Steven Spielberg, part XVII: Enter the void

ALWAYS

Spielberg tries his hand at straight-up romantic fantasy—and falls flat on his face with the worst film (so far, anyway) of his whole feature career.

1989

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Jerry Benson and Diane Thomas (based on the screenplay A Guy Named Joe by Dalton Trumbo and Frederick Hazlitt Brennan)

With Richard Dreyfuss (Pete Sandich), Holly Hunter (Dorinda Durich), John Goodman (Al Yackey), Brad Johnson (Ted Baker), and Audrey Hepburn (Hap)

Spoiler alert: high

Steven Spielberg, part V: What we are dealing with here is a perfect engine

JAWS

Already the purest monster movie of all time, if you also wanted to call Jaws the greatest, you wouldn't be able to find too many able to muster a particularly passionate argument against that, either.

1975

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb, and Steven Spielberg (based on the novel by Peter Benchley)

With Roy Scheider (Martin Brody), Robert Shaw (Sam Quint), Richard Dreyfuss (Matt Hooper), Lorraine Gary (Ellen Brody), and Murray Hamilton (Mayor Vaughn)

Spoiler alert: severe