Listen we all know Lucas isnt as good a raw Director as Spielberg..thats a given. Steven wins hands down..but as many has said he hasnt impacted POP Culture and the world of cinema as a whole like Lucas has. Im a HUGE STAR WARS fan/geek, but i can fully admit had someone else directed the prequels..they would have been loved by many more people. I like them for the most part but, as a true fan they will always pale in comparison to the original trilogy. He's a great writer and thinker..just not the best director.

Let me stop you right there Jedibanner.  Now other than Ghandi I'm not familiar enough with Attemborough's films so I can't comment fully on him. 

I love Scorcesse and Chris Nolan is my 2nd favorite director right now, both who I got over Cameron cause of King James's inactivity.  Cant be on a pound for pound list without stepping up to the plate in over 10 years.  So both those cats are crazy good but I don't they are on Spielberg's level.

The reason is Spielberg can do it all, he's more all around than those guys you mentioned.  He can deliver the blockbusters popcorn films the masses love but he can also give you some serious films.  He can do drama, comedy, action, adventure, sci fi films, small movies, big movies, it don't matter he does it. 

I would guess that Spielberg could deliver a Martin Scorcesse or Chris Nolan type film more than Scorcesse or Nolan could deliver a Spielberg one.

I agree with hanso here, SPIELBERG is KING. I don't think there's any comparison. The guy has tackled multiple genres and has been unquestionably succesful all around. Add the amount of movies he's made, all top notch, and there's no one even close

I however put Cameron in 2nd place. Probably the only person that could've done an Alien sequel and not butchered it or resort to some old gimmick. He breathed new life and expanded the Alien universe. Do I have to mention Terminator and T2, True Lies, the underrated The Abyss. Then let's top that with the biggest box office hit of all time. He could retire right there and go down as one of the greatest but he's still adding to his resume. AVATAR I'm sure will add to it

Nolan, I'm sure I'd place somewhere in the top ten. But TDK and Memento alone ain't good enough to have him top 5. The Prestige just wasn't that good. Obviously he's still adding to his resume as well so only time will tell how far he can climb.

Hanso, I think Speilberg's MOVIES have a timeless quality to them(except that crappy War of the Worlds), and you know it when you are watching a Speilberg film. My all-time favorite of his is still Close Encounters. And I would have to say he directed one of the most powerful, and gut wrenching War Films ever with Saving Private Ryan. I'm even a big fan of Minority Report. Great movie, with a fantastic vision of the near-future technology.

But Lucas changed how movies are made and marketed forever with Star Wars, and the sequels. The Prequels came out at a time when audiences were more cynical, and picky about what a movie should be, and his direction, with the actors, was flawed, but the "look and feel" of the films were awe-inspiring! The level of realism and detail is being copied today with the use of CGI, but also, that use is being OVER-used to some degree as well. But I will say, Episode 3 starts with the most incredible space battle ever done on film. Amazing sequence, for what I really think was a worthy Prequel to the Original Trilogy. If I had my way, I would have STARTED the Prequels with Sith, and then moved into a story line about the purge of the Jedi, and the rise of the Empire through its use of tyranny and terror. But, Star Wars is not MY universe......I just enjoy taking a romp into it once in a while!

Speilberg is without a doubt the superior movie maker.  While Star Wars was a transformative phenomenon it simple does not compare to the depth and diversity of Speilberg's work. 

However as far as influence on the industry goes, Lucas wins hands down.  Forget the movies themselves, there is not a single technical innovation in movie making in the last 35 years that does not have Lucas's fingerprints all over it.  THX, motion control, puppetry, makeup, digital photography, CGI etc etc.   A Lucas company had a hand either in the creation or development of each of those technologies.  Virtually every fx house working today was either founded by or employs people who worked for Lucasarts.   Speilberg, Cameron and almost all the directors from the last 30 years mentioned here have employed Lucas's people.

Lucas was a key player in the early days of Pixar.

I ain't buying the Lucas over Spielberg on the pop culture stuff as much as you guys.  Lucas got Star Wars he's been living off that ever since.  His company does great special effects but it ain't him doing those.  Spielberg had his own studio with Dreamworks. 

Spielberg had Jaws, there is no summer blockbuster films without Jaws which released what 2/3 years prior to Star Wars? 

Spielberg has too many classics not only on the directorial side but also on the producing aspect like Gremlins.  Who doesn't love Gremlins!?  He's had his hand on TV as well.  I think Spielberg is either on par or above Lucas on that pop culture stuff aspect.

Well, Hanso, sure Spielberg has variaty but, I don't see him as the best.

I would not see him do what Oliver Stone has done in JFK or Nixxon (Munich would be as close as possible to those 2 movies but, even then, that wasn't the best). He can do many things in different ways but, not everything he's done latelly has been as good as Third Accounters or Schindler or even Saving Pr. R.

I don't think Spielberg could ever deliver what Scorsese has done in ''The Daprted'' or ''the Last Walz'' or even ''Gangs of NY''. They are way too different to compare or expect any of them to film what the other filmaker has done.

Down the road, I don't think Spielberg is the king. He's very good, he's one of the greats...but not THE best.

They both blow. Ego maniacs.

And I forgot Hanso, for Attenborough, look at the movie ''A bridge too Far'' and see the cast and what he's made with that movie (he also made Chaplin with Robert Downey Jnr), it is one of the best war movies out there and a superb movie overall.

Thorin, yoiu are so right. Lucas has been the biggest single influence on filmmaking since Edison created the industry.

He also started computer editing of film with the EditDroid. Now all film and TV is edited with such software as Final Cut and Avid. And now nearly every home computer either has that capability or can buy it.

FX houses were dead until ILM and because of its creation you can't throw a stick in Hollywood without running into one large or small, since once again, almost anyone can now perform near professional FX on a small system.

Besides THX sound systems, he pioneered the use of digital camera filmmaking with the SW prequels and then influenced theatres to begin digital projection which has become more and more common.

Someone has already noted that the kinds of films with big FX laden "events" was started by him. No film season goes by without what I call Bigger Than Life movies, which includes everything from Sci-Fi, action, adventure, horror, etc. Most of which were few and far between before SW.

And finally, it's hard to find an interview with any big talents of the cinema in the past 30 years who didn't get into the business because of SW. Everything from directors and producers, to writers and technical people.

They oughta make a statue for good 'ole George.