This entry follows in turn two other entries centered around directors I like, The Films of David Cronenberg and The Films of Christopher Nolan. So with this entry I've done three directors and three 80s action stars. What's next? I was thinking about three female stars of the 90s, perhaps followed in turn by three more directors, three male stars of the 2000s, three more directors and finally (if I ever get there) three female stars of the 2010s.
But we'll see. Maybe I'll change my mind. Maybe I'll forget. Maybe I'll be struck by lightning before that happens. Maybe I'll meet aliens at a remote location in Wyoming, and after that point this blog will be about my adventures on other worlds.
Anyway, on to Steven Spielberg's considerable filmography.
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1970s
1. Duel (1970)
Dennis Weaver vs. Homicidal Truck Driver. The charm of this movie might be lost on modern viewers, but in 1970s action/suspense movies usually weren't this tightly constructed, and the way in which Spielberg presented the story was unique at the time. I can't say it's held up that well but it was a groundbreaking movie for sure.
2. The Sugarland Express (1974)
Like 1941 (below) this movie is somewhat forgotten now. It was made in the early 70s and it feels like it was made in the early 70s. If you're interested in how Spielberg developed his distinctive style it's worth seeing, but I don't think it deserves an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes. I'd probably give it a score closer to the year in which it was released -- 74% sounds about right to me.
3. Jaws (1975)
Still one of the best movies ever made. The great Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and (especially) Robert Shaw were all perfectly cast, and there's a very human drama at the center of this movie about a killer shark. Jaws had and continues to have a profound effect on the movies that have followed in its wake.
4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Also one of the best movies ever made, with Richard Dreyfuss starring as a man who witnesses the inexplicable. Like Jaws it puts a very human conflict at the center of a seemingly inexplicable event.
The doorbells in my Taiwanese mother-in-law's apartment complex employ the "signaling tune" from this movie. Every time I open her living room door I feel like I'm going to see aliens greeting me in the hallway.
5. 1941 (1979)
This was on HBO all the freaking time when I was little. It paired well with 80s teen sex comedies, Chuck Norris' post-Vietnam exploits, or whatever other schlock HBO was showing late at night. It's not bad by any means, but it's definitely one of Spielberg's more lightweight movies. There are reasons discussions of his films usually leave it out.
1980s
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Still one of the best action movies ever made, and probably THE best action movie of the 1980s. Sometimes people like to get snarky with me and say that Raiders of the Lost Ark "isn't an action movie," and that argument always sounds very weak to my ears. It's fun, it's violent and it leaves you wanting more. Die Hard? I think not!
2. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
I was the target audience for this movie when it came out, and yet I never understood the appeal. It trades on a lot of kids being cute and improbable occurrences involving both the U.S. government and alien lifeforms. Sure, we all wanted bikes that could fly, but I always felt that this was the movie I was supposed to like rather than the movie I actually did like.
3. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Spielberg only directed the "Kick the Can" segment in which the residents of a retirement home magically regain their youth. It's a solid contribution, even if George Miller's segment is the most memorable.
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
This sequel's a bit uneven, but the opening sequence is great and for the most part it captures the spirit of the first movie. It might be too gruesome for its own good but I loved it as a kid.
5. The Color Purple (1985)
A real departure from what Spielberg had done before and a genuinely good movie all the way through. Whoopie Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover were all examples of perfect casting. I've read the book as well and I think the movie does a good job of capturing the same mood.
6. Empire of the Sun (1987)
Christian Bale's first movie! I've read J.G. Ballard's book, and I can tell you that while the movie's good the book is a whole other level of epic.
7. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
I liked it of course. It's a lot more consistent than Temple of Doom. But I don't know, something about this movie disappointed me at the time. Maybe it was playing things a little too safe? They'd done Judaism in the first movie, Hinduism in the second, so OF COURSE it was time for Christianity in the third one. I dunno, I just wanted something more.
8. Always (1989)
A very forgettable movie. Spielberg teams up with Richard Dreyfuss again, this time for a remake of a 1940s romantic drama that few people have ever seen.
1990s
1. Hook (1991)
Robin Williams stars as an older Peter Pan opposite Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. It was a big budget Hollywood move released ahead of Christmas and it did predictably well.
2. Jurassic Park (1993)
I was 18 in 1993, so a bit too old for this movie to have the profound effect on me that it had on younger generations. It's a fun movie, and the special effects were groundbreaking, but I can't say that it's one of the "greatest movies of all time" or anything.
3. Schindler's List (1993)
It blows my mind that Spielberg made Jurassic Park and Schindler's List in the same time period. On the one hand you've got a big, fun movie about dinosaurs and on the other you've got a brooding, black and white meditation on the Holocaust. People who only associate Liam Neeson with Taken really need to go back and watch Schindler's List.
4. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
In my opinion one of Spielberg's rare failures. The plot is irrelevant and the ending falls flat.
5. Amistad (1997)
An overlooked movie, even at the time. This tale of the slave trade put Djimon Hounsou on the map, and his status in Hollywood would only rise thereafter. I think the courtroom aspect of this movie is a little tired and brings to mind much older movies from the 40s and 50s, but it's undeniably well done.
6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Tom Hanks leads a platoon into Nazi-occupied France to rescue a single soldier. Aside from the battle scenes I think that what makes this movie great is its ambiguity. Is it worth rescuing Private Ryan? Did the ends justify the means? This movie doesn't offer much of an answer and that's one of its strengths.
2000s
1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
You know what took me 20+ years to notice? This movie came out in 2001. Spielberg took over this project from Stanley Kubrick who, as everybody knows, directed the science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. A.I. is one of my favorite science fiction movies, though I'd rank this retelling of Pinocchio lower than both Close Encounters of the Third Kind and War of the Worlds.
2. Minority Report (2002)
I rewatched this recently, and even though it hasn't held up quite as well as some of Spielberg's other movies it's still good. Tom Cruise solves "pre-crimes" with the aid of mutants that see the future. It was adapted from a Philip K. Dick story and retains the author's signature sense of paranoia.
3. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Spielberg + DiCaprio. Yeah, it made perfect financial sense. Up to that point DiCaprio's only real success as a leading man had been Titanic, but with a string of great performances in lesser-known movies under his belt he was clearly poised to do great things. This said, I think this movie gets by on its sense of style. It's certainly good, and it's not trying to be deep, but compared to other movies Spielberg's done it's just OK.
4. The Terminal (2004)
Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks both benefited greatly from collaborations with Spielberg. In The Terminal Hanks stars as a man trapped inside an airport, with the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones as a stewardess passing through his life. I like this movie, but I'm also glad that Spielberg never ventured any further into rom-com territory.
5. War of the Worlds (2005)
One of my favorite movies. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, he's amazing in this film. From the word "go" War of the Worlds hits the ground running, building from a sense of dread to a sense of relief as mankind faces its darkest hour.
6. Munich (2005)
Like Amistad this movie's a bit overlooked. Eric Bana should have been a lot bigger star than he was, but for whatever reason Hulk, Troy and Munich seemed to encompass Hollywood's love affair with Bana. In Munich he stars as an Israeli intelligence agent exacting revenge after the bombing at the Munich Olympics.
7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
That scene with Shia LaBeouf swinging with monkeys. Yikes. This movie just can't decide who its protagonist is. It also relies heavily on CGI, and in doing so it strays from the practical effects that made the first three installments so good.
2010s
1. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
I watched it. It was OK, but I didn't love it.
2. War Horse (2011)
A completely forgettable movie. Boy gets horse, boy goes off to war, boy is reunited with horse at the end of said war.
3. Lincoln (2012)
I get why Danial Day-Lewis' performance was praised but this movie was completely lost on me. Like West Side Story (below) I tried watching it twice, but both times found myself unable to sit through it. It describes a pivotal time period in American history, and Spielberg's previous movies like The Color Purple and Amistad in a sense led him to it, but for me it just fell flat. Characters talk and talk and talk and so little seems to happen.
4. Bridge of Spies (2015)
Have I seen this movie? I feel like I have, but I can't remember anything about it.
5. The BFG (2016)
Haven't seen it. I'll probably watch it at some point.
6. The Post (2017)
I have a soft spot for movies centered around newspapers. All the President's Men, The Front Page, etc., etc., etc. Ah, the sound of typewriters clacking and printing presses churning. As such movies go I don't think this movie holds a candle to All The President's Men, The Paper or Spotlight but it's not bad. Bonus points for Bruce Greenwood, who should always be in more movies.
7. Ready Player One (2018)
Terrible movie adapted from a terrible book. Spielberg attempts to resurrect the sci-fi cred he built up in the 2000s with this misguided exercise in 80s nostalgia. It's heavy on CGI and extremely light on plot.
2020s
1. West Side Story (2021)
One of the darlings of this year's Oscar race. I'm really not into musicals, but even I have to admit that it's a great looking movie. I tried watching it twice, and fell asleep halfway through twice. There are bits and pieces of it in my memory, but not enough to comment on the plot, the acting or any other aspect of the film.
2. The Fabelmans (2022)
It works from a dramatic standpoint but I don't think it deserves all the Oscars this year. Michelle Williams is good as the protagonist's mother, but this movie isn't the insight into Spielberg's moviemaking technique that I was hoping for.
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