Rank the Steven Spielberg Films You've Seen

Spielberg didn't create the blockbuster. The American people (and later the people of the world) created and have sustained the blockbuster. Or at the very least, the entire team of people working on the populist blockbusters of the late '70s and early '80s, played some hand in the creation of the blockbuster as a business model, which was only sustained because it worked, because people liked it, and they still like it. Something being accessible and beloved by the public is not inherently less valuable, or as you say, "Low-level pulp art." How unbearably arrogant of you to dismiss films worked on by hardworking craftspeople (even within the constraints of the capitalist studio system that I would totally admit places financial viability over artistic intent) that reach and impact the lives of millions of people worldwide.

Spielberg didn't ruin the movies. Movies haven't been ruined by the business model that surrounds them, even as much as I myself have a distaste for that business model and the economic underpinnings that allow it to exist. Great filmmakers, great artists, including Mr. Spielberg, make great films every year, and have been for the better part of a century. They're different types of movies now than what was found in the heyday of the '70s era of morally grey films (films which I also very much like, for the record), but that's a good thing. We shouldn't want to be making the same type of movies we made 40-50 years ago. Film should change and evolve as an art form, at the blockbuster level (where we're seeing interesting work by great filmmakers who have found a way to tow the line between artistic vision and the needs of the business backing them, for better or worse), down to the smallest indie films.

As a filmmaker myself, I don't like the studio system and its constraints any more than anyone else. I would love to see more big budget films based in artistic vision succeed, and I try to go out and support them when I can, but to act as though cinema is dead because Spielberg made some good movies that were popular and changed the industry is simply absurd and to claim that mainstream Hollywood cinema, in spite of its flaws, produces nothing but garbage and we're not getting "valuable American art" each year at all levels of the craft is both patently untrue and completely disrespectful to the difficult work that artists put in every day to create meaningful work in the way that they can within the limitations of the era they live in. Cynical purist gatekeeping is all that is.

Also, here's the Spielberg I've seen, Ranked:

1- Raiders of the Lost Ark
2- Jurassic Park
3- Jaws
4- A.I. Artificial Intelligence
5- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
6- E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
7- Bridge of Spies
8- Lincoln
9- Catch Me If You Can
10- Duel
11- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
12- Saving Private Ryan
13- The Post
14- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Ready Player One
Catch me If you can
Raider of The Lost Ark
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The Adventures of Tintin
Minority Report

I thought the studios initially gave Jaws a wide release because they wanted to make as much money as they could off what they thought would be a flop that people hated, so I don't think you can pin that on Spielberg alone. Braeden's effectively covered what else I'd have to say about this.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I'm amazed at how many wrong assumptions you took from my post, @BraedenG33. These were fair assumptions, though, given you don't know me, and don't get my pretending-to-be-a-film-elitist kind of humour I ironically boast, partly out of spite, partly out of boredom, and mainly just for the hell of it. For the record, though, my ratings of Spielberg films, chronologically:

Duel (1971) -
Jaws (1975) - (this one really needs a rewatch, but I'm gonna keep this rating just to piss off @mark f )
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) -
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) -
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) -
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) -
Empire of the Sun (1987) -
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) -
Jurassic Park (1993) -
Schindler's List (1993) -
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) -
Amistad (1997) -
Saving Private Ryan (1998) -
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) -
Minority Report (2002) -
War of the Worlds (2005) -
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) -

Sadly, not even one masterpiece from this guy.

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

Schindler's List and Duel are his best films imo.
Duel is fun as hell and Schindler's List is a five star for me.
Never cared for Indiana Jones, I'll give it a chance one of this days...

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"This Would Sharpen You Up And Make You Ready For A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence."

It seems, to me, that after "Schindler's List," Spielberg blew his wad, as it were. He hasn't done anything since that I'll even consider watching. But his hit movies from "Jurassic Park" and before, are alright. They still get the story told and entertain, but few have dated well. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" has a timeless classic vibe about it, no doubt, because it's also a period piece.

Three of his most underrated ones in my opinion are Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, and Munich, which don't get near enough recognition in his filmography.

Here's my ranking: (need to rewatch Schindler's List, Amistad, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, and Close Encounters...)

1) IJ and the Last Crusade
2) Jurassic Park
3) War Horse (I think it's great, but I might bump it down because I have little interest in rewatching it)
4) Catch Me if You Can
5) Lincoln
6) Raiders of the Lost Ark
7) The Terminal
8) E. T....
9) IJ and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (I seem to like it more than many)
10) ...Tintin
11) IJ and the Temple of Doom, The Lost World: JP, and Hook (someday I might settle which goes where)

1) E.T.
2) Schindlers List
3) Saving Private Ryan
4) Lincoln
5) Raiders of the Lost Ark
6)Minority Report
7) Jaws
8) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
9) Close Encounters of the Third Kind
10) Munich
All others that I’ve seen were ok or mediocre.
Haven’t seen The Post, BFG, Ready Player One, The Color Purple, Always, The Sugarland Express, or 1941 yet. So this list could change in the future depending on further views

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Jaws (1975)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Always (1989)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Duel (1971)
Schindler's List (1993)
Bridge of Spies (2015)
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Munich (2006) +
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Minority Report (2002)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Hook (1991)
War of the Worlds (2005)
1941 (1979)


The top three movies are about equal for me, and any of these movies could top my list depending on my mood.

Schindler's List (1993) and Munich (2006) should probably be higher, but they placed lower on my list because they're both movies that I thought were great, but I have no desire to rewatch them.


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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

I still have not seen his but have heard from many peoples.

Updated Ranking:

Need to rewatch: Schindler's List, Jaws, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Close Encounters...

1) IJ and the Last Crusade
2) Jurassic Park
3) War Horse (might get placed lower eventually for lack of rewatchability)
4, 5, and 6) Lincoln, Catch Me if You Can, and Raiders of the Lost Ark
7) The Terminal
8) E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial
9) Minority Report
10) IJ and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
11) Hook
12) The Adventures of Tintin
13, and 14) IJ and the Temple of Doom, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park

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Fave Directors: Nolan, R. Scott, Scorsese, Spielberg, MacTiernan, Zwick, Tarantino.

Great:

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligience
2. Minority Report
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. Duel
5. War of the Worlds

Solid:

6. Empire of the Sun
7. Jurassic Park
8. Catch Me If You Can
9. The Adventures of Tintin
10. Munich

Whatever:

11. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
12. Jaws
13. The Indiana Jones series
14. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
15. Hook
16. The Terminal
17. Lincoln

Actively Dislike:

18. Ready Player One
19. Saving Private Ryan
20. Schindler's List

Schindler's List head and shoulders above anything. And I do have a soft spot for Duel, even though he was a novice then, and had some technical issues, but the talent to grab an audience was definitely there.

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My Favorite Films

1. Jaws
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Shindler's List (I think it's his best movie but it's not my favorite)
4. E.T.
5. Catch Me if You Can
6. Saving Private Ryan
7. The Last Crusade
8. Jurassic Park
9. Ready Player One
10. Temple of Doom
11. Close Encounters
12. Amistad
13. Lincoln
14. Bridge of Spies

Good list, but IMO, Close Encounters and Bridge of Spies should be higher.

I'm going to rate them chronologically.

Columbo (TV) (Episode 1) - Murder by the Book (1971) (Decent)
Jaws (1975) (Boring)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (Boring)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) (Overrated)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) (Terrible Kid's Movie)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) (Overrated)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) (Overrated)
Hook (1991) (Decent Kid's Movie)
Jurassic Park (1993) (So bad it's good)
Schindler's List (1993) (Probably Spielberg's best movie)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) (Boring)
Saving Private Ryan (1998) (Good battle scenes, entertaining, but lousy story and horrible ending)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (I remember it being alright, but it's been a long time)
Minority Report (2002) (Boring)
The Terminal (2004) (Boring)
War of the Worlds (2005) (Surprisingly half-decent)
Munich (2005) (I remember this being quite good. Could actually contend with Schindler's List for his best)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) (Easily his worst movie ever, blames George Lucas)
War Horse (2011) (Half-decent)
Ready Player One (2018) (Entertaining in spite of being a fairly terrible movie)


Saving Private Ryan was easily his most entertaining movie, but the premise of the story and the ending were so awful that I can't even consider it as a good movie. Hook was a movie that I loved for years, but upon more recent re-watches hated. Movies like Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and E.T. were movies that I liked as a kid, but as an adult can't stand. Jurassic Park is the only Spielberg movie that I like to watch just to laugh at how terrible it is. But Crystal Skull is easily his worst movie. It's so bad I want to laugh at it, but can't because it's so boring and the cringe is too strong to even watch it a second time. I used to think Schindler's List was his best, but it's hard to say. I remember having a great time watching Munich, so much so that I was pretty shocked to find out it was a Spielberg movie. But that impression is so many years old that I don't know how it would hold up upon a re-watch. I also remember enjoying A.I., but that was back when it came out. I was only 16. I doubt I would like it now, and I don't even want to re-watch it to find out. War of the Worlds was surprisingly good considering it's starring Tom Cruise. I watched Ready Player One in theaters and while I didn't like the movie, it was somewhat entertaining. At least it wasn't boring.

Overall I have a lot of resentment towards Spielberg. He is the epitome of everything I hate about the movie industry with a few exceptions.

A.I. is very interesting cause I was polarized by it when it first came out. I didn't know what to think of it, because it feels like such a masterpiece until the plot goes to Rouge City, and then a lot of questionable plot turns take place. However, there is something about the movie that makes me keep coming back to it. and watching it again and again, even though I keep getting disappointed from Rouge city onwards all the time.

Does anyone feel relate-able to this strange addiction to the movie, where they feel it was disappointing but can't stop revisiting it often?

I understand exactly how you feel. I've watched A.I. several times, and every time I expect it to be better than it was the previous time I watched it. I keep thinking that I must be missing something, so I keep giving it another chance, but it's not one of my favorite Spielberg movies.

Yeah. Another Spielberg movie that is very polarizing for me is Close Encounters of the Third Kind. However, I like the "Special Edition" better than the theatrical cut (which I saw first), and feel it's an improvement for sure.