scorsese’s favorite locale, this time specifically around Soho. A young Griffin Dunne plays Paul, a simple word processor who gets stuck in a mess of a situation when he goes to a stranger’s apartment.

As attributed to Scorsese, the film has the signature dark humor that sees a generally rough side of life and strange people coming together. This film is not for those that get overly empathetic as Paul’s journey has numerous slopes and roadblocks, leaving him in worse and worse situations until he has a whole mob after him. After Hours has a strong pessimistic yet entertaining story that likely remains largely unappreciated due to its simplicity of plot and rough around the edges story that is difficult beyond the screen. Yet, the film has great merit both in filmmaking technique and as a story for those yearning for their pessimistic view to be understood.