Birth Name: Steven Allan Spielberg
Birth Date: Dec. 18, 1946
Birth Place: Cincinnati, Ohio
Features Directed: 28 and counting
Features I've Seen: 23 (82%)
Steven Spielberg is probably the most successful movie-maker ever, if measured as box office clout. He began his love of making movies as early as 12 years old, making short, 8mm adventure films, often involving wrecks on his toy train set. In 1963, at the age of 16, he wrote and directed his first independent film titled "Firelight" which would serve as an inspiration for "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind". When his parents got divorced, Steven moved to California with his father. While out there he attended Universal Studios as an unpaid intern. He would sit in on editing and got to meeting some of the right people. Spielberg wrote and directed a short film at Universal titled "Amblin" (what would later become the name of his own production company). After the vice president of Universal's TV Department saw the short film, he signed Spielberg to a long term deal, becoming the youngest contract director for the studio. He helmed episodes for such TV shows as "Marcus Welby, MD", "Rod Serling's Night Gallery" and "Columbo". He was asked to direct a TV film titled "Duel" (which was released theatrically after some of Spielberg's success). From there he never looked back. He always seems to have a strong moral stand in his films, some people feel a little shoved down our throats, but I always loved his style. Mixing heartfelt sentiment with high humour and usually having characters overcome some obstacle, you know you're in for a good time watching a Spielberg film. He has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards, 6 as Best Director, winning 3 in total. What follows is a list of Steven Spielberg's movies I've seen, listed in three different categories, chronologically (imdb.com score in brackets):
MUST SEE
Jaws - 1975 (8.2): The first Summer blockbuster is as good today as it was ground-breaking then!
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - 1977 (7.8): Spielberg's first big sci-fi extravaganza. Fantastic!
Raiders Of The Lost Ark - 1981 (8.7): Probably my favourite film EVER! Perfect, non-stop thrills and action!
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial - 1982 (7.9): Saw it 5 times in the theatre. Great for kids and adults alike.
Jurassic Park - 1993 (7.9): Scared the crap out of me when I saw it...and I was 21!!!
Schindler's List - 1993 (8.9): Absolutely beautiful and evil at the same time. A near-perfect film.
Minority Report - 2002 (7.7): Much better than most reviews I've seen. Interesting with good action.
Catch Me If You Can - 2002 (7.8): A lot of fun. A good chase movie with two very able actors.
Munich - 2005 (7.7): A very good thriller with, what I think, is a great performance from Eric Bana.
NICE TO SEE
Duel - 1971 (7.7): Great tension filled scenes with only two vehicles on the road.
Indy & The Temple Of Doom - 1984 (7.5): Not as bad as everyone makes it out to be...but not great.
Empire Of The Sun - 1987 (7.7): Great performances and cinematography.
Indy & The Last Crusade - 1989 (8.3): Very good recovery from the second, but the first is still the best!
Always - 1989 (6.2): Sweet, touching, well-acted. Audrey Hepburn's last film.
Saving Private Ryan - 1998 (8.5): The first 30 minutes are UNBELIEVABLE, but becomes only ok afterwards.
The Terminal - 2004 (7.2): Tom Hanks is good, but you may lose interest too quickly.
Indy & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull - 2008 (6.4): Worked occasionally, but missed the mark too often.
NO NEED TO SEE
1941 - 1979 (5.7): Easily Spielberg's worst film. An un-funny comedy that misses on so many levels.
Twilight Zone The Movie (Segment 2) - 1983 (6.3): Disappointing on all fronts.
Hook - 1991 (6.3): Kids might enjoy it, but I didn't. Only Dustin Hoffman scored marks.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park - 1997 (6.1): A very un-needed money-grabber.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence - 2001 (7.0): Quite frankly bored me.
War Of The Worlds - 2005 (6.5): I wanted to like it...I really did...but I didn't.
Thanks to Chris B, I recently rediscovered Jurassic Park as one of the best films ever made. I liked it originally, but now I can appreciate its genius, and look at it as proof that blockbuster films can also be great films.
ReplyDeleteThe Indiana Jones movies, all four, are remarkable adventures. Last Crusade is probably my favorite of all his films.
So I'm...waiting for a new director. I know you're busy, but you should get on that. You're about the only person I take movie suggestions seriously from.
ReplyDeleteAnd on the subject of Spielberg, have you seen War Horse yet? I went two weeks ago and I'm still enchanted by it. It's great and only gets better the more I think about it.