Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE (born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio but raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona) is an Oscar winning Jewish American film director and producer whose films range from science fiction to historical drama to horror. He is noted in recent years for his willingness to tackle emotionally powerful issues, such as the horrors of the Holocaust in Schindler's List, slavery in Amistad, and the hardships of war in Saving Private Ryan. One consistent theme in his work is a childlike, even naïve, sense of wonderment and faith, as attested by works such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Hook and A.I..

Spielberg at his pinnacle

Indiana Jones

But what some would consider Spielberg's greatest film work was still to come, beginning in the 1980s. In 1981, Spielberg teamed up for the first time with his friend George Lucas to make Raiders of the Lost Ark, his homage to the cliffhanger serials of the Golden Age of Hollywood, with Harrison Ford (whom Lucas directed in Star Wars) as the dashing hero Indiana Jones. Raiders itself spawned two sequels, also directed by Spielberg and executive produced by Lucas.

Related Topics:
1980s - 1981 - George Lucas - Raiders of the Lost Ark - Serial - Golden Age - Harrison Ford - Star Wars - Indiana Jones

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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

One year later, Spielberg returned to his alien visitors motif with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a Disney-inspired story of a boy and the alien whom he befriends (and is trying to get back "home" to outer space). E.T. went on to become the top-grossing film of all time for many years.

Related Topics:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Disney

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When E.T. was released, Steven Spielberg, a Porsche 928 aficionado, had his car's moon-roof button re-designed with the movie's logo as both a gag for passengers, and a tribute to the movie's success. Despite their enormous appeal, few film scholars and critics place such Spielberg films as Raiders or E.T. in the same class as The Godfather, Citizen Kane, or many other classics of the cinema.

Related Topics:
Porsche 928 - The Godfather - Citizen Kane

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The Color Purple

In 1985, Spielberg made The Color Purple, an adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Many critics were unsure of whether or not Spielberg could handle such serious material, as his output to that point had been viewed as "lighter" entertainment. The film was released to great acclaim and proved Spielberg's ability as a serious, dramatic filmmaker. It received 11 Academy Award nominations in 1986, but Spielberg was snubbed in the Best Director category, which sent shockwaves through Hollywood. However, Spielberg was awarded the Directors Guild Award for his work on the film.

Related Topics:
1985 - The Color Purple - Alice Walker - Pulitzer Prize - Academy Award - 1986 - Best Director - Directors Guild Award

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Although nominated throughout his career for an Academy Award, the gold statuette had long eluded Spielberg, although in 1986 he was awarded The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for his work as a creative producer up to that point.

Related Topics:
Academy Award - 1986 - The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

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Hook & Jurassic Park

Spielberg had tried numerous times to film a live-action version of Peter Pan without success. He eventually decided to create his own take on the Pan legend in 1991. Hook focused on a middle-aged Pan (played by Robin Williams), who returns to Neverland to face the title character (Captain Hook, played by Dustin Hoffman). However, by the time the film began shooting, innumerable rewrites and creative changes made by the numerous major Hollywood players attached to project resulted in a film regarded by most critics as hit-and-miss at best. The film was made for $70 million (at that time a huge amount) and made $119 million domestically, but it was not as successful as some had hoped.

Related Topics:
Peter Pan - 1991 - Hook - Robin Williams - Neverland - Captain Hook - Dustin Hoffman

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In 1993, Spielberg decided to once again tackle the adventure genre, as he directed the movie version of Michael Crichton's novel Jurassic Park, about killer dinosaurs rampaging through a tropical island resort. The adaptation muted somewhat the novel's message about the consequences of mankind tampering with nature, instead focusing on the adventure aspects of the story. With the aid of revolutionary special effects provided by friend George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, the film became an instant classic. It would eventually overtake E.T. as the all-time top grossing film-- a position it held for several years (until James Cameron's Titanic).

Related Topics:
1993 - Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park - Dinosaur - Resort - Industrial Light and Magic - James Cameron - Titanic

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Schindler's List & Saving Private Ryan

It was in that same year that Jurassic Park was released that Spielberg finally won the critical acclaim he had long sought for making Schindler's List (based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man who sacrificed everything to save 1,100 people from the wrath of the Holocaust). That film earned him his first regular Academy Award for Best Director (it also won Best Picture).

Related Topics:
Schindler's List - The Holocaust - Academy Award - Best Director - Best Picture

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Another of Spielberg's most critically acclaimed films, the World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, was released in 1998. Spielberg considered it one of his finest works, yet in a highly publicized "showdown", it lost the Best Picture Oscar at the 1999 Academy Awards to Shakespeare in Love. However, Spielberg would win his second Academy Award for his direction in the war epic.

Related Topics:
Saving Private Ryan - 1998 - 1999 - Shakespeare in Love

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