Directors are usually only known to moviegoers with an active interest in how the sausage gets made. But Steven Spielberg is so renowned and iconic that he’s known by even a lot of passive audiences. Since getting his big break with 1975’s Jaws, the first summer blockbuster, Spielberg has helmed some of the most popular movies ever made.
From a series of pulpy action-adventure movies about an ass-kicking archeologist to a harrowing drama about the Holocaust, Spielberg has directed all kinds of movies over the years. So, here are the best scenes from Steven Spielberg’s 10 top-rated movies on IMDb.
Empire Of The Sun (7.7) – Jim Salutes The Japanese Soldiers
Out of Spielberg’s many World War II films, Empire of the Sun is one of the most underrated. It stars a young Christian Bale as a kid named Jim, who goes from life in a wealthy family in Shanghai to life as a prisoner of war locked in a Japanese internment camp.
In one poignant scene, Jim witnesses a kamikaze ritual at dawn and is so moved by it that he salutes the Japanese soldiers and sings the traditional Welsh lullaby “Suo Gân.”
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (7.8) – Elliott’s Bike Flies Across The Moon
This isn’t just the most iconic scene from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; it might be the most iconic scene from Steven Spielberg’s entire filmography. He used it as the basis of the logo for his production company, Amblin.
With an unusually adorable alien at its center, E.T.’s greatest asset is its ability to inspire awe. And when that alien avoids the armed police (re-armed with walkie talkies in the special edition) by making Elliott and his friends’ bikes take flight across a full moon.
The Color Purple (7.8) – Celie And Nettie Are Reunited
The most memorable scene in The Color Purple is its ending, in which Celie and Nettie are finally reunited.
As a whole, the film is a heartbreaking drama, so it’s a joy to see a happy ending after all the tragedy.
Jaws (8.0) – Quint’s Indianapolis Speech
It’s some feat to make a monologue the most memorable moment in a movie about a 25-foot killer shark. But in the masterful hands of Robert Shaw, Quint’s speech about the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis is more haunting than any of the movie’s shark attacks.
Shaw reportedly got drunk to do some method acting with the monologue, but those takes were unusable. The next day, he remained stone sober and nailed the monologue in one take.
Catch Me If You Can (8.1) – Carl Unwittingly Lets Frank Get Away
Spielberg’s true-to-life crime caper Catch Me If You Can is a cat-and-mouse thriller about con man Frank Abagnale, Jr., played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and the desperate search launched by FBI agent Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks.
In one scene, Carl tracks down Frank to a hotel room and comes face-to-face with him. However, since Carl has never seen Frank’s face, Frank manages to get away by impersonating another agent of the law.
Jurassic Park (8.1) – The T. Rex Attack
As the cautionary tale of a dangerously ambitious genius playing God, Jurassic Park shares a lot of its themes with Frankenstein. At the movie’s midpoint, John Hammond’s ambitions come back to haunt him – and all the people he brought to the island – when the T. Rex escapes from its enclosure.
Alan Grant saves Hammond’s grandkids while Ian Malcolm distracts the dinosaur by setting off a flare. Fans of Jurassic Park love dino action, and this might be the peak of the franchise’s dino action.
Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (8.2) – “You Have Chosen...Wisely.”
Indy’s search for the Holy Grail takes him to a hidden temple, through which he’s forced to guide Walter Donovan, who’s desperate to attain everlasting life. They find the Grail Knight in a room filled with chalices that could all be the Grail.
The final test is to select a chalice from the collection. Donovan chooses the biggest, fanciest, most bejeweled one of the bunch and it kills him instantly. Indy, on the other hand, chooses the smallest, grimiest, humblest cup, which turns out to be the right choice.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (8.4) – The Opening Action Sequence
Lawrence Kasdan’s near-perfect Raiders of the Lost Ark screenplay is split into seven acts, and the first one introduced moviegoers to the Indiana Jones character in the perfect way. In the middle of the jungle, he infiltrates an ancient temple, steals an artifact, and escapes from a flurry of booby traps.
Outside the temple, he’s ambushed by his old rival, Belloq, and a local tribe, who then chase him through the jungle to his buddy Jock’s seaplane. Raiders was conceived as an homage to ’30s adventure serials, and the opening sequence was delightfully pulpy.
Saving Private Ryan (8.6) – The D-Day Landings
The opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan, in which the D-Day landings are recreated with intense realism, reportedly triggered PTSD attacks in veterans who were on Omaha Beach for the actual invasion. That’s very unfortunate for the people affected, but it’s also a testament to the gritty, visceral brilliance of the scene.
Spielberg didn’t storyboard the sequence, instead choosing to let the action tell him where to put the camera on the day, which gave the scene a staggering immediacy.
Schindler’s List (8.9) – The Girl In The Red Coat
For the most part, Spielberg’s three-hour wartime epic Schindler’s List is shot in black-and-white. Outside of the opening and closing sequences, the only splash of color in the whole movie is the red coat worn by a little girl who is taken to a concentration camp.
Later in the movie, Schindler spots this red coat among a mountain of corpses. It’s the moment that he realizes the extent of the horrors of the Holocaust and dedicates himself to liberating as many prisoners as he can.