Ringside Report Puts the Spotlight on Steven Spielberg

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By Geoffrey Huchel

Steven Spielberg is one of American film industries most successful filmmakers with praise for his directing talent and versatility. Many of his movies are among the highest-grossing of all time. He is also considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood Era, and is regarded as one of the most popular directors, and producers in film history. In addition to his directing and producing success, Spielberg co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Studios.

Spielberg began his career directing television and minor theatrical releases, but became a household name after he directed the classic thriller JAWS (1975), a critical and commercial success and was one of the first summer blockbusters. After JAWS, Spielberg next film was the sci-fi drama CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977), starring JAWS star Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr. In the 1980s Spielberg directed two of the biggest movies of that decade- RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), starring Harrison Ford and Karen Allen and E.T. (1982), starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace and a young Drew Barrymore.

Spielberg’s next film reunited him with Harrison Ford for INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM (1984). The hit movie also starred his future wife Kate Capshaw. His next film was the Oscar nominated drama THE COLOR PURPLE (1985), featuring a stellar cast including Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey. Spielberg finished the decade with EMPIRE OF THE SUN (1987), starring Christian Bale and John Malkovich, INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989), pairing Harrison Ford with Sean Connery as the father/son duo and ALWAYS (1989), starring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman and Audrey Hepburn.

The 1990s have brought more success and hit films for Spielberg, such as HOOK (1991), starring Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman, and the Oscar winning drama SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993), starring Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Kingsley. Also in 1993, Spielberg released the blockbuster JURASSIC PARK, starring Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, and its sequel, THE LOST WORLD (1997), starring Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore. Spielberg’s next two films were the dramas AMISTAD (1997), starring Djimon Hounsou and Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman, and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1997), starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.

Throughout the 2000s Spielberg released the films A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001), MINORITY REPORT (2002), starring Tom Cruise, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (2002), starring Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio, THE TERMINAL (2004), with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta Jones, WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005), featuring an All Star cast including Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Tim Robbins and Miranda Otto, and MUNICH (2005) with Eric Bana and Daniel Craig. Spielberg reunited once again with Harrison Ford for INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008), the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones saga.

In recent years Spielberg released WAR HORSE (2011), LINCOLN (2012), which went on to win two Oscars, BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015), where he collaborated again with Tom Hanks, THE BFG (2016), the biographical drama THE POST (2017), starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, and the most recent of his films, the action adventure READY PLAYER ONE (2018). Spielberg has a number of projects lined up including the Untitled Indiana Jones Project, which has a tentative release date for 2021, and an updated version of the classic musical WEST SIDE STORY.

Spielberg may be known mostly for his directing, but he has quite an extensive resume of films and television productions that he’s produced throughout his career, some that many of us may not have known about including POLTERGEIST (1982), THE GOONIES (1985), THE MONEY PIT (1986), WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988), THE LAND BEFORE TIME (1988), ), the animated WB series TINY TOON ADVENTURES (1990) and ANIMANIACS (1993), BACK TO THE FUTURE (entire series) , THE FLINTSTONES (1994),TWISTER (1996), MEN IN BLACK (entire series), BAND OF BROTHERS (2001), FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (2006), TRANSFORMERS (2007), THE LOVELY BONES (2009), SUPER 8 (2011), JURASSIC WORLD (2015) and JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM (2018),

Major Awards for Spielberg include:

Oscar- Directing-SCHINDLER’S LIST
Directing-SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
Golden Globe-Cecile B. DeMille Award
Golden Globe- Directing- SCHINDLER’S LIST
Directing- SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

Essential Spielberg:

JAWS (1975)
E.T. (1982)
SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
JURASSIC PARK (1993)
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
LINCOLN (2012)

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