30. Raptors In The Kitchen – “Jurassic Park” (1993)
The T-Rex might be bigger, but the raptors have always felt the most dangerous threat in the “Jurassic Park” movies, as best exemplified in their famous kitchen sequence in the original. With mostly practical effects that still hold up like a dream, they stalk Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards through one of the best-shot sequences in the film (the mirror fake-out remains incredibly clever, for one).
29. The A-Bomb Flash – “Empire Of The Sun” (1987)
Deeply underrated in the Spielberg canon, at least in comparison to his later WW2 movies, “Empire Of The Sun” has some of the most powerful moments the director ever made. One that sears itself on the psyche is later in the game, where young Jim (Christian Bale) is near an empty football stadium, and soon after seeing the body of Mrs. Victor (Miranda Richardson), sees a flash in the sky. He assumes it to be her soul going to heaven, though it’s actually the flash of the A-bomb being dropped on Nagasaki. It’s at once wrenching and oddly hopeful, a child whose hope and imagination hasn’t been crushed by the horrors he’s been through.
28. The Standing Man – “Bridge Of Spies” (2015)
After going 40 years without any of his actors winning Oscars, Spielberg’s last two movies both managed the feat, first with Daniel Day-Lewis and “Lincoln” then Mark Rylance and “Bridge Of Spies.” In the case of the latter, it likely came from a single speech: the ‘Standing Man,’ where Rylance’s Rudolph Abel, in his soft Scots burr, tells a story of a resilient friend of his father. It’s a speech that a lesser actor could have made forgettable, but in Rylance’s hands it’s the most compelling thing in the world.
27. Conversation With The PLO – “Munich” (2005)
Spielberg’s not a director to regularly attract political controversy, but he certainly found it with “Munich,” with some Zionist and Israeli organizations calling for boycotts of the film because of what they saw as parallels drawn between the actions of Palestinian terrorists and Israeli security services. But really, it’s just a humanist affair, as shown by the film’s low-key dramatic highlight, a quiet conversation in a stairwell between Eric Bana’s Mossad agent (undercover) and Omar Metwally’s PLO agent. Tony Kushner’s script keeps it closer to drama than dialectic: Both sides make points, but they’re in the form of darting blows — there’s no peace and love to be found here.
(no embed, but watch the clip here)
26. Mellish’s Death – “Saving Private Ryan” (1998)
Amidst the bloody chaos of the finale of “Saving Private Ryan,” there’s one element that stands out in our memories. Inside a bombed-out building, Mellish (Adam Goldberg) wrestles desperately with a German soldier, over a knife, as Upham (Jeremy Davies) cowers at the bottom of the stairs. Mellish loses, the blade sunk deep into him, his enemy comforting him as he dies, before the German soldier comes down the stairs, passing Upham without comment. It almost fails to make sense, and yet captures the madness of war better than almost anything in the film.
25. “I Suddenly Remembered My Charlemagne” – “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade” (1989)
The secret M.V.P. of “Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade,” the third and by some distance the second best of the franchise, is Tom Stoppard, the British playwright who did a very recognizable and very public uncredited script polish. It gives the film a wit and sparkle not seen since the first, and his touch is felt most clearly in a scene where both Jones boys (Harrison Ford and Sean Connery) are being attacked by a Nazi fighter plane. Indy’s out of ideas, but his father uses his umbrella to scare a flock of birds into the plane’s path, bringing it down (Denholm Elliot’s delighted line reading of ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ comes twice, though).
24. Headlights At The Crossroads – “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” (1977)
For a film about the first encounter with alien life, “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” had to make its own first onscreen glimpse of something extraterrestrial something special. Luckily, it does. Lost at a level crossing, Richard Dreyfuss’s Roy Neary spots headlights behind him and tries to wave them around. But what he can’t see is that the lights don’t go around — they go over, eventually causing a bright light from above and physics to temporarily go haywire. It’s ingeniously low-tech stuff, and all the more magical for it.
23. The Dolly Zoom – “Jaws” (1975)
Spielberg didn’t invent the dolly zoom (a camera technique where you zoom a zoom lens while dollying out, giving a disorienting, almost unsettling feel), or even bring to American film — it was famously used in “Vertigo.” He didn’t even use it for the first time in “Jaws,” as “The Sugarland Express” also deploys the technique, albeit less successfully. But “Jaws” is where it’ll be remembered, showing the terror and fear as Roy Scheider’s Chief Brody sees a fountain of blood and a boy being dragged under the water.
22. Saluting The Pilots – “Empire Of The Sun” (1987)
Perhaps more than could be appreciated at the time, “Empire Of The Sun” is a remarkably mature and complex film, and it’s most strangely beautiful moment comes as Christian Bale’s Jim, interred in a POW camp, sees a group of Japanese pilots perform a kamikaze ritual before they get in their planes. He salutes them and sings a Welsh folk song, only to see one of the planes explode in midair, signalling an Allied raid. There’s so much going on here, so many confused feelings and emotions, and Spielberg somehow puts you straight in Jim’s head.
21. The Goodbye – “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
“E.T.” had such a powerful effect on me — and, I suspect, on so many of us — that when it was released back in 2002, all it took was to hear John Williams’ theme in the trailer and we started sobbing. There’s plenty of tear-jerking throughout, but it peaks as Elliot (Henry Thomas, in just one of the most amazing child performances ever) and E.T. (one of the most expressive puppet turns) say their goodbyes, with four simple words. “Go.” “Stay.” “Ouch.” “Ouch.” And yet so much is said. God, I’m literally crying now.
