30. 1941
This World War II spoof, Steven Spielberg’s first attempt at comedy, fell flat. Even the combined talents of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi couldn’t make this one a hit.
Metacritic score: 34
Image: Universal
29. Twilight Zone: The Movie
Spielberg’s piece of this movie, a short called Kick the Can, tells the story of a group of senior citizens magically getting their youth back. It’s not as well remembered as the Nightmare at 20,000 Feet segment, but it’s one of the movie’s better tales.
Metacritic score: 44
Image: Warner Bros.
28. Hook
Spielberg’s take on Peter Pan, starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, isn’t his best film. It’s filled with a sense of imagination, though, as a now-adult Pan returns to Neverland to rescue his children.
Fun fact: George Lucas and Carrie Fisher have uncredited cameos as a couple seen kissing on a bridge.
Metacritic score: 52
Image: TriStar Pictures
27. The Terminal
The Terminal is a strange romantic comedy about a man stranded without a home after his country breaks out in a civil war. This leads him to make a new home in the airport. Honestly, without Hanks and his co-star, Catherine Zeta-Jones, this movie likely wouldn’t work at all.
Metacritic score: 55
Image: DreamWorks
26. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The jokes in this film are silly, Indy takes on a little kid as a sidekick, and the villain sacrifices humans by ripping their hearts out.
It’s certainly a departure from Raiders of the Lost Ark. But that doesn’t make it a bad film — just different.
Metacritic score: 57
Image: Paramount
25. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
This sequel doesn’t hold a candle to the original film. With most of Jurassic Park‘s original cast not returning, Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm leads a new team through yet another dinosaur-filled island. And, of course, things go catastrophically wrong.
Metacritic score: 59
Image: Universal
24. Empire of the Sun
One of Spielberg’s many looks at World War II follows the life of a privileged young man sent to a prisoner of war camp in Japan. While some critics appreciated the film, it has a slow pace and a lack of heart compared to the novel it adapted.
Metacritic score: 62
Image: Warner Bros.
23. Amistad
Spielberg’s historical drama, about a group of slaves that overthrows their captors’ ship, gets off to a promising start. But many critics believe what followed was a simple courtroom drama that never managed to match the opening minutes.
Metacritic score: 63
Image: DreamWorks
19. The Sugarland Express (tie)
Spielberg’s first theatrical feature shows promise. However, this story of a husband and wife on the run ends up spending too much time focusing on the action rather than the characters.
Metacritic score: 65
Image: Universal
19. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (tie)
Here, Indy teams with his father for what should be an exciting adventure. Unfortunately, many critics thought that the series had become formulaic. If only they knew what was to come with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Metacritic score: 65
Image: Paramount
19. Artificial Intelligence: AI (tie)
AI happened only because Stanley Kubrick handed it to Spielberg. Even the best reviews cited the movie as deeply flawed, though many believe there to be brilliance found in it.
Metacritic score: 65
Image: Warner Bros.
19. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (tie)
What was meant to be Indy’s grand return to form was, instead, an opportunity for audiences to mock Shia LaBeouf. It wasn’t a hit. Few critics think the movie is worthy of the franchise.
Metacritic score: 65
Image: Paramount
18. The BFG
While this movie might be filled with fart jokes, it’s mostly just good, clean fun. Unfortunately, it didn’t meet box office expectations.
Metacritic score: 66
Image: Paramount
16. The Adventures of Tintin (tie)
The Adventures of Tintin, based on a comic book, is Spielberg’s only fully-animated movie. While it may not be as well-remembered as the likes of Indiana Jones, E.T., and Jaws, it feels like a return to the fun-loving Spielberg of the ’80s.
Metacritic score: 68
Image: Paramount
16. Jurassic Park (tie)
The first film in this franchise is still one of the best summer movies of all time.
Some believe the movie to be all flash with little substance. That doesn’t make Jurassic Park any less entertaining, though.
Metacritic score: 68
Image: Universal
15. War Horse
One of Spielberg’s most intriguing characters isn’t human, but a horse whose life is followed through multiple owners during World War I. As with some of Spielberg’s more dramatic work, though, some critics believed he was unable to bring the right weight to the material.
Metacritic score: 72
Image: DreamWorks
14. War of the Worlds
Spielberg’s second collaboration with Tom Cruise is exactly what an audience should expect in an alien invasion film. It’s equal parts exciting and terrifying, while looking beautiful and epic in scale.
Metacritic score: 73
Image: Paramount
13. Munich
This drama follows a group of assassins hunting those that murdered Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. While the movie received acclaim for its treatment of the true story it’s based on, some critics believed it to be too long and slow.
Metacritic score: 74
Image: Universal
12. Catch Me If You Can
In this film, an FBI agent (Tom Hanks) plays a game of cat and mouse with a con man (Leonardo DiCaprio). It’s a lot of fun. As Peter Travers explained in Rolling Stone, though, its one fault is that it’s just too long.
Metacritic score: 75
Image: DreamWorks
11. The Color Purple
The fact that this film stars Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey in their film debuts should be enough to land it high on the list. However, it’s the story of a young black woman in the first half of the 20th century–and the hardships she faces–that make The Color Purple a classic.
Metacritic score: 78
Image: Warner Bros.
10. Minority Report
This neo-noir drama, set in 2054, imagines a dystopian world where the police can predict crimes before they happen. It’s a haunting story, led by Tom Cruise in his first collaboration with the director.
Metacritic score: 80
Image: 20th Century Fox
9. Bridge of Spies
Spielberg’s look at the Cold War won Mark Rylance an Oscar and teamed the director, once more, with Tom Hanks. Together, the trio and Amy Ryan crafted a surprising story pulled right out of history: A lawyer brokers a prisoner exchange between the United States and Soviet Russia.
Metacritic score: 81
Image: Disney
8. The Post
Spielberg is at his best when recreating interesting moments from history. Led by Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, The Post does just that, spotlighting the Washington Post and its attempts to publish the Pentagon Papers in the Watergate Era.
Metacritic score: 83
Image: 20th Century Fox
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark
Not only is the first Indiana Jones adventure the best, it’s also one of the greatest action films of all time. It introduced the world to a new hero–an archeology professor names Henry Walton Jones Jr.
Metacritic score: 85
Image: Paramount
6. Lincoln
This biopic about the 16th President of the United States focused on the final four months of Abraham Lincoln’s life as he abolishes slavery. The team of Spielberg as director and Daniel Day-Lewis as Oscar-winning star creates a truly memorable story.
Metacritic: 86
Image: 20th Century Fox
5. Jaws
Jaws essentially created the summer blockbuster. The simple story of three men hunting a shark takes on a much larger feel once they take to the sea and do battle with the seemingly unkillable beast.
The only thing wrong with Jaws is the three Spielberg-free sequels that followed.
Metacritic score: 87
Image: Universal
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (tie)
It’s hard to follow an iconic movie like Jaws. But Spielberg did it only two years later with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a science fiction film that stands the test of time.
Metacritic score: 90
Image: Columbia Pictures
3. Saving Private Ryan (tie)
Whether it’s the stellar cast led by Tom Hanks, the harrowing action sequences, or how beautifully shot this war epic is, there’s no denying the impact of Saving Private Ryan. No wonder it won Spielberg his second directing Oscar.
Metacritic score: 90
Image: DreamWorks
2. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Watching E.T. for the first time is a defining childhood moment. The tale of a young boy and his new best friend, an alien, is a perfect ’80s adventure that showcases the wonder and excitement of Spielberg.
Metacritic score: 91
Image: Universal
1. Schindler’s List
Spielberg’s Oscar-winning look at the Holocaust and how one man was able to save countless people in Poland is his highest-regarded film of all time. It’s such a departure from the whimsical worlds Spielberg often creates, standing out as a true work of art.
Metacritic score: 93
Image: Universal
