Before getting to the top 5, it’s time to look at some of the films that didn’t quite make this list. Spielberg has made some other great science fiction movies. Tom Cruise starred in a pair of them: Minority Report and War of the Worlds. Minority Report is generally considered one of Spielberg’s better movies, and it just fell short of making this list. Though generally Minority Report is seen as the better film, I actually prefer the film Spielberg took over from Stanley Kubrick, A.I. Artificial Intelligence. A.I. tells a gripping love story that really makes you think, and, if you’re like me, you can still have realizations about it weeks after seeing it. There are many more films that have to be mentioned. Empire of the Sun, Amistad, Munich, The Sugarland Express, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are all really good films that just fell short of making this list.
Spielberg has also had some low points in his directorial career. Hook, 1941, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park are all seen as failures while The Terminal and Always aren’t looked upon with that great of light.
5. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998)
Spielberg often wows with his fantastical visuals, but in Saving Private Ryan Spielberg uses intensely realistic visuals with dramatic effect.
You can’t talk about Saving Private Ryan without discussing the first 20 minutes. The initial beaches of Normandy scene is on of the most intensely graphic war scenes ever depicted on film. These scenes almost forced the movie to receive an NC-17 rating. Spielberg doesn’t take it easy on the audience – everything imaginable and unimaginable happens. One of the most disturbing is when a soldier picks up his arm from the ground as if he’s going to need to later. Beyond the initial sequence, the film remains strong. Tom Hanks delivers one of his better performances of his career.
The score on the whole isn’t one of Williams’ best, but it still delivers one of the saddest themes of his career. “Hymn to the Fallen” is heart-wrenchingly sad and beautiful. It’s not to Williams’ discredit that the score isn’t one of his best. As the most powerful scenes were the intense war scenes, these scenes didn’t call for music.
Saving Private Ryan‘s biggest fault is that the second act is somewhat forgettable, but the rest of the film is so strong that it is one of the best war movies ever.
4. ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)
Spielberg’s best “serious film,” Schindler’s List is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Ranking Spielberg’s movies became very difficult here. Any of the top four films on this list could have been number one, and each held that position on different drafts of the list. Schindler’s List is Spielberg’s film that did the best critically, winning seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Score. Shot mostly in black and white, Schindler’s List is a long portrayal of the moving transformation of Oskar Schindler from a powerful businessman to a Jewish savior.
As masterful of a job as Spielberg did with Schindler’s List, Williams arguably created just as much of a masterpiece. Williams’ score is both beautiful and simple, a rare treat in a career filled with treats. Violinist Itzhak Perlman plays the main theme and other tracks beautifully. The theme is repeated across many instruments throughout the film, but it never ceases to get old.
Schindler’s List is not only possibly Spielberg’s greatest film, but it could also be the best movie of all time.
3. ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)
Among all of his movies, Raiders of the Lost Ark is arguably Spielberg’s most influential.
Spielberg (with George Lucas) redefined the action-adventure with Raiders of the Lost Ark. Raiders was an influence for many movies to come. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, The Mummy, National Treasure, and The Goonies are a few examples of Indiana Jones knock-offs. It’s hard to imagine what Raiders or any of the sequels would have been like if Tom Selleck had been able to accept the role. Harrison Ford prefers his role as Indiana Jones to Han Solo, and he’s right to do so. The film is almost flawless from top to bottom, and Indiana Jones remains one of the all-time greatest characters.
Williams’ “Raiders March” theme is one of his grandest, but without Spielberg’s help, it would have never been created. Williams wrote two different themes that he thought might be good for Raiders and asked Spielberg to pick. Spielberg loved them both so much that he thought they should be combined, and “Raiders March” was created.
Raiders of the Lost Ark could very well be the best action-adventure movie ever made.
2. ‘Jaws’ (1975)
With just his second theatrically released film, Spielberg created his first classic.
Jaws was the first blockbuster movie. It was released in the summer, and it also started the summer blockbuster trend. It’s hard to imagine a time when some of the biggest movies of the year didn’t come out during the summer. If you ask anyone who remembers, they’ll tell you the same thing. When Jaws was released, it scared people from swimming in the ocean. The way Spielberg did this was nothing short of brilliant. The film’s highest points are before the shark is seen, and his way of slowly teasing is masterful.
John Williams’ score for Jaws was brilliantly simple and complex. At its most basic, the shark’s creeping theme is just the use of two notes. For the musically inclined, that’s two notes a half step apart. Beyond that, the score is probably more complex than you remember. The score was done with such perfection that it won Williams his second Oscar, and his first of three for movies in which Spielberg directed.
Jaws will forever be remembered as one of best thrillers and for how it brought about the summer blockbuster.
1. ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989)
When compiling this list I knew I’d get flack for this, but I stand by this ranking. In my opinion, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the best film Spielberg ever made.
When it came down to it, I was comparing Raiders and Last Crusade to each other. Most people consider Raiders the best Indiana Jones movie, but upon thinking about it, I could only come up with one reason that Raiders was better: it came first. I don’t think that’s a good enough reason. Was Last Crusade a safer bet? Sure. Spielberg came up with a terrific formula for an action adventure film with Raiders. In my opinion, he took what was already good in Raiders and perfected it in Last Crusade. The only element that suffered was the action. Last Crusade became more of an adventure film and less of an action-adventure film. Last Crusade is as strong as it is because of the genius casting of Sean Connery as Dr. Jones Sr.
As expected, Williams’ Last Crusade score is very similar to his Raiders score. In the closing track that played through the credits, Williams took the best bits of “Raiders March” and made them even better.
There are others on this list that are more typical choices for Spielberg’s best film, but in my opinion, Last Crusade is his best film from beginning to end.
What are your favorite Spielberg movies?
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