Close Encounters of the Third Kind has been released this week to celebrate it’s 40 year anniversary, a film which for many could well be their favourite from ‘visionary director’ (as he’s now known from the Ready Player One trailers) Steven Spielberg.
Trying to choose a favourite Spielberg film is akin to picking which of your children you like most, or which is the best Star Wars film (*coughEmpirecough*). It’s ruddy hard and like all art, it’s massively subjective. For every five people who choose Jaws, one is going to plumb for Raiders. It’s understandable.
To celebrate Close Encounters re-appearing on our cinema screens, Set The Tape‘s Tony Black presents his five favourite Spielberg pictures, in order of release.
Duel (1971)
Anyone who knows me know that every chance I get to champion Duel, I take. Not nearly enough people have seen Spielberg’s first movie, made originally for TV before getting a cinematic release, based on a short story by the great Richard Matheson. There have been few pictures, almost certainly no debuts, which have channelled suspense like Spielberg does with this story of Dennis Weaver’s travelling salesman being menaced on the road in his Plymouth Herald by a hulking, great, grimy oil tanker driven by an unseen psychopath.
It’s white-knuckle tension from start to finish and it’s masterful. Please, if you’ve never seen it, dig it out. You won’t be disappointed.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Come on, who doesn’t love the Indiana Jones films? Except perhaps 2007’s Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which we can only hope the upcoming Indy 5 makes up for (and, y’know, isn’t *that* bad). Though it’d be hard to argue against Raiders of the Lost Ark being the strongest of the franchise, Last Crusade has always been my personal favourite. Originally the final Indy film, concluding a trilogy which bookended Spielberg’s immensely successful 1980’s career, it’s got a script dripping with wit and style, iconic action sequences, another gorgeous John Williams score, and Harrison Ford & Sean Connery as one of the best double acts in all of cinema. “You call this archaeology?!”
Jurassic Park (1993)
If you asked ten people on the street what the best Spielberg film of all is, you’d probably get well over half of them say Jurassic Park. It’s without doubt, even now, probably his most seminal and cinematically groundbreaking picture, taking the steps James Cameron and ILM made with CGI in Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991 and evolving them to a whole new level in creating the most ‘realistic’ impression of dinosaurs ever on screen. Spielberg also managed to craft a fantastic script and story, not to mention excellent performances, out of a family story fused with Michael Crichton’s chilling near-future dystopian theatrics.
Imitated a million times over the last twenty five years, it ages like a fine wine.
Schindler’s List (1993)
Many people forget, for all the derring do of Indiana Jones or the weepy family wholesomeness of E.T., that Spielberg has always been able to turn out a darker, grown up, emotional range of pictures. Schindler’s List, remarkably coming out the same year as Jurassic Park in 1993, will be remembered by many as his best and most important. Filmed in black and white, much of it on the streets and cities the Jewish tragedy happened (I’ve been to some set locations in Poland myself), it’s a hauntingly stunning depiction of the Holocaust and one brave man who sought, in his own way, to fight it.
Three hours of heartbreaking, powerful cinema that will rarely be equalled.
The Terminal (2004)
My wildcard. There’s just a purity and honesty about The Terminal, one of Spielberg’s pictures in the 2000’s (probably his most underwhelming decade as a director), which shines through a divisive piece of work. Tom Hanks may not have been perfect casting as the Eastern European everyman who ends up living inside a New York airport terminal when his country’s government collapses, but he puts in one of those committed, lovely performances few can do as well as Hanks. Shot a little like a modern fable, with a sweet message and some engaging performances, this has real heart and for me is one of Spielberg’s warmest films in recent years.
See it if you’ve avoided it, it’s worth it.
Agree or disagree with my choices? What are your favourite Spielberg films? Is Close Encounters in your top 5? Let us know in comments or on social media.