What Spielberg movies you didn't like and why? (1 Viewer)

Originally Posted by Radioman970

As soon as The Lost Boys appear in Hook I pretty much want to spoon out my eyeballs and cram them deep into my ears. If a kid can sit down and enjoy, which I know many can (my neph loved it) then fine. He can post on here about it. But I hated most of it and thats what I'm a'postin as such!! Hahaha! Robin Williams and Dustin Hoffman both give it their best so I can't fault them. I think it's poor adaption of an existing story. The other Peter Pan adaption that was done year back is excellent. I love it!

I was one of those kids that loved Hook, and those Lost Boys really appealed to my demographic at the time, much more than the pirates, with their scorpion-torture devices, who were much too terrifying.

 

[Hicks]

I actually didn't like Jurassic Park much myself. I read the book before the movie came out and was pretty disappointed that all the in depth stuff about chaos theory, which in essence is really what the book is about, was dumbed down to one brief scene and the rest of the film was basically just a big chase sequence.

A.I. while interesting really didn't gel for me and was obviously the work of two directors who's visions of the film weren't necessarily on the same page.

Indy 4, while rewatching it on BD all I could think was that the great Harrison Ford deserved a better movie than this ridiculous mess.

And that's pretty much it, I've enjoyed all of his other movies to varying degrees. Although I never bothered with Always, JP2 or The Terminal and haven't gotten around to seeing Empire of the Sun yet.

 

[Joe:C]

Indy 4 - I like to think that the crappiness of this movie was mostly the result of George Lucas, and had Spielberg not had to deal with him, it would have gone in a different direction and been a much better film.

JP2 - Pretty much all the parties involved in this were simply cashing in on the first one's success - even Michael Crichton (who will always be my favorite author) really wrote a crummy sequel story that ended up being even further ruined in the screenplay adaptation.

I would go with these two movies as well.

 

[WillG]

"Jaws I've only ever seen on crappy TV prints, in 4:3, but I've never really enjoyed it yet."

Well, you've pretty much just answered you're own statement there

 

Originally Posted by WillG

"Jaws I've only ever seen on crappy TV prints, in 4:3, but I've never really enjoyed it yet."

Well, you've pretty much just answered you're own statement there

Yes, but some movies are shot on good quality film stock (most stock was poor in the 70's, even bigger budget movies) and some are well-enough composed, produced and made that they are still enjoyable when you accidentally catch them on crappy free-to-air TV as you're growing up. Jaws seems not to be one of them.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Ben Cheshire


Yes, but some movies are shot on good quality film stock (most stock was poor in the 70's, even bigger budget movies) and some are well-enough composed, produced and made that they are still enjoyable when you accidentally catch them on crappy free-to-air TV as you're growing up. Jaws seems not to be one of them.

Did you entertain the notion that it's BECAUSE "Jaws" was well-composed for the 2.35:1 ratio that it doesn't work when butchered? It seems weird to criticize a movie's composition when you're not experiencing the correct dimensions...

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Zack Gibbs

Hook; I was 8 or 9 and liked it a lot (still do), as do all my friends of the same age. I guess the pieces just don't gel with some people because I can't find any major faults with the movie.

My main problems with "Hook" from my review::

"At more than two hours and 20 minutes, Hook is much too long and it moves at a snail's pace for the most part. Spielberg seems far too concerned with establishing the back story, an issue that seems almost meaningless. The audience is already familiar with most of the characters, and the plot's main twist - that Pan has grown up and become a serious adult - doesn't take an hour to explain. If I was so bored by what was happening during much of the movie's first half, I can't imagine how bad it must be for younger kids.

Speaking of kids, they manifest some of Hook's biggest problems as well. The children who play Peter's offspring aren't an issue; little Amber Scott is appropriately adorable as youngest daughter Maggie, and Charlie Korsmo delivers a very good performance as son Jack.

The kiddie problem here comes from the Benetton ad castoffs picked to play the Lost Boys. From the biggest to the smallest, they all share one characteristic: they're really annoying and they consistently bring down the film. These kids scream "Hollywood cute" so loudly that the sound drowns out any positives; all I could think when they were onscreen was how much I hoped they'd leave.

Since the Lost Boys are a major component of the Neverland scenes, that's not a good thing. Their segments showed the film's flaws in other ways as well; at those times it was much easier to distinguish how much of Hook favored spectacle over heart.

It's pretty clear that by this point in his career, Spielberg was not the same filmmaker he was a decade or more prior to that time. He entered his "serious" stage and simply didn't seem very interested in fun movies. Hook was supposed to mark a return to that territory but all it demonstrated was how far out of touch he had become. He'd regain his talent for the spectacular with Jurassic Park, of course - even its detractors have to recognize what an exciting piece of work it remains, and even its much maligned 1997 sequel (The Lost World) offers some terrific action pieces - but Hook clearly marked the demise of Spielberg's ability to create something along the lines of an ET.

And that's too bad, for as good as his straight action films are, Spielberg really excelled at the magical fantasies like ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He hasn't attempted another film of that sort since Hook and I honestly don't think he will; right now Spielberg appears able to invest himself in either exciting action flicks that lack depth or more serious historical pieces and that's it. The Spielberg who made so many of us cry over a wrinkly puppet in 1982 is dead, and Hook acts as the funeral."

 

Originally Posted by Colin Jacobson
It seems weird to criticize a movie's composition when you're not experiencing the correct dimensions...

Unfair perhaps, but to anyone who grew up bf widescreen TVs were invented, it was all you had. I first saw many 2:35 movies on TV before widescreen TVs were invented, and I've got to say, I still enjoyed plenty of them. Jaws wasn't one of them.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Originally Posted by Ben Cheshire

Unfair perhaps, but to anyone who grew up bf widescreen TVs were invented, it was all you had. I first saw many 2:35 movies on TV before widescreen TVs were invented, and I've got to say, I still enjoyed plenty of them. Jaws wasn't one of them.

Which is fine, but it still seems really odd to criticize the composition of something you know you're not seeing at the CORRECT composition. Some films translate to P&S better than others. I never liked "Jaws" or "Alien" when cropped, but they're great widescreen...

 

Originally Posted by Colin Jacobson
Which is fine, but it still seems really odd to criticize the composition of something you know you're not seeing at the CORRECT composition. Some films translate to P&S better than others. I never liked "Jaws" or "Alien" when cropped, but they're great widescreen...

Colin, I unreservedly apologise! I just watched Jaws for the first time in its OAR, and it completely made the difference. I completely enjoyed it! It is completely classy in the way its composed, which I absolutely never knew! Love to see it on Blu ray, with truer colours etc. So glad you gave me a hard time and I gave the movie another chance!!!

 

[WillG]

Colin, I unreservedly apologise! I just watched Jaws for the first time in its OAR, and it completely made the difference.

Ahem.........

 

[JonZ]

I dont think Hook is a good movie at all,but I think some of the performances are so entertaining, especially Hoffmans Hook, that its easy for me to watch this movie even thought I dont think its very good and dont even really like it.

Ive yet to see Indy 4, and based on the comments above, think Im gonna pick up the Jurassic Park book.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by accoun

I didn't like Indy 4, I find it hard to blame Spielberg. He didn't write the script, he just directed from something someone else wrote, which was the only script that could get Lucas' approval .

I'm sure you're really only here to post your spam link but you're incorrect. Speilberg, Ford and Lucas all agreed on the script.

 

[Gary Seven]

Spielberg has said that composition is 50 percent of the movie. You really have to see his movies in OAR to give them a proper chance. Jaws is certainly one of them, as Ben found out.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

How can you guys consider yourselves film fans but have never seen quite a few of the movies of one of the greatest directors of all time?

 

[cineMANIAC]

Originally Posted by Kevin Hewell

How can you guys consider yourselves film fans but have never seen quite a few of the movies of one of the greatest directors of all time?

I too consider Spielberg to be among the best contemporary film directors, not just because his film earn big box office internationally but because his films have heart and are highly entertaining. I guess some people think of his films as too sentimental to consider him a "great' director?

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

Originally Posted by Kevin Hewell

How can you guys consider yourselves film fans but have never seen quite a few of the movies of one of the greatest directors of all time?

Taking myself as an example, I consider myself a Steven Spielberg fan, but I have never seen some of his "lesser" works like 1941, Empire of the Sun, The Color Purple, Duel, Always, etc. If I were to add Saving Private Ryan or A.I. to the list of ones I haven't seen, am I suddenly less of a Spielberg fan, or have I just not gotten around to them yet?

Requiring someone to have seen certain films or have certain knowledge before considering them a film fan or a fan of a particular director/actor/genre is a recipe for making the hobby elitist. I think most of us here love watching films, but we haven't gotten around to everything that is considered important by everyone. By all means, let us educate and recommend, but let's not question the fandom of people who are posting on this board.

 

[WillG]

No Judgement, but if you are a Spielberg fan and have not seen Duel and Saving Private Ryan, you are doing yourself a disservice.

 

[Sam Favate]

Originally Posted by Tarkin The Ewok
Taking myself as an example, I consider myself a Steven Spielberg fan, but I have never seen some of his "lesser" works like 1941, Empire of the Sun, The Color Purple, Duel, Always, etc. If I were to add Saving Private Ryan or A.I. to the list of ones I haven't seen, am I suddenly less of a Spielberg fan, or have I just not gotten around to them yet?

You could get yourself in some very hot water by calling The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun "lesser works." Color Purple was nominated for several Oscars, including best picture, director, actress, supporting actress (two of them), screenplay, music, and about four more. Empire of the Sun was nominated for six Oscars.

1941 may get slammed here and there by critics, but it's a lot of goddamned fun.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I don't think it's fair to make it sound like only those snooty "critics" disliked "1941". The movie DID bomb at the box office, and outside of a small cult, it's not developed a real audience.

I adore 1975-1982 Spielberg - except for "1941", which is a bloated, unfunny mess IMO. Given my love for that era's Spielberg films, if anyone would defend "1941", it should be me. I can't: too loud, too stupid, and too blech!

Originally Posted by Sam Favate




You could get yourself in some very hot water by calling The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun "lesser works." Color Purple was nominated for several Oscars, including best picture, director, actress, supporting actress (two of them), screenplay, music, and about four more. Empire of the Sun was nominated for six Oscars.

1941 may get slammed here and there by critics, but it's a lot of goddamned fun.