Steven Spielberg movies have always been known to be grand and emotional. But his talent goes beyond making just “big movies”. Spielberg has been the most consistently brilliant director through the years. He has taken risks no other director has dared to take. He has created films that instantly became part of pop culture. He has made powerful dramas exploring some of the darkest chapters in human history with restraint and respect.
When American Film Institute has listed his five films in 100 great american films =, highest for any director in this category. It is not that he has not faltered in his life but he has learnt from his mistakes and again climbed back delivering it’s best. Here is the look of some of his ten best movies listed below which can be viewed either on Amazon Prime or Netflix or Hotstar.
10. Ready Player one
Released in 2018 this is one of the unique one of a kind new age science fiction/ adventure film he has made and one of third movie after directing Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Jaws (1975). In this movie he recalled about the difficulty like motion graphics CGI use and editing the film, the characters copyrights issue management and most important it trusted it’s faith on the deliverance and audience perception of this movie. This movie is about a boy who embarks on the quest for finding three keys which on winning in the game can make him rich by inheriting a game company billionaire and an opportunity to escape from poverty in the future in the year 2045. The movie is itself divided in two worlds one the reality and other the virtual world.
9. Minority Report (2002)
This is one of the dark science fiction film in which Tom Cruise is a police officer who has become a fugitive in the future system where murders are predicted and are being stopped before they can commit a crime, a system which he himself created and now he himself is being dragged into that system as a fugitive fighting for his innocence.
8. Catch Me If You Can (2002)
One of the great direction of Steven Spielberg about a biography of extremly genious Frank Abagnale Jr portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio who at young age turned to the life of fraudulent activities and the FBI officer portrayed by Tom Hanks who tries to catch him. The amazing cat and mouse chase and the main thing to look at this film is how Spielberg captured their emotions with his techniques of edits.
7. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
The movie is way beyond our thinking about future and what our future would be with artificial intelligence. A touch of science fiction with a touch of an intense drama, a life about a humanoid type boy who just wants to believes in fairy who can turn him into a real boy so that he can get the lost love for his mother and the quest to find the true love which he searches for all along the film. This film indeed a brainchild of Stanley Kubrick before his death, Spielberg by directing this film understanding the concept and presented it to the audience has indeed shown us that Spielberg is indeed a master of science fiction genre and also paying ode to his friend Stanley Kubrick by giving justice to this film.
6. Jurrasic Park (1993)
This is Steven Spielberg one of the greatest movie of his career earning five oscars for visual effects, sound editing, etc and also breaking all time high record in revenue by breaking the hollywood record being the highest earning movie of the decade until James Cameron’s Titanic (1997) was released. This movie set about the future technology about creating a dinosaur by creating them by breaking modern genome structure. But disclaimer as always tempering with nature does have it’s cost.
5. Munich (2005)
His coldest film, but also one of his very best. A documentary like study of the massacre of the Olympians in 1972 and the squad sent out for revenge. Eric Bana, Daniel Craig and Geoffery Rush are spot on. It is brilliantly written and directed it is a study of how a man can his soul by a job he is given. Knowing he was courting trouble, he made the film he wanted to make, with apologies to no one.
4. Empire Of the Sun (1987)
The most curious failure (at the box office) of his career is also one of his best films. Based on the JG Ballard novel about a boy’s experiences as a prisoner of war during WWII, the film is powerful and haunting. The film which was also debut and a breaking path in a career for actors like our young Christian Bale who at the time was 13 and also Ben Stiller. And also who can forget John Malkovich and Joe Pantallino who equally had a stellar performance. Filed with images that stay with you forever.
3. E.T. Extra Terrestrials (1982)
Though the film lost in oscars in competition but still considered as Spielberg’s best in his initial years as a director. It is a dreamscape of a film, heartbreaking, euphoric, uplifting and leaving the viewer in awe at the power of human spirit. One forgets that the leading man is a visual effect, yet brought to vivid life. Filled with heartbreaking emotions and yet allows the human spirit to soar. Henry Thomas and then the little eight year old Drew Barrymore were superb in there roles, the effects, the score, and the direction is perfect.
2. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
As mentioned earlier this is one of those movies like Jaws (1975) and Ready Player One (2018) a tough movie in Spielberg’s journey as director, this movie was the one which won him second Oscar for direction and four other Oscars like Sound editing, Sound Mixing, Film Editing and Cinematography. This movie itself is a classic and is considered as the 100 greatest american movies of all time by American Film Institute. This movie with actors like Tom Hanks and Matt Damon are superb and have given justice to the fallen one of WWII and to the movie. The iconic scene in this movie is the famous fight on the beach of Normandy, which is studied by film enthusiasts always for it’s camera movements and sound.
1. Schindler’s List (1993)
This is the movie of Spielberg which is a real masterpiece. The film is considered one of the greatest war film in America and is also saved in National Film Register as a work of art, it has been studied over and over by film enthusiasts and students for it’s cinematography, editing, score and art direction. The unique about this movie is that this is one of the film Spielberg made it in black and white. The essence of black and white complexion to show the essence of the ruins and the hardships faced by then polish Jews who were tortured by Germans during the time of WWII when Poland war under siege of Nazi Germany. The cinematography, editing, music, sound and Liam Nesson as Schindler was superb. The movie was indeed well recieved by people and at Oscars where it bagged seven awards including best picture and best director for Steven Spielberg.
MALAV CONTRACTOR 