UPDATE: Originally published around the release of “The Fabelmans,” this poll feels timely again. A new Steven Spielberg film hits theaters on Friday. Looking at the list below, “Disclosure Day” belongs somewhere in the #16–18 range. It’s worth noting.
Naturally, a new Steven Spielberg release has unleashed a flood of retrospectives, deep dives, and yet another round of obsessive rankings of his films. The latest come from Empire, The Guardian, Screen Crush, and Coming Soon, with many more likely to follow.
My own list would include “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Schindler’s List,” “Jaws,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” alongside 21st-century titles such as “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “Minority Report,” and “Munich.”
EARLIER: With a career spanning six decades and over 40 films, Spielberg remains that rarest of Hollywood figures, a filmmaker whose work straddles both commercial hits and genuine artistic achievements. And he’s not slowing down.
At 75, Spielberg released “The Fabelmans,” his most personal film yet, to rave reviews and won the TIFF Audience Award. That film came hot on the heels of his well-reviewed “West Side Story” remake, which nabbed seven Oscar nominations in 2021, including Best Picture.
So, when I asked around 100 critics to name their five greatest Spielberg films, the results reflected not just the cultural dominance of his classics but also a fascinating reshuffling of critical consensus.
It’s hardly a shock to see “Jaws” and “Schindler’s List” as the twin peaks of Spielberg’s career. They represent the two extremes of his genius: one redefining the modern blockbuster with masterful sense of suspense and spectacle, the other a sobering, devastating work of historical reckoning. “Jaws” made Spielberg a household name and changed Hollywood forever, while “Schindler’s List” cemented him as a serious artist capable of confronting the darkest chapters of human history.
1. Jaws — (64 votes)
2. Schindler’s List (44)
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (42)
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (39)
5. E.T. (31)
6. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (26)
7. Saving Private Ryan (23)
8. Minority Report (21)
9. Jurassic Park (19)
10. Munich (18)11. Catch Me If You Can (15)
12. Empire of the Sun (14)
13. Lincoln (13)
14. Duel (10)
15. The Sugarland Express (8)
16. West Side Story (7)
17. The Last Crusade (6)
18. The Temple of Doom (5)
19. Bridge of Spies (4)
20. The Color Purple (6)21. 1941 (3)
22. War of the Worlds (3)
23. The Post (3)
24. Always (2)
25. Ready Player One (2)
26. Tintin (1)
27. The Terminal (1)
And then there were the true outcasts; “Hook,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Amistad,” “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “War Horse,” and “The BFG”—which didn’t receive a single nod from any critic.
The most surprising shift? The critical rehabilitation of “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” Once dismissed as a muddled Kubrick-Spielberg hybrid upon its 2001 release, it’s now firmly in the top six, ahead of “Saving Private Ryan” and “Jurassic Park.” Time has clearly been kind to this haunting sci-fi fairy tale.
Notably, only one critic—Jordan Cronk—voted for “The Fabelmans,” likely because it had only just premiered at TIFF when the poll was conducted. If the timing were different, you can imagine it cracking the top 20.
What these results underscore is that while Spielberg will forever be tied to the blockbuster (Jaws, Raiders, E.T.), his more challenging or personal films (A.I., Munich) are gaining ground with critics. He’s no longer just the king of popcorn cinema—he’s an auteur whose “lesser” works are finally getting their due.
FULL LIST OF PARTICIPANTS:
Kaleem Aftab (BFI), Carlos Aguilar (RogerEbert), Ethan Alter (Yahoo Movies), Jeffrey M Anderson (San Francisco Chronicle), David Ansen (Newsweek), Michael Atkinson (Village Voice), Nicolas Bell (IONCINEMA), Alex Billington (First Showing), Chuck Bowen (Slant Magazine), Liz Braun (Toronto Sun), Tom Brueggmann (IndieWire), Daryl Chin (Documents on Arts and Cinema), Nick Clement (Variety), Laura Clifford (Reeling Reviews), Ben Croll (The Wrap), Jordan Cronk (Film Comment), Peter DeBruge (Variety), Ed Douglas (Below the Line), A Dowd (The AV Club), Michael Dunaway (Paste Magazine), Steven Erickson (Gay City News), Max Evry (Slash Film), Marshall Fine (Freelance), Steve Finkelstein (FB Film Forum), Garth Franklin (Dark Horizons), Jaky Goldberg (Les Inrokuptibles), Jason Gorber (That Shelf), Matthew Hays (Concordia, Professor), Patrick Heidmann (Zeit), Odie Henderson (RogerEbert), Barry Hertz (The Globe and Mail), Matt Hoffman (The Film School Rejects), Robert Horton (Film Comment), Peter Howell (Toronto Star), Richard T. Jameson (Film Comment), Dave Karger (TCM), Elizabeth Karlin (Freelance), Don Kaye (Den of Geek), Adam Kempenaar (FilmSpotting), Glenn Kenny (New York Times), Peter Keough (Boston Phoenix), Harry Knowles (Aint It Cool), Robert Koehler (Film Comment), Kevin Laforest (Exta Beurre), Joanna Langfield (The Movie Minute), Marcos Levy (Freelance), Craig D. Lindsey (Nashville Scene), Carson Lund (Slant Magazine), Rod Lurie (Director), Piers Marchant (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Eric Marchen (That Shelf), Steve Mears (Film Comment), Myron Meisel (Freelance), Jared Mobarak (The Film Stage), Matt Neglia (Next Best Picture), Sheila O'Malley (RogerEbert), Brian Owens (Calgary International Film Festival), Van Papadopoulos (Cannes Classics, Programmer) Michael Patterson (Michael’s Telluride Blog), Gerald Peary (Harvard Film Archive), Miguel Pendas (San Francisco Film Festival), David Poland (The Hot Button), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Timothy Rhys (Movie Maker), Carrie Rickey (Philadelphia Inquirer), Rene Rodriguez (Miami Herald), Nathaniel Rogers (The Film Experience), Nick Schager (Slant Magazine), Jordan Ruimy (World of Reel), Niles Schwartz (Slant Magazine), Yael Shuv (Time Out Tel Aviv), Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (Filmmaker), Jeff Sneider (The Ankler), Tony Joe Stemme (Freelance), Marlow Stern (The Daily Beast), David Sterritt (Christian Science Monitor), Sara Stewart (New York Post), Bob Strauss (San Francisco Chronicle), Sasha Stone (Awards Daily), Ed Symkus (Boston Globe), Brian Truitt (USA Today), Max Weiss (Baltimore Magazine), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), Oliver Whitney (Screen Crush), Matthew Wilder (Filmmaker), Chuck Wilson (LA Weekly), Susan Wloszcyna (Gold Derby)