Want to know the best Steven Spielberg movies? How about the worst Steven Spielberg movies? Curious about Steven Spielberg’s box office grosses or which Steven Spielberg movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Steven Spielberg movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
My first memory of Steven Spielberg? It was June 12th 1981. On that Friday morning, my father told me we were going to see a movie that was opening that I had never heard of before. My father could tell that I was not really interested. So he tried to get me excited about the movie. He said, “Look this movie is by the guy that made Star Wars and the guy that made Close Encounters. They got together and made a movie, it is supposed to be pretty good.” So we got ready and headed to an early afternoon showing of this movie.
When Raiders of the Lost Ark ended, I was convinced I had seen the greatest movie ever made. I went back that night to watch the movie a second time with some of my friends. Watching it the second time I really paid attention to the opening credits. Starring Harrison Ford (“hey that’s Han Solo”), story by George Lucas (“the Star Wars guy“), and directed by Steven Spielberg. I went to bed that night thinking, there is lots to learn about movies. Over thirty years later and I still go to bed thinking there is lots to learn about movies.
Steven Spielberg (1946-) has to be the most successful director of all time. He has had it all. Blockbuster movie after blockbuster movie. Critical darling after critical darling. Oscar® winning movie after Oscar® winning movie. His IMDb page shows 55 directing credits from 1959-2016. This page will rank 30 Steven Spielberg movies from Best to Worst in seven different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, video games and documentaries were not included in the rankings.
Steven Spielberg Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
1993
Schindler's List (1993)
AA Best Picture Win
AA Best Director Win
1998
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Win
1981
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Nom
1975
Jaws (1975)
AA Best Picture Nom
Director
1982
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Nom
2012
Lincoln (2012)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Nom
1985
The Color Purple (1985)
AA Best Picture Nom
1977
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
AA Best Director Nom
2002
Minority Report (2002)
1989
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Director
1993
Jurassic Park (1993)
2002
Catch Me if You Can (2002)
1984
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
2005
War of the Worlds (2005)
2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Director
2015
Bridge of Spies (2015)
AA Best Picture Nom
2018
Ready Player One (2018)
1997
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
2001
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
2011
War Horse (2011)
AA Best Picture Nom
2017
The Post (2017)
AA Best Picture Nom
Director
1991
Hook (1991)
2005
Munich (2005)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Nom
2021
West Side Story (2021)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Nom
2011
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
1997
Amistad (1997)
2004
The Terminal (2004)
2022
The Fabelmans (2022)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Director Nom
1987
Empire of the Sun (1987)
1989
Always (1989)
2016
The BFG (2016)
1974
The Sugarland Express (1974)
1983
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
1979
1941 (1979)
1964
Firelight (1964)
Director
Steven Spielberg Movies Can Be Ranked 7 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Steven Spielberg movies by the stars of the movies.
- Sort Steven Spielberg movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Steven Spielberg movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Steven Spielberg movies how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and Oscar® wins each Steven Spielberg movie received.
- Sort Steven Spielberg movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score |
| 2 | Schindler's List (1993) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Director Win |
Liam Neeson | 96.10 | 250.1 | 836.6 | 9 | 94 | 12 / 07 | 100.0 | |
| 1 | Saving Private Ryan (1998) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Win |
Tom Hanks & Matt Damon |
214.50 | 493.1 | 1,102.9 | 1 | 93 | 11 / 05 | 99.8 | |
| 3 | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Harrison Ford & Karen Allen |
246.20 | 954.5 | 1,504.3 | 1 | 92 | 08 / 04 | 99.7 | |
| 4 | Jaws (1975) AA Best Picture Nom Director |
Robert Shaw & Roy Scheider |
262.50 | 1,380.4 | 2,488.1 | 1 | 93 | 04 / 03 | 99.7 | |
| 5 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Henry Thomas & Drew Barrymore |
416.70 | 1,527.9 | 2,839.8 | 1 | 87 | 09 / 04 | 99.7 | |
| 6 | Lincoln (2012) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Daniel Day-Lewis & Sally Field |
182.20 | 246.8 | 372.8 | 13 | 89 | 12 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 7 | The Color Purple (1985) AA Best Picture Nom |
Danny Glover & Whoopi Goldberg |
94.20 | 286.0 | 431.7 | 4 | 87 | 11 / 00 | 99.5 | |
| 8 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) AA Best Director Nom |
Richard Dreyfuss | 124.40 | 601.3 | 1,431.3 | 3 | 91 | 08 / 01 | 99.4 | |
| 9 | Minority Report (2002) | Tom Cruise | 132.10 | 245.5 | 666.1 | 17 | 88 | 01 / 00 | 98.7 | |
| 10 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Director |
Harrison Ford & Sean Connery |
196.20 | 532.7 | 1,284.8 | 2 | 84 | 03 / 01 | 98.7 | |
| 12 | Jurassic Park (1993) | Jeff Goldblum | 381.10 | 992.2 | 2,624.1 | 1 | 81 | 03 / 03 | 98.5 | |
| 11 | Catch Me if You Can (2002) | Leonardo DiCaprio & Tom Hanks |
164.60 | 306.0 | 654.4 | 11 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 98.5 | |
| 14 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) | Harrison Ford | 179.90 | 577.1 | 1,068.7 | 3 | 76 | 02 / 01 | 97.2 | |
| 15 | War of the Worlds (2005) | Tom Cruise | 234.30 | 394.6 | 996.7 | 4 | 73 | 03 / 00 | 96.6 | |
| 15 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) Director |
Harrison Ford & Cate Blanchett |
317.10 | 476.1 | 1,181.0 | 3 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 16 | Bridge of Spies (2015) AA Best Picture Nom |
Tom Hanks & Mark Rylance |
72.30 | 92.5 | 211.6 | 39 | 88 | 06 / 01 | 94.1 | |
| 18 | Ready Player One (2018) | Tye Sheridan | 135.80 | 160.7 | 686.0 | 24 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 94.1 | |
| 17 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) | Jeff Goldblum & Julianne Moore |
229.10 | 538.0 | 1,452.9 | 3 | 59 | 01 / 00 | 92.4 | |
| 20 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) | Jude Law & Meryl Streep |
78.60 | 150.0 | 450.1 | 28 | 72 | 02 / 00 | 91.9 | |
| 21 | War Horse (2011) AA Best Picture Nom |
Benedict Cumberbatch | 79.90 | 108.6 | 241.4 | 41 | 74 | 06 / 00 | 91.0 | |
| 22 | The Post (2017) AA Best Picture Nom Director |
Tom Hanks & Meryl Streep |
81.90 | 98.4 | 209.7 | 39 | 78 | 02 / 00 | 90.3 | |
| 22 | Hook (1991) | Robin Williams & Dustin Hoffman |
119.70 | 306.4 | 770.4 | 6 | 49 | 05 / 00 | 89.9 | |
| 23 | Munich (2005) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Eric Bana & Daniel Craig |
47.40 | 79.8 | 219.6 | 62 | 80 | 05 / 00 | 89.7 | |
| 24 | West Side Story (2021) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Rita Moreno | 38.50 | 40.8 | 78.6 | 34 | 86 | 07 / 01 | 88.7 | |
| 25 | The Adventures of Tintin (2011) | Daniel Craig | 77.60 | 105.5 | 508.4 | 44 | 76 | 01 / 00 | 87.7 | |
| 26 | Amistad (1997) | Matthew McConaughey & Morgan Freeman |
44.20 | 103.9 | 153.4 | 48 | 73 | 04 / 00 | 87.5 | |
| 27 | The Terminal (2004) | Tom Hanks & Zoe Sald |
77.90 | 135.2 | 380.9 | 35 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 86.6 | |
| 27 | The Fabelmans (2022) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Michelle Williams | 17.30 | 17.8 | 42.7 | 57 | 87 | 07 / 00 | 85.6 | |
| 28 | Empire of the Sun (1987) | Christian Bale | 22.20 | 61.3 | 182.6 | 52 | 76 | 06 / 00 | 83.5 | |
| 29 | Always (1989) | Richard Dreyfuss & John Goodman |
43.90 | 119.1 | 201.3 | 29 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 81.9 | |
| 31 | The BFG (2016) | Mark Rylance | 55.50 | 69.1 | 228.5 | 60 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 79.3 | |
| 30 | The Sugarland Express (1974) | Goldie Hawn | 7.50 | 43.2 | 43.2 | 54 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 78.7 | |
| 32 | Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) | John Lithgow | 29.50 | 100.8 | 145.3 | 24 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 78.5 | |
| 33 | 1941 (1979) | John Candy & Warren Oates |
31.80 | 136.4 | 397.1 | 27 | 43 | 03 / 00 | 75.7 | |
| 35 | Firelight (1964) Director |
Robert Robyn | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 166 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 27.2 |
Possibly Interesting Facts About Steven Spielberg
1. Steven Spielberg (1972-) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2. Steven Spielberg has been nominated for 15 Oscars® in different categories in his career. He has won 3 Oscars®. Two for directing…Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). His third Oscar® win was for producing Schindler’s List (1993).
3. Steven Spielberg has been nominated for 7 Best Director Oscars® and 11 Best Director Golden Globes®. He has two Golden Globe® wins….Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
4. Steven Spielberg has been married two times. His first marriage was to actress Amy Irving (1985-1989)…they have one child. His second marriage was to actress Kate Capshaw (1991-)…they have 5 children.
5. Steven Spielberg has many other IMDb credits. Currently he has 150 producing credits, 21 writing credits, 12 acting credits and 8 editor credits.
6. When looking at adjusted worldwide box office grosses….Spielberg has an incredible 6 movies that have grossed over 1 BILLION. Three of those six are actually pushing the 2 billion mark. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993) and Jaws (1975).
7. Of the 28 Steven Spielberg directed movies…they have earned an incredible 112 Oscars® nominations. That is an average of 4.00 nominations per movie.
8. Of the 28 Steven Spielberg directed movies…..they have won 31 Oscars®.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
Hi Bruce, thought you might find this news interesting.
Spielberg’s the first director to reach $10bn in total grosses for his films. Peter Jackson is in 2nd place for top grossing directors, Michael Bay 3rd and James Cameron 4th.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-steven-spielberg-is-first-member-10b-directors-club-1103623
Hey Steve….thanks for the link. Interesting information…..amazing that Jackson, Bay and Cameron are in the Top 5 when combined they have only made about half the movies Spielberg has made. Glad the link went through….good read!
Glad the link went thru too Bruce. Looks like things are returning to normal at the UMR. I hope so. Maybe the spammers have found something better to do.
I’ve enjoyed the content of the movie page as well as the comments here, Cogerson. I can’t believe the one person hasn’t seen a Cameron film (gasp). I think I’m on the side of Cameron though I’ve seen most of the S.S. films too. No doubt they’ve all been good films but Cameron always puts something really edgy and unexpected in his films that I like. I feel, as well, Cameron uses a ‘formula’ as a guideline while S.S. uses formula all the way, if you know what I mean. There are points in S.S. films where, if you miss a few minutes, you still know the story but if you miss a couple minutes of Cameron’s films you might have missed a cue/element you need to know 15 minutes later… I think I’ve rambled on enough now… might go watch The Abyss 🙂
Cogerson
Hey mythbuster….thanks for such a good comment. I understand your point about the formula. I think Cameron gets the nod now….but without Spielberg there might not have been a Cameron. I have been very disappointed in Spielberg’s last 5 or 6 movies….Indy Jones and the Crystal Skull….did lots of damage to everybody involved…..I can not believe that Indy 5 is being planned. Cameron seems to get better with each film….granted it takes about a decade to make his films…but the wait is worth it….and Avatar 2 and 3 should be here before we get to 2020. Speaking of the Abyss…..the documentary of making of The Abyss is one of my favorites…..he put everybody through the ringer in that movie.
Les deux sont tr�s bon mais spielberg reste quand m�m� le meilleur
Merci pour la visite bellicault, je conviens que Spielberg est mieux des deux.
Hey Bruce, Spielberg has the number one film in North America in adjusted dollars, ET the Extraterrestrial but worldwide it has to be Cameron’s Avatar which has neared 3 billion dollars, am I right?
Fascinating charts as usual, Private Ryan number one on the moviescore I’d never have predicted that. Spielberg’s last great film.
Of the 35 films you’ve listed from the two directors I’ve only missed one, War Horse. I saw Tintin last week, I liked it but I’ve seen better animated movies.
Will Spielberg ever top the world charts again? The last time was in 1993 and Jurassic Park which was the highest grossing film ever until Titanic appeared a few years later.
Hey Steve….well I did a little research on the worldwide box office leaders….I would say of the recent movies…with inflation Titanic looks like the number one movie with 3.2 billion and Avatar being 2nd with 3.0 in inflated dollars. I imagine with better numbers Gone With The Wind would top both of the Cameron movies….as it has 1.6 billion in North America alone…and I would think Ben-Hur would be up there as well.
Saving Private Ryan is number one because of the Oscar win for Spielberg….Schlinder’s List also won him an Oscar but does not score as well across the board like Private Ryan does.
I am missing three of these movies….the two Christmas 2011 movies and Cameron’s first movie the classic Piranaha II: The Spawning.
As for Spielberg topping the charts again…I think he will….granted he has only made two movies since the disaster we call Indy 4….but I think he will bounce back
Very impressive movie page you put together again. There’s no question both he is a great film maker, as I think this seems more like a fair comparison than the one with Tarantino, Nolan and Shymalan
Hey Stevennix2001….thanks for checking out this movie page….I have always been impressed with this list of movies. Talk about movies that have made a dent in Hollywood history. And the good news is…they have more movies coming. Tarantino, Nolan and Shymalan have to have somebody to look up to….lol.