MRQE Ranks: Steven Spielberg's Best to Worst Movies

1

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Wolf Kahler, Paul Freeman, Ronald Lacey

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Lawrence Kasdan, Philip Kaufman, George Lucas, Willard Huyck

Synopsis: Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is no ordinary archeologist. When we first see him, he is somewhere in the Peruvian jungle in 1936, running a booby-t... [MORE]

2

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Cast: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when th... [MORE]

3

Jaws (1975)

Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark saga set the standard for the New Hollywood popcorn blockbuster while f... [MORE]

4

Schindler's List (1993)

Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportu... [MORE]

5

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg directed this powerful, realistic re-creation of WWII's D-day invasion and the immediate aftermath. The story opens with a prologu... [MORE]

6

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Francois Truffaut, Bob Balaban

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975), his first major box-office success, with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of peop... [MORE]

7

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Alison Doody, John Rhys-Davies

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: The third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late Ri... [MORE]

8

Duel (1971) (TV)

Cast: Dennis Weaver, Tim Herbert, Charles Seel, Jacqueline Scott

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Driving down a deserted Southern California highway at a safe and sane 55 miles per hour, David Mann (Dennis Weaver) steps on the pedal to pass a l... [MORE]

9

Minority Report (2002)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Lois Smith

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on a short story by the late Philip K. Dick, this science fiction-thriller reflects the writer's familiar preoccupation with themes of concea... [MORE]

10

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: A gifted forger and confidence man attempts to stay one step ahead of the lawman determined to bring him to justice in this comedy-drama from Steve... [MORE]

11

Munich (2005)

Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Geoffrey Rush

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Much as Steven Spielberg followed 1993's special-effects blockbuster Jurassic Park with a far more downbeat and personal project later the same yea... [MORE]

12

Jurassic Park (1993)

Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, B.D. Wong

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg's phenomenally successful sci-fi adventure thriller is graced by state-of-the-art special effects from the team of Stan Winston, P... [MORE]

13

The Color Purple (1985)

Cast: Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard Pugh

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldbe... [MORE]

14

The Sugarland Express (1974)

Cast: Goldie Hawn, William Atherton, Michael Sacks, Ben Johnson, Gregory Walcott

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on an actual incident, Steven Spielberg's first theatrical feature follows the adventures of a Texas outlaw couple striving to keep their fam... [MORE]

15

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Frances O'Connor, Jude Law, Sam Robards, Jake Thomas

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on the 1969 short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, by Brian Aldiss, this science fiction fantasy bears similarities to Pinocchio (1940)... [MORE]

16

War of the Worlds (2005)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto, Tim Robbins

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: An ordinary man has to protect his children against alien invaders in this science fiction thriller, freely adapted from the classic story by H.G. ... [MORE]

17

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf, Karen Allen, Cate Blanchett, John Hurt

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Everyone's favorite archeologist adventurer dusts off his hat and trusty whip for yet another globetrotting trek as Indiana Jones returns to the bi... [MORE]

18

Amistad (1997)

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew McConaughey, Nigel Hawthorne, Djimon Hounsou

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: This Steven Spielberg-directed exploration into a long-ago episode in African-American history recounts the trial that followed the 1839 rebellion ... [MORE]

19

War Horse (2011)

Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Director Steven Spielberg's epic World War I drama details the remarkable bond between a man named Albert (Jeremy Irvine) and his loyal horse, Joey... [MORE]

20

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Cast: Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost, Jamie Bell

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: DreamWorks presents this computer-animated motion-capture adaptation of Georges Remi's beloved Tintin comic strip in this first installment of a pl... [MORE]

21

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Cast: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri, Philip Stone

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: The second of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones epics is set a year or so before the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984). After ... [MORE]

22

The Terminal (2004)

Cast: Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, Chi McBride, Diego Luna

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Andrew Niccol, Sacha Gervasi

Synopsis: Shot almost entirely on a two-and-a-half-story recreation of a full-size operating airport terminal, this romantic comedy from director Steven Spie... [MORE]

23

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Arliss Howard, Richard Attenborough

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Just when you'd think that scientists would realize dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. I... [MORE]

24

1941 (1979)

Cast: Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: It's December of 1941, and the people of California are in varying states of unease, ranging from a sincere desire to defend the country to virtual... [MORE]

25

Hook (1991)

Cast: Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Steven Spielberg filters J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan through a distinctly 1990s sensibility in Hook. Peter Pan has become Peter Banning (Robin William... [MORE]

26

Always (1989)

Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Brad Johnson, John Goodman, Audrey Hepburn

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: For all its state-of-the-art special effects, Always is essentially a remake of the 1943 Spencer Tracy-Irene Dunne fantasy vehicle A Guy Named Joe-... [MORE]

27

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Cast: Vic Morrow, John Lithgow, Kathleen Quinlan, Scatman Crothers, Dan Aykroyd, Albert Brooks, Nancy Cartwright, Burgess Meredith, John Larroquette

Director: George Miller, Joe Dante, John Landis, Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on the popular television series created by Rod Serling, this film of horror and the supernatural tells four separate stories--each by a diff... [MORE]

28

Empire of the Sun (1987)

Cast: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano

Director: Steven Spielberg

Synopsis: Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun stars Christian Bale as a spoiled young British boy, living with his wealthy fami... [MORE]