Sunday Best: Steven Spielberg Movies Ranked (Updated 2026)

 

 

Steven Spielberg is the greatest director of all time.  

I would gladly argue with anyone on this point.

With the release of his latest movie Disclosure Day (full review to follow soon), I thought I would take a quick look back at the Steven Spielberg's filmography and look at their rankings.

Nothing much has shifted since I ranked them last four years ago, except for the addition of this new movie.

THE BAD MOVIES

Even a great director will have a few stinkers in a career spanning six decades.  These are the ones that are simply bad:

38	1941
37	The Color Purple
36	The Sugarland Express
35	Empire of the Sun
34	The Fablemans
33	Amblin'
32	West Side Story
31	Hook
30	The Terminal

THE LESSER SPIELBERG

These movies are not great movies.  Some of them are actually quite good or at least have some very good moments.  In the case of some of them, if another director had done them, I would think more of them.  But these are below Spielberg's capabilities.

29	The BFG
28	War Horse
27	The Adventures of Tintin
26	Disclosure day
25	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
24	War of the Worlds
23	The Post
22	The Lost World: Jurassic Park
21	A.I. Artificial Intelligence
20	Amistad
19	Minority Report
18	Munich
17	Duel
16	The Twilight Zone
15	Always

THE GOOD SPIELBERG

These are the movies that highlight Spielberg's talent as a storyteller.  All of the ones in this section are flawed and are thus not in the highest order.  But there much in them to admire, particularly his genius in creating a sense of awe.

14	Close Encounters of the Third Kind
13	Ready Player One
12	Bridge of Spies
11	Poltergeist
10	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
9	Catch Me If You Can

THE GREAT SPIELBERG

If any other filmmaker could take credit for even ONE of the below movies, they would have a reputation for life.  But eight films are great films that stand the test of time and are still as powerful and re-watchable as they were when they first came out

8	Lincoln
7	Raiders of the Lost Ark
6	E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
5	Jurassic Park
4	Saving Private Ryan
3	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
2	Jaws
1	Schindler's List

Thoughts?