It’s perhaps inaccurate to label a director likeMartin Scorseseas a “crime movie filmmaker,” since he’s done a lot, but you wouldn’t blame everyone who makes that generalization, because he’s best known for crime movies. The same can potentially be said ofJohn Fordand Westerns, andDario Argentoand horror movies. But when it comes toSteven Spielberg, it is genuinely difficult – even with generalizing permitted – to pin him down to a single genre. The famously versatileStanley Kubrickis probably easier to pin down,given how many war movies he made. But Spielberg has done classic action films (Raiders of the Lost Ark), monumental historical dramas (Schindler’s List), acclaimed war movies (Saving Private Ryan), and even a pretty great musical (2021’sWest Side Story). As part of his seeming attempts to direct as many types of movies as possible, he’s also done his fair share of science fiction.
What follows is a rundown of some of the best sci-fi movies Spielberg has directed; the ones that are close to masterful, or just outright masterpieces in ways that are hard to dispute. The versatility does continue, to some extent, thanks to these movies not being all strictly sci-fi. One is also something of an action movie, another is a family/coming-of-age movie, and one further is a sci-fi film and an iconic monster movie (of sorts) at the same time. These movies are just all extremely well put together, showcasing Spielberg at the top of his game in four different decades, funnily enough. That wasn’t intentional, to pick one per decade,but he has a single iconic sci-fi movie from the 1970s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and 2000s(the 2010s gave usReady Player One… which is maybe over-hated, though it’s definitely not close to masterful). Anyway, ranking great movies is hard, but that’s what has been attempted below, starting with the extremely good and ending with the absolutely immense.
4’Minority Report' (2002)
Starring: Tom Cruise, Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell
A little before hebecame particularly well known for runningand saving the world as Ethan Hunt,Tom Cruisepartnered with Steven Spielbergfor a pair of sci-fi movies (okay, admittedly, there had been twoMission: Impossiblemovies before 2002, but later films saw stakes being raised and the amount of on-screen running increasing). Of those two Cruise + Spielberg movies, War of the Worlds is good, and worthy of an honorable mention for how intense it gets as an update of a very old story, butMinority Report– an update of a not-quite-as-old story,Philip K. Dick’sThe Minority Report(1956) – is the stronger movie overall. It has an undeniably fascinating premise that’s well-explored, given it takes place in a future where crime can be predicted before it happens, leading to arrests that occur, ideally, before anything violent can take place.
Or is it ideal? If a crime doesn’t happen, should it still be punished? That’s the dilemma at the heart ofMinority Report, which, though tonally different, is going for a similarly challenging exploration offuturistic justice asA Clockwork Orangefrom about three decades earlier. Things are established, and then stuff goes wrong, with Cruise playing an increasingly desperate man who finds himself dealing with being accused of something he didn’t do. It’s all mind-bending, stylishly presented, and very compelling. It’s a testament to Spielberg’s filmography that there are quite a few movies he directedthat are even better thanMinority Report, butas far as his sci-fi films of the 21st century go, this is the one that’s probably closest to flawless. Actually, can there be another honorable mention? Yes. There can. And it’s 2001’sA.I. Artificial Intelligence, which is a bit messy and unevenly paced, but underrated overall, and home to some truly devastating sequences.
Minority Report
3’Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977)
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr
As a 1977 release,Close Encounters of the Third Kindis a pretty early movie in Spielberg’s body of work, coming out when the director himself was only 30. To think he made the likes ofDuel,The Sugarland Express(another underrated one), and (especially)Jawswhen he was still in his 20s is wild. Anyway,Close Encounters of the Third Kindis one of the ultimate movies about UFOs, which is a subjectSteven Spielberg is reportedly revisiting now, almost 50 years later. They’re approached inClose Encounters of the Third Kindin a way that’s sometimes eerie, but never outright horrific. And this film isn’t exactly action-packed, either, but doesn’t have to be. It’s not about alien invaders or conflict between humans and extra-terrestrials, as instead, it’s about the existence of aliens being something that causes family drama.
Succeeding as both an exploration of obsession and as big-screen spectacle, Close Encounters of the Third Kind pulls off an impressive balancing act.
That might makeClose Encounters of the Third Kindsound boring, to call it more of a drama, but that is the core of the film. It’s about a father becoming obsessed with seeing a UFO again after one encounter, and the strain this puts on his family. Succeeding as both an exploration of obsession and as big-screen spectacle,Close Encounters of the Third Kindpulls off an impressive balancing act, and proves absorbing to watch. It’s a movie you kind of sink into, and it all builds to a finale that is understandably iconic.It’s classic science fictionwhile also doing things to differentiate itself from other movies that might get labeled as classic sci-fi. Also, for icing on the cake, it has a surprisinglygreat performance fromFrançois Truffaut, who’s otherwise best known as a director (including ofThe 400 Blows), whileRichard Dreyfussin the lead role gives what’s probably the best performance of his career, too.
Close Encounters of The Third Kind
2’Jurassic Park' (1993)
Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum
IfJurassic Parkcounts as a monster movie, then it’s perhaps the greatest of all time, or at least up there with the likes of the originalKing KongandGodzillamovies (released in 1933 and 1954, respectively). It’s also such an iconic movie that it probably doesn’t need much of an introduction, but in the interest of formality and giving it one, it’s about dinosaurs being brought back to life, effectively, to be the main attraction at a theme park that’s about to open. Of course, things don’t go to plan, and the people there before the park officially opens are put in danger due to a combination of negligence and Newman fromSeinfeld(grits teeth “…Newman!”). When all hell breaks loose,Jurassic Parkis obviously exciting and spectacular, withthe special effects still largely holding up, and likely looking completely out of this world for anyone lucky enough to see it back in 1993.
But the stuff before all the action inJurassic Parkis also excellent. The characters are engaging, the ideas brought up – while broad – are interesting, the dialogue is memorable, and themusic byJohn Williamsis sublime. The movie gives you a reason to care about the more in-your-face stuff, and so when it rolls around for all that to happen, it’s so much more intense. The imperfect approach can be seen in many ofthe sequels toJurassic Park. They might deliver on a dinosaur front, and have fun sequences, but nothing comes close to the original on a character/dialogue front.It’s a movie that feels perfectly written, perfectly cast,perfectly directed, and perfectly scored. Everything inJurassic Parkworks in – you guessed it – perfect harmony, and its status as a classic is more than well-deserved. So, with all that said, how can another Spielberg movie take the top spot ahead of it?
Jurassic Park
1’E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' (1982)
Starring: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton
Well, another Spielberg movie can take the top spot because the Spielberg movie in question isE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Itfeels just as perfectasJurassic Park, but perhaps excels even more because of the emotional punch it packs. It’s tremendously moving, both when you’re young and when you watch the film as an adult. It’s obviously easy to get wrapped up in the inherently exciting story if you’re in the former camp, but if you’re in the latter, then it’s the nostalgic feel ofE.T. the Extra-Terrestrialthat hits the hardest. You might not have grown up in the 1980s, but the nostalgia goes deeper, because this film, more than just about any other, recreates how it feels to be young, a little lost, and persistently curious.It’s definable as a coming-of-age moviein that regard, but then, of course, it’s also science fiction, because there’s an alien at the center of it all.
The core of the film is the bond between E.T. and Elliot, with the audience ideally warming up to the initially freaky E.T. at about the same time that Elliot does. They become friends, but also, Elliot wants to help E.T. reconnect with his own kind, given he was accidentally left on Earth in like a reverseHome Alonesort of situation. It’s fun, moving, exciting, sad, bittersweet, impactful… all those positive adjectives and more, especially when it comes tothe way the film ultimately wraps up.You could callE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialSpielberg’s most sentimental film, and you’d probably be right, but it’s not sentimental in a bad or forced way. It earns the right to deliver all the emotional punches it wants to, and those punches all land surprisingly hard. It’s just a classic movie, in every sense of the term, and probablySpielberg’s single greatest science fiction film.
