Movie News

STEVEN SPIELBERG’s Earliest Films are better than yours.

Steven Allan Spielberg, (born December 18, 1946)[1] film director and producer. Two time Oscar winner (and victim of the Oscar Snub) and one of the most influential filmmakers in history.

I’ve been a fan of Steven Spielberg since I was about 5 years old, when I first saw the films JAWS. But I’ve never have seen his earliest works, until I looked up and realized You Tube had them. What don’t they have that isn’t MGM related material anyways ?

I have ran across a few people from time to time that decry the man and say it’s all BS and yes, it’s usually from the Art House Crowd wannabe who can’t see past the rose colored brain disorder they seem to have. If it ain’t Tarkovsky or Wenders, it’s crap ! Don’t get me wrong, I love those guys but if one cannot look at Schindler’s List and just not accept the genius, then you must be an idiot.

Speaking of Ray Carney, anti film fan with the thickest pair of rose colored goggles you’ll ever find and who has said that “Spielberg’s films lack depth and do not take risks”. Schindler’s didn’t take a risk ? The Color Purple didn’t take a risk ? Oh yes Ray, those films are sure blockbusters. Ray! You’re missing the point badly. It’s okay to like more than one type of cinema style or genre.

Before we get to the films …

My favorite(s)

Jaws (My GOAT)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Top 30 Ever)
1941 (Yes, absurd, but a timeless film from my childhood.)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Top 20 Ever)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Poltergeist (Phantom Director)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Jurassic Park (The T-REX scene alone seals the deal)
Schindler’s List (2nd Best Film Ever for me)
Amistad
Saving Private Ryan (Top 20 Ever)
Minority Report
Munich (Top 30 Ever)
War of the Worlds

Not Favorites, but worth the time

The Color Purple
Empire of the Sun
Always
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Artificial Intelligence: A.I.
Catch Me if You Can
The Terminal

Bad

Hook
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Sorry Steven. George’s involvement with Indiana Jones has screwed up the entire thing.)

Amblin

Amblin’ is a short film released in 1968. It is the first completed film shot by Steven Spielberg on 35mm. The film is a short story set during late ’60s about a young couple who meet up in the desert, become friends, then lovers and make their way to a paradisiacal beach.

A young guy, carrying a closely guarded guitar case, hooks up with a free spirited girl when hitchhiking across the desert in southern California en route to the Pacific coast. Along the way, the man engaged the girl in an olive spitting contest and the girl initiates the guy into the joys of cannabis smoking and sex in a sleeping bag. As the pair reach the beach, the guy frolics in the surf and the girl checks out the contents of his guitar case: a suit and tie, toothpaste, mouthwash, a roll of toilet paper and a copy of Arthur Clarke’s The City and the Stars. The girl smiles in bemusement, perhaps sensing all along that her companion was a geek. She then proceeds to stand up and leave the beach, leaving the man behind.

ESCAPE TO NOWHERE

WW2 Super 8. Just like the ones I used to make when I was 14. Except not as good.

FIRELIGHT

Firelight is a 1964 science fiction adventure film. It was written by Steven Spielberg at the age of 16 and he directed it on a budget of $600. The film was his first commercial success, was shown at a local cinema and generated a profit of $100.

© 2008 Cineobscure.