28. 1941 (1979)
Even masters make mistakes, and one needs to look no further than this Spielberg misstep. Bloated and over-budgeted, this is a big, brash action comedy that is neither funny nor action-packed. A stellar ensemble cast led by some of the hottest comic actors of the time, including Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, were not enough to save this film. Spielberg would prove his comedy chops again later in his career, but watching this film it is clear that he was still a young and inexperienced director.
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30 Comments
I agree with your placement of Schindler’s List but I think Jaws should have been higher
I’m glad someone is finally giving The Terminal its due. It’s a fine movie with a performance from Hanks that at some point makes you forget that it’s Tom Hanks.
I know I’m in the minority here, but I just don’t get the vitriol for Crystal Skull. True, the last twenty minutes are an utter disaster, but what comes before it is largely a solid piece of pulp entertainment, which I would put above Hook, The Lost World, Tin Tin, and even The Temple of Doom.
It’s hard for a lot of fans to think that the Indiana Jones movie are really just pulp, but they are. Of course, part of the problem is Raiders of the Lost Ark transcended pulp, and I mean transcended the living hell out of it.
Still good article, with some excellent observations.
The Color Purple and Lincoln are ranked WAY too low, while ET and War of the Worlds are ranked way too high. The margin is very slim between many of these movies but looking at the Rotten Tomatoes ratings, it better reflects what were his better movies…despite the fact i think ET is overrated. A.I., the Terminal and War of the Worlds are in the lower tier of his best movies in the Rotten Tomatoes scoring.
I would put “Raiders” at number 1 and “Ryan” at number 2.
In my humble opinion, the top 3 are:
E.T – an absolute masterpiece of cinema
Jaws – a simple monster concept but so much more
Juassic Park – arguably the best film of the decade, awesome !
I completely 100 percent disagree with you about The Adventures of Tin Tin. If you want uncanny valley animation, look no further than The Polar Express. The Adventures of Tin Tin has come leaps and bounds forward in terms of motion capture animation. We have more life like skin tones and textures, and the animation was crafted in such an excellent way that I was only brought out of the film ONCE by poopy animation. And that scene is when the two officers hit a lightpost and fly back in an over the top cartoonish gag. But overall, Tin Tin was one of the best animated films I have seen in FAR TOO LONG. Better than Rango. And I’ll with you about that one until you fall asleep and I smother you to death. I’m a nice guy, but don’t wag fingers at my Tin Tin muthercluckuh. If you got more words, you want to dish it out, lets do it on air, on the Scotty Jo Podcast. scottyjo.com
I agree, that’s a great film
I didn’t watch all those movies, but i think Tintin is a interesting movie, disagree with it been so low in your list.
Anyway good list. It shows how “weird” is Steven’s career, there’s good movies, bad movies, funny or sad, scy-fi, War, dramas and movies for kids. Maybe that’s what make him one of the greatest director of all time.
What’s great about Spielberg’s career is that nobody can really agree on which are his absolute best films – there are just too many! I personally love (almost) all of them (sorry Jeremy, I still think Crystal Skull is just a bad film – it’s not a solid piece of pulp entertainment; it’s a lazy, CGI-driven ridiculousness-fest directed by someone who was on autopilot), and so Patrick, while The Color Purple and Lincoln may be ranked low, they are still amazing films… I just happen to think Spielberg has even MORE amazing films than them :)
As for Tintin… yes, Polar Express was far worse in terms of Uncanny Valley, but my biggest problem with the film was actually more so the script than the animation (which, aside from the motion capture, I found to be quite beautifully rendered).
Anyway, thanks for reading, everybody! Let’s keep the discussion going!
jurassic park shouldve been in the top 5 for sure
AS we find it hard to come up
with a single Spielberg ‘product’
that, in retrospect, has not been
revealed to be on board cultural incest
weaponized with predictive programming
and PC moral alibis for the same
——–ER __—__UH – -
we’ll have to PASS. . .
Well written list. Obviously, everyone will have their favourites and produce a different order.
I would dispute the fact that CATCH ME IF YOU CAN was a ‘light-hearted’ switch of tone. I accept you mean it in the context of the harrowing plight of Osment’s Pinocchio child but Frank Abaganle suffered similar-themed abandonment issues brilliantly drawn out in DiCaprio’s fine performance. Also, there is genuine pain in the scenes between DiCaprio and Walken mirrored also in the later surrogate father/son scenes between Hanks and DiCaprio.
Of course, it was presented in brighter hues and jazzier music and essentially was a chase film but it was not a frothy comedy; and in my opinion is one of Spielberg’s tonally and well characterised movies.
*most tonally
bit harsh on hook, its a classic
Paul L: Excellent analysis of Catch Me. I think you understood what I was getting at – of course it carries a heavier dramatic weight, and Chris Walken’s performance in particular is so tragically fragile and brilliant, as well as DiCaprio’s. But as you said, it’s the colors, the energy, the jazzy style and the fact that it is quite possibly Spielberg’s funniest film that lend it a RELATIVELY more light-hearted tone, especially in comparison to A.I. and Minority Report, the two films that preceded it.
I’m surprised to see the word “oeuvre” used in connection with Speilberg. Yes, it is correct since it simply means a body of work, but it almost always used when discussing directors who are the antithesis of Speilberg. Speilberg’s films are accessible, commercial and entertaining, qualities which seem to put off many critics. I think The Color Purple and Close Encounters are rated way too low.
Great list with some interesting placing. Putting Last Crusade in the top 10 is insane, but it’s all opinion. Jurassic Park will always be my no.1
Honestly, I’d put Last Crusade higher if I had the gall to do it. I love that movie to death and think it is equal to Raiders in its thrills, energy, and ingenuity – it just can’t match it in inventiveness. As a kid I always liked Last Crusade the most but obviously as an adult the importance and inventiveness of Raiders is more prevalent – Last Crusade really is just treading in the same steps as the first film, but those are some good steps to retrace!
I know what you mean. It’s my favorite of the four Indy movies, though I know Raiders is a better film. Also, it’s kind of the ultimate Spielberg movie – big action set pieces, rapid-fire comedy that evokes movies from the 1930′s, elements of the fantastic, Nazis, and an absent father. If you’re willing to count River Phoenix, it’s even got a kid in peril.
Essentially, everything a Spielberg fan could want.
Yup, there you go!
Wow. You’re a really crappy writer with amateurish skills at analyzing film. Just sayin’.
Thanks, John. I appreciate your contribution to the discussion. Thanks for the support!
The Barbed Wire scene is the only good part of War Horse. That film was a failure – one of his worst films.
I agree with most of this list, but Duel should be much higher.
The battle sequences in SPR have been endlessly imitated, to a point where they’re now the norm in most war films. Imitated, but never bettered.
Oh and A.I. is one of the worst films ever made, therefore easily far worse than the thigh-slapping hoot that is 1941.
Well put together list, agree with putting minority report quite high. Great film with amazing performances
Hurf: like I said, A.I. really is a polarizing film. I take it you are in the “hate” camp (though calling it one of the worst films ever made is, I think, unfair hyperbole – at least it was trying for something, and you can’t deny its technical prowess). But to each their own!
And G: Totally agreed. Minority Report is, in my opinion, Spielberg’s most misunderstood blockbuster and one of his most brilliant films. Glad to see someone else likes it as much as I do.
Indiana Jones 2 was the best ID out of 4.
Overall, Spielberg’s just a bit too sentimental and populist for me, though I won’t deny he’s made at least a half-dozen “great American films.” In a way, I see James Cameron as a lesser Spielberg in combining such technical skill with emotive tendencies (though while Spielberg has made great films in every decade since the 70s that I love, I can’t really get into Cameron post-T2). And at the bottom of that chain is Michael Bay, who doesn’t really have “emotive tendencies,” but something in Armageddon qualifies for far too many than I would care to admit.