Director: Spielberg

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

[size="4"]All right thinking people tend to agree it was easily the weakest movie of the trilogy.

Oh, that would explain it; I usually think along leftward lines. I haven't seen it since I was a kid, but I thought it was great fun. (I think this of Return of the Jedi, too.) And despite what you may think of these two opinions, I stand by my excellent taste.

And two more for good measure.

[blueerica]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

Wow, people don't like Temple of Doom? Full disclosure: I wasn't allowed (or old enough in some cases) to see any of the Indy films in theaters, and I've never watched or even discussed them with others. I had no idea people didn't like Temple.

Read my Raiders of the Lost Ark disclaimer above. While I feel Raiders was the best/classic example, perhaps only because it came 'first,' like many other well-loved films, few give their sequels an honest chance. The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly put it best, IMO:

Indy drinking blood? Kids forced into slavery? Why not? Doom is one of cinema's great sequels because it's so black and daring.

I totally agree with that, especially as I get older. I was young when it came out, so I didn't hold any sort of expectation on the film or what any sequels should or should not be like. Same goes for Last Crusade, which I feel brings a lot of backstory. Sure, it kind of feels late in the game to suddenly put in so much, but the film was far more successful with it than a number of other series that tried to cram backstory into much later sequels.

[innerSpaceman]

Looking over the list, i find Spielberg compelling for directing some of the best and worst movies ever made.

[tracilicious]

I really like ET.

[Kevy Baby]

Out of curiosity, I checked IMDB and found these two missing titles:

The Unfinished Journey (1999)
Twilight Zone the Movie (1983) (segment 2)

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Out of curiosity, I checked IMDB and found these two missing titles:

The Unfinished Journey (1999)
Twilight Zone the Movie (1983) (segment 2)

Yes, I knew you would. That's why I said in the OP to add it if you feel like it.


And, I figured he didn't direct the whole Twilight Zone Movie so why add it? And TUJ is a documentary, which I thought should be categorized differently.
:shrug:

[Capt Jack]

Jaws for sure.

pretty well liked all the Indiana Jones although some were definitely better than others. if Im surfing channels and stumble across one, chances are good I'll watch unless I have somewhere to be/something else to do

another Hook fan here. just, dunno...liked it. I like a lot of films that tend to grate on other people as well as dislike many that are generally loved /shrug

Jurassic Park.

I think Im well over 5 now. so we'll stop there

[Gemini Cricket]

When I was younger, I loved E.T. Now it's too meh to watch.

[innerSpaceman]

His Twilight Zone episode was the weakest of the movie, imo.


OK, so my Spielberg worst list:

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Hook
Always
The Terminal
Artificial Intelligence

Those are all outright disasters. What I find more interesting are the near misses.

I admire that he tried to make Jurassic Park without it being a copy of the book. It's just that it was not a very good movie, made worse by being so much worse than the book in every way.

I never read the book The Color Purple, so I've no idea if Strangler Lewis's critcisms hold water. But the film was completely meh to me, and I never saw it again.

1941 is so close to almost funny, I find it a fascinating near miss. I could really see why it seemed funny on paper, maybe even seemed funny in dailies. It's sooooo close to funny ... just, ugh, it's not. But I admire it's loving tribute in spirit to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and other zany movies of that ilk.

I think I'd like to see Amistad again. It was good, but never grabbed me.

Empire of the Sun is very good, but suffers from Spielbergian mawkishness in making a Japanese PoW camp so loveably quirky. I kinda forgive that as maybe being seen from the PoV of the young PoW. And I love the bravura performance by a very, very young Christian Bale as that young PoW.

Munich and Catch Me If You Can are two very good films that nonetheless never quite soar. But I can't find any particular fault in either of them.


E.T. is utterly charming. Not the fantastic world-rocker that nonetheless rocked the world in the early 80's, but a beautiful film that's completely delightful.

I think Saving Private Ryan is better than it's first half hour. I think it's a rollicking good WWII movie told in the style of WWII movies.

The Sugarland Express is darned good, but it never really did anything for me. I think I've only seen it once.


I like The Lost World for leaving out all the pretentiousness of Juraissic Park and just making it a dinosaur-attack film (and for putting back a lot of the set pieces Spielberg likely regretted changing from the book in the first film).


Lastly, Jones and The Last Crusade was an ok actioner, but it's so pale in comparison to the genius of Raiders of the Lost Ark ... which was far more than a great action film, but one that was perfectly pitched in tone, perfectly constructed and paced, and perfectly executed in look, performances, sound, and wonderful direction by the incredibly hit and miss Steven Spielberg.

[innerSpaceman]

oooh, i loved re-reading your review of Persepolis. Wonder if I should mine posts from the movie thread. Hahaha.