Steven Spielberg has been one of our greatest living filmmakers for decades; at this point, one could argue that it was confirmed after his four movies and has only been cemented with each subsequent masterpiece. Across his six decades of working in Hollywood, Spielberg has put his stamp on almost every genre throughout his films, delivering movies that fully defined their respective shelves at the video store like Raiders of the Lost Ark and action-adventure, Schindler’s List and historical drama, Saving Private Ryan and War, and even West Side Story and musicals.
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There’s one genre that Spielberg keeps returning to, though, with great success, and it’s science fiction. Across his entire filmography, Spielberg has delivered a new sci-fi movie in every decade, with this week marking his 2020s sci-fi movie in Disclosure Day. Now that the Oscar-winner has nine fully science fiction movies under his belt (though we’re not counting his lone segment from The Twilight Zone: The Movie), it’s time to figure out which one reigns supreme. The best part, there aren’t even any “bad” movies on the whole list.
9) The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The commercial success of Jurassic Park required a sequel, and in true Spielberg fashion, it manages to escalate the things we liked about the original in surprising ways. The trouble with The Lost World on the whole is that, even though it does have more compelling dinosaur action, the film largely loses its way with an ending that feels like it’s barely stapled on to everything that came before it. The Lost World loses all of its steam when it still has twenty minutes left, on top of having a ludicrous plot that is a weak retcon to the original movie. Despite all this, it’s still mostly fun to watch.
8) Ready Player One
There is a thematic current to Ready Player One that is marginally compelling, as Steven Spielberg himself wrestles with the idea that his contributions to pop culture have created this alienating effect on fans who are more interested in living within fiction than engaging with reality. That said, this detail gets lost in the brazen visual effects extravaganza that throws countless references at the audience, all buried under a dull gray sheen that removes much of the charm of these characters and locations, making for a muddy and dizzying experience. In the end, it’s entertaining, but it falls well short of Spielberg’s other sci-fi hits.
7) War of the Worlds
Given the decades of adaptations (some with immense cultural staying power), it speaks to Spielberg’s abilities as a filmmaker and storyteller that he can take a well-known story like this and make it feel fresh. By telling H.G. Wells’ novel through the lens of responding to 9/11 and the War on Terror, Spielberg’s take on War of the Worlds is a harrowing experience that has stood the test of time in the twenty years since its release. Though its take on the tripods and aliens is legitimately terrifying, it does have the hurdle of a hokey ending.
6) A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Though greeted with a mixed reception upon release, A.I. Artificial Intelligence has managed to largely age incredibly well. The film’s ideas about not only autonomous robots, but the reactions that different classes in society will have toward them, plus the larger warning about climate change, make it an incredibly prescient film for 2001. In addition, the movie has some incredible performances by Haley Joel Osment, Frances O’Connor, and Jude Law. What’s so distinct about A.I. Artificial Intelligence, though, is that it’s a film with two major directors’ sensibilities. The combination of both Kubrick and Spielberg mostly works across the movie, but in the end it all coalesces into a finale that fails to stick the landing in a major way.
5) Disclosure Day
Spielberg’s return to sci-fi after eight years proves that the filmmaker still has a spin on his fastball. Not only an engaging blockbuster with dynamic action sequences, but Disclosure Day has an incredible performance by Emily Blunt, flanked by another impressive ensemble. There’s also a timely thematic arc about the power of empathy in a world where the powers that be are literally banking on cynicism continuing to hold the human race in its grasp. Thrilling and fun, the only thing that holds Disclosure Day down toward the middle of this list is that everything else that follows is a true blue masterpiece.
4) Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Spielberg’s first foray into the genre, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is the best kind of fiction in that it gave the world a language to use for their own interest in the unexplainable, popularizing UFO obsession and making it mainstream. Tapping into that subculture, the film proved that Spielberg was not only one of the best directors in Hollywood but that he could fully develop his own ideas and didn’t need a bestseller (like Jaws) to give him a foundation. As a filmmaker, Spielberg shows off his storytelling prowess across Close Encounters‘ many iconic moments, cementing his place in history, even if pieces of the film get a little too big for the scope he clearly wants to maintain.
3) Minority Report
With Minority Report, Spielberg not only combined his own sensibilities for vast world-building and amazing action sequences, but did it with one of the best action stars of all-time in front of the camera, Tom Cruise. Beyond epic moments that deftly meld both science fiction and action into jaw-dropping spectacle, Minority Report asks existential questions that give the audience even more to chew on than just the filmmaking they’re taking in. Minority Report stumbles some in its finale, but the film makes up for it with its effortlessly entertaining set pieces and shocking twists that build and evolve across the film.
2) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Though many of his other films about aliens deal with the concept of extra-terrestrials as either antagonistic forces or simply curious observers, E.T. is Spielberg exploring the idea not only of an alien as your friend but also shows that the acceptance of an otherworldly visitor might be the most rewarding possible path for humanity. Featuring incredible performances by young stars Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore, with the always iconic Dee Wallace, E.T. is a true roller coaster that can thrill, excite, sadden, and scare audiences of all ages. On top of that, it’s a sci-fi film that stands alone in the larger pantheon of the genre. Though there are imitators and copycats, nothing comes close to E.T.
1) Jurassic Park
There are a lot of dinosaur movies out in the world, but almost none of them have an actual good reason for why there are even dinosaurs in the movie. With Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg not only delivered the best dinosaur movie of all time, but an epic chapter of science fiction that continues to not only influence the ideas of fiction writers but actualy scientists. Though clearly within the markers of the genre, Jurassic Park cements itself as one of Spielberg’s best because he uses it as a place to exercise his muscles across every other genre, blending them seamlessly. Action, adventure, suspense, drama, thrills, and more are all pieces of Jurassic Park that make it amusing at every turn and Spielberg’s best science fiction movie (so far, at least).
