Steven Spielberghas been a household name for close to half a century at this point, as he began directing feature films while he was still in his 20s and hasn’t ever slowed down since. His earliest work came in the form of directing for television (both TV movies and episodes of shows), but it’s his features that made him one of the most well-recognized American directors of all time. His filmography is defined both by quality and quantity – he’s had very few total misses regarding the former, and regarding the latter, he’s generally put out a movie every year or two since 1974.
Considering all those feature films and ranking them in some kind of order is a considerable task, but that’s what the following intends to do. There are 35 theatrically released Spielberg movies to consider (including one anthology movie, and one TV movie that did end up getting a limited theatrical run). Not every Spielberg movie is a masterpiece, buteven his lesser ones tend to be interesting in their own ways, and his best films undoubtedly rank as some of the greatest movies ever made.
35’The Terminal' (2004)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci
There were enough pieces in place forThe Terminalto work as a film… it’s just a shame those pieces didn’t really come together. It’s one of several Steven Spielberg movies to starTom Hanks, it wasloosely inspired by a strange real-life story, and the core premise of a man having to live inside John F. Kennedy Airport because of bureaucratic complications does make it sound interesting.
Regrettably,The Terminalfalls flat when it tries to be funny (a big problem for a movie that’s intended to work as a dramedy), and in its more dramatic moments, it can feel overly sentimental; much more than is bearable.Spielberg can make sentimentality work, and has done so in his more effectively emotional films, butThe Terminaljust feels a bit hollow and even uncanny. It’s not particularly funny, moving, or romantic, and it feels a good deal longer than its 128-minute runtime.
The Terminal
34’The BFG' (2016)
Starring: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Rebecca Hall
A family-friendlyfantasy movie that blends live-actionwith computer animation,The BFGadapts theRoald Dahlnovel of the same name and is undoubtedly a strange entry within Spielberg’s filmography. There’s a child protagonist, an unlikely friendship that develops, and some impressive work done technically; that’s all Spielbergian stuff.But something about it just feels off, on some kind of gut level.
Even if the giants are supposed to look unsettling in some capacity, the animation used here is the wrong kind of ugly. It feels unintentionally creepy alongside being intentionally creepy, and if a film makes you think of some ofthe lesserRobert Zemeckisanimated movies, that’s never a good sign. It’s also hard to imagine kids getting much enjoyment out ofThe BFG, as it’s rather plodding, long, (occasionally) creepy, and it never really manages to soar or truly impress.
Watch on Disney+
33’Twilight Zone: The Movie' (1983)
Starring: Scatman Crothers, Bill Quinn, Martin Garner
Twilight Zone: The Movieunsurprisingly serves as a feature film version of theiconic sci-fi/horror anthology series,The Twilight Zone. There are four main segments in the film, plus a prologue of sorts, with Steven Spielberg only being responsible for one of those four main segments. His portion of the film is called “Kick the Can,” and it revolves around a group of elderly people being transformed into younger versions of themselves.
Spielberg’s segment is pretty weak, in all honesty, and tends to get overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the movie, withJohn Landis’ssegment notoriously being one whereVic Morrowand two child actors died on set. Without the accident, Spielberg’s segment would still probably be overshadowed by the third and fourth stories in the movie, directed byJoe DanteandGeorge Millerrespectively, which admittedly would work pretty well on their own as short films.
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32’War Horse' (2011)
Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson
“Acceptable” might be the best word to use to describeWar Horse, which isn’t exactly praising it a great deal, but it does mean this is the point where things gradually start getting praiseworthy.It’s about a war – specifically, World War I– and it’s also about a horse, so there’s nothing misleading about the title at least.War Horsehas got that going for it.
In all seriousness,War Horseis sincere and comes close to feeling moving at times. It’s all technically well put together and some of the choices it makes narratively do prove a little surprising; not necessarily in a bad way. However, like many Spielberg movies of the past couple of decades,War Horseis bloated.It has a simplicity and purity that’s sort of at odds with a runtime of nearly 2.5 hours. It’s hard to tell a director with decades of experience “no,” but complaints about things being just a little too long are going to apply to many soon-to-be-mentioned films. Get used to it.
31’The Post' (2017)
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson
The Postis a noble enough film, if a little dry, retelling the true story surrounding The Washington Post publishing the Pentagon Papers back in the early 1970s. It was an event that had some serious consequences, particularly regarding how willing the U.S. public was to trust everything the government said, given how these documents exposed lies told about the Vietnam War.
The story behindThe Postis indeed interesting, but it’s all approached in a rather safe and by-the-numbers fashion in the film itself, which can make it a little dull. It’s a serviceable dramatization, andthecast members – led by Meryl Streepand Tom Hanks – all turn in pretty good performances, but it’s not a film that really sticks with you. Indeed, very few people have talked about it all that much in the years since it came out (and it didn’t even come out all that long ago).
Facing immense pressure, journalists from The Washington Post risk their careers to expose a massive government cover-up. Led by editor Ben Bradlee and publisher Kay Graham, they race against time to publish the Pentagon Papers, uncovering decades of government secrets and challenging the limits of press freedom.
30’Bridge of Spies' (2015)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan
Many of the things that can be said aboutThe Postcould also be said aboutBridge of Spies, for better or worse. Both movies see Spielberg at arguably his most cautious, and thereby perhaps his least exciting.Bridge of Spiesisa perfectly serviceable historical/thriller film, and one where it’s hard to point out much by way of serious missteps, but it’s also just there. It’s a bit flat.
It takes place during the Cold War, and mostly centers on a tense prisoner exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. It checks all the boxes it needs to and, again, there’s a level of competency here that will ensure most come away not feeling like they’ve wasted money and/or time… well, some might feel they’ve wasted a little time, givenBridge of Spiesis another Spielberg movie that’s a little long-winded, running close to two-and-a-half hours when a runtime closer to two would’ve been just fine.
Bridge of Spies
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies follows American lawyer James Donovan, who is recruited by the CIA to negotiate the release of a U.S. Air Force pilot who was shot down over the Soviet Union. Tom Hanks stars in the 2015 historical drama based on the true story.
29’Always' (1989)
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman
IfThe PostandBridge of Spiesmight both be a tad overrated (that’s a loaded word and is not used lightly here), then there’s a chanceAlwaysmight be a bit underrated. Those aforementioned 2010s films were safe and not very risky, whereasAlwaysdoes take some fairly big swings, and has an unabashedly emotional central story that gets to be a little too much here and there.
However, some of the sentimentalism found inAlwaysworks, and parts are indeed moving. It’sone of Steven Spielberg’s most romance-heavy films, also broadly dealing with the grieving processand the idea of moving on from a love that once was. It also demonstrated Spielberg’s willingness to remake older films, withAlwaysbeing a remake ofA Guy Named Joe(and certainly wasn’t the final timeSpielberg remade an older classic).
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
28’Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' (2008)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen
Thanks to the rather dismalIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullno longer feels like the worst Indiana Jones movie. Some might consider it the most disappointing, given it still trails behind the earlier three movies in the series Steven Spielberg directed, but, in the end, of the fiveIndiana Jonesfilms, all but the worst of the bunch carry Spielberg’s name.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skullis a bit messy, falling apart further by the final act, but before then, there’s entertainment value to be found here. Indy’s old, but not so old that he can’t fully take part in all the action, andthe best set pieces still have that Spielberg spark and effortless fluidity; qualities lacking fromDial of Destiny(even thoughJames Mangold’susually a solid director, he just couldn’t quite get the tone/feel right in that 2023 film).
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones becomes entangled in a Soviet plot to uncover the secret behind mysterious artifacts known as the Crystal Skulls.
27’Hook' (1991)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts
Hookis another somewhat messy Steven Spielberg film, but there are undeniable good parts to it that can be taken alongside the less-than-great parts. It’s appropriately imaginative for a fantasy movie, following a surprisingly grown-up Peter Pan who’s forced to return to Neverland after his children are kidnapped by Captain Hook, with the whole adventure naturally allowing him to reconnect with his childhood.
It’s a film that largely succeeds on a technical level, and has an undeniably star-studded cast that includesRobin Williams,Dustin Hoffman,Julia Roberts, andthe always-greatBob Hoskins. Critically, it paled in comparison to most of Spielberg’s other films of the 1990s (he had a particularly great 1993, just a couple of years on fromHook), butthis family-friendly blend of comedy, fantasy, and adventure still works pretty well. The critics were maybe a little harsh, overall.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Hook stars Robin Williams as Peter Banning, a harried American lawyer who, after his children are kidnapped by Captain Hook, finds out that he is Peter Pan, having lost his memories of Neverland. In order to rescue his children, Peter must find his childlike spirit of adventure and regain his memories as he does battle with Hook and his crew. Dustin Hoffman stars alongside Williams as Captain Hook, along with Julia Roberts, Maggie Smith, and Charlie Korsmo.
26'1941' (1979)
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi
Commonly regarded as a low point in Spielberg’s filmography,1941might not be great – and is certainly inconsistent – butthe derision is unwarranted, because it offers a surprising amount. Admittedly, you might have to have some idea of what you’re in for, in order to have a chance at enjoying1941. Simply put, it’s a comedic war film wherein anarchy reigns supreme, and everything that could be over-the-top is.
There’s a premise in1941– involving fear of an imminent Japanese invasion during World War II – that ends up being more of an excuse than a story; an excuse to have ridiculous action sequences and bizarre slapstick comedy on a scale that’s found in precious few films (1963’sIt’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Worldbeing one of them). And where else are you going to find a movie that starssuch a random assortment of actors, including Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Christopher Lee, andeven the legendary Toshirō Mifune?
Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.
