"Schindler's List" DVD info and art

Brilliant films like "Jaws", "Close Encounters", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "ET" weren't enough to make you respect him? At the risk of thread-crapping, I feel all of those are significantly superior films than "Schindler's List" - with the notable exception of 1979's "1941", Spielberg was untouchable and flawless from 1975-1982...

 

Nope, IMO, before 'Schindler's List' he was in the ranks of James Cameron, William Friedkin, Michael Bay. All perfectly competent action movie types. None had the gravitas that Spielberg earned with this movie.

 

I can't believe you lumped in Bay with the others! I actually like some of Bay's work and have defended him on occasion, but he's a hack compared to the others.

And I think the others are much more than "perfectly competent" - they're some of the greatest directors ever. Cameron and Friedkin have won Oscars, both for movies I think are better than "List". In addition, Cameron directed what I feel is the greatest action movie ever in "Aliens" and Friedkin did arguably the best horror flick of all in "The Exorcist".

I guess I strongly disagree that someone has to do something with "gravitas" to be a great director. To me, that implies that only serious dramatic flicks are TRUE films. That's kind of like classical music fans looking down on anything else as piffle.

I feel what Spielberg did in the films I mentioned earlier was as good and as important - if not more so - than "List". The latter was a good film but not anything groundbreaking or fresh. He blazed new trails and set standards with the others. (Even if they DON'T have "gravitas"! )

 

I agree with your statement...but I don't think that Spielberg necessarily would. Films like "Raiders" and "Jaws" (love 'em both) have been dismissed by some as nothing more than a thrill ride, an updated/polished version of a 1940s serial (and in the case of "Raiders", not even updated). As soon as I heard he was making "List" I knew he was going to pull out all the stops to make something important.

Yep. And if "List" was groundbreaking, it was in the wrong ways. IMO it should have gotten an X rating.

 

Well, old Stevie ain't the same filmmaker he was 25 years ago, and I don't mean that as a compliment. He's gotten soft in many ways, and it shows. He was at the height on his powers between 1975 and 1982 - he didn't worry about his "legacy" or whether or not his movies needed meaning or whether some shots of guns being pointed vaguely in the direction of children was bad. He just made virtually flawless movies...