Steven Spielberg - the man, the myth, the legend. Many people in Hollywood have stories about Spielberg, but he earns exceptional bragging rights when it comes to his start in the film industry. He was supported by Joan Crawford after working with her on a short called Eyes for the TV anthology Night Gallery. With so much doubt in Spielberg expressed so early on, his career may not have existed without Crawford's endorsement, and then the world wouldn't have gotten some of the greatest movies ever made.
Spielberg is one of the legendary directors of Hollywood whose movies and ideas have stood the test of time. To this day, people recognize his signature style and can be certain they're watching a Steven Spielberg movie. As someone who's so in love with storytelling and cinema, Spielberg indeed gave the world some important movies that impacted the world, cinematically and otherwise. His career also gave other directors and storytellers an inspiration to never stop dreaming, which is something Spielberg would likely advise to anyone who wants to be in film.
10 'Duel' (1971)
Steven Spielberg's First Theatrical Release
After filming Duel as a television movie, Steven Spielberg became widely praised for the movie's fast-paced and tense storytelling. Richard Matheson wrote the screenplay after his short story about a personal experience with road rage. With Spielberg still on shaky legs regarding his directorial career, Duel was the ideal feature to launch him into the stratosphere. After becoming a TV hit, he was asked to extend and prepare Duel for a theatrical release, making it the first movie to hit theaters in Spielberg's career.
Duel follows David Mann (Dennis Weaver), a regular salesman driving through rural California to a meeting with a client. Along the way, David is intercepted by a driver of a semi-truck, and a tense pursuit ensues. He and the semi-truck driver enter a duel on the road, with the latter becoming increasingly more violent and insistent in getting back at David for passing him. For anyone that wishes to understand Spielberg and dive into the less known parts of his career, his brilliant debut film Duel is the best place to start.
Duel
- Release Date
- November 13, 1971
- Runtime
- 74 minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
Cast
-
Dennis Weaver -
Eddie Firestone
-
Gene Dynarski
-
Tim Herbert
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Richard Matheson
9 'The Fabelmans' (2022)
A Semi-Autobiographical Dive Into Spielberg's Past
The Fabelmans got lots of praise from audiences and critics, and was nominated for seven Oscars, but that's not all that new for a Spielberg movie. This one is different because it's crucial for understanding Spielberg on a level more personal than in his other features. He himself opened up about the difficulties of digging around his past to find inspiration for making The Fabelmans, since the movie is heavily inspired by his family life, dynamics and personal discoveries when growing up.
The movie follows the Fabelman family - Mitzi (Michelle Williams), the mother; Burt (Paul Dano), the father; Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle), the protagonist of the story; and Sammy's three sisters, Natalie, Reggie, and Lisa. The story mainly revolves around Sammy falling in love with cinema through his parents' influence, but also coping with difficult changes in his family, including Mitzi and Burt's divorce. It shows how Sammy (and by some default, Steven Spielberg himself) uses film to cope with trauma and manage his emotions. The Fabelmans is more than one of the best coming-of-age movies of the 2020s; it's Spielberg's potentially greatest achievement that combines passion with a personal message.
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The Fabelmans
- Release Date
- November 23, 2022
- Runtime
- 151 minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner
8 'Schindler's List' (1993)
The Most Essential and Innovative World War II Movie
The movie that Jerry Seinfeld made out with a girlfriend to, Schindler's List, is one of the greatest war-themed features of all time. Steven Spielberg took the story of real-life Nazi officer Oskar Schindler and turned it into an emotional and heartbreaking feature showcasing the power of compassion and humanity's better sides. Though tragic, Schindler's List is a testament to how creative and inspired Spielberg can be. With his decision to approach the movie as a documentary - due to the real-life heaviness it depicted - he opted for making it in black and white and primarily with handheld cameras.
Schindler's List follows the attempts (and successes) of Oskar Schindler in saving thousands of Polish-Jewish people from being sent to concentration camps. He did this by opening factories and hiring as many Jewish workers as possible. In an emotionally heavy ending, Oskar Schindler proclaims he "didn't do enough," but considering he went from an ambitious officer to a literal savior, to the people he protected, he surely did enough. This movie matters because it's one of the best WWII movies ever made, and a delicately told story that bears immense emotional weight. Though Schindler's List is a memorable movie, watching it once is enough - though, maybe skip making out during it.
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Schindler's List
- Release Date
- December 15, 1993
- Runtime
- 195 Minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Thomas Keneally, Steven Zaillian
7 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' (1982)
A Magical Movie About Spielberg's Childhood Imagination
If you ask anyone who was a kid during the 1980s about an image that represents childlike freedom and wonder, many would name the silhouette of the boy riding his bicycle in front of the full moon. This is a still from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (aka E.T.), one of Steven Spielberg's most influential movies. E.T. also includes some autobiographical details, and apparently, it was inspired by Spielberg's childhood imaginary friend. The story follows 10-year-old Elliott (Henry Thomas), who one day finds an alien creature he names E.T.
Elliott and E.T. become friends as Elliott decides to take him into the house in secret. The two form a psychic bond, and everything E.T. feels, so does Elliott. Of course, when the government finds out there's an alien in a suburban neighborhood, they do what they can to reach him and take him in for testing. In many ways, accepting the unknown is a given in Spielberg's movies, and the theme of not just believing in extraterrestrial life but self-discovery through traversing the unknown.
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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Release Date
- June 11, 1982
- Runtime
- 1h 55m
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
Cast
-
Drew Barrymore -
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Melissa Mathison
- Franchise(s)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
6 'The Goonies' (1985)
An Inspiring Story of Childlike Wonder
"What do children do on rainy days?" This was the question that drove Spielberg's imagination when he wrote the story for the everlasting classic, The Goonies. Today known as one of the greatest adventure movies ever made, The Goonies was devised as a story by Steven Spielberg, and though he was present at the shoots as a second unit director and executive producer, the directing credits went to Richard Donner. Despite that, Spielberg is still considered one of the best directors of child actors.
The Goonies follows a group of friends who live in the Goon Docks in Astoria, and want to prevent their neighborhood from being foreclosed and demolished. In their search for answers, they find a treasure map and follow it to find a 17th century pirate's ship and treasure. The then young cast consists of some of the best actors of today, like Josh Brolin, Sean Astin, and Ke Huy Quan. This movie helped young people across the globe dream and let out their adventurous side, which seems to be a common thread in Spielberg's movies with young casts.
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The Goonies
- Release Date
- June 7, 1985
- Runtime
- 114 minutes
- Director
- Richard Donner
Cast
-
-
Jeff Cohen
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Chris Columbus, Steven Spielberg
- Sequel(s)
- The Goonies 2
5 'Poltergeist' (1982)
The Spielberg-Hooper Conundrum That Changed Horror
Though there's a lot of debate around whether Spielberg did more directing on the set of Poltergeist than the movie's official director, Tobe Hooper, the cast and crew's memories and stories are different and often go in favor of both. Whether we all collectively got hit with a Mandela Effect and put Spielberg in that directing chair ourselves or the movie just strongly resembles his style, it doesn't really seem to matter. Spielberg wrote the story and screenplay for Poltergeist, which is now deemed one of the most influential horror movies of all time.
The story follows the Freeling family, who live in a suburban Californian town and begin experiencing unusual supernatural phenomena in their home; this eventually starts threatening the entire family's livelihood, focusing the most on the youngest members, Carol Anne and Robbie. Though the breakout star of Poltergeist was the five-year-old Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne, the entire cast and crew consisted of talented actors. In the world of supernatural classic horror, Poltergeist remains a terrifying ordeal that stands the test of time, and we certainly have Spielberg to thank for it, one way or another.
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Poltergeist
- Release Date
- June 4, 1982
- Director
- Tobe Hooper
- Writers
- Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, Mark Victor
WHERE TO WATCH
4 'Jurassic Park' (1993)
Steven Spielberg's Greatest Contribution to the 1990s
Not many people are aware that Jurassic Park was a Michael Crichton novel before it was a global sensation and blockbuster hit. Spielberg made Jurassic Park with Crichton as the screenplay's author, which made sure the story was as similar to the novel as possible. With incredible practical effects, Jurassic Park not only stands the test of time, but was ahead of its time upon its release in 1993. If anything, the movie's only become more relevant and influential over time.
Jurassic Park follows a group of experts who join Dr. John Hammond's (Richard Attenborough) new project called Jurassic Park. In it, Dr. Hammond has created dinosaur clones based on discovered genetic material; he invites researcher Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who brings along paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and botanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). While the group spends time at the park, its safety protocols are overridden and the dinosaurs are cut loose. A movie about dinosaurs wasn't totally new, but it was the first of its kind to be commercially and critically successful. More than that, the influence of Jurassic Park on the cinematic world was vast and comparable to what Spielberg initially achieved with Jaws some 20 years prior.
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Jurassic Park
- Release Date
- June 11, 1993
- Runtime
- 127 minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
Cast
-
Grant -
Ellie -
Malcolm -
Richard AttenboroughHammond
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Michael Crichton, David Koepp
- Producers
- Gerald R. Molen
- Sequel(s)
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park 3
3 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981)
The Movie That Made People Love Going to the Cinema
Many people say Raiders of the Lost Ark is a near perfect movie. It's definitely one of the biggest achievements in Steven Spielberg's cinematic legacy, since Indiana Jones soon became the hero everyone wished they could be. There's really nothing like Raiders of the Lost Ark out there - every other jungle adventure/treasure hunt movie merely came afterwards and tried to be like it; creating something everyone tries to imitate seems to be nothing new for Spielberg, but also for George Lucas, who wrote the story. Great minds truly do think alike.
Raiders of the Lost Ark follows the archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) during 1936, when he competes with another rival archeologist working for the Nazis to reach the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark grants invincibility to anyone who has it, and Jones understands it shouldn't fall into the wrong hands. Fighting evil enemies, being smart and physically agile, having the looks and charms to boot, Indiana Jones is like the James Bond of the archeological world. That's why his impact on viewers was immense and still holds the same relevance as back then, with many calling Indiana Jones their hero.
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Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Release Date
- June 12, 1981
- Runtime
- 115 Minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
Cast
-
-
Karen Allen
-
-
Paul Freeman
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Lawrence Kasdan
- Sequel(s)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Franchise(s)
- Indiana Jones
2 'Jaws' (1975)
The Movie That "Ruined" a Summer
It was 1975 and Steven Spielberg achieved something no one else could before then - he had a blockbuster movie hit the theaters at the beginning of the summer, a season usually reserved for being outside and vacationing. People flocked to the cinemas to watch a never-before-seen movie about a killer shark terrorizing people in a small coastal town, and the results were (not) what anyone was expecting - they ended up being terrified of going to the beach. This is a feat that could be attributed to Spielberg only, as Jaws was not just really well made, but it was an exceptional example of the catchphrase "less is more."
Jaws follows Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the police chief of a town in New England, as he joins forces with shark expert and hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) and marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss). The movie was initially meant to have mechanical sharks, but they malfunctioned frequently. This is why "less is more" is mentioned - Spielberg decided to imply the presence of a shark, making the movie even scarier. He managed to create terror out of thin air, and caused phobias in lots of people, making Jaws a magnificent feat of cinema in more ways than one.
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Jaws
- Release Date
- June 18, 1975
- Runtime
- 124 minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
Cast
-
-
Robert Shaw
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb, John Milius, Howard Sackler, Robert Shaw
1 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977)
The Best Alien Encounter Movie Ever Made
There have been many alien encounter movies over time, but yes, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is the best of all of them. It's a paragon of science fiction told from the perspective of a true sci-fi lover, combining meeting extraterrestrial life with following one's purpose and learning to communicate. For Spielberg, this story was in waiting for years before it was approved, and it's a sort of innocent and genuine love story of wonder and awe surrounding alien life and the possibilities of encountering it.
Close Encounters follows Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), a man plagued with visions of a mountain after experiencing a close encounter with a UFO. Obsessed with the mountain, he begins sketching it and then making models of it out of dirt and bricks, causing his family to lose faith in him. As Roy is certain he's seeing real images, a parallel is drawn between him and a French-American team of scientists deciphering UFO communication patterns. They discover that the UFO speaks to them in the pentatonic scale, aka through musical notes. The iconic scene where the scientists play notes to the alien mothership shows innovation in the idea of how species can understand each other without speaking the same language, and how language can be more than words.
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Close Encounters of The Third Kind
- Release Date
- November 18, 1977
- Runtime
- 138 minutes
- Director
- Steven Spielberg
- Writers
- Steven Spielberg, Hal Barwood, Jerry Belson, John Hill, Matthew Robbins
Cast
-
-
-
Teri Garr -
Melinda Dillon
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