8. Minority Report (2002)
It may have been his advancing age or perhaps the major cultural paradigm shift caused by 9/11, but the year 2000 came and gone, something changed in Steven Spielberg's style. Gone was the childlike wonder and naivety of films such as the Indiana Jones Trilogy, Close Encounters, and E.T. The new millenium brought about a darker, more cynical Spielberg, and subsequently, his films thrived. With his one-two punch of A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Minority Report, the new, darker Spielberg showed us that he was here to stay. John Anderton is not your typical hero. He is a dedicated police officer, sure, but also an aimless drug addict crushed by divorce obsessed with the disappearance of his young son. He finds himself thrust into a mysterious conspiracy of epic proportions, and ends up having to fight for his name. Like Blade Runner, Minority Report (similarly based on a Philip K. Dick story) fuses film noir with science fiction to create a truly remarkable experience. Minority Report is at its core an action film, and features some of the best set-pieces and most striking imagery of Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski's careers. It's also a good old-fashioned detective yarn, keeping us guessing at every turn. Featuring brilliant performances from Tom Cruise, Collin Farrell, Max Von Sydow and Samantha Morton among others, Minority Report also serves as one of the finest and most fascinating depictions of a future Earth ever committed to film. Its a riveting, masterful film that deserves another look.