Steven Spielberg’s best films ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest cinema directors of all time. He’s done all kinds of films, and most of them have created something so unique that they’re a before and after in their genre. Here are the director’s best films, sorted by Rotten tomatoes.
10 Jurassic Park – 91%
Jurassic Park is still a very important film 30 years later, starting a franchise and creating some digital effects that still endure. It’s thanks to Spielberg’s artistry that the dinosaurs in this film feel more realistic than the dinosaurs produced by today’s technology. The film is about how awesome dinosaurs were, and the actors show the same amazement that the audience feels.
The problem is that the created apex predators want to kill you, turning the movie into one of the most suspenseful, scariest and scariest movies the director has ever made. The movie was so popular that it not only made people aware of velociraptors, but also turned them into such creepy, fascinating creatures that there is even an NBA team that uses them as mascots, which would never have been possible without them Jurassic Park.
9 Bridge of Spies – 91%
Bridge of Spies is the fourth collaboration between the director and Tom Hanks in this spy thriller about a prisoner swap between America and the Soviet Union. The actor plays lawyer James B. Donovan, who follows the exchange between pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) and Soviet spy Rudolf Abel ( Mark Rylance) negotiated.
The film lets Spielberg play with paranoia, tense negotiations and the ongoing Cold War between the countries, while depicting spy stories that may involve someone other than the action star.
8th The Fabelmans – 92%
The Fabelmans is the latest Spielberg film in which the director addresses his younger years and his parents’ divorce. The film is about young Sammy (Gabriel LaBelle) who discovers his love for film while his life at home falls apart as the differences between his parents become clearer by the day.
Both Paul Dano and Michelle Williams give incredible performances as Sammy’s parents (Williams was Oscar-nominated for her role in the film) in a film full of well-known actors playing the alter egos of Spielberg’s family; from Judd Hirsch and Seth Rogen to Once upon a time in… HollywoodThis is Julie Butters.
7 Hunters of the Lost Ark – 93%
Hunter of the lost treasure could be the best Indiana Jones movie, and that’s saying something because the original trilogy is spectacular. This is the first film in the series; the one who introduced the character and cemented Harrison Ford’s status as one of the biggest movie stars in the world as archaeologist Indiana Jones must find the lost treasure before the Nazis.
The film also changed adventure films forever as it showcased a new, more modern way of shooting them. As with any collaboration between Spielberg and John Williams, the soundtrack has become as famous as the film and has become a globally recognized theme.
6 Save Private Ryan – 94%
The soldier James Ryan shows how tough the Second World War was likely to be. The Omaha Beach scene may have forever changed the way war movies are made and the movies that followed Dunkirk, have been heavily influenced by how and what you show in this genre. The entire film is based on earlier war films such as The Dirty Dozen to create a gripping story in which eight soldiers must risk their lives to save one, Private Ryan.
About shooting the film in order, Spielberg told Roger Ebert: “I didn’t realize how devastating it would be for the entire cast to actually start with Omaha Beach and survive that as a film crew and then move into the hedgerows, to the next town, like we all started through.” the storytelling to be toned down.
5 Close Encounters of the Third Kind – 94%
Close Encounters of the Third Kind was Spielberg’s first exposure to directing a film about peaceful aliens. After JawThe director was given a free hand to direct whatever he wanted and decided to tell this story about the unknown, obsession and believing in yourself. The film also featured some imaginative special effects and soundtracks, proving that Spielberg knew how to create unique stories using all the cinematic teams, not just where to place the camera or direct the actors, resulting in a film that was can still be seen today.
4 Catch me if you can – 96%
Catch Me If You Can could be one of the most entertaining and smooth movies Spielberg has ever directed, and has ever done Ocean’s Eleven. The film revolves around con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. and his pursuit by FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks). This is DiCaprio’s movie as he is so charismatic that the audience follows him and pretends to be a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer and suffers every time he gets caught proving why Leonardo DiCaprio would have an Oscar for it should win.
3 Pine – 97%
Jaw could be a simple idea behind it; A shark terrorizes a small coastal town. But the direction by Spielberg, the acting by Roy Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss and most importantly Robert Shaw, the soundtrack and everything in between made the film an incredibly gripping and scary film. The film established Spielberg as the future of filmmaking while at the same time changing the cinema model as it was the first box office success of the summer and creating a formula for releasing films that are still used today.
The director was so clever that he even turned problems into benefits, like the fact that the shark shows up so late in the film because it was always broken, or how two simple notes in a piano still can give goosebumps to anyone who about to go into the open sea.
2 Schindler’s List – 98%
Schindlers List Possibly the toughest film the director has ever made, and one that shows he’s matured as a filmmaker and wants to delve more into adult themes. The film is about Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) who, after seeing what the Nazis are doing to the Jews, decides to help them and turns his factory into a place where they can sleep.
From Neeson to Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley and Caroline Goodall, performances are all outstanding in this film, which won seven Oscars, including the first for Best Director for Spielberg.
ET the extraterrestrial is a beautiful film about Elliot (Henry Thomas), a child who finds an alien and with whom they become friends. The film is filled with fantasy, suspense and beautiful moments that show Spielberg never lost his sense of wonder and fascination with what might be out there in the universe. Like many of the visionary director’s other films, it still holds up years later (a few special effects aside) and makes every new generation of kids fall in love with the story of Elliot and ET, so it makes perfect sense that this film should be at Rotten Tomatoes rated 100%.
Although this film was an original idea that the director had had in his head for many years, he told it to Melissa Mathison and she actually wrote the screenplay. Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly: “While I was in the editing room editing robberMelissa came two to three days a week and we just sat and developed the story [of E.T.]. (…) She went away for six weeks and wrote the screenplay. When I finally read the script, I pretty much said, “I could shoot this movie tomorrow.”
