A leading figure in the New Hollywood movement, Steven Spielberg is the most financially successful filmmaker of all time, with a total box office of over $10 billion. He began his film career as part of the “movie kid” generation of directors, which also included Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Brian DePalma and George Lucas. Spielberg has been directing feature films for over fifty years and has worked in a wide variety of genres, including science fiction.
Spielberg has become perhaps most recognized for his work in the science fiction genre where he directed eight feature films and co-directed another. Its sci-fi titles have received favorable scores on IMDb.
9 Twilight Zone: the film was not well received (6.4)
Twilight Zone: The Movie is an anthology film remake of the iconic television series. It includes four segments directed by Spielberg, John Landis, Joe Dante and George Miller. Landis’ segment was an original story created for blurred area while the other three segments consist of remakes of TV episodes from the original series. Spielberg’s segment is a remake of the episode “Kick the Can”.
Twilight Zone: The Movie became famous for the tragic helicopter crash that occurred while filming Landis’ segment. The accident resulted in the deaths of Vic Morrow, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. Despite this immense tragedy, blurred area has consistently been released to mixed reviews from critics. Audiences don’t seem to like the film too much either, as indicated by its IMDb rating of 6.4.
8 The Lost World: Jurassic Park turns out to be an inferior sequel (6.5)
Nowadays, jurassic park is Spielberg’s most financially successful film, with a total box office of over $1 billion. Despite a larger budget than the original film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park ended up making $400 million less.
The general consensus among critics is that The Lost World: Jurassic Park is one of Spielberg’s worst-received films. The film was nominated for several awards at the Razzies and the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. As it concerns jurassic park movies go, The lost World has the third highest IMDb rating at 6.5.
seven Spielberg tries to live up to the iconic legacy of War of the Worlds (6.5)
Spielberg’s decision to direct War of the Worlds was a bold choice considering the source material’s iconic heritage. The original novel War of the Worlds was written in 1898 by HG Wells and is a landmark work of Western literature. In 1938, Orson Welles performed War of the Worlds as a radio drama. This sadly caused a public panic, as many were unaware that the show was a work of fiction. The first film adaptation was released in 1953 and is widely considered a masterpiece of 1950s science fiction, as evidenced by its listing in the National Film Registry in 2011.
by Spielberg War of the Worlds received generally positive reviews from critics and was a box office success. However, audiences seem to prefer the original film, which has an IMDb rating of 7.0, while Spielberg’s film only has a 6.5 rating.
6 Spielberg takes over artificial intelligence AI (7.2) from Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick began developing an adaptation of Brian Aldiss’ short story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” in the 1970s. However, the film would suffer from hellish development for the next twenty years. Kubrick tried to pass the film on to Spielberg several times, but it wasn’t until Kubrick’s death in 1999 that the film finally went into production.
Critical, AI Artificial Intelligence is considered a unique but not entirely successful fusion of Kubrick’s characteristic gloom and Spielberg’s familial optimism. The IMDb rating of 7.2 implies that audiences enjoyed this combination of contrasting tones.
5 Spielberg turns Bestseller Ready Player One into a box office success (7.4)
Loan player one is a special effects extravaganza filled with pop culture nostalgia. Based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Ernest Cline, Loan player one was an extremely difficult shoot for Spielberg. The film contains nearly a thousand special effects shots and more than a hundred pop culture references that Spielberg needed to secure the rights.
Loan player one was a box office hit, earning nearly four times its budget. Recently, movies and TV shows dealing with nostalgia like stranger things and Top Gun: Maverick became huge hits. Box office numbers paired with its IMDb score of 7.4 demonstrate that Loan player one is an integral part of this resurgence of nostalgia.
4 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind is Spielberg’s first sci-fi hit (7.6)
Widely considered one of Spielberg’s greatest films, Dating of the Third Kind marked the second consecutive mega-hit for Spielberg following the groundbreaking success of Jaws. The film grossed over $300 million against a budget of just $19 million and was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning Best Cinematography. Frank Warner also won a Special Achievement Academy Award for the film’s sound editing.
In 2007, Dating of the Third Kind has earned a place in the National Film Registry for its cultural, historical and aesthetic significance. Surprisingly, the film only has an IMDb rating of 7.6, which puts it in the middle of the pack of Spielberg films.
3 Spielberg teams up with Tom Cruise for minority report (7.7)
Minority report was originally envisioned as a sequel to the film Total recall and was due for release in the early 1990s. However, Carolco Pictures, the film’s production company, filed for bankruptcy and the project was put on hold. It was ultimately decided that the project would be its own standalone film, with Spielberg in the director’s chair and Tom Cruise starring in the film.
Spielberg consulted several scientists on Minority report to portray the future more realistically than had been seen before on the big screen. His dedication to precision paid off as the film was a critical and box office success. Its IMDb rating of 7.7 shows that audiences were very receptive to this sci-fi action thriller.
Before the release of AND the extra-terrestrial in 1982, science fiction films focused primarily on the repercussions of technological progress as well as the philosophical implications of human existence. Spielberg redefined the genre with HEYbringing a family story to sci-fi that all ages could enjoy.
AND the extra-terrestrial would go on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, a record that would stand eleven years until Spielberg jurassic park took first place. Another inductee into Spielberg’s National Film Registry, HEY captured the hearts of millions, as evidenced by its IMDb score of 7.9.
1 Jurassic Park (8.2) roars into the history books
A decisive film for several reasons, jurassic park may be remembered as the film that showed the world the full potential of what computer-generated imagery could achieve. From its world-class score and technical brilliance to its memorable performances and impeccable sound design, jurassic park remains one of the definitive blockbusters in the history of American cinema.
Few films have achieved both the critical merit and the financial success of jurassic park. The film has stood the test of time and is one of Spielberg’s highest rated films on IMDb with its score of 8.2.
