Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Audiophilander (A) on July 04, 2005 at 01:06:28

In Reply to: Sorry, Dave, but an adult list would be more like: posted by tinear on July 2, 2005 at 11:20:15:

While I respect Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, I consider those serious "presige" pictures, but no better or worse than any other type of film. IMHO, you're a little off base suggesting that Raiders of The Lost Ark is merely "high quality kid's fare" in order to elevate more emotional docu-dramas that are intended to convey some kind of moral message that was close to the Director's heart & Oscar ambitions. In fact, I would separate both of those two fine films from the rest of his body of work as being less representative of his personal style and creativity, not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

There arer a lot of films I might be tempted to describe as "kid's fare" because they are obviously targeting kids, but none are by Steven Spielberg. There are certainly a few more accessible to children, Like ET and perhaps his attempt at screwball comedy, 1941, but Raiders is obviously a tongue in cheek homage to the action serials of the 30's & 40's, aimed at adults who watched these cliffhangers as kids (i.e., nostalgia).

As I've stated before, I'm not a huge fan of Spielberg's work generally because he has a tendency towards sloppiness (i.e., in service of creating emotional impact & suspense), except in the case of those two prestige films that I mentioned earlier. So how would I rank Steven Spielberg's Top (Best) 5 films if my arm were twisted to participate in such a list?

1) AI-Artificial Intelligence
2) Schindler's List
3) Saving Private Ryan
4) Jurassic Park
5) War Of The Worlds

All of these are more or less message pictures, which you may construe to mean "adult" in theme as in targeting a more sophisticated audience, but it's also worth noting that his more serious filmfare (i.e., Schindler & Ryan) isn't joyful or satisfying on repeated viewings.

The most ENTERTAINING of Spielberg's films (with a little cheating to include the best films in series):

1) Jurassic Park I & II
2) Raiders of The Lost Ark & Las Crusade
3) Jaws
4) AI-Artificial Intelligence
5) Close Encounters of the Third Kind

These are just my opinions; of course, YMMV.

Cheers,
AuPh