The best Steven Spielberg movies ever

This list includes all Marvel movies, as well as the best films of any given year. Steven Universe episodes… We can definitively land on those as a group. But when the Polygon staff started talking about the legend of movie director legends, Steven Spielberg, it was immediately clear there was no way we’d embark on the quest of list-making and live to tell the tale. Spielberg has tried every kind of film, explored every aspect of cinematic art, and produced too many masterpieces to suit everyone’s tastes. When folks start wondering if a guy’s pre-movie-career Columbo episode should be in consideration for the upper echelon of a ranking, that’s trouble. That’s an S-tier career, but it’s trouble.

So instead of losing sleep over constructing a monolithic Spielberg ranking, we decided to just file our ballots — and let Polygon readers weigh in with their own. This is Fabelmans bringing Spielberg’s entire filmography into focus, and with the 2023 Oscars looming, now felt like the right time to wade through a 50-plus-year run and pick our favorites. Here are our top Steven Spielberg films, as voted by anyone who was willing to be yelled at about having favourite Steven Spielberg movies.

Image from Paramount Pictures

Austen Goslin

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Jurassic Park
3. Jaws
4. Minority Report
5. Third Kind Close Encounters

Steven Spielberg is a great director who has produced many movies over his life. But there are three that stand out. Raiders The greatest adventure film ever made. A beautiful cinematography by Douglas Slocombe captured a stunning movie with an outstanding lead performance that was so fully realized it created an archetype that nobody else can capture. It is one of the greatest blockbusters ever made. Raiders In terms of entertainment, pure enjoyment, energy and fun is Jurassic Park, This is enough to justify its place on the list. JawsThis film speaks for itself and will probably get lots of attention elsewhere. Minority ReportIn the best possible way, it remains one the weirdest blockbusters and most star-making vehicles. Finally, Get in touch with your fellow travelers is the top among Spielberg’s more “personal” films, if only because it’s the one that best marries how deeply he feels the story (which has elements that closely mirror his own childhood) with the kind of spectacle that no other director has ever matched him on.

Columbia Pictures

Chris Plante

1. Third Kind Close Encounters
2. Jaws
3. Jurassic Park
4. Fabelmans
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

It was assumed that A.I., Minority ReportPlease see the following: Catch me if you canI would add this to my list. I love those movies and return to them often. Every time I attempted to make space, I had to cut a classic film that was just as good, but just a little better. Get in touch with your fellow travelersIs A.I.You will find a faster pace and more engaging reading on human nature. Jurassic ParkBecause it uses the text of Michael Crichton to show the gravity owed Phillip K. Dick’s work, popcorn sci-fi can be called popcorn science-fiction. You can also find it here. Catch me if you can was Spielberg’s best dramatization of his urge to outrun his childhood domestic traumas… until he made a movie literally about his childhood domestic traumas. That’s the thing about Spielberg and most creators: He circles the same ideas over and over again in the hopes that this time might uncover something even more remarkable than the last. His most recent movie is an excellent example of this strategy.

Universal Pictures

Joshua Rivera

1. Jurassic Park
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Minority Report
4. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
5. West Side Story

A good Steven Spielberg movie makes you feel like you’re seeing something for the first time. This could be your first or 100th viewing, but you will always feel the same. Spielberg’s greatest skill is his ability to remember. The feeling that you have of the most and least memorable moments in your lives is captured by Spielberg, who juxtaposes these with something more mundane, beautiful, scary, or ordinary. My picks aren’t in any particular order, and you could swap out any of these movies with several others that fit this bill: E.T. easily, Catch me if you canIf you really think about it, then even All set to playAlthough I hate the film, it is not nearly as bad as its source material. Spielberg’s films are gifts because they’re pleas to remember things in a world that is constantly forgetting. Those who don’t remember have little to keep them from becoming a villain.

Universal Pictures

Matt Patches

1. E.T. Extra-Terrestrial
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Catch me if you can
4. Third Kind Close Encounters
5. Lincoln

Did I eat too many Reese’s Pieces or have my colleagues gone completely mad overlooking E.T. Extra-Terrestrial? Perhaps Fabelmans Unleashes a little of the drama from the family E.T. by pulling the curtain back on Spielberg’s life (in spectacular fashion — I was considering it for this list, but felt like recency bias) but E.T. is the basin in which Spielberg’s poured out his heart, his brain, and his inner demons. The grand what-ifs and the infinite possibilities of Spielberg’s life have led him to lose himself completely. Close Encounters — a tough movie about being a bad dad who can’t say no to his obsessions! — Spielberg asked the brilliant Melissa Mathison to write him a fairy tale. Spielberg’s young perspective is unmatched. Even though movie stars have popped up throughout the filmography as movie stars, Henry Thomas’ work surpasses all of them. It’s The performance of the director’s career. And I’ll just say: We all know E.T. is the top Spielberg movie of all time because when he digitally removed the guns from his federal agent baddies’ hands in a home video release, we all got mad and he felt dumb and undid it. This movie is perfect.

Here’s some hot-take chums:

• Tony Kushner has been a godsend to Spielberg’s late career and should co-own Munich, West Side Story, FabelmansTheir crowning achievement was Lincoln.
• The Post is what happens when Spielberg reads the paper and blogs — disaster.
• Schindler’s List is about an extremely important topic, it’s crafted with diligent docudrama filmmaking, it would only get made with Spielberg’s cred, so thankfully he did, but narratively, it’s not a Great movie. A tough thing to admit (but it’s absolutely worth a rewatch in our present moment).
• Stevie is a great example of Stevie’s uncompromising love and generosity. Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Tintin and the Adventures of TintinPlease see the following: All set to play! He is praised for his timeless classics. But we must also appreciate the way he manipulated Hollywood. It is now up to him to make it a point and allow other, more diverse voices to have the chance at gambling. Let’s see what happens. E.T. How would your neighborhood look? For a child who was born in 2000, what is Indiana Jones’ retro-adventure movie? Spielberg should help get those movies made at a time when it’s harder than ever to get his kind of original popcorn movies made.
• The best John Williams scores in Spielberg movies almost lines up with my top five Spielberg movies, but I’d swap Catch me if you can And Lincoln Check out Schindler’s And Empire of the Sun.

Universal Pictures

Mike Mahardy

1. Jaws
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Jurassic Park
4. Catch me if you can
5. Lincoln

It was clear that my vote won the top spot: I will not miss it. JawsFor the rest of my adult life, I plan to do this at least once every year. The movie is simultaneously a scary monster movie and a comedy with friends, as well as a powerful examination of small-town politics. It also focuses on two individuals who are determined to find a truth no one else can or will see. I didn’t mean to take up all of my space here writing about Jaws, but it’s just that layered — I have never come away from a viewing with the same read twice. Aside from Catch me if you can (which I adore as a master class in script writing and editing momentum), each movie on my list represents Spielberg at the height of his “big ideas, intimate story” approach to filmmaking. JawsHis magnum opus remains in this regard.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Pete Volk

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2. Lincoln
3. Fabelmans
4. Minority Report
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark

For a long time, I found Spielberg’s sincerity off-putting. After that, I learned to love Spielberg’s sincerity. Now I love so many of his movies, and I’m astounded by the way he can switch between pop blockbuster fare and grounded character portraits. He literally invents and reinvents the modern blockbuster two times. Jaws And Jurassic Park, and yet neither made my list (through no fault of theirs, as they both rule — the man has just made too many hits). I think the top three on here are legitimate masterpieces — Fabelmans moved me very deeply — and my final two picks are the blockbustery Spielbergs that I find the most fun. You can read the rest of this article here. Columbo Superfan! I feel obligated also to mention that I included the Spielberg-directed pilot episode. ColumboIt counts as a film.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Tasha Robinson

1. Jaws
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Jurassic Park
4. Empire of the Sun
5. Minority Report

For me, the ranking doesn’t even get difficult until No. 5. These four classics are unquestionable. JawsI particularly like how it reveals deeper levels of character and symbolism each time I revisit it. For slot 5, it’s a close call between Minority Report, Bridge of SpiesPlease see the following: Catch me if you canIn terms of adventure-thrillers that are tight and taut, this is with A.I. Artificial Intelligence also in the running as a more ambitious and densely thoughtful movie, although it’s also more scattershot and sprawling. Minority ReportThis movie has a slight advantage and is on my top ten list because it’s so well-written and pure entertainment. It also explores some thought-provoking areas that are connected to broken windows policing, racial profiling, and other facets of policing. You can sure tell from this list that I prefer Spielberg in blockbuster entertainment mode over political/historical mode most of the time, but I’ll make an exception for the unusually raw and personal story in Empire of the Sun.

Image credit: 20th Century Studios

Toussaint Elgan

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Jurassic Park
3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
4. Minority Report
5. War of the Worlds

Growing up, my dreams were to become a cartoonist and a paranormal investigator. As an archaeologist, I would run away from large boulders and punch Nazis in the faces. Bear in mind, at 6 years old I hadn’t the faintest idea of what the hell a Nazi was or what they believed in, but if Dr. Henry Walton “Indiana” Jones Jr. hated them, that was good enough for me.

Steven Spielberg was a filmmaker whose films have been an integral part in my life since before I even knew him. He is the rarest of directors, one whose movies I have seen and enjoyed countless times over the years, yet whose works I nonetheless feel self-conscious in attempting to categorize — let alone rank. To be clear: My ballot is not what I myself would describe as a ranking of “the best movies Steven Spielberg has ever directed,” but rather could be better described as “a list of Steven Spielberg movies that have left an impact on my life.” Science fiction is one of my favorite genres of all time, if not my favorite. It’s one I grew to love having grown up on a steady diet of some of the best stories and films the genre had to offer — many of which were directed by Spielberg. As a comedian I admired once said, “The mark of greatness is when everything before you is obsolete, and everything after you bears your mark.” I can think of no better way of describing Steven Spielberg and his indelible contributions to the whole of cinema.

Image by Paramount Pictures

Samit Sarkar

1. Jurassic Park
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Jaws
4. Save Private Ryan
5. Catch me if you can

The fact that we all have three of the same films at the top of the list is a sign of something. When your filmography is as long, varied, influential, and popular as Steven Spielberg’s — or perhaps I should say close to it, since no one has had a career like his — it’s impressive that we can pretty much agree on the best work.

Although I don’t like to admit it, I may not have actually put. Jaws this high on my list had I not rewatched it last year on 4K Blu-ray, but the 4K restoration that was conducted in 2012 is stunning — as Spielberg himself said in a featurette, this version “looks better than the film looked when first projected in 1975.” Oh, and the movie itself owns, too.

Both! Jurassic ParkAnd Raiders of the Lost ArkI find them to be sentimental. I was 7 years old when the first movie was released. It was the main reason why every child in my generation wanted a career as a paleontologist. Once I saw the movie, my career changed to being an archaeologist. Raiders. These two movies are a good example of how it is done. Save Private Ryan is on my list partly because of when I came to it; it was one of the first war films I saw, and it still sticks in my mind as a filmmaking achievement with a stirring story whose sentimentality doesn’t undercut the horrors depicted. What about? Catch me if you can, it’s a great demonstration of Spielberg’s range — he’s best known for blockbusters and historical dramas, but he can be funny when he wants to!

Image: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Susana Polo

1. Jurassic Park
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
4. Hook
5. Empire of the Sun

Look. Look. Has Spielberg directed weightier fare? Absolutely. Are there bigger swings? He most certainly has. But the work he’s done in the realm of big-concept action is sublime. Jurassic ParkThis movie is almost perfect. I’ve seen Empire of the SunOnly once, images of it will remain in my memory forever. Raiders of the Lost Ark is a treatise on how the so-called “low brow” doesn’t need elevating — it just needs to be taken seriouslyAnd earnestly. Last Crusade and Hook… Look. It is what the heart longs for.