At the risk of making too bold a claim, Steven Spielberg could well be the best director of all time when it comes to big-screen entertainment. Now, that’s not the same as saying he’s the best director of all time generally speaking, but still, that’s another topic of conversation and you could probably mark him as a contender there also, just in terms of how many genres he’s tackled, how long he’s directed for, and how good/great (most of) his movies are.
Some of his greatest films aren’t necessarily entertaining in the traditional sense, nor are they action/adventure-heavy blockbusters. Munich is compelling, but “entertaining” would be a strange word to use if you wanted to describe the experience of watching it, and maybe the same can be said for his World War II films, like Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. There are serious and important Spielberg films, and then there are Spielberg-directed movies that are much more focused on being fun. Those are the ones highlighted below. And, it has to be stressed: that’s not saying they’re the objective best Spielberg movies, but they are probably the most consistently entertaining ones.
10
‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984)
So, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is not nearly as grim as Steven Spielberg’s historical dramas that look at real-world events and tragedies, that has to be stressed. But as an adventure movie aimed not exactly at kids, but not exclusively at adults, it is infamously dark and violent, possibly going a little far in a few places. And if you’ve seen the movie, you probably know what those places are.
Still, this second Indiana Jones movie (technically a prequel to the first) is a lot of fun while also being a bit morbid. The balance isn’t really achieved fantastically, and so Temple of Doom feels messy, and it has some other imperfections not necessarily related to tone, but if you want Harrison Ford being charismatic, a story that doesn’t really slow down, and a good number of creative set pieces alongside some pretty grisly (and borderline-horror) sequences, then this’ll scratch that super weird itch of yours.
9
‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ (1997)
Keeping things going now with Spielberg follow-ups (again, hard to call Temple of Doom a sequel if it takes place before the first movie), here’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which is more of a traditional sequel. It doesn’t bring back everyone from the first movie, sure, but it’s a traditional sequel in the sense of everyone involved being like, “Hey, we gotta give the people what they want, but also go bigger.”
The Lost World: Jurassic Park really does go bigger. It’s got some ambitious and maybe eyebrow-raising moments, but if you’ve seen your fair share of giant monster movies (and the dinosaurs here are pretty much monsters), then you’ve probably seen sillier moments than what you’ll get in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It’s a fun movie that admittedly lacks the simplicity and some of the charm that you get with that rather effortless and perfect first film, but still, this is more entertaining than you might’ve been led to believe.
8
‘Catch Me If You Can’ (2002)
Leonardo DiCaprio has been in his fair share of crime movies over the years, though most were directed by Martin Scorsese. The same year as their first collaboration, Gangs of New York, DiCaprio also starred in a Spielberg-directed crime movie: Catch Me If You Can. This one was considerably lighter and more comedic than Gangs of New York, with it telling the story of a young and charismatic con-man being pursued by an FBI agent.
Tonally, though, it’s balanced, and even if it falls into that camp of “Spielberg movies which might be about 10 or 15 minutes too long,” Catch Me If You Can is still entertaining for most of its runtime.
So, there are thrills there, with this being a chase movie of sorts, and Catch Me If You Can isn’t entirely lacking in dramatic moments, either. Tonally, though, it’s balanced, and even if it falls into that camp of “Spielberg movies which might be about 10 or 15 minutes too long” (seriously, there are way too many of them post-2000), Catch Me If You Can is still entertaining for most of its runtime, and holds up well for a movie that’s now getting on in years (nearly a quarter of a century old, at the time of writing).
7
‘The Adventures of Tintin’ (2011)
Sort of in line with his Indiana Jones movies tonally and pacing-wise, but animated this time around, here’s The Adventures of Tintin, which is rightly regarded as one of Spielberg’s most underrated movies, and it’s also one of those frustrating instances where people want a sequel that might never see the light of day. Well, one big-budget Tintin movie that gets it right is better than nothing, so… yay?
It’s very well-paced as an action/adventure movie about the hunt for a legendary sunken ship, and that whole globe-trotting nature of it makes it hard not to compare it to the Indiana Jones movies. Not that Indiana Jones invented said genre, but it kind of perfected it, and so Spielberg was a natural fit to direct The Adventures of Tintin. And he did great. Everyone working on this did great. It’s a very good – and very easy to like – movie.
6
‘Minority Report’ (2002)
Minority Report is a bit more serious tonally than most of the movies in this ranking, and at least thematically, it’s probably even darker than Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Still, it’s a blast to watch because it’s a thriller alongside being a dark sci-fi film, with a story that involves technology that allows people to see crimes before they actually happen.
Then, there are obvious moral questions surrounding whether – or how – to punish people who were going to commit crimes, but haven’t, and then Minority Report also works in a “man on the run having to prove his innocence” thing; the sort of movie Alfred Hitchcock liked making, albeit without any kind of sci-fi spin. Like Catch Me If You Can, from the same year, Minority Report is arguably a tad long, yet still largely thrilling and exciting.
5
‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989)
There was certainly a return to basics approach employed for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, as it’s very in line with the first movie (almost to a fault), and has probably caused far fewer nightmares worldwide than Temple of Doom did. The best thing it does to make it stand out, though, is throwing in Sean Connery as Indy’s dad, making The Last Crusade often feel like a buddy movie of sorts.
It’s not so silly, though, that you can’t get engrossed in the action, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade does manage to have some more heartfelt moments, too, when needed, with it being a great trilogy-capper back in the day when Indiana Jones was just a trilogy. There is indeed a tonal balance here, and it’s a hard movie to dislike or not feel entertained by, especially since the most severe criticism you could have of this one is that, minus the inclusion of Connery, it’s just a little too similar to the first one.
There was an instant feeling of nostalgia, one would assume, for people watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial back in 1982, given how vividly it captures the feeling of being a kid; both the highs and lows of it all. And then E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is further nostalgic now, since it’s more than 40 years old, and it does work as a great time capsule of American suburban life in the early 1980s.
Then there’s the extra-terrestrial stuff, of course. It’s not just a coming-of-age movie, because it’s as much about an alien who’s lost on Earth as it is about Elliott, who’s feeling lost in life in other more abstract ways. They befriend each other, and then E.T. has to get home. It’s another Spielberg film that runs the risk of sounding overly simple, if you break it down like that, but watching/experiencing it is something else altogether.
3
‘Jaws’ (1975)
Like another Steven Spielberg movie that starts with “J” and will be mentioned very shortly, Jaws does everything perfectly as a creature feature. Even describing it that way feels like underselling it, but Jaws really is just about a shark that’s terrorizing a coastal town, and after enough damage and death is caused by the shark in question, three men set out on a boat with the goal of just killing that damn shark.
A movie with a premise like that could be nothing, but with the right execution, it’s everything, and Jaws is everything a horror/thriller/adventure/blockbuster movie could ever hope to be. There’s always so much hype around it, since it’s more than half a century old, still beloved, and recognized for being hugely important upon release as a genuine blockbuster, but it really does still live up to all that hype (and more).
2
‘Jurassic Park’ (1993)
It’s hard to argue that there’s a better shark movie than Jaws, and it’s similarly difficult to try to convince someone that there’s a better dinosaur movie out there than the original Jurassic Park. If you need a plot summary for something so iconic, well-known, and simple, here you go: Island. Dinosaurs. Kids. Skeptical adult. Naïve visionary. Theme park. Disaster. Newman! Chaos. Survival. Unexpected heart. Jeff Goldblum.
What else do you need? Oh, well, you need a great John Williams score, and some of the greatest special effects of all time. For their time, they probably were the greatest special effects, and honestly, on a technical level, Jurassic Park still looks phenomenal 30+ years later. If you can watch all two hours of this movie and still not feel some kind of positive emotion, then I am sorry, because that would be an incredibly sad situation to be in.
1
‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)
If the intent behind making Raiders of the Lost Ark was to craft something perfectly entertaining and broadly appealing in the best of ways, then yep, mission accomplished. This is the first of the Indiana Jones movies, and still the best of them, and like the others, it’s all quite simple on a narrative front, because Indy wants some kind of prized possession, and oh no! So too do some bad people.
Like how George Lucas reworked and elevated classic B-grade science fiction when he made the first Star Wars, Steven Spielberg paid homage to – and re-energized – adventure serials of old, capturing the spirit of them but making it all at a blockbuster level. Raiders of the Lost Ark is impeccably cinematic, perfectly paced, excellently cast, and packed with scene after scene after scene that’s become iconic, so even if it’s not Spielberg’s absolute best film, it’s probably his most enjoyable and easy to revisit.
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