The 10 Best Movies Directed By Steven Spielberg (According To Metacritic)

Steven Spielberg is perhaps the most well-known director of all time, but what do critics consider to be his 10 best movies?

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There are few filmmakers in the history of cinema that can rival the status that Steven Spielberg holds and has held for numerous decades now. Hopping from genre to genre and adapting various works into beloved movies, Spielberg has displayed the chameleon-like qualities that many have identified in the work of his hero and contemporary, Stanley Kubrick.

Ranking the feature films from such an incomparable career down to just a top 10 is an incredibly difficult task that even the most seasoned cineastes struggle with. So, to examine a more objective take on the director’s filmography, let’s look at the highest scores that Spielberg’s movies have gained on Metacritic to get an impression of what most critics think is the best of his work so far.

10 Minority Report (80)

In a similar vein to Ridley Scott’s iconic adaptation of prolific science-fiction author Philip K.Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, 1982’s Blade Runner, this adaptation of one of Dick’s short stories utilizes star power and classic detective elements in conjunction with a signature blockbuster directing style.

Tom Cruise leads the movie as a cop in a not-so-distant future world where serious crimes are predicted in advance by a group of savants and then prevented by authorities, raising questions of free will and margins of error. The plot thickens further when Cruise’s troubled hero is predicted to commit murder and must go on the run to uncover the truth of his foreseen future.

9 Bridge of Spies (81)

One of Spielberg’s most well-known and well-liked fortes is his ability to delicately and engagingly handle dramatizations of complex real-life stories and events. Co-written by the Coen brothers, Bridge of Spies tells the story of James B. Donovan, who was tasked with negotiating the exchange of a captured KGB spy for a captured US spy plane pilot.

The movie marked Spielberg’s fourth collaboration with star Tom Hanks and earned six Oscar nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for co-star Mark Rylance.

8 The Post (83)

Another example of Spielberg’s deft handling of timely and intricate historical matters, The Post chronicles the story of the Pentagon Papers and, specifically, The Washington Post’s attempts to publish them.

Reteaming the director once again with Tom Hanks, and pairing him with the equally revered Meryl Streep, the movie earned Spielberg one of his numerous Oscar nominations for Best Picture and also added to Streep’s similarly impressive haul, earning another nomination for Best Actress for her.

7 Raiders of the Lost Ark (85)

A landmark in action and adventure cinema, this first outing of the iconic archeological hero Indiana Jones wowed critics as much as it did audiences and continues to do so decades later.

Beginning one of the most long-lasting and popular movie franchises of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark sees the whip-swinging Dr. Jones fight against Nazis to find the Ark of the Covenant on a globetrotting journey full of all the trappings that audiences have come to expect from tom-raiding and treasure-hunting movies.

6 Lincoln (86)

Focusing on the efforts of US President Abraham Lincoln to pass the Thirteenth Amendment through the House of Representatives during what would be the final months of his life, Lincoln is a sweeping epic of moral fortitude, political process, and the scars of war.

The movie was nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture, taking home Best Production Design and Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role as Lincoln.

5 Jaws (87)

Often cited as the first true blockbuster in movie history, Spielberg’s seminal horror movie changed the face of not only the genre, or the medium, but pop culture itself.

Revolving around a great white shark’s sudden feeding frenzy around the waters of an unsuspecting New England seaside town, Jaws showcased Spielberg’s then still-budding talents behind the camera and gifted the world with what is perhaps the most well-known example of a leitmotif through John Williams’ unforgettable score.

4 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (90)

A huge leap forward for the science-fiction genre in movies that was somewhat overshadowed by the immense success of Star Wars from Spielberg’s longtime collaborator and contemporary, George Lucas, earlier that same year.

Nevertheless, Close Encounters of the Third Kind had a palpable cultural impact that can still be felt today. Spielberg was nominated alongside his close creative ally Lucas for Best Director at the Oscars but both lost to Woody Allen for the movie Annie Hall.

3 Saving Private Ryan (91)

A notable development in not only war movies but the general portrayal of war in media, Saving Private Ryan tells the story of a group of US soldiers who are tasked with finding and returning a fellow infantryman who, unbeknownst to him, has lost all three of his brothers to the Second World War.

Packed with action spectacle, it redefined battle sequences and remains one of the director’s most brutally violent movies but was generally still seen as widely accessible, being nominated for 11 Oscars and winning 5, including Spielberg’s second win for Best Director.

2 E.T. The Extraterrestrial (91)

Spielberg surpassed the box office success of George Lucas’ Star Wars in 1982 with the release of his immensely popular science-fiction coming-of-age movie about a peaceful alien stranded on Earth in the care of a group of children still reeling from their parents’ separation.

Whilst an effects-driven genre movie in many ways, E.T. also remains one of Spielberg’s most clearly personal projects, with its most famous image going on to become the official logo of the director’s production company, Amblin Entertainment.

1 Schindler’s List (94)

The movie that finally earned Spielberg his first Oscar for directing after being nominated three times for Close Encounters, Raiders, and E.T., Schindler’s List dramatized the events surrounding German industrialist Oskar Schindler’s efforts to save Jewish prisoners from death during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories.

Sweeping, detailed, and heartbreaking in an almost incomparable way, the movie is frequently referred to as Spielberg’s greatest and most defining work, earning 12 Oscar nominations and winning 7, including Best Picture as well as Director.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/steven-spielberg-best-movies-ever-directed-according-critics/