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Top 10 Spielberg Flicks
Top 10 Spielberg Flicks
WTOP Staff
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WTOP_Web_Team@wtop.com
November 14, 2013, 4:27 PM
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WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley ranks the best Steven Spielberg movies of all time.
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Top 10 Spielberg Flicks
WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley ranks the best Steven Spielberg movies of all time. Note: these are only movies that Spielberg
directed
, which means the list does
not
include movies he merely wrote ("Poltergeist," "The Goonies") or executive produced .("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
"Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
10. 'Minority Report' (2002)
Before teaming in "War of the Worlds," Steven Spielberg cast Tom Cruise in this science-fiction gem about a pre-crime unit, whose trio of "pre-cogs" see crimes before they're committed. The film features gorgeous neo-noir lighting, "Mission: Impossible" action, stellar performances (Max von Sydow, Colin Farrell) and a unique take on the Hitchcock "Wrong Man" thriller. It also predicted much of modern technology, from touch-screen holograms to digital billboards, where retinal scans raise privacy concerns with a Siri like voice: "Good morning, John Anderton."("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
9. 'The Color Purple' (1985)
Five years before her Oscar win for "Ghost," Whoopi Goldberg starred in Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The film was nominated for a whopping 11 Oscars, including Best Original Song for "Miss Celie's Blues" by Quincy Jones, but went home empty handed. No matter. It put Goldberg on the map, along with Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover, and the AFI recently voted it the No. 51 Most Inspirational Movie of All Time.("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
8. 'Lincoln' (2012)
If anyone doubted Spielberg's ability to make a serious period piece in a new "Transformers" millennium, look no further than "Munich," "War Horse" and "Lincoln." The lattermost expanded upon his slave-ship drama "Amistad," as Daniel Day-Lewis earned his third Best Actor Oscar, offering sage advice on whether to end the Civil War or end American slavery: "If you could look into the seeds of time, which will grow larger?" In an era of "Twilight" teens, "Lincoln" is a vampire hunter, cloaked in immense power, settling the issue of instant gratification forever and providing hope that patient, intelligent, nuanced films shall not perish from this earth.("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
7. 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977)
In 1977, George Lucas was so worried that the dailies from Spielberg's "Close Encounters" were better than "Star Wars" that they agreed to share 2 percent of both films' profits. "Star Wars" won, with Spielberg joking he's still making money off it to this day. But "Close Encounters" is fabulous filmmaking, from John Williams' contagious five-note score, to Douglas Trumbull's spaceship special effects, to a cast of Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon and Richard Dreyfuss losing his mind in a mashed-potato mountain resembling Devil's Tower.("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
6. 'Jurassic Park' (1993)
When Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" beat "E.T." for Best Picture, he felt that Spielberg had been robbed. So, he agreed to star in one of his future projects. Enter a theme park owner who extracts dino DNA from fossilized amber. Despite a deep cast of Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Samuel L. Jackson, the real stars are the dinosaurs, who made stop-motion extinct with a pioneering mix of CGI and robotics. The T-Rex Paddock and Raptor Kitchen remain two of the best directed horror scenes in history, while countless other moments capture the scientific wonder of "life finding a way."("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
5. 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998)
Bullets zipping underwater. Body parts dangling. Explosions rendering POV shots into slow motion. The cinema-verite opening on the beaches of Normandy was so authentic that many World War II vets had to leave the theater. Tom Hanks leads an all-star cast (Tom Sizemore, Paul Giamatti, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel) to find Private James Ryan (Matt Damon) so that his mother doesn't have to receive a fourth folded flag. Spielberg won his second Oscar for Best Director, then joined Hanks to create the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers."("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
4. 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial' (1982)
Call it a Christ allegory. A coming-of-age tale of divorce. Or, as the late Patrick Swayze said, "The most immortal children's movie that's ever been done." Either way, it's impossible not to get goosebumps as Elliot's bike pedals magically across the moon to John Williams' swelling violins, or shed a tear as he touches Elliot's forehead: "I'll be right here." The film earned a standing ovation at Cannes, spawned a pop culture phrase in "E.T. phone home," became the fourth highest grossing film in history (adjusted for inflation) and was voted one of the AFI's Top 25 Movies.("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
3. 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981)
After the individual success of "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters," Lucas and Spielberg teamed for a good old-fashioned Saturday matinee cliffhanger adventure. Their creation? Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford turned the whip-cracking, snake-fearing, Nazi-thwarting archaeologist into the AFI's No. 2 Hero of All Time, while John Williams' "Raiders March" became one of the most memorable scores in history. The film inspired three sequels, the best of which introduced a Holy Grail quest and Sean Connery daddy issues. After all, who but Bond could play Indy's dad?("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
1. 'Schindler's List' (1993)
No fiction film will ever capture the horrors of the Holocaust as well as documentaries like "Shoah" or "Night and Fog." But if one ever came close, it was "Schindler's List," a film that's as inspiring as it is devastating. Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley were never better, nor was John Williams, who sheds our tear ducts with violins. The film earned Spielberg his first Best Director Oscar, and it remains the only Spielberg movie ever to win Best Picture. How fitting that he also won the box office that same year with "Jurassic Park." Can you imagine Whedon making an artsy Best Picture the same year as "The Avengers," or Fellini making a smash blockbuster the same year as "8 1/2?" Spielberg is one of a kind, and if movies have the power to change lives, then he who changes one life changes the world entire.("Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?")
(
1
/11)
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