Every Steven Spielberg movie ever… ranked!
Causing more arguments than Monopoly...
To call Steven Spielberg one of the greatest directors of all time would be to make a great understatement; his films are iconic and awe-inspiring, influencing popular culture and defining generations.
And we’re on the cusp of an all new adventure from the master film-maker. Spielberg is again turning his attention to the possibilities of extraterrestrial life, with the much-anticipated release of Disclosure Day, hitting cinemas on June 12th:
But which of his works stand out among his best? And which aren’t worth the celluloid they’re printed on? Here, we rank all of the films he has directed, from the rare misfires all the way through to the movies that best exemplify his genius…
34. Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Unfortunately, this was the era where over-reliance on CGI became a keymark of many films, and Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull would prove emblematic of this. Harrison Ford is still every inch Indie, and the likes of Ray Winstone and Cate Blanchett put in perfectly game performances, but they are badly let down by a script that judders from pratfall to pratfall.
33. Ready Player One
A book whose whole message seems to be ‘isn’t nostalgia great?’ should be tailor-made for Spielberg. While the film’s flaws are shared with the novel, some narrative choices, such as signposting every reference possible (“Look: the bike from Akira! There’s the Iron Giant!) and a bizarre re-run of The Shining don’t help its cause.
32. 1941
Spielberg is more than capable of comedy, but hasn’t centred a whole film around it since this one early on in his career. Considering the sub-standard results, you can understand why. The Jaws-aping opening promises much, but ultimately it fails to stick the landing.
31. Always
A rare misstep, this uncharacteristically schmaltzy romance about the spirit of a deceased pilot watching over his wife falls flat, despite an excellent cast, including the likes of Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and Audrey Hepburn (in her final film role).
30. War of the Worlds
This film has its fans, but we’re afraid that we’re not numbered among them. Transporting the location of a classic novel across the Atlantic generally isn’t a good sign, but even if you put that to one side, it all feels it has been put together as a Tom Cruise star vehicle rather than an earnest adaptation of HG Wells’ seminal sci-fi thriller.
29. The Terminal
Of the Spielberg canon, this one can be classified as… fine. Tom Hanks is watchable as ever, but while the director has never been afraid to embrace sentimentality, he generally avoids things becoming too twee. Here is one of the few cases where the mark is overstepped.
28. The BFG
Some films are victims of what came before them, despite not doing a lot wrong.Throughout the run time, one thought is inescapable: the original was better (we’re talking about Brian Cosgrove’s 1989 animated feature). While Mark Rylance is a decent enough BFG, it just feels like a re-tread of a better film made on a smaller budget.
27. The Colour Purple
Some films are easier to admire than enjoy – technically a great film, this isn’t a fun watch. Spielberg has never shied away from dark themes, but even by his standards, this is a lot: incest, rape and domestic abuse all heavily feature – and that’s even before we get to Danny Glover’s ‘Mister’, recipient of perhaps the most undeserved redemption arc in film history.
26. The Empire of the Sun
Another World War Two-set drama, despite a promising performance from a young Christian Bale, this is all a bit meandering and unfocused. Despite the positive reviews, it’s only the presence of its future star that stops this being forgettable.
25. Lincoln
Every film with Daniel Day-Lewis is an event. Yet, for all the commitment of its lead, and a supporting cast that includes the likes of Sally Field and Jared Harris (who Day-Lewis repeatedly questioned about Mad Men while in character), the final result is a bit flat. Such is the allure of Day-Lewis that the rest of the film seems a bit stilted as a consequence.
24. The Sugarland Express
Like Bonnie and Clyde, only with unsympathetic protagonists, this Goldie Hawn-starrer is one of Spielberg’s earlier outings. While there are clear rough edges (the chase goes on… and on…), there is clear promise for the filmmaker he would eventually become.
23. The Adventures of TinTin
A perfectly serviceable action flick that nonetheless never really seems to get talked about now. Why is that? Honestly, we’re not sure – it has two excellent leads (Jamie Bell and Andy Serkis deserve a bigger platform), a recognisable IP, and even more talent behind the camera (Peter Jackson and Joe Cornish joined forces with Spielberg for this).
22. The Post
Sometimes, letting actors act is as good as any direction that you’ll need. The Post follows this mantra avidly, giving Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks meaty roles as high-ranking publishing professionals determined to ensure that the truth gets out. In other hands, this could feel heavy-handed, but the two leads’ performances could sell snow to eskimos.
21. West Side Story
A remake of a cult original is always a risk, but there’s a case to be made for this surpassing the 1961 film production. From the music to the choreography, everything is on point (Rachel Zegler especially is a standout). It’s enough to make you wish that he’d tried his hands at musicals earlier.
20. The Lost World Jurassic Park
If this had been the first Jurassic Park movie, would people think of this more favourably? Possibly, but that doesn’t excuse all its flaws. Totally abandoning the deeper philosophical thoughts of the first movie, this throws absolutely everything at the wall, some of which sticks. In short: not as bad as the naysayers would have you think.
19. Amistad
Spielberg doesn’t gloss over the horrors of slavery in this moving legal drama about the captives on a slave ship gaining one over their captors. At times a difficult watch, it all builds up to an incredibly bittersweet ending.
18. War Horse
Spielberg has never shied away from depicting the horrors of war. Here, one horse experiences the full horror of the Western Front, hopping from owner to owner and one human encounter to another. Embraces something that’s too often forgotten about by today’s filmmakers: the wonder of cinema, and the possibilities it provides.
17. Bridge of Spies
Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance meet across the divide in this very competent Cold War-set spy drama. Few do ‘good men sticking to their principles despite excessive public pressure’ as well as Hanks, and he carries the day here once again.
16. Hook
The subject of a number of (very unfair) critical reappraisals in a number of recent Spielberg rankings. Essentially, it starts as a warning: adulthood comes for us all, even the Boy Who Never Grew Up. From there, the wonder it evokes is pure Amblin; Neverland is depicted perfectly here, and Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman shine as Peter and Hook.
15. Minority Report
Tom Cruise displays his trademark focus as a man who has total faith in a morally dubious system – right up until the moment it turns against him. Philip K Dick’s work has long been mined for scientific cautionary tales, with mixed levels of success, but this is reaching up just behind Blade Runner as one of the highlights of his source material.
14. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Okay, so Raiders Of The Lost Ark wasn’t exactly light or fluffy, but boy is Temple Of Doom bleak. Both Spielberg and writer George Lucas credit this as due to the breakdown of their relationships around the same time, and it doesn’t possess the same sense of fun as Raiders or Last Crusade, but it is still a better film than it often gets credit for.
13. Catch Me if you Can
Leonardo DiCaprio puts in one of his most underrated performances as Frank Abagnale Jr – a quick-witted conman who’s out for a good time. It’s testament to DiCaprio how hard he is to dislike, despite his inherent amorality. Spielberg’s comedies have generally been misfires, and while this isn’t exactly an out-and-out laugh-a-thon, it’s probably his funniest film.
12, Munich
Probably his darkest movie – and considering he also directed Schindler’s List, that’s quite a statement. Watching it afresh, it all seems depressingly prescient; it could have been made today (not that we imagine it would have been – think of the discourse). In fact, its relevance makes it an even tougher watch now than it was back then.
11. The Fabelmans
This seems almost tailor-made to be a career epitaph (thankfully it’s an intermission rather than a coda), with Spielberg trekking back in time for a fictional reminisce about his own childhood. It’s all reflected in his back catalogue: first love and lost; the family unit; light shining out of darkness, and most pivotally, the challenges and tribulations of growing up.
10. Duel
One advantage of a filmmaker gaining incredible popularity is that their earlier, overlooked works get critically reappraised. Duel has deservedly benefited from this. This 1971 thriller sees a meek salesman’s encounter with a massive truck escalate into an improbably terrifying game of cat-and-mouse that wastes no opportunity to up the ante.
9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Of all the films that followed Raiders Of The Lost Ark, this is the one that came closest to replicating its sense of adventure. Harrison Ford is his usual deadpan self – a performance only enhanced by a truly star turn from Sean Connery as his father. Stacked up against the high benchmark of the first film, it doesn’t quite match up, but it’s more than good enough.
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
AI is the one Spielberg inherited from Kubrick, but Close Encounters is both quintessentially Spielberg, and his film that bears the most similarities to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Things simply happen, and not a massive amount is explained – making it testament to Spielberg that none of this really matters; wonder takes over, and it remains gripping throughout.
7. AI
By rights, this should have been an all-time classic – and if Stanley Kubrick had directed it as planned, it might have been. Instead, we have one of the all-time ‘what might have been’s. Even so, Spielberg’s version has a lot going for it, encompassing themes of life and sentience that still bear plenty of relevance today.
6. Saving Private Ryan
The spectacular D-Day-set opener is one of the most viscerally horrifying openings to a war movie every commited to film. Centring around the hunt for a sole surviving brother on the French mainland, it’s a very human tale set amid total chaos. And through it all, Spielberg structures perhaps the defining war movie of the ’90s.
5. Schindler's List
Everything about this – the score, the cinematography, the performances – is tailored to brilliance. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes put in arguably their best ever showings in this tale of flawed humanity amid the horrors of the Holocaust.
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Possibly the quintessential action movie: an unforgettable opener, the perfect protagonist, action set-pieces galore, and story-influencing tales from the set galore (yes, we know why Indy just shot the sword-wielding guy). It spawned a couple of perfectly serviceable sequels (and a couple more that weren’t), but it will forever remain the high point of the series.
3. Jaws
One film to have truly transcended the medium of cinema. People who’ve never seen this will hum the shark theme tune, and ‘Jaws’ has become many an affectionate nickname for an unhinged pet. And the film itself? Utterly terrifying. Even the things that went wrong behind the scenes only work in its favour. It’s lightning in a bottle; no more, no less.
2. Jurassic Park
A Frankenstein’s Monster of a story disguised as a dinosaur romp, arguing that this is far better than people give it credit for might seem strange, considering its impact on cinema, but it’s the truth. Its warning against unchained, irresponsible ambition is arguably more relevant today than it was when it was made.
1. ET
Some films are just… perfect, defying simple explanations as to exactly why. We can point to a number of contributing factors that define ET’s greatness: the perfection of the central character’s design; John Williams’ timeless score; the more believable than reality bond between Henry Thomas’s Elliot and the titular alien; the series of iconic cinematic images (who can forget the silhouette of the bicycle against the Moon), and the most bittersweet of happy endings (“I’ll be right here”). Many would-be imitators have tried and failed to replicate the greatness on show here – which is to say, timeless, zeitgeist-defining brilliance. It’s hard to imagine there ever being a film like this again.
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