No Mount Rushmore of motion-picture luminaries would be complete without Francis Ford Coppola. A 14-time Oscar nominee, Coppola has taken home five golden statuettes over a career that has spanned almost 60 years, and has three films on American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Movies list – two “Godfather” films and “Apocalypse Now.” Even so, his has not been an unimpeded journey to motion-picture immortality. (See who won the Oscar for Best Director every year since the Oscars began.)
To determine the best – and worst – Francis Ford Coppola movies, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of July 2022, weighting all ratings equally. Only the 22 feature-length films directed by Coppola were included for consideration.
We know Coppola as one of Hollywood’s great directors, but he also distinguished himself early in his career as a producer (“American Graffiti”) and as a screenwriter (“Is Paris Burning?” “This Property is Condemned”). In 1971, he won his first Oscar for co-writing the screenplay for “Patton” with Edmund H. North. (Interestingly, it’s Coppola’s screenwriting, not his directing, that makes him one of the biggest Oscar winners of all time.)
Coppola began to take his place among the new generation of Hollywood filmmakers – including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese – when he wrote and directed “The Godfather,” ranked third on the American Film Institute’s greatest movies list. “The Godfather, Part II,” also on the AFI list, has been called the best sequel in movie history.
In the 1970s, Coppola was involved as a writer, director or producer with seven motion pictures that received at least a 90% Freshness score on movie aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. His golden touch eluded him in the 1980s, however, when he directed such box-office failures as “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and “Gardens of Stone.” The third Godfather movie in 1990 was not well-received by critics, either, and audiences were disappointed. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) helped the director pay off his debts from projects that failed to pan out.
Click here to see Francis Ford Coppola’s movies, ranked worst to best
22. Twixt (2011)
> IMDb user rating: 4.8/10 (10,797 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 18% (1,439 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 26% (19 reviews)
> Starring: Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Elle Fanning, Ben Chaplin
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21. Jack (1996)
> IMDb user rating: 5.8/10 (59,011 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 49% (226,348 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 17% (35 reviews)
> Starring: Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Brian Kerwin, Jennifer Lopez
20. Youth Without Youth (2007)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (13,313 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 44% (16,880 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 33% (107 reviews)
> Starring: Tim Roth, Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, André Hennicke
19. Dementia 13 (1963)
> IMDb user rating: 5.7/10 (7,621 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 35% (4,164 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 63% (24 reviews)
> Starring: William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton, Mary Mitchel
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18. Gardens of Stone (1987)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (5,402 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 55% (2,434 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 47% (15 reviews)
> Starring: James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones, D.B. Sweeney
17. Finian’s Rainbow (1968)
> IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (3,550 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 52% (3,578 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 53% (15 reviews)
> Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks
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16. One from the Heart (1981)
> IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (5,849 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 62% (2,867 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 50% (34 reviews)
> Starring: Frederic Forrest, Teri Garr, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski
15. You’re a Big Boy Now (1966)
> IMDb user rating: 6.1/10 (1,564 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 51% (459 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (11 reviews)
> Starring: Elizabeth Hartman, Geraldine Page, Rip Torn, Peter Kastner
14. The Cotton Club (1984)
> IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (17,418 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 55% (7,251 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 77% (30 reviews)
> Starring: Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee
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13. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
> IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (35,856 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 55% (34,823 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (29 reviews)
> Starring: Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Catherine Hicks
12. The Godfather Part III (1990)
> IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (375,238 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 61% (261,514 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 68% (63 reviews)
> Starring: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia, Talia Shire
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11. Tetro (2009)
> IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (12,899 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 70% (11,731 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 71% (110 reviews)
> Starring: Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehrenreich, Maribel Verdú, Silvia Pérez
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10. The Rain People (1969)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (3,169 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 62% (780 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (12 reviews)
> Starring: James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall, Marya Zimmet
9. The Outsiders (1983)
> IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (79,779 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (138,456 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 63% (41 reviews)
> Starring: C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Patrick Swayze
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8. Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
> IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (18,968 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 67% (7,983 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (45 reviews)
> Starring: Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest
7. Rumble Fish (1983)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (33,133 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (23,480 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 74% (35 reviews)
> Starring: Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Dennis Hopper
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6. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
> IMDb user rating: 7.4/10 (203,465 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (259,390 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (60 reviews)
> Starring: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves
5. The Rainmaker (1997)
> IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (69,502 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 78% (39,497 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (50 reviews)
> Starring: Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight
4. The Conversation (1974)
> IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (105,754 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 90% (35,231 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (57 reviews)
> Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest
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3. Apocalypse Now (1979)
> IMDb user rating: 8.4/10 (629,925 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (286,235 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 98% (96 reviews)
> Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
2. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
> IMDb user rating: 9.0/10 (1,183,912 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 97% (411,793 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (114 reviews)
> Starring: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
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1. The Godfather (1972)
> IMDb user rating: 9.2/10 (1,704,373 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 98% (734,439 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (133 reviews)
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
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