Power Rankings: David Fincher

Power Rankings is a series where I'll select a director, actor, writer, artist, etc. and rank their 5 best pieces of work. 

In this first ever edition of Power Rankings, I'll take a look at American film director David Fincher. Beginning in 1985, Fincher started his career directing short documentaries and music videos. In 1992, he was selected to direct the third installment of the Alien series, kickstarting his career as a high-profile film director. However, with the commercial and critical failure of Alien 3, it took Fincher 3 more years before he'd release what is widely considered the first real Fincher film, Se7en. 

5. Panic Room

It was extremely difficult to choose between Zodiac and Panic Room because both films equally master suspense and truly keep viewers on the edge of their seats. When three criminals invade their home, a woman (Jodie Foster) and her young daughter (Kristen Stewart) are trapped in a mini-safe-house known as a panic room. The criminals, however, need what remains locked in that room with Jodie Foster's character and spend the film attempting to get in. If there's one thing that David Fincher is a master of, and something that I'll continuously bring up during this Power Rankings, it is the art of suspense. This is not the type of movie you can start at stop so that you can watch it later. As soon as the story envelops you, there's no escaping it until the credits hit at the end. 

4. The Social Network 

The Social Network, based on Ben Mezrich's book The Accidental Billionaires, tells the story of the creation of facebook by a Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg. The majority of the film is a frame story, with the whole timeline of events being told during Zuckerberg's legal meeting with his former partner Eduardo. What could have been a movie all for computer geeks or businessmen was turned into an amazing drama about a website that we all use every day of our lives. However, what makes the movie so good is that it can appeal to everyone. This movie could've been a movie about computers, or a legal drama, but instead, Fincher made a masterpiece of a film that can be enjoyed by people of all types. And what could possibly make this already amazing film even better? An original soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, of course.

3. Se7en

As mentioned previously, David Fincher knows suspense, so it's only natural that when he directed a film about two detectives hunting down a serial killer inspired by the seven deadly sins, he knocked it out of the park. From the insane opening title sequence, you can tell that this is not just another cop story, and Fincher has created what is possibly the end-all for crime-thriller films with this movie. Unsurprisingly, this film boasts incredible performances by Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey, all of whom come together in the crazy ending showdown that almost mirrors a spaghetti western's Mexican standoff. 

2. Fight Club

Fight Club is a movie that will always be remembered as a major piece of American film culture. The film, based on Chuck Palahniuk's book of the same name, is often regarded as one of the best of the 90's, and even Chuck himself considers it better than his novel (although that does not mean that the novel is even remotely bad). There's not much I can say about Fight Club other then that if you haven't already seen it, see it. 

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

David Fincher's Swedish crime-drama based on Stieg Larsson's globally acclaimed book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is what I consider to be his magnum opus. It has everything a Fincher classic should have: an incredible story driven by believable characters, a gritty feel, incredible production, perfect casting, amazing performances from the cast, and a pulsing soundtrack from none other than Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. As a huge fan of the book series, this film was everything I ever wanted from an adaptation, and I'll be very upset if the second film is made without Fincher. Everything about it was raw and real, so real that all 3 times I saw the film in theaters, at least one person walked out during a sequence that earns the film a hard R-rating.

So, there you have it. My Power Rankings of five of David Fincher's best films. Right now, Fincher is working on a Netflix original series starring Kevin Spacey called House of Cards. It's unfortunate that no news about The Girl Who Played With Fire has been released yet about Fincher or the cast, so when it comes to films, no one knows what is next for David Fincher.