Steven Spielberg is a name synonymous with crowd-pleasing, money-making blockbusters. Over the course of the past five decades-plus, the man has been exceedingly prolific, directing a total of more than 30 feature films. While there are undisputed all-timers like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and Jurassic Park that everyone loves, there are also dozens of others that get far less mainstream attention, but are arguably just as great.
As with any creative career, there have been ups and downs in terms of the reception of his work throughout this trajectory. For some Spielberg films, they might not necessarily find their audience until years later, being met with mixed receptions at their time of release but re-evaluated in the years that follow.
Even now, there are Spielberg films that do not get the kind of praise they so rightfully deserve. In light of the release of his latest film, Disclosure Day, these are Spielberg’s most underrated films.
1. Duel
Spielberg’s feature film debut was the TV movie, Duel, from 1971. While it proved to be successful enough to warrant Spielberg’s jump to real moviemaking full-time, the film is not one that often comes up in discussions of the filmmaker’s greatest works, and that’s a shame, because it should.
Duel is essentially a prototype for what would become Jaws, several years before that film would take audiences by force, only you swap out the great white shark for an eighteen-wheeler and the ocean for Americana highways. Duel is a gnarly little thriller that showcases Spielberg’s penchant for channeling Hitchcockian influences in spades, and is still a riotously good time at the movies.
2. The Sugarland Express
I can’t recommend including this one in your next Spielberg rewatch enough. It is a funny, heartwarming, and distinctly idiosyncratic film that allows you to see the filmmaker’s subsequent body of work in a whole different way. Goldie Hawn is incredible in it, and you can really see the beginning of Spielberg’s evolution, right down to his first use of the dolly-zoom shot.
3. 1941
When it came time to follow-up the one-two punch of Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both of which were massive critical and commercial successes that cemented him as a directorial wunderkind among audiences of the ‘70s, Spielberg elected to throw a curve ball. 1941 is a hugely ambitious wartime comedy that features a genuinely insane ensemble of performers, from John Belushi and Dan Akroyd, to Christopher Lee and Toshiro Mifune.
Criticisms of the time referred to the film as overblown and too crazy, but that’s exactly why this film is so worth your time. This is a young Spielberg who has gone absolutely delirious with power and made one of the most insane movies of all time as a result. It’s the director at his most uninhibited and maximalist, and it’s an absolutely insane thrill-ride of a viewing experience as a result.
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Whenever the conversation of the best Indiana Jones movie comes up, it seems to always be between the first (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and the third (The Last Crusade), both of which are truly phenomenal films. However, the second installment in the trilogy is fantastic as well, just in a very different kind of way.
Ferociously instilled with nerve-shredding tension and decked out with full-fledged Busby Berkley musical numbers, Temple of Doom stikes a very different tone than the Spielberg’s other Indiana Jones films, but it is every bit as fascinating and compelling.
5. Always
People hate this movie, but I think if you’re looking to understand Spielberg on a foundational level, Always is kind of a perfect Rosetta Stone. Released in 1989, this film actually came at a crucial juncture point for the filmmaker, and was the first film he shot the majority of without utilizing storyboards. Instead, he opted for more off-the-cuff approach, which he felt allowed him to be more present for the actors in these heavily dramatic, emotional scenes. This would go on to become the director’s go-to process for the next several decades, making Always kind of essential in a weird way.
The result is a blend of Howard Hawks and Frank Capra via Steven Spielberg. Sure, there’s schmaltz to spare, but it’s a staggering technical accomplishment that remains affecting to those willing to open their hearts to it.
6. The BFG
A pure, boundlessly imaginative bit of experiential cinema, The BFG is Spielberg adapting Roald Dahl and getting the tone exactly right in a way no other adaptation had up to that point. It’s grounded in such a singular perspective, and sees the director blending practical and digital effects to such an insane degree, that it really does just swallow you whole. A fantastic, colorful fantasy film that genuinely captures the energy of childhood in palpable fashion.
7. West Side Story
After decades of showing off just how into musicals he was in ways big and small, Spielberg finally made good on his promise and made a true-blue musical in the form of his West Side Story remake. And in doing so, he made one of the greatest cinematic musicals of the past 60 years.
Spielberg and writer Tony Kushner do more than deliver an updated take on the classic musical; they engage with and recontextualize it in absolutely fascinating ways. People generally like West Side Story, but rarely is it recognized for the bona fide musical masterpiece that it is.
8. The Fabelmans
Spielberg’s quasi-autobiographical film about movies, family, and the curses each of them bring is an invaluable cinematic resource; an awe-inspiring work of honesty, authenticity, and transparency from one of the great filmmakers of our time. It is impossible to look at any of Spielberg’s films the same after watching this one. A late-era masterpiece, if ever there was one.
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