favorite steven spielberg film and why?

[wnicholas76]

Jaws -- Why ask why? It's only one of the greatest thrillers ever made!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- A classic in every way possible!

All 4 Indiana Jones movies (Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1st place!) -- Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw, and the late River Phoenix. Who could ask for anything more than that?!

Jurassic Park -- Couldn't take my eyes off the screen for a second!

Saving Private Ryan -- Best war film of all time! Made me cry a little bit also (I admit it!).

Schindler's List -- A hard film to watch, but still a very involving film nonetheless.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence -- Once again, a very underrated film next to Schindler's List. Haley Joel Osment's best performance since The Sixth Sense!

Munich -- A very underrated, yet powerful film compared to Schindler's List.

The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can -- Hey, you gotta laugh sometimes!

[erowe83]

Originally Posted by swindler

I must admit that that is an interesting list. I'm aware of quite a few of these guys, and I'm sure you realize that most of these directors did not distribute films in the U.S., and so their work in not well known.

But when you make a list this big, it draws attention to the guys you didn't mention. It is interesting that your small list of Americans doesn't include notables such as Hitchcock, Scorsese, Kubrick, Ford, Coppola, Welles, etc, and omitted some international notables like Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, Eisenstein, Renoir...

But, to each his own.

Well yea, I admire almost eveyone else you mentioned especially John Ford, Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles. I Like Bergman and Kurosawa but find Fellini and Renoir overrated. Its just personal preference really.

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by Mooka-One

Cant help but wish Stanley Kubrick had taken control of AI himself and allowed Spielberg to produce instead of direct.

Unless I am mistaken, Spielberg only took on the project after Kubrick died otherwise I believe it would have been Kubrick's next film after EWS which I guess would still not be ready for release then

But to be on topic, Jaws with out a doubt.

[swindler]

Originally Posted by erowe83

Well yea, I admire almost eveyone else you mentioned especially John Ford, Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles. I Like Bergman and Kurosawa but find Fellini and Renoir overrated. Its just personal preference really.

Well then perhaps we're not that far off. If your point was that there are obscure directors that are more skilled as film craftsmen than some of the box office kings like Spielberg, then I would agree there.

But at the same time, there are few Spielberg films that I can't sit down and enjoy. And some of Spielberg's more serious stuff is worthy of acclaim.

[redsoxlucas]

It might be one of the most complete movies ever made....AMAZING movie!

[JustinCredible_13]

well im a SS fan ive seen all of his movies even the 1s he produced!

but as far as the his Directed movies it goes as

Jaws (1975)
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)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Hook (1991)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
War of the Worlds (2005)
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

[erowe83]

Originally Posted by swindler

Well then perhaps we're not that far off. If your point was that there are obscure directors that are more skilled as film craftsmen than some of the box office kings like Spielberg, then I would agree there.

But at the same time, there are few Spielberg films that I can't sit down and enjoy. And some of Spielberg's more serious stuff is worthy of acclaim.

Well see I agree with some of that, but I don't think most of his movies are worthy of the acclaim. Just my opinion. I think his best movies were before he got so obsessed with specticle and focused on solid filmmaking: I.e. Duel. And films like Saving Private Ryan and Schindlers list are alright, but there are far far far far far far better films about the subject matter..

[rebfandan]

I earlier posted that Richard Donner directed Back to the Future. Allow me to correct myself: it was actually Robert Zemeckis.

[Blu Blazer]

Saving Private Ryan. It’s the best war movie ever made and it’s just amazing. Tom Hanks is at his best and the Spielberg’s directing is top notch.

[bajor27]

E.T. I think

Jurassic Park is up there too, but mainly just for coolness factor. I don't really think it's superb as a movie in any particular way, but dang it's an enjoyable watch.

[Mooka-One]

Originally Posted by jdc115

Unless I am mistaken, Spielberg only took on the project after Kubrick died otherwise I believe it would have been Kubrick's next film after EWS which I guess would still not be ready for release then

But to be on topic, Jaws with out a doubt.

Sorry but you are mistaken, Kubrick handed it over to Spielberg to direct as he felt he had better knowledge of the genre and modern film-making techniques/technologies. Stanley decided it would be better for him to produce and for Steven to direct.

[swifty7]

A.I had such potential but unfortunately SS turned it into a futuristic Pinocchio. I would have loved seeing a Stanley Kubrick version.

[Cremildo]

A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It has his best traits (movie magic, emotion) along with a thematic depth and a certain haunting quality that my previous favorite (Jurassic Park) lacks.

[AKORIS]

I'm not sure if there's such a thing as a "perfect" movie.... but if there is... this is it!

[kylor]

A very recent movie, but Ready Player One. It's too good not to be my favorite movie of his.

[Rodney-2187]

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Jaws
3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
4. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
5. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
6. The Goonies
7. Super 8
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
9. Catch Me If You Can
10. The Color Purple
11. Jurassic Park
12. Minority Report

[robgmun]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The Majesty, the awe, the scare of the unknown. an almost perfect movie for 99% of the time. The ball only briefly drops when you see the large alien at the end and how poor the sfx is for it, but i forgive it because of the when it was made and how ambitious that scene was

[JohnnyFontane]

Lincoln, then ET, then Jurassic Park. Something I dislike about a lot of his films is the unnecessarily manipulative music.

[drush9999]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind for me. Perfect movie.

[UltraMario9]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It has his best traits (movie magic, emotion) along with a thematic depth and a certain haunting quality that my previous favorite (Jurassic Park) lacks.

My thoughts exactly.

Originally Posted by swifty7

A.I had such potential but unfortunately SS turned it into a futuristic Pinocchio. I would have loved seeing a Stanley Kubrick version.

That's what Kubrick was going for. Author Brian Aldiss said Kubrick was obsessed with Pinnochio in the conceptualization of the film. To be honest, the only thing that would've made A.I. even more Kubrickian is if Larry Smith had shot it.