Least Worst Spielberg Film

[monorail77]

What, no love for Minority Report? I thought that film was one of the best of its year, at very least.

[EliCash]

I don't know what they've told you down at the USO, but you're going to be meeting a lot of... strange men. Men in uniform. Boys a long way from home, lonely... desperate. They really have one thing on their minds. Show 'em a good time.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

I think after much deliberation that Jaws might well be Spielberg's best. I know Schindler's is a masterpiece and everything and has maybe it has a harder more ambitious job to do, but a lot of that might be down to 'importance'. Also Schindler's may well be a better made film. But it all is so complicated to say.

But the reason why I may say that Jaws is his best is that it is probably my very personal favourite. I mean, I'm watching it so many times, even if it is just playing in the background every now and then. It's a film I can visit more often than Schindler's, though I can still play the talky scenes in Schindler's List quite often if I wanted.

But if Jaws is gonna be more my favourite, then it gets just enough of an edge to beat out Schindler's List by a nose when it comes to 'best'. But again, seeing as they're both neck a neck before this favourite factor comes in, it doesn't change things SO/TOO much.

[MonkeyM666]

What, no AI or ET Kirk?

I don't know if Jaws is a favourite or not of Spielberg's. It's a good movie but it never stood out for me as a goal kicker. Maybe I'm too young, I don't know but I didn't like it nearly as much as Jurassic Park or Schindler's List. Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece for war films and you have to give it up for that, but I find repeated viewings tough.

EDIT: I might add that I really, really dislike ET. I don't really know why but it's just fluff IMHO. Not one of his best works by a long shot.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Well ET is one of the best accomplishments in emotional power in movies isn't it? I think in many ways this is his best too. I love the Hell out of AI as it is one of the few movies that blends intellect and emotion, sometimes seperate, sometimes both at the same time. Yes it does it cheesily, but also it does it very strongly at other times. David praying to the Blue Fairy for example. I didn't get it first time, 2nd time it hit me bang on target, other times it works, other times it doesn't. I have to tune my brain in to that film and then when I understand what it is trying to say, I do find it ultimatley moving and even bleak.


Look at the end of the day, it is soooo damn hard to pick a 'Best' out of his collection. They are all on a podium with only a few centimetres seperating one film higher than the other.

I go with Jaws for now, and will probably be THE one for me all my life, as it is a film that has been with me for always and is the closest to me I suppose in that it represents the boy's own adventure, ultimate coolness, devoid of any emotional baggage slowing me down, that I've always wanted to be at.

Maybe as I change, so will Spielberg's best for me. Then again, personal factor aside, I do think that it is technically more genius and accomplishing then maybe all his other stuff. Even if the Shark was hardly working. I guess that this fact is what makes it such a better done film, that he used his filming tricks to such a stretched standard that they not only overcome this problem, but made the film better.

So yeah, Jaws is the one where Steven deployed and used film making to the best effect. I guess this is what makes it best also. Best use of film making.

[thebostonlocksmith]

I think his best film is Schindlers List, i do really love a great deal of his films and as a child growing through the eigthies i will forever hold a place in my heart for ET and will always be scared of sharks...

Jurrassic park was also one of the most amazing things i have seen when it came out, i'd never seen anything like it...

[ThisIsTheGirl]

I suppose it's no surprise that Jaws is winning by a mile - I think it plays on a lot of people's deepest fears in some way - great suspense, too.

[MonkeyM666]

I think his best film is Schindlers List, i do really love a great deal of his films and as a child growing through the eigthies i will forever hold a place in my heart for ET and will always be scared of sharks...

Jurrassic park was also one of the most amazing things i have seen when it came out, i'd never seen anything like it...

I totally agree about Jurassic Park. it was the first film that I ever went to the cinema multiple times to see, it looks amazing (and still does I might add) there's big themes along with subtle emotional ups and downs, some great lines 'I think we're back in business....AHHHHRRRR!'. I think that I was the exact demographic for that film but to this day It's still one of my favourites.

[thebostonlocksmith]

Yeah it was strange... at the cinema close to my house it was there for bloody ages, like months and months and months... i think i saw it about four times.... Really was amazing at the time.... and like you say still stirs the well of emotion when you see it now, i sit in awe like a child...

[Zarles]

I voted for Jaws, mostly because it's succeeded in scaring the shit out of me about going into the ocean for my entire life. Well done, Steve.

LOT of stiff competition, though. As perfect as Jaws really is, Close Encounters is right up there with it.

[The Todd]

The Todd voted for Schindler's List.

[havocSchultz]

The Todd voted for Schindler's List.

Epic...

[Nordling]

E.T. 4 EVA

That said, I think his best directed work is SCHINDLER'S RAIDERS OF THE JAWS ENCOUNTERS. But E.T. will always be my favorite.

[godzillasushi]

Wow, this is a great thread to have bumped.

Personally, it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report. But I started thinking that maybe I liked Minority Report more for Tom Cruise being in it, than SS directing it. Jaws is just, well, perfect. And enough hating on Jurassic Park already! It's freaking great and just because it didn't end the way you wanted it to doesn't mean it still isn't great. And why isn't Crusade on there? Munich? Yeesh.

Also, AI was really great and really creepy. I'm glad someone enjoyed it as much as I did.

[The Todd]

it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report.

Now THAT is a sentence that I never thought I would hear in my life.....

[godzillasushi]

it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report.

Now THAT is a sentence that I never thought I would hear in my life.....

If you thought that was bad you should have heard what everyone thought about my watching Back to the Future 3 excessively for years.

They're just my opinions Why oh Why must I take the flak!

*Hands over yet more geek cred to The Todd*

[The Todd]

it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report.

Now THAT is a sentence that I never thought I would hear in my life.....

If you thought that was bad you should have heard what everyone thought about my watching Back to the Future 3 excessively for years.

They're just my opinions Why oh Why must I take the flak!

*Hands over yet more geek cred to The Todd*

Back to the Future 3 was a good movie! Totally underrated because no one gave it a chance after the stinker that was BttF 2.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report.

Now THAT is a sentence that I never thought I would hear in my life.....

If you thought that was bad you should have heard what everyone thought about my watching Back to the Future 3 excessively for years.

They're just my opinions Why oh Why must I take the flak!

*Hands over yet more geek cred to The Todd*

Back to the Future 3 was a good movie! Totally underrated because no one gave it a chance after the stinker that was BttF 2.

Actually it's the other way round to my memory without meaning to be contradictory. Everyone said that Part 3 was better than Part 2 when it first came out. It was unanimous to my knowledge and observation. It did well at the BO too.

But after a while people began to come out of the woodwork and claim Part 2 to be underrated and in fact better than Part 3. Part 2 is the ultimate Back to the Future movie of the lot in my opinion, as it is the most dense and complex, indlugent time travel flick of the series but also in the identity that the Back to the Futures had all of their own. Back to the Future 3 was just a farking lame western in most ways. It's what pissed me off about the up their own ass critics. 'Ooooh it's so good 'cos it's a western and I love westerns! Ooohh look at the Leone reference there, look at the Clint Eastwood reference there!!!'

Fuck off!!!!

[Fievel]

Back to the Future 3 was just a farking lame western in most ways. It's what pissed me off about the up their own ass critics. 'Ooooh it's so good 'cos it's a western and I love westerns! Ooohh look at the Leone reference there, look at the Clint Eastwood reference there!!!'

Fuck off!!!!

Agreed on everything quoted wholeheartedly.

The Biff-centric version of 1985 in part 2 was weak, but all of the future stuff was a ton of fun. And THEN for them to go back to the 50's and overlap the first film..... GREAT STUFF!

And as for the poll... there is no Amistad.
There is no Hook.
There is no Lost World.
This survey is a farce! A sham!

Edit - there is no Catch Me If You Can, and that's probably up there in my favorites. I just enjoyed that movie (and the music too!).

[godzillasushi]

it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report.

Now THAT is a sentence that I never thought I would hear in my life.....

If you thought that was bad you should have heard what everyone thought about my watching Back to the Future 3 excessively for years.

They're just my opinions Why oh Why must I take the flak!

*Hands over yet more geek cred to The Todd*

Back to the Future 3 was a good movie! Totally underrated because no one gave it a chance after the stinker that was BttF 2.

Actually it's the other way round to my memory without meaning to be contradictory. Everyone said that Part 3 was better than Part 2 when it first came out. It was unanimous to my knowledge and observation. It did well at the BO too.

But after a while people began to come out of the woodwork and claim Part 2 to be underrated and in fact better than Part 3. Part 2 is the ultimate Back to the Future movie of the lot in my opinion, as it is the most dense and complex, indlugent time travel flick of the series but also in the identity that the Back to the Futures had all of their own. Back to the Future 3 was just a farking lame western in most ways. It's what pissed me off about the up their own ass critics. 'Ooooh it's so good 'cos it's a western and I love westerns! Ooohh look at the Leone reference there, look at the Clint Eastwood reference there!!!'

Fuck off!!!!

Eh but Kirk it wasn't trying to be anything great. It just did it's own goofy take on the west. The movies are all about this teenage kid experiencing different points in time and seeing those times as a big joke. The future scenes were great because they were completely off the wall. Zemeckis has stated that he wanted the future to be funny and full of jokes anyway. I give you this, the second covered way more ground then the other 2, and it had many more plot twists. They really crammed a lot in and made it seemless. I liked it. I just think the third was the funniest. And the most fun. How many westerns are like that, funny, sort of setting? It's a breath of fresh air. There aren't a bunch of vigilante mexicans trying to kill everybody. It's, fun! It was meant to be a lame western. As much as I enjoy the second, it was doom and gloom a lot of the time. Creative, but gloomy.

Be nice!

@Fievel: Getting way back on track! Indeed, this poll is missing some other pretty cool movies.

Im not saying it's the greatest, but The Terminal is also missing.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Uh? No Indy sequels, no Munich, not Something Evil? What is this?

Yeah, those guys must have been creaming themselves with the overlapping ideas when they first thought it up. Brilliant, near genius. Worked so well.


As for Always. It had so many gems of scenes. I love the ambient faint score to it too. But too many overcheezy sentimental overloaded scenes and tangents also. Very well made bad film.

[Maui]

JAWS

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

You may as a well throw a the Poltergeist inna'to a the mix, eh? Spielberg, he go anna try anna throw a the bone to a the Tobe Hooper by giving the putz a the director credit, but a the picture, she was a really directed by a the Spielberg, eh?

[godzillasushi]

Well, Speilberg has a lot of influences over the other pics he produces. He had a lot of input for Transformers right?



Didn't he also do the Twilight Zone thing?

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

He had a lot of input for Transformers right?

I donna know, eh? I'll let a you know after I watch a the part that's a the homage to a the E.T., eh?

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

it was tough for me to choose between Jaws and Minority Report.

Now THAT is a sentence that I never thought I would hear in my life.....

If you thought that was bad you should have heard what everyone thought about my watching Back to the Future 3 excessively for years.

They're just my opinions Why oh Why must I take the flak!

*Hands over yet more geek cred to The Todd*

Back to the Future 3 was a good movie! Totally underrated because no one gave it a chance after the stinker that was BttF 2.

Actually it's the other way round to my memory without meaning to be contradictory. Everyone said that Part 3 was better than Part 2 when it first came out. It was unanimous to my knowledge and observation. It did well at the BO too.

But after a while people began to come out of the woodwork and claim Part 2 to be underrated and in fact better than Part 3. Part 2 is the ultimate Back to the Future movie of the lot in my opinion, as it is the most dense and complex, indlugent time travel flick of the series but also in the identity that the Back to the Futures had all of their own. Back to the Future 3 was just a farking lame western in most ways. It's what pissed me off about the up their own ass critics. 'Ooooh it's so good 'cos it's a western and I love westerns! Ooohh look at the Leone reference there, look at the Clint Eastwood reference there!!!'

Fuck off!!!!

Eh but Kirk it wasn't trying to be anything great. It just did it's own goofy take on the west. The movies are all about this teenage kid experiencing different points in time and seeing those times as a big joke. The future scenes were great because they were completely off the wall. Zemeckis has stated that he wanted the future to be funny and full of jokes anyway. I give you this, the second covered way more ground then the other 2, and it had many more plot twists. They really crammed a lot in and made it seemless. I liked it. I just think the third was the funniest. And the most fun. How many westerns are like that, funny, sort of setting? It's a breath of fresh air. There aren't a bunch of vigilante mexicans trying to kill everybody. It's, fun! It was meant to be a lame western. As much as I enjoy the second, it was doom and gloom a lot of the time. Creative, but gloomy.

Be nice!

@Fievel: Getting way back on track! Indeed, this poll is missing some other pretty cool movies.

Im not saying it's the greatest, but The Terminal is also missing.

I'm sorry Godzilla. As much as I love ya, I think your reasons are too excuseable and apologistic from my views.

Saying that a film wasn't trying to be great? And that it was meant to be cheezy? It doesn't excuse a movie for being lame in my opinion. It could have been cheezy and still have been a great film. But to say that a film isn't trying to be great so it's OK that it wasn't is just unacceptable to me and just makes me wanna give up sometimes.

Every movie maker like that wants to make the film not just great, but as brilliant as can be, no matter what style it is or how corny or cheezy it is trying to be. It can still be these things but still be great. This film wasn't - again, in my opinion.

I think I know what you're trying to say, that Zemeckis was trying deliberately to make a cheap silly little western for fun that wasn't big in ambition and was just a simple movie.

But again, a film can be like this - and still be considered brilliant, masterpiece whatever. Raiders was similar, nothing but a homage to B action cliffhanger movies - but it STILL is one of the most incredible exciting movies ever done.

From my point of view, Back to the Future was just lame and tiring. Michael J Fox became annoying and whiney, I have learnt to farking HATE Streenburgen, and even Christopher Lloyd was losing his charm. The music was straining and just da-da-daing and going through the motions. I didn't think much of the effects or the overall technical way it was made either.

But again, this is just from my standpoint. I guess the film worked for you on these levels. Which I can see and understand, but me personally, it doesn't connect in that way.

[godzillasushi]

Hey Kirk, maybe I used the wrong words when I said it wasn't trying to be anything great.

I didn't really mean it wasn't trying to be a good movie, but that it was supposed to be simple.

Michael J. Fox was anything but whiny!

The movie had the cute little love story with Doc, and Marty taking on Biff old west style. Plus, who wasn't at the edge of their seat with the train trying to get the DeLorean up to speed? That whole sequence is just about the most exciting of the entire series. It had action, and it was soooo funny. ZZ Top was in it! And the other little things. Like Marty being a really good shooter at the festival because he played the arcade game at 7-11 all the time. Or him wearing the brightly colored outfit in the old west.

Maybe it was just bare bones and simple, but for me that's perfect. It wasn't lame and tiring to me. It was all new. It was nothing like any western before it. We had the same ideas from the other movies, the same themes. But it was completely different. That can't be tiring.

I suppose I am being a little to excusable on it compared to the second. But the 3rd just isn't meant to be deep and branching. And maybe that's what we are doing here. We are indirectly comparing the 2nd and 3rd movies.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Yeah cool, it's all good. I can see the things in it that people would like. It connects with them and I can see why, though I'm not them.

Wasn't Eric Stoltz in this somewhere? Why do I keep thinking that he was, or that he was playing a relative of Marty - when I knew that Fox did this himself? I keep getting this feeling that he's in it. Good if he was. Seeing as he was sacked from being Marty in the original Back to the Future movie and Fox replaced him.

[Ribbons]

He had a lot of input for Transformers right?

I donna know, eh? I'll let a you know after I watch a the part that's a the homage to a the E.T., eh?

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the scene where Shia LaBeouf caresses the cold, metallic face of Bumblebee; all while John Williams plays his "Wonder of the Child" music.

[unikrunk]

As cliché as it may be, I had to vote Schindler's List - it was a tough call. I had to completely disengage from the artist, and look solely at the work - it was a tossup between this and Saving Private Ryan at that point.

Movies like Jaws and even AI are awesome, but fall into pop-corn cinema for me. Love them, just don’t think of them as in the same league as his serious stuff.

[Fievel]

Wasn't Eric Stoltz in this somewhere? Why do I keep thinking that he was, or that he was playing a relative of Marty - when I knew that Fox did this himself? I keep getting this feeling that he's in it. Good if he was. Seeing as he was sacked from being Marty in the original Back to the Future movie and Fox replaced him.

There's apparently some shots where it's still Stoltz. I haven't noticed them though.

[Fievel]

Nice gallery of Stoltz in BTTF.

[Lady Sheridan]

It's a tough call between Raiders and E.T., but I went with the latter. I love that movie. I wished every day that I would have a little friend like E.T.

Of course, Raiders made me the gun-toting archaeologist I am today, as well as doomed my relationships with men...

But E.T. is just so sweet. I'm still convinced he's real, I don't care what they tell me about puppets and robots.

I've only seen Schindler's List once, when it first came out on VHS. It feels like I saw it just yesterday, it seared itself into my brain. I don't know if I could ever see it again.

[The Ginger Man]

Nice gallery of Stoltz in BTTF.

Wow...I never knew Stoltz had almost been Marty McFly....those pics are surreal.

[Chairman Kaga]

Movies like Jaws and even AI are awesome, but fall into pop-corn cinema for me. Love them, just don’t think of them as in the same league as his serious stuff.

I disagree though Jaws ushered in the summer blockbuster it's much more than just a popcorn flick. Brody's journey from bump on a log chief of police to hero is great. I still have yet to see AI so I can't agree or Ddisagree.

[papalazeru]

Fuck it!

I thought this was the worst Shpealberg....

I voted AI...

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[havocSchultz]

Nice gallery of Stoltz in BTTF.

Wow...I never knew Stoltz had almost been Marty McFly....those pics are surreal.

I believe he was actually hired - and started filming - then suddenly Zemeckis and possibly some others started to panic - cause Stoltz just didn't fit...he wasn't right...

So they quickly had to find somebody else - and right then - Michael J's schedule allowed him enough time to film both Family Ties and BttF at the same time...

[Flumm]

Nice gallery of Stoltz in BTTF.

Wow...I never knew Stoltz had almost been Marty McFly....those pics are surreal.

I believe he was actually hired - and started filming - then suddenly Zemeckis and possibly some others started to panic - cause Stoltz just didn't fit...he wasn't right...

So they quickly had to find somebody else - and right then - Michael J's schedule allowed him enough time to film both Family Ties and BttF at the same time...

Save for PF, has he ever fitted into anything?


I'm pretty sure even Eric Stoltz's pants find Eric Stoltz uncomfortable.

[burlivesleftnut]

He was perfect in MASK. hahahaha

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Well here's my list of Spielberg's films top to bottom. It's a sort of a mix, combining the terms 'best' with 'favourite' when considering each film (some films that may actually be 'better' than others, at the end of the day, aren't actually as 'enjoyable') overall trying to come up with a ranking for every particular film. Some of this list may change over time, but right now, this is the way that I see my personal list.

TOP 5

Jaws
Schindler's List
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

REST OF THE TOP 10

Saving Private Ryan (Not sure if I should place this above or under Close Encounters. Bit of a tie and I need to see how Ryan ages over time.)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Munich (Need to give this more time and aging too. But it's here at the moment.)
Empire of the Sun
Minority Report

MID RANGE

War of the Worlds
Catch Me If You Can
Duel
The Color Purple
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Jurassic Park:The Lost World
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade


BOTTOM 5

Amistad
Jurassic Park
1941
Always
Hook

Even the bottom 5 movies are good. Seems the guy's never made a bad film. Maybe with the exception of Hook, though I do really like the scenes set in Christmas London. They do contain that classic Spielberg magic. Rest of the film makes me really angry and wanna kill everyone. Especially Ruuffio or whatever his name was, the leader of the Lost Boys. That ugly uncharismatic gentleman looked just like ME!!!!!!


Never saw The Terminal.

Leaving The Sugarland Express out of this one, as I never saw it properly and it was such a long time ago now anyway. Though what I did remember of it, I liked a helluva lot.

[The Todd]

1941 was much better than A.I. or Minority Report.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

[MonkeyM666]

TOP 5

Jaws
Schindler's List
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

hummm... bloody ET is up in another persons top 5. Good list Kirk, I kinda agree about Hook but I would have had it higher in the list. There's just something about it which I love. It's just charming and lively and well designed. The lost boys were shit, and that pulled down the whole film but Dustin Hoffman is the best Cpt Hook I've ever seen! He's fantastic in that roll and I watch the whole thing again and again just for that.

[Seppuku]

Top 5:

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Empire of the Sun (mostly because it was so great to see the life of JG Ballard- one of my top 3 authors- put on screen, especially by someone who can commandeer a budget the source material deserved)

Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark

Jaws

Duel (a purer movie Spielberg will never make)



Worst:

Temple of Doom, because Kate Capshaw is more painful than a raging toothache.

[Chairman Kaga]

How does Kirk rate Jurassic Park 2 above Jurassic Park? That's just lunacy.

[HollywoodBabylon]

In no particular order:

E.T: OK, you can accuse it of being manipulative and sentimental and cliche-ridden. And maybe it is. But it still works for me. And wondrously so. Why? because it's made with real love and real heart.

Schnidler's List: That rare beast: a hugely populist movie that manages to succeed on an intellectual basis as well. Spielberg really stretched himself as filmmaker with this, I thought. It's themes could've easily overwhelmed him (and understandably so) but he kept the directorial reins tight and in control. As he needed too.

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: Not having seen Star Wars I can't compare the two, but I suppose I get the same feeling that many fans of the latter feel: a sense of joy and magic through the power of film fantasy and imagination.

Jaws: Hitchcock on water. A gross disservice to sharks, I know, but still, all the same, a bravura piece of thrills, scares, set-pieces and yes, THAT music and THAT opening sequence. Yikes.

The Sugarland Express: Without question, the most neglected of his movie IMO. Fugitives on the run, it's a finely composed picture and deserves far more credit than it's had. I've only seen it a couple of times but I still rate it higher than some of his later efforts. Basically, it's his low-budget indie movie and it's very, very good.

[The Todd]

How can we trust any of your movie reviews ever again?

Not having seen Star Wars

The Todd knows what each individual word means. But putting them together, in that order, doesn't make any sense to me.....

[Seppuku]

I think it takes a pair of cojones the size of Mexico to say you've never seen Star Wars on Harry's Forum.

Especially considering:

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It's been nice knowing you HB...

[so sorry]

How can we trust any of your movie reviews ever again?

Not having seen Star Wars

The Todd knows what each individual word means. But putting them together, in that order, doesn't make any sense to me.....

Holy smokes!

I was embarrassed when I said I've never seen any Werner Herzog flicks, and HB kindly pointed me to some Herzog-must-see.

And the guy hasn't seen Star Wars??????????


Not sure I can take his reccommendations anymore...

He nailed Jaws though...

[DinoDeLaurentiis]

Not having seen Star Wars