35. The Terminal (2004)
Paramount PicturesViktor Navorski's home country collapses amid a civil war just before he arrives in New York, leaving his passport invalid. Once he's a citizen of no country, he's forced to live at JFK. If you love airports and duty-free shops, this movie is for you.
34. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Universal PicturesIf there's one thing Hollywood loves, it's milking a franchise until it's dead. Even Spielberg isn't immune to taking on a bad sequel, and The Lost World is proof that the great director can indeed deliver a misfire.
33. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Paramount PicturesBy far the weakest link in the Indiana Jones franchise, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull one showed a 66-year-old Harrison Ford fighting Soviets... who were on the hunt for extraterrestrial crystal skulls.
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32. 1941 (1979)
Universal PicturesThis madcap comedy about the infamous (and mysterious) Battle of Los Angeles following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor features an ensemble cast of comedy titans including Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Candy, and John Belushi.
31. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Warner Bros.Spielberg's installment in this sci-fi/horror anthology sees the elderly residents of Sunnyvale Retirement Home revisiting their childhood—experiencing the joy and burdens of youth—when a mysterious resident named Mr. Bloom moves in.
30. Always (1989)
Universal PicturesIn Always, Richard Dreyfuss stars as an aerial firefighter who, after getting killed on the job, returns as a spirit to mentor another young pilot (Brad Johnson). The plot gets a little (read: a lot) more complicated when the younger pilot falls for the elder pilot's widow (Holly Hunter).
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29. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Paramount PicturesThe beloved Belgian boy-hero gets the big-screen treatment in this motion-capture film, with Jamie Bell as the adventurous roving reporter who seeks out on a hunt for a lost, sunken ship with the help of a cantankerous sea captain.
28. Ready Player One (2018)
Warner Bros.Spielberg offers up an onslaught of '80s pop-culture references in his adaptation of Ernest Cline's dystopian novel, in which the distant future sees all of humanity finding salvation in a virtual reality universe called the OASIS.
27. The BFG (2016)
Touchstone PicturesOscar-winner Mark Rylance steps into the role of Roald Dahl's big, friendly giant, proving that he can perfectly disappear into any performance (especially if he's playing a computer-generated character).
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26. War of the Worlds (2005)
DreamWorks PicturesSpielberg brings his usual flash and vision to another extra-terrestrial tale—a passable adaptation of H. G. Wells's sci-fi classic—this time giving Earth's celestial guests deadly motives as they pummel our world.
25. War Horse (2011)
Touchstone PicturesPerhaps one of the most non-traditional war epics, War Horse examines World War I through the eyes of a Thoroughbred horse who joins the ranks of the British army.
24. The Surgarland Express (1974)
Universal PicturesSpielberg made his theatrical feature debut with this crime drama that stars Goldie Hawn as a woman that helps her husband escape from jail in order to spring their son out of foster care. It's an impressive first feature—which announced a major cinematic talent.
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23. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Paramount PicturesTemple of Doom has the notorious distinction of being so bloody and scary that it basically initiated the creation of the PG-13 rating. Unfortunately, it doesn't totally hold up today.
22. Empire of the Sun (1987)
Warner Bros.Christian Bale's breakthrough performance is the shining light of this war drama, in which an upper-class British boy living in Shanghai sees his life turned upside-down during the Japanese occupation in World War II.
21. Amistad (1997)
DreamWorks PicturesThis historical drama follows the slave uprising on the ship La Amistad and the subsequent legal battle that ensued once the Mende tribesmen were captured by an American ship.
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20. Hook (1991)
TriStar PicturesThe boy who would never grow up did, in fact, grow up—at least that's what Hook presupposes. Robin Williams plays an uptight, workaholic corporate lawyer whose children are kidnapped by a long-lost enemy: Dustin Hoffman's Captain James Hook.
19. Duel (1971)
Universal PicturesThis TV movie marked Spielberg's directorial debut—one so successful that it received a theatrical release. It follows a traveling salesman who is stalked on a two-lane desert highway by an unseen driver manning a tanker truck.
18. West Side Story (2021)
20th Century FoxMaybe it was the COVID-19 pandemic, or maybe audiences just don't enjoy a good movie musical like they used to, but West Side Story was criminally underappreciated when it debuted. Directing the likes of Rachel Zegler and Rita Moreno was clearly a blast for Spielberg—and it shows.
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17. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Warner Bros.Spielberg famously took on this film project from Stanley Kubrick following the acclaimed auteur's death in 1999. The result is a Spielberg-Kubrick fusion: a Pinocchio-inspired morality tale about a child robot.
16. The Post (2017)
20th Century FoxSpielberg's timely political drama looks back at Washington Post publisher Kay Graham and editor Ben Bradlee as they prepare to go up against the Nixon White House to publish the infamous Pentagon Papers in 1971.
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