Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg was born on the 18th of December 1946 in Cincinnati in the state of Ohio of the USA and is one of Hollywood's most famous film directors as well as one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world.
His first film, in which he was an uncredited assistant editor was the classic western Wagon Train (1957). His other works as an assistant editor were The Last Gun (1959), Battle Squad(1961) and Escape to Nowhere (1961) in which his sister, Anne Spielberg, also played a part.
His first film as a director was in 1964 when he directed Fireflight (1964) a movie about a small town being invaded by aliens. Then, in 1967 he directed Slipstream, however, this was never finished. in 1968, he directed Amblin' (1968), which featured the desert prominently, and not the first of his movies in which the desert would feature so prominently. Amblin' also became the name of his production company, which turned out such classics as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project, Duel (1971), with Dennis Weaver. Most of his other work in the early 1970's, however, was on TV projects such as Rod Serling's Night Gallery. This did not, however, stop his first major directorial effort The Sugarland Express (1974) which marked him as a rising star.
Spielberg's next work was the piece that made him known the world over: Jaws (1975). This classic shark attack tale started the tradition of the summer blockbuster or, at least, he was credited with starting the tradition.
Jaws (1975):
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
|---|---|
Release dates
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Running time
| 124 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9 million |
Following Jaws was Spielberg's unique sci-fi film that remains a classic to this day, ' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. Spielberg hit gold yet one more time with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), with Harrison Ford taking the part of Indiana Jones. Spielberg produced and directed two films in 1982. The first was Poltergeist (1982), but the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point was the alien story E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. The concept, while not uncommon, was still relatively low-key when Spielberg raised the practice to almost an art form with his famous (or infamous) placement of Reece's Pieces in "E.T." Spielberg was also one of the pioneers of the big-grossing special-effects movies, like "E.T." and "Close Encounters", where a very strong emphasis on special effects was placed for the first time on such a huge scale. In 1984, Spielberg followed up "Raiders" with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which was a commercial success but did not receive the critical acclaim of its predecessor. As a producer, Spielberg took on many projects in the 1980s, such as The Goonies (1985), and was the brains behind the little monsters in Gremlins (1984).
In the late 1980's, Spielberg became the centre of pop culture again due to the landmark animation/live-action film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). This film was closely followed the next year by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Back to the Future Part II (1989). All three of these films were critical successes in both the cinema and box-office.
Throughout the 90's Spielberg was a strong supporter of animation, something he had a great affinity for as evidenced in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'.
Spielberg was very active in the early 1990s, as he directed Hook (1991) and produced such films as the cute fantasy Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller Arachnophobia (1990), Back to the Future Part III (1990) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Whilst every one of these films was successful in their own right, none quite reached the kind of box-office or critical acclaim as some of his earlier work.
In 1993, Spielberg directed Jurassic Park (1993), which for a short time held the record as the highest grossing movie of all time, but did not have the universal appeal of his previous efforts. Big box-office spectacles were not his only concern, however. He produced and directed Schindler's List (1993), a stirring film about the Holocaust. He won best director at the Oscars, and also got Best Picture. In the mid-90s, he helped found the production company DreamWorks, which was responsible for many box-office successes. A second comeback, if you will, after who framed roger rabbit, which was in and of itself a comeback from Jaws.
As a producer, he was very active in the late 90s, responsible for such films as The Mask of Zorro (1998), Men in Black (1997) and Deep Impact (1998). However, it was on the directing front that Spielberg was in top form. He directed and produced the epic that was Amistad (1997), a film that was shorted at the Oscars and in release due to the fact that its release date was moved around so much in late 1997. The next year, however, produced what many believe was one of the best films of his career: Saving Private Ryan (1998), a film about World War Two that is spectacular in almost every respect. It was stiffed at the Oscars, losing best picture to Shakespeare in Love (1998) which was directed by John Madden.
Saving Private Ryan:
Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount pictures.
Released on July 24, 1998.
Running Time 169 minutes
Country United states of 'Murica
Languages English, German and French
Budget $70 million
Box office $481.8 million
Then, Spielberg produced a series of films, including The Haunting (1999), Evolution (2001) and Shrek (2001). he also produced two sequels to Jurassic Park (1993), which were financially but not particularly critical successes. In 2001, he produced a mini-series about World War Two that definitely was a financial and critical success: Band of Brothers (2001), a tale of an infantry company from its parachuting into France during the invasion to the Battle of the Bulge. Also in that year, Spielberg was back in the director's chair for A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), a movie with a message and a huge budget. It did reasonably at the box office and garnered varied reviews from critics.
Spielberg has been extremely active in films there are many other things he has done as well. He produced the short-lived TV series SeaQuest 2032 (1993), an anthology series entitled Amazing Stories (1985), created the video-game series "Medal of Honor" set during World War Two, and was a starting producer of ER (1994). Spielberg, if you haven't noticed, has a great interest in World War Two. He and Tom Hanks collaborated on Shooting War (2000), a documentary about World War II combat photographers, and he produced a documentary about the Holocaust called Eyes of the Holocaust (2000).
With all of this to Spielberg's credit, there is no wonder that he is looked at as one of the greatest ever figures in entertainment and, subsequentially, Media.
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