13. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (1999)
Holding the title of Spielberg's most criminally underrated film, this movie is often derided for its hugely divisive third act, which detractors claim is Spielberg succumbing to his overly-sentimental sensibilities and worse than that, tarnishing the memory of Stanley Kubrick, who had been developing the film for years before bequeathing it to Spielberg. Naturally, this couldn't be further from the truth. One important detail many detractors ignore is that Kubrick handed the film over to Spielberg four years before his death, having felt that the project was closer to Spielberg's sentiments. The other is that Spielberg remained very faithful to the original treatment, polarizing ending and all - Kubrick's version would have ended the exact same way. If one is willing to look past the ridiculous controversy and accept that the film refuses to adhere to a traditional Hollywood structure, one is rewarded with one of the most complex, intricate, and morally ambiguous films of Spielberg's career. A.I. lacks the simplistic black-and-white sense of good-vs-evil that pervades most of Spielberg's other genre work, and instead aims to ask bigger, heavier questions about what it means to be human and to have a soul. Moreover, if you think about it, the ending is actually shockingly melancholy, pervaded by some brilliant visual flair courtesy of Janusz Kaminski. It is a dark, resonant, brilliant film that I wish more people would appreciate.