 |
| Spielberg in Animated Gif Form |
 |
| 3D Imaginery Picture of Spielberg With E.T created by me (Manash Kundu) |
 |
| 3D Picture of T-Rex With his Cinematic Creator Spielberg. Created by Me (Manash Kundu) |
 |
| 3D Picture of Spielberg with Dangerous Demonic Great White Shark in Jaws Movie. Created by me (Manash Kundu) |
 |
| Steven Allan Spielberg |
Steven
Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film
director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur.
In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many
themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were
seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years,
his films began addressing issues such as the Holocaust, the Transatlantic
slave trade, war, and terrorism. He is considered one of the most popular and
influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the
co-founders of DreamWorks movie studio.
 |
| Steven Allan Spielberg |
Spielberg won the
Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private
Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg's films—Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
(1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)—achieved box office records, each becoming the
highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all
Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts
Spielberg's wealth at $3.2 billion.
 |
| Steven Allan Spielberg With His Camera and Oscar Awards .3D Pictures created by Me (Manash Kundu) |
Early life
Spielberg was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio, to a Jewish family.His mother, Leah Adler (née Posner, 1920–
), was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg
(1917– ), was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers.
He spent his childhood in Haddon Township, New Jersey, where he saw one of his
first films in a theater, as well as in Scottsdale, Arizona. Throughout his
early teens, Spielberg made amateur 8 mm "adventure" films with his
friends, the first of which he shot at the Pinnacle Peak Patio restaurant in
Scottsdale. He charged admission (25 cents) to his home films (which involved
the wrecks he staged with his Lionel train set) while his sister sold popcorn.
In 1958, he became a
Boy Scout, and fulfilled a requirement for the photography merit badge by
making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled The Last Gunfight. Spielberg recalled years
later to a magazine interviewer, "My dad's still-camera was broken, so I
asked the scoutmaster if I could tell a story with my father's movie camera. He
said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western. I made it and got my merit badge.
That was how it all started."At age thirteen, Spielberg won a prize for a
40-minute war film he titled Escape to Nowhere which was based on a battle in
east Africa. In 1963, at age sixteen, Spielberg wrote and directed his first
independent film, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called Firelight
(which would later inspire Close Encounters). The film, which had a budget of
US$500, was shown in his local cinema and generated a profit of $1.He also made
several WWII films inspired by his father's war stories.
After his parents
divorced, he moved to Saratoga, California with his father. His three sisters
and mother remained in Arizona. He attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix,
Arizona for three years; Spielberg graduated from Saratoga High School in 1965.
It was during this time Spielberg attained the rank of Eagle Scout.
Spielberg attended
Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis,
who would later be memorialized as the main character in Mitch Albom's Have a
Little Faith.
 |
| Steven Allan Spielberg With His numerous Movie Poster as Background . Created by me (Manash Kundu) |
As a child, Spielberg
faced difficulty reconciling being an Orthodox Jew with the perception of him
by other children he played with. "It isn't something I enjoy
admitting," he once said, "but when I was seven, eight, nine years
old, God forgive me, I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was
embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents' Jewish practices. I was
never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times. My grandfather
always wore a long black coat, black hat and long white beard. I was
embarrassed to invite my friends over to the house, because he might be in a
corner davening [praying], and I wouldn't know how to explain this to my WASP
friends." Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic
prejudice in his early life: he later said, "In high school, I got smacked
and kicked around. Two bloody noses. It was horrible."
After moving to
California, he applied to attend the film school at University of Southern
California School of Theater, Film and Television two separate times, but was
unsuccessful. He subsequently became a student at California State University,
Long Beach. While attending Long Beach State in the 1960s, Spielberg became a
brother of Theta Chi Fraternity. His actual career began when he returned to
Universal Studios as an unpaid, seven-day-a-week intern and guest of the
editing department (uncredited). After Spielberg became famous, USC awarded him
an honorary degree in 1994, and in 1996 he became a trustee of the university.
In 2002, thirty-five years after starting college, Spielberg finished his
degree via independent projects at CSULB, and was awarded a B.A. in Film
Production and Electronic Arts with an option in Film/Video Production.
|
| Steven Allan Spielberg With His numerous Movie Poster as Background . Created by me (Manash Kundu) |
As an intern and
guest of Universal Studios, Spielberg made his first short film for theatrical
release, the 26-minute Amblin' (1968), the title of which Spielberg later took
as the name of his production company, Amblin Entertainment. After Sidney
Sheinberg, then the vice-president of production for Universal's TV arm, saw
the film, Spielberg became the youngest director ever to be signed for a
long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio (Universal). He dropped out of
Long Beach State in 1969 to take up the television director contract at
Universal Studios and began his career as a professional director. In 1969,
Variety announced that Spielberg would direct his first full length film,
Malcolm Winkler, written by Claudia Salter, produced by John Orland, with Frank
Price being the executive producer. However, because of the difficulty in
casting the key male role, the film was not made. Steven Spielberg also
attended Brookdale Community College for undergrad.
In 2007, Spielberg
was diagnosed with dyslexia, which he disclosed five years later in an
interview
Click on Movie Poster and Names to See The Trailer.
 |
| Steven Allan Spielberg`s numerous Movie Poster |
 |
| Steven Allan Spielberg`s numerous Movie Poster |
Click on Movie Poster and Names to See The Trailer.
Some Best
Movies of Spielberg
Duel is a
1971 television (and later full-length theatrical) film directed by Steven
Spielberg and written by Richard Matheson, based on his short story. It stars
Dennis Weaver, who plays a terrified motorist stalked on a remote and lonely
road by the unseen driver of a mysterious tanker truck.
 |
| E.T : Extraterrestrial: |
E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial (often referred to simply as E.T.) is a 1982 American science
fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa
Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew
Barrymore, and Peter Coyote. It tells the story of Elliott (played by Thomas),
a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is
stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return
home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.
|
| 3D Imaginery Picture of Spielberg With E.T created by me (Manash Kundu) |
The
concept for E.T. was based on an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his
parents' divorce in 1960. In 1980, Spielberg met Mathison and developed a new
story from the stalled science fiction/horror film project Night Skies. The
film was shot from September to December 1981 in California on a budget of
US$10.5 million. Unlike most motion pictures, the film was shot in roughly
chronological order, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the
young cast.
Released
by Universal Pictures, E.T. was a blockbuster, surpassing Star Wars to become
the highest-grossing film of all time—a record it held for ten years until
Jurassic Park, another Spielberg-directed film surpassed it in 1993. Critics
acclaimed it as a timeless story of friendship, and it ranks as the greatest
science fiction film ever made in a Rotten Tomatoes survey. The film was
re-released in 1985, and then again in 2002 to celebrate the film's 20th
anniversary, with altered shots and additional scenes.
 |
| IndianJones Series |
Dr. Henry
Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr. is a title character and the protagonist
of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the
character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. The character
first appeared in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, to be followed by
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade in 1989, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles from 1992 to 1996, and
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. Alongside the more
widely known films and television programs, the character is also featured in
novels, comics, video games, and other media. Jones is also featured in the
Disney theme park attraction Indiana Jones Adventure, which exists in similar
forms at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.
Particularly
notable facets of the character include his iconic look (bullwhip, fedora, and
leather jacket), sense of humor, deep knowledge of many ancient civilizations
and languages, and fear of snakes.
Since his
first appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones has become a
worldwide star and remains one of cinema's most revered movie characters. In
2003, he was ranked as the second greatest movie hero of all time by the
American Film Institute.He was also named the 6th Greatest Movie Character by
Empire magazine. Entertainment Weekly ranked Indy 2nd on their list of The
All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. Premiere magazine also placed Indy at
number 7 on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. On
their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Indy
at number 10. In 2010, he ranked #2 on Time Magazine's list of The Greatest
Fictional Characters of All Time, surpassed only by Sherlock Holmes.
 |
| Jaws (1975) |
Jaws is a
1975 American horror/thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on
Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The prototypical summer blockbuster,
its release is regarded as a watershed moment in motion picture history. In the
story, a giant man-eating great white shark attacks beachgoers on Amity Island,
a fictional summer resort town, prompting the local police chief to hunt it
with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter. The film
stars Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, Richard Dreyfuss as
oceanographer Matt Hooper, Robert Shaw as shark hunter Quint, Murray Hamilton
as the mayor of Amity Island, and Lorraine Gary as Brody's wife, Ellen. The
screenplay is credited to both Benchley, who wrote the first drafts, and
actor-writer Carl Gottlieb, who rewrote the script during principal
photography.
|
| 3D Picture of Spielberg with Dangerous Demonic Great White Shark in Jaws Movie. Created by me (Manash Kundu) |
Generally
well received by critics, Jaws became the highest-grossing film in history at
the time. It won several awards for its soundtrack and editing, and it is often
cited as one of the greatest films of all time. Along with 1977's Star Wars,
Jaws was pivotal in establishing the modern Hollywood business model, which
revolves around blockbuster action and adventure pictures with simple
"high-concept" premises that are released during the summer in
thousands of theaters and supported by heavy advertising. It was followed by
three sequels, none with the participation of Spielberg or Benchley, and many
imitative thrillers. In 2001, Jaws was selected by the Library of Congress for
preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed
"culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
 |
| Schindler`s List (1993) |
Schindler's
List is a 1993 epic drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg and
scripted by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas
Keneally, an Australian novelist. The film tells the story of Oskar Schindler,
a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly
Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories.
It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as Schutzstaffel (SS)-officer
Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern. John
Williams composed the score.
Ideas for
a film about the Schindlerjuden were proposed as early as 1963. Poldek
Pfefferberg, one of the Schindlerjuden, made it his life's mission to tell the
story of Schindler. When executive Sid Sheinberg sent a review of Schindler's
Ark to Spielberg, the director was fascinated by the book. He eventually
expressed enough interest for Universal Pictures to buy the rights to the
novel. However, he was unsure about his own maturity about making a film about
the Holocaust. Spielberg tried to pass on the projects to several other
directors before finally deciding to direct the film himself after hearing of
the various Holocaust denials.
Filming
took place in Poland over the course of 72 days, in Kraków. Spielberg shot the
film like a documentary, and decided not to use storyboards while shooting
Schindler's List. Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński wanted to give a timeless
sense to the film. Production designer Allan Starski made the sets darker or
lighter than the people in the scenes, so they would not blend. The costumes
had to be distinguished from skin tones or colors being used for the sets. In
composing the score to Schindler's List, Williams hired violinist Itzhak
Perlman to perform the film's main theme.
Schindler's
List premiered on November 30, 1993 in Washington, D.C. and it was released on
December 15, 1993 in the United States. Regarded as one of the greatest films
ever made, it was a box office success and recipient of seven Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Score, as well as
numerous other awards (seven BAFTAs, three Golden Globes). In 2007, the
American Film Institute ranked the film 8th on its list of the 100 best
American films of all time (up one position from its 9th place listing on the
1998 list).
Close
Encounters of the Third Kind (often referred to as Close Encounters or CE3K) is
a 1977 science fiction-drama written and directed by Steven Spielberg and
features actors Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr,
Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey. It tells the story of Roy Neary, a lineman in
Indiana, whose life changes after a close encounter with an unidentified flying
object (UFO).
Close
Encounters was a long-cherished project for Spielberg. In late 1973, he
developed a deal with Columbia Pictures for a science fiction film. Though
Spielberg receives sole credit for the script, he was assisted by Paul
Schrader, John Hill, David Giler, Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins, and Jerry
Belson, all of whom contributed to the screenplay in varying degrees. The title
is derived from ufologist J. Allen Hynek's classification of close encounters
with aliens, in which the third kind denotes human observations of actual
aliens or "animate beings". Douglas Trumbull served as the visual
effects supervisor, while Carlo Rambaldi designed the aliens.
Made on a
production budget of $20 million, Close Encounters was released in November
1977 to critical and financial success, eventually grossing over $337,700,000
worldwide.
The film
was reissued in 1980 as Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special
Edition, which featured additional scenes. A third cut of the film was released
to home video and laserdisc in 1998 (and later DVD and Blu-ray). The film
received numerous awards and nominations at the 50th Academy Awards, 32nd
British Academy Film Awards, the 35th Golden Globe Awards, the Saturn Awards
and has been widely acclaimed by the American Film Institute. In December 2007,
it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically
significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for
preservation in the National Film Registry
 |
Catch Me
If You Can is a 2002 American biographical crime film based on the life of
Frank Abagnale, who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons
worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a
Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. His primary crime was check
fraud; he became so skillful that the FBI eventually turned to him for help in
catching other check forgers. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg and
stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, with Christopher Walken, Amy Adams,
Martin Sheen, and Nathalie Baye in supporting roles.
Development
for the film started in 1980 but did not progress until 1997 when the film
rights to Abagnale's book were purchased by Spielberg's DreamWorks. David
Fincher, Gore Verbinski, Lasse Hallström, Miloš Forman and Cameron Crowe had
all been possible candidates for director before Spielberg decided to direct.
Filming took place from February to May 2002. The film was a financial and
critical success, and the real Abagnale reacted positively to it.
 |
| Empire of The Sun (1987) |
Empire of
the Sun is a 1987 American, coming of age war film based on J. G. Ballard's
semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Steven Spielberg directed the
film, which stars Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, and Nigel
Havers. The film tells the story of Jamie "Jim" Graham, a young boy
who goes from living in a wealthy British family in Shanghai, to becoming a
prisoner of war in Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center, a Japanese internment
camp, during World War II.
Plot
The
Empire of Japan had been at war with China since 1937 before declaring war on
the United States and the United Kingdom. During the conflict, Jamie Graham, a
British upper middle class schoolboy living in Shanghai, is separated from his
parents. He spends some time living in his deserted house and eating remnants
of food; eventually, he ventures out into the city and finds it bustling with
Japanese troops. Jamie is captured along with Basie, an American sailor, who
nicknames him "Jim". They are taken to Lunghua Civilian Assembly
Center in Shanghai, but are eventually moved to Suzhou Creek Internment Camp.
By 1945, a few months before the end of the Pacific War, Jim has established a
good living, despite the poor conditions of the camp. He has an extensive
trading network, even involving the camp's commanding officer, Sergeant Nagata.
Dr.
Rawlins, the camp's British doctor, becomes a father figure to Jim. Through the
barbwire fencing, Jim befriends a Japanese teenager, who shares Jim's dream of
becoming a pilot. Still idolizing Basie, Jim frequently visits him in the
American soldiers' barracks. At one point, Basie charges him to set snare traps
outside the wire of the camp and while Jim succeeds, thanks to the help of the
Japanese teenager from the other side, the real reason for sending Jim into the
marsh was actually to test the area for mines. As a reward, Basie allows him to
move into the American barracks with him. Basie then plots to escape.
Nagata
visits Basie's barracks and beats him severely after discovering a stolen bar
of Japanese soap hidden under a table. While Basie is in the infirmary, his
possessions are stolen by other men in the camp. One morning at dawn, Jim
witnesses a kamikaze ritual of three Japanese pilots at the air base. Overcome
with emotion at the solemnity of the ceremony, he begins to sing the Welsh song
Suo Gân. Later, the camp comes under attack by a group of American P-51 Mustang
fighter aircraft. As a result of the attack, the Japanese decide to evacuate
the camp. During the confusion of the attack, Basie escapes, leaving Jim
behind, although he had promised to let Jim come with him. The camp's
population marches through the wilderness, where many die of fatigue,
starvation, and disease. During the march, Jim witnesses a flash from the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki hundreds of miles away, and later hears news of
Japan's surrender and the end of the war.
Jim
sneaks away from the group and goes back to Soochow Creek, nearly dead from
starvation. He encounters the Japanese teenager he knew earlier, who has since
become a pilot and appears distraught at the surrender of his country. The
youth remembers Jim and offers him a mango, cutting it for him with his katana.
As Jim is about to eat it, Basie reappears with a group of armed Americans, who
have arrived to loot the Red Cross containers that were dropped after the
Japanese surrender. One of the Americans,
thinking
Jim is in danger, shoots and kills the Japanese youth. Jim, furious, beats the
American who shot his friend. Basie drags him off and promises to take him back
to Shanghai to find his parents, but Jim refuses the offer and stays behind. He
is found by American soldiers and put in an orphanage in Shanghai with other
children who had lost their parents. When his parents come looking for him, Jim
is so scarred from his experiences that he does not recognize them at first.
 |
| Goonies (1985) |
The
Goonies is a 1985 American adventure-comedy film directed by Richard Donner.
The screenplay was written by Chris Columbus from a story by executive producer
Steven Spielberg. The film's premise features a band of pre-teens who live in
the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon attempting to save
their homes from demolition, and in doing so, discover an old Spanish map that
leads them on an adventure to unearth the long-lost fortune of One-Eyed Willie,
a legendary 17th-century pirate.
 |
| Hook (1991) |
Hook is a
1991 American fantasy adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written
by James V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo. It stars Robin Williams as Peter
Pan/Peter Banning, Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook, Julia Roberts as Tinker
Bell, Bob Hoskins as Smee, Maggie Smith as Granny Wendy, Caroline Goodall as
Moira Banning, and Charlie Korsmo as Jack Banning. The film acts as a sequel to
the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie, focusing on a grown-up Peter
Pan who has forgotten his childhood. Now known as "Peter Banning", he
is a successful corporate lawyer with a wife and two children. Hook kidnaps his
children, and Peter must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in
order to challenge his old enemy.
Spielberg
began developing the film in the early-1980s with Walt Disney Productions and
Paramount Pictures, which would have followed the storyline seen in the 1953
animated film and 1924 silent film. Peter Pan entered pre-production in 1985,
but Spielberg abandoned the project. James V. Hart developed the script with
director Nick Castle and TriStar Pictures before Spielberg decided to direct in
1989. Hook was shot entirely on sound stages at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver
City, California. Although receiving negative reviews by critics at the time of
its release, it was a success with audiences, grossing over $300 million
worldwide, and was nominated for multiple categories at the 64th Academy
Awards. It also spawned merchandise, including video games, action figures and
comic book adaptations.
 |
| Jurassic Park Series |
Jurassic
Park is a 1993 American science fiction thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg,
and is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam
Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph
Mazzello, Martin Ferrero and Bob Peck. The film centers on the fictional Isla
Nublar near Costa Rica's Pacific Coast, where a billionaire philanthropist and
a small team of genetic scientists have created an amusement park of cloned
dinosaurs.
|
| 3D Picture of T-Rex With his Cinematic Creator Spielberg. Created by Me (Manash Kundu) |
Before
Crichton's book was even published, many studios had already begun bidding to
acquire the picture rights. Spielberg, with the backing of Universal Studios,
acquired the rights before publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired for an
additional $500,000 to adapt the novel for the screen. David Koepp wrote the
final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence, and
made numerous changes to the characters. Filming locations were in both
California and Hawaii.
Jurassic
Park is regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery, and
received positive reviews from most critics. During its release, the film
grossed over $900 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film
released up to that time (surpassing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and surpassed
four years later by Titanic), and it is currently the 23rd-highest-grossing
feature film (adjusted for inflation, it is the 20th-highest-grossing film in
North America). It is the highest grossing film produced by Universal and
directed by Spielberg. It won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, Best
Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects.
Owing to
the film's success, two sequels were made: The Lost World: Jurassic Park
directed by Spielberg as well, which was released on May 23, 1997, and Jurassic
Park III, directed by Joe Johnston, which was released on July 18, 2001.
Amistad
is a 1997 historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg based on the true
story of an uprising in 1839 by newly captured African slaves that took place
aboard the ship La Amistad off the coast of Cuba, the subsequent voyage to the
Northeastern United States, and the legal battle that followed their capture by
a United States revenue cutter. It shows how, even though the case was won at
the federal district court level, it was appealed by President Martin Van Buren
to the Supreme Court, and how former President John Quincy Adams took part in
the proceedings.
On the
day of judgment, Justice Joseph Story (Associate Supreme Court Justice Harry
Blackmun) announces the Supreme Court's decision on the case. Because the
Amistad Africans were illegally kidnapped from their homes in Africa, United
States laws on slave ownership do not apply. Furthermore, since that was the
case, the Amistad Africans were within their rights to use force to escape
their confinement. The Supreme Court authorizes the release of the Africans and
their conveyance back to Africa, if they so wish. Legally freed for the second
and final time, Cinquè bids emotional farewells to his companions; shaking
Adams's hand, giving Joadson his lion tooth which is his only memento of Africa
and thanking Baldwin in English and in Mende.
 |
| Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
Saving
Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film set during and following the
invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and
written by Robert Rodat. Noted for its graphic and realistic portrayal of war,
the film is especially notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes,
which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944. Afterwards, it follows
United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and
seven other soldiers (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel,
Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a
paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the
last-surviving brother of four servicemen.
Rodat
conceived the film's story in 1994 when he saw a monument dedicated to eight
siblings killed in the American Civil War. Rodat imagined a similar sibling
narrative set in World War II. The script was submitted to producer Mark
Gordon, who handed it to Hanks. It was finally given to Spielberg, who decided
to direct.
Saving
Private Ryan was well received by audiences and garnered considerable critical
acclaim, winning several awards for film, cast, and crew as well as earning
significant returns at the box office. The film grossed US$481.8 million
worldwide, making it the highest-grossing domestic film of the year. The
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated the film for eleven
Academy Awards; Spielberg's direction won him a second Academy Award for Best
Director
 |
| Minority Report (2002): |
Minority
Report is a 2002 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Steven
Spielberg and loosely based on the short story "The Minority Report"
by Philip K. Dick. It is set primarily in Washington, D.C., and Northern
Virginia in the year 2054, where "PreCrime", a specialized police department,
apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge provided by three psychics called
"precogs". The cast includes Tom Cruise as PreCrime captain John
Anderton, Colin Farrell as Department of Justice agent Danny Witwer, Samantha
Morton as the senior precog Agatha, and Max von Sydow as Anderton's superior
Lamar Burgess. The film is a combination of whodunit, thriller and science
fiction.
Spielberg
has characterized the story as "fifty percent character and fifty percent
very complicated storytelling with layers and layers of murder mystery and
plot".The film's central theme is the question of free will versus
determinism. It examines whether free will can exist if the future is set and
known in advance. Other themes include the role of preventive government in
protecting its citizenry, the role of media in a future state where electronic
advancements make its presence nearly boundless, the potential legality of an
infallible prosecutor, and Spielberg's repeated theme of broken families.
During pre-production, Spielberg consulted numerous scientists in an attempt to
present a more plausible future world than that seen in other science fiction
films, and some of the technology designs in the film have proven prescient
Plot:
In April
2054, Captain John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is chief of the highly controversial
Washington, D.C., PreCrime police force. They use future visions generated by
three "precogs", mutated humans with precognitive abilities, to stop
murders; because of this, the city has been murder-free for six years. Though
Anderton is a respected member of the force, he is addicted to Clarity, an
illegal psychoactive drug. With the PreCrime force poised to go nationwide, the
system is audited by Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), a member of the United
States Justice Department. During the audit, the precogs predict that Anderton
will murder a man named Leo Crow in 36 hours. Believing the incident to be a
setup by Witwer, who is aware of Anderton's addiction, Anderton attempts to
hide the case and quickly departs the area before Witwer begins a manhunt for
him. Anderton seeks the advice of Dr. Iris Hineman (Lois Smith), the lead
researcher of the PreCrime technology. She explains to Anderton that sometimes
the three precogs see different visions of the future, in which case the system
only provides data on the two reports which agree; the "minority
report", reflecting the potential future where a predicted killer would
have done something different, is discarded. According to Dr. Hineman, the
female precog Agatha is most likely to be the precog that witnesses the
minority report.
Anderton
undergoes a dangerous underground eye replacement to avoid detection by the
city's optical recognition system. He travels back to PreCrime and kidnaps
Agatha (Samantha Morton), which disables the precogs' hive mind and shuts down
the system. Anderton takes Agatha to a shopping mall, and a hacker, who
extracts both Agatha's vision of Crow's murder—with no differences from the
other two precogs, so there was no minority report—and another of the murder of
a woman named Anne Lively—which Agatha also showed to Anderton the day before
he was incriminated. Anderton and Agatha then head to the apartment where Crow
is to be killed. Inside, Anderton finds hundreds of pictures of children, one
of which is of his son, and concludes that Crow is responsible for Sean's
disappearance. When Crow arrives, Anderton holds him at gunpoint, but
ultimately decides to control his anger and places Crow under arrest instead.
Crow admits that he was hired to plant these photos and then be killed, so his
family would be paid handsomely. Since Anderton refuses to kill him, Crow grabs
the officer's hand and makes him fire at point-blank range, effectively
committing suicide by cop. On the run, Anderton and Agatha approach his ex-wife
Lara for refuge. Anderton learns Lively was Agatha's former drug-addicted
mother, once before a target of a failed murder attempt after requesting to see
her daughter before her death. Anderton realizes that his knowledge of the
Lively case is why he is being targeted.
Meanwhile,
Witwer assesses Crow's "murder" and doubts that Anderton killed him
in cold blood. He comes to recognize that the archival footage of Lively's
murder shows what appears to be a future echo by one of the visions, routinely
discarded by PreCrime, which he realizes is a different murder as nearby water
is rippling in a different direction from the original PreCrime vision. He
suspects someone used this to stage the first murder attempt, and then
recreated the setting to actually kill Lively and avoid being detected by
PreCrime. Witwer realizes that the murderer would had to have been someone high
up in PreCrime to have access to the vision, and reports these findings to PreCrime's
Director Lamar Burgess (Max von Sydow). Burgess, noting that the PreCrime
division is currently disabled due to Agatha's absence, kills Witwer and frames
Anderton for that murder as
well.
The
PreCrime unit eventually captures Anderton and restores Agatha to the system.
Burgess attempts to comfort Lara, but accidentally reveals that he was the one
that killed Lively. Lara acts on this information and frees Anderton at
gunpoint. At a banquet to celebrate the success of the PreCrime unit attended
by Burgess, Anderton plays back Agatha's vision of Lively's murder for the
gathered crowd, which shows Burgess as the murderer. While Burgess begins to
hunt down Anderton, a new PreCrime report is created: Anderton is the victim
and Burgess, the murderer. When Burgess catches up to Anderton, Anderton
explains the impossible situation: if Burgess kills Anderton, he proves the
system works but at the cost of a life sentence, while if he does not, the
system will not have worked and the PreCrime division will be shut down.
Anderton explains the fundamental flaw in the system: if one knows his or her
future, he or she can change it. Burgess resolves the dilemma by killing
himself. The PreCrime program is shut down and the prisoners are
unconditionally pardoned and released, though police departments keep watch on
many of them. Anderton and Lara remarry and start a new family. The precogs are
sent to an "undisclosed location", a small uncharted island in the
North Atlantic Ocean to live out a full happy life in peace.
 |
| A.I |
A.I.
Artificial Intelligence, also known as A.I., is a 2001 science fiction drama
film written, directed, and produced by Steven Spielberg, and based on Brian
Aldiss's short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long". The film
stars Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson, and
William Hurt. Set sometime in the future, A.I. tells the story of David, a
childlike android uniquely programmed with the ability to love.
Development
of A.I. originally began with director Stanley Kubrick in the early 1970s.
Kubrick hired a series of writers up until the mid-1990s, including Brian
Aldiss, Bob Shaw, Ian Watson, and Sara Maitland. The film languished in
development hell for years, partly because Kubrick felt computer-generated
imagery was not advanced enough to create the David character, whom he believed
no child actor would believably portray. In 1995, Kubrick handed A.I. to
Spielberg, but the film did not gain momentum until Kubrick's death in 1999.
Spielberg remained close to Watson's film treatment for the screenplay. The
film was greeted with generally favorable reviews from critics and grossed
approximately $235 million. A small credit appears after the end credits, which
reads "For Stanley Kubrick."
Plot:
In the
mid-22nd century, severe global warming has flooded coastlines, and a drastic
reduction of the human population has occurred. There is a new class of robots
called Mecha, advanced humanoids capable of emulating thoughts and emotions.
David (Haley Joel Osment), a prototype model created by Cybertronics of New
Jersey, is designed to resemble a human child and to display love for its human
owners. They test their creation with one of their employees, Henry Swinton
(Sam Robards), and his wife Monica (Frances O'Connor). The Swintons' son,
Martin (Jake Thomas), was placed in suspended animation until a cure can be
found for his rare disease. Although Monica is initially frightened of David,
she eventually warms to him after activating his imprinting protocol, which
irreversibly causes David to project love for her, the same as any child would
love a parent. He is also befriended by Teddy (Jack Angel), a robotic teddy
bear, who takes it upon himself to care for David's well being.
A cure is
found for Martin and he is brought home; a sibling rivalry ensues between
Martin and David. Martin convinces David to go to Monica in the middle of the
night and cut off a lock of her hair, but the parents wake up and are very
upset. At a pool party, one of Martin's friends activates David's self-protection
programming by poking him with a knife. David clings to Martin and they both
fall into the pool, where the heavy David sinks to the bottom while still
clinging to Martin. Martin is saved from drowning, but Henry in particular is
shocked by David's actions, becoming concerned that David's capacity for love
has also given him the ability to hate. Henry persuades Monica to return David
to Cybertronics, where David will be destroyed. However, Monica cannot bring
herself to do this, and instead abandons David in the forest (alongside Teddy)
to hide as an unregistered Mecha. David is captured for an anti-Mecha Flesh
Fair, an event where obsolete and unlicensed Mecha are destroyed in front of
cheering crowds. David is nearly killed, but the crowd is swayed by his
realistic nature (David, unlike other Mecha, pleads for his life) and he
escapes, along with Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), a male prostitute Mecha on the run
after being framed for murder.
The two
set out to find the Blue Fairy, whom David remembers from the story The
Adventures of Pinocchio. He is convinced that the
Blue
Fairy will transform him into a human boy, allowing Monica to love him and take
him home. Joe and David make their way to Rouge City. Information from a
holographic answer engine called "Dr. Know" (Robin Williams)
eventually leads them to the top of Rockefeller Center in partially underwater
Manhattan. They fly to New York via a flying submersible vehicle called an
amphibicopter they stole from the police, who are still chasing Joe. David meets
his human creator, Professor Allen Hobby (William Hurt), who excitedly tells
David that finding him was a test, which has demonstrated the reality of his
love and desire. It also becomes clear that many copies of David are already
being manufactured, along with female versions. David sadly realizes he is not
unique. A disheartened David attempts to commit suicide by falling from a ledge
into the ocean, but Joe rescues him with the amphibicopter. David tells Joe he
saw the Blue Fairy underwater, and wants to go down to her. At that moment, Joe
is captured by the authorities with the use of an electromagnet, but sets the
amphibicopter on submerge. David and Teddy take it to the fairy, which turns
out to be a statue from a submerged attraction at Coney Island. Teddy and David
become trapped when the Wonder Wheel falls on their vehicle. Believing the Blue
Fairy to be real, David asks to be turned into a real boy, repeating his wish
without end, until the ocean freezes in another ice age and his internal power
source drains away.
Two
thousand years later, humans are extinct and Manhattan is buried under several
hundred feet of glacial ice. Mecha have evolved into a highly advanced
alien-looking humanoid form. They find David and Teddy and discover they are
functional Mecha who knew living humans, making them special and unique. David
is revived and walks to the frozen Blue Fairy statue, which cracks and
collapses as he touches it. Having received and comprehended his memories, the
advanced Mecha use them to reconstruct the Swinton home and explain to David
via an interactive image of the Blue Fairy (Meryl Streep) that it is impossible
to make him human. However, at David's insistence, they recreate Monica from
DNA in the lock of her hair which had been saved by Teddy. Unfortunately, the
clone can only live for a single day and the process cannot be repeated. David
spends the happiest day of his life with Monica and Teddy, and Monica tells
David that she loves him and has always loved him as she drifts to sleep for
the final time. David lies down next to her, closes his eyes and goes "to
that place where dreams are born". Teddy enters the scene, climbs onto the
bed and watches as David and Monica lie down peacefully together.
 |
| War Horse (2011) |
War Horse
is a 2011 war drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is an adaptation of
British author Michael Morpurgo's 1982 children's novel of the same name set
before and during World War I.
The
film's cast includes David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch,
Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Eddie Marsan, Toby Kebbell, David Kross and Peter
Mullan.[3][4] The film is produced by Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, and
executive produced by Frank Marshall and Revel Guest. Long-term Spielberg
collaborators Janusz Kamiński, Michael Kahn, Rick Carter and John Williams all
worked on the film.
War Horse
became a box office success and was met with positive critical consensus.The
film was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, two Golden Globe
Awards and five BAFTAs.
Set
against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World
War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey
and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are
forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as
he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he
meets-British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his
granddaughter-before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No
Man's Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this
horse-an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure.
 |
| Tintin (2011) |
The
Adventures of Tintin (known as The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the
Unicorn outside North America is a 2011 American epic 3D motion capture
computer-animated adventure film based on The Adventures of Tintin, the series
of comic albums created by Belgian artist Hergé. Directed by Steven Spielberg,
produced by Peter Jackson, and written by Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe
Cornish, the film is based on three of Hergé's albums: The Crab with the Golden
Claws (1941), The Secret of the Unicorn (1943), and Red Rackham's Treasure (1944).
It is the first-ever animated film for both Spielberg and his longtime
collaborator, composer John Williams.
 |
| Spielberg with Tintin and Captain Haddock. 3D Picture Created By Me (Manash Kundu) |
Plot:
Tintin
(Jamie Bell), a young journalist, and his dog Snowy are browsing in an outdoor
market in a European town. Tintin buys a model of a three-masted sailing ship,
the Unicorn, but is then immediately accosted by the sinister Ivan Ivanovitch
Sakharine (Daniel Craig), and the mysterious figure of Barnaby (Joe Starr), who
both try to buy the model from Tintin, without success. Tintin takes the ship
home, but it is broken during a fight between Snowy and a neighbour's cat. As
it breaks, a parchment scroll slips out of the ship's mast. Snowy spots it but
is unable to alert Tintin. Meanwhile, incompetent detectives Thomson and
Thompson (Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) are on the trail of a pickpocket,
Aristides Silk (Toby Jones). Tintin visits Sakharine in Marlinspike Hall, where
he learns that there are two model ships. Tintin puts the scroll in his wallet,
only to have his wallet stolen by Silk.
Later, Tintin
is shot at, then abducted by accomplices of Sakharine, and imprisoned on the SS
Karaboudjan. On board, Tintin escapes and meets the ship's nominal captain,
Haddock (Andy Serkis). Haddock has been supplied with whisky by first mate
Allan (Daniel Mays), who is working for Sakharine, and thus is permanently
drunk, and unaware of the happenings on board his ship. Tintin, Haddock, and
Snowy eventually escape from the Karaboudjan in a lifeboat. Sakharine sends a
seaplane to find them, which the trio seize and use to fly towards the
(fictitious) Moroccan port of Bagghar, but they crash in the desert.
Dehydrated
in the heat, and suffering from a sudden lack of alcohol, Haddock hallucinates,
and starts to remember stories about his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock (Andy
Serkis), who was captain of the Unicorn during the 17th century. Sir Francis'
treasure-laden ship was attacked by a pirate ship, led by the masked Red
Rackham (Daniel Craig), and, after a fierce battle and eventual surrender, Sir
Francis chose to sink the Unicorn, and most of the treasure, rather than allow
it to fall into Rackham's hands. It transpires that there were three models of
the Unicorn, each containing a scroll. Together, the scrolls will reveal the
location of the sunken Unicorn, and its treasure.
The third
model ship is in Bagghar, in the possession of the wealthy Omar Ben Salaad (Gad
Elmaleh), but it is encased in a bullet-proof glass display case. Sakharine's
plan is to stage a concert involving famous diva Bianca Castafiore (Kim Stengel),
the
"Milanese
nightingale", whose penetrating singing voice will be able to shatter the
glass case, allowing Sakharine's trained hawk to fly down and steal the third
scroll. After a chase down to the harbour, pursued by Tintin and Haddock,
Sakharine finally escapes with all three scrolls. Tintin chases him back to
Europe and arranges a police reception for him on the dockside. Haddock and
Sakharine, who is revealed to be the descendant of Red Rackham, replay their
ancestors' swashbuckling sword fight, using dockside cranes, swords, and even
bottles of whisky. Haddock is eventually victorious and Sakharine is promptly
arrested by Thomson and Thompson.
With the
three scrolls in their possession, Tintin and Haddock find that the indicated
location is Marlinspike Hall, and that the hall had been built originally by
Sir Francis Haddock. There, in the cellar, they find some of the treasure, and
a clue to the location of the sunken Unicorn. Both men agree to continue the
adventure.
 |
| Munich(2005) |
Munich is a 2005
historical film about the Israeli government's secret retaliation against the
Black September terrorist group after the Munich massacre during the 1972
Summer Olympics. The film was produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and
written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth.
The film shows how a
squad of assassins, led by former Mossad agent Avner (Eric Bana), track down
and kill a list of Black September members thought to be responsible for the
murders of eleven Israeli athletes. The second part of the film, which depicts
the Israeli government's response, has been debated a great deal by film
critics and newspaper columnists. Spielberg refers to the film's second part as
"historical fiction", saying it is inspired by the actual Israeli
operations, known as Operation Wrath of God.
The film is based on
the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by
Canadian journalist George Jonas, which in turn was based on the story of Yuval
Aviv, who claims to have been a Mossad agent. In the book, Aviv's story is told
through a protagonist called "Avner".
The film was shot in
Malta, Budapest, Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base,Paris, and New York.
Plot:
The film
begins with a depiction of the events of the 1972 Munich Olympics. After the
killings, a target list of 11 names is drawn up.
Avner
Kaufman (Eric Bana), an Israeli-born Mossad agent of German-Jewish descent, is
chosen to lead the assassination squad and is given the assignment over tea at
the home of Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir. To give the Israeli government
plausible deniability and, at the direction of his handler Ephraim (Geoffrey
Rush), Avner resigns from Mossad; and the squad operates with no official ties
to Israel. Avner is given a team of four Jewish men: Steve (Daniel Craig), a
South African driver; Hans (Hanns Zischler), a document forger; Robert (Mathieu
Kassovitz), a Belgian toy-maker trained in defusing explosives; and Carl (Ciarán
Hinds), a former Israeli soldier who "cleans up" after the
assassinations. Avner and his team set about tracking down the 11 targets with
the help of a shadowy French informant, Louis (Mathieu Amalric).
In Rome,
the group tracks down their first target, Abdel Wael Zwaiter, who is broke and
living as a poet. The group follows him to his apartment building, and Avner
and Robert shoot him dead. In Paris, Robert pretends to be a journalist
interviewing their second target, Mahmoud Hamshari, about the Munich massacre.
He plants a bomb in Hamshari's phone that is set to be detonated by a remote
key. Carl is to dial Hamshari's number from a public telephone booth after
Hamshari's wife and daughter have left. However, while a large truck obscures
their view, the daughter runs back inside to retrieve something. Carl calls the
number, and the girl picks up; but Avner aborts the mission before Robert, who
cannot see what is going on, triggers the explosion. When the girl leaves, Carl
telephones the number, asks the man who answers if he's Hamshari; and, upon
affirmation of name, Robert detonates the bomb. In Cyprus, the team kills the
next target, Hussein Al Bashir (Hussein Abd Al Chir), by planting a bomb in his
hotel room beneath his bed. Avner gets a room next to Al Bashir and turns off
his bedroom light, the signal to proceed. When Robert detonates the bomb, the
explosives almost kill Avner and injures a newlywed couple next door. The group
meet later aboard a boat in the Cyprus harbour to discuss the errors in the
mission. Robert insists that the explosives he used were far more powerful than
what he expected. It is revealed at this juncture that Louis provided the
explosives and that he is also helping with the logistics of the hits through
Avner.
Avner
then meets with Louis in Paris and he gives the team information on three
Palestinians in Beirut: Muhammad Youssef al-Najjar (Abu Youssef); Kamal Adwan;
and Kamal Nasser, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) spokesman. Ephraim
refuses to let them handle the mission themselves. Avner insists that he will
lose Louis' trust if the operation is carried out by the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF). Ephraim relents, allowing the team to accompany the IDF commandos. In
Beirut, Steve, Robert, and Avner meet up with a group of Sayeret Matkal IDF
soldiers. They penetrate the Palestinians' guarded compound and kill all three.
In
Athens, Louis has provided the team with an apartment. During the night, four
PLO members, who have rented the same apartment as a safe house, enter the
dwelling. After a tense confrontation with guns drawn, Robert defuses the
situation by claiming that his squad are members of the Basque separatist
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), Red Army Faction (RAF), and the African National
Congress (ANC). Avner discusses Middle East politics with the group's leader.
Avner's group carries out their next assassination, that of Zaiad Muchasi, by
installing a remote-controlled bomb in Muchasi's TV set. However, the bomb does
not detonate. Hans walks into the hotel, forces his way and throws a grenade
that sets off the bomb, killing Muchasi. The squad exchanges gunfire with
Muchasi's bodyguards. In the chaos, they are forced to take the hotel manager
hostage; and Robert reveals that he doesn't actually build bombs, but just
defuses them.
Louis
provides the squad with information on Ali Hassan Salameh, the organizer of the
Munich Massacre. Avner learns from Louis that the CIA have a deal with Salameh
wherein they protect and fund him in exchange for his promise not to attack US
diplomats. The squad moves to London to track down Salameh, but they are not
able to accomplish the assassination when Avner is suddenly approached by
several drunken Americans. It is implied the said Americans are actually CIA
agents. Avner is propositioned by a woman (Marie-Josée Croze) in the hotel but
declines. Afterward, Carl is killed by the same woman, who Avner learns is an
independent Dutch contract killer.
Robert
questions the morality of the entire mission; Avner listens to him and asks him
to take a break. The remaining squad tracks the Dutch assassin to the
Netherlands and kills her without a glitch. Afterwards Avner, Steve and Hans
discuss the futility of the mission. Later, Hans is found stabbed to death and
left on a park bench while Robert is killed in an explosion in his workshop.
Avner and Steve finally locate Salameh in Spain; however, their assassination
attempt is thwarted by Salameh's guards.
A
disillusioned Avner flies to Israel and then to his new home in New York City
to reunite with his wife and their child. In a fit of paranoia, he storms into
the Israeli consulate and screams at an employee whom he believes to be a
Mossad agent to leave him and his family alone. Ephraim comes to New York to
urge Avner to rejoin Mossad.
In the
final scene, Avner openly questions the basis and effectiveness of the
operation, and Ephraim admits that there was no evidence linking any of the
targets to the Munich massacre. In a show of respect, Avner asks Ephraim to
break bread with him, but because he has refused to return to Israel, Ephraim
rejects him and leaves. Avner leaves as well.
During
the last scene, the camera pans across the New York City skyline and stops with
the Twin Towers in the center of the scene. A postscript notes that 9 of the 11
men targeted by Mossad were eventually assassinated, including Salameh in 1979.
Lincoln is a 2012
American historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg,
starring Daniel Day-Lewis as United States President Abraham Lincoln and Sally
Field as Mary Todd Lincoln. The film is based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin's
biography of Lincoln, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln,
and covers the final four months of Lincoln's life, focusing on Lincoln's
efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives.
Filming began October
17, 2011, and ended on December 19, 2011. The film was released on November 9,
2012, in select cities and widely released on November 16, 2012, in the United
States by DreamWorks through Disney’s Touchstone distribution label in the U.S.
The film is scheduled for release on January 25, 2013 in the United Kingdom,
with distribution in international territories, including the U.K., by 20th
Century Fox.
Lincoln received
widespread critical acclaim, with praise given to Day-Lewis' performance and
many considering him a contender for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
 |
| War ofThe World (2005) |
War of
the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction disaster film and a loose
adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel of the same name, directed by Steven
Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp. It stars Tom Cruise as
Ray Ferrier, a divorced dock worker estranged from his children (Dakota Fanning
and Justin Chatwin) and living separately from them. As his ex-wife drops their
children off for him to look after for a few days, the planet is invaded by
aliens (loosely based on H. G. Wells' Martians) driving Tripods and as earth's
armies are defeated, Ray tries to protect his children and flee to Boston to
rejoin his ex-wife.
War of
the Worlds marks Spielberg and Cruise's second collaboration, after the 2002
film Minority Report. The film was shot in 73 days, using five different sound
stages as well as locations at California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Staten
Island, and Virginia. The film was surrounded by a secrecy campaign so few
details would be leaked before its release. Tie-in promotions were made with
several companies, including Hitachi. The film was released in United States on
29 June and in United Kingdom on 1 July. War of the Worlds was a box office
success, and became 2005's fourth most successful film both domestically, with
$234 million in North America, and worldwide, with $591 million overall. At
time of its release it was the highest grossing film starring Tom Cruise until
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
Plot:
Ray
Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a container crane operator at a New Jersey port and is
estranged from his children. He is visited by his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda
Otto), who drops off the children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin
Chatwin), as she is going to visit her parents in Boston, Massachusetts. Robbie
takes Ray's car out without his permission, so Ray starts to search for him.
Ray notices a strange wall cloud, which starts to send out powerful lightning
strikes, disabling all electronic devices in the area, including cars, forcing
Robbie to come back. Ray heads down the street to investigate. He stops at a
garage and tells Manny the local mechanic, to replace the solenoid on a dead
car.
Ray
reaches the place where multiple lighting bolts struck the ground and witnesses
the ground heaving up as a massive machine with three long legs climbs out. The
Tripod gives off a loud blaring sound before opening fire with heat-rays,
vaporizing bystanders and destroying everything in its path. Ray manages to
barely escape; he packs up his kids and leaves in the vehicle Manny repaired as
the Tripod destroys the town. He drives to Mary Ann's house to take refuge that
night. Loud explosions occur all night. The next morning he discovers a crashed
Boeing 747 in the street outside the house. He meets a news team stealing the flight's
meals and surveying the wreckage. The reporter shows him footage of Tripods all
over the Earth, with the unknown pilots entering the machines through the
lightning strikes. She speculates that the machines were in place for thousands
of years meaning the invasion was being planned for a long time.
Ray
decides to take the kids to Boston to be with their mother. Robbie, trying to
join the fight against the aliens, tries to leave with the U.S. military, but
Ray and Rachel stop him. They are forced to leave their car after a mob
surrounds them and takes the vehicle by force. They later survive a Tripod
attack which causes the sinking of a Hudson River ferry. The family then ends
up in the middle of a battle between the military and the Tripods. Forced to
choose between being separated from Rachel and preventing Robbie from joining
the fight, Ray lets him go with the soldiers. Immediately afterwards the
Tripods destroy all military resistance, presumably also killing Robbie. The
Tripods are shown to be protected by an energy shield that makes them
invulnerable. While escaping, Ray and Rachel
are
offered shelter by Harlan Ogilvy (Tim Robbins), who vows revenge on the aliens
after his family was killed by them.
While
hiding in Harlan's basement, they witness the Tripods spreading a strange red
weed substance everywhere. They all hide from a snake-like probe and a group of
four aliens who explore the basement. The next morning, Ogilvy suffers a mental
breakdown while witnessing a Tripod harvesting blood and tissue from a human.
Concerned that Ogilvy's yelling and ranting will attract the Tripods, Ray
reluctantly kills Ogilvy to silence him. The basement hideout is exposed when a
second probe catches them sleeping. Ray cripples the probe using an axe, but
Rachel runs outside and is caught by the Tripod. As he chases after the Tripod
and Rachel, Ray finds a grenade bandolier with several hand grenades in a
destroyed Humvee and detonates one of them to attract the Tripod's attention.
He is captured as he planned and placed in the same basket with Rachel and
several other prisoners. Ray discovers Rachel is in shock after she witnesses a
captive being sucked up into the ship to be harvested. As Ray finally calms her
down, the aliens select Ray to pull him inside for harvesting, but the other
prisoners manage to pull him back. The bandolier he was wearing was left inside
the Tripod and Ray was able to pull all of the pins, causing a massive internal
explosion, destroying the Tripod and freeing the captives.
Ray and
Rachel arrive in a devastated Boston, where the red weeds are dying and the
Tripods have been behaving erratically and crashing. Ray notices that force
fields are down on a Tripod, prompting nearby soldiers to attack and destroy
it. As a crowd approaches the downed machine, a hatch opens, revealing an alien
that lets out a final growl before it dies. Ray and Rachel reach Mary Ann's
parents' house, where Rachel is reunited with her mother and find to their
surprise, Robbie, who has somehow survived the hilltop massacre.
 |
| TheColor Purple (1985) : |
The Color
Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based
on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was
Spielberg's eighth film as a director, and was a change from the summer
blockbusters for which he had become famous. The film starred Danny Glover,
Desreta Jackson, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Adolph Caesar, Rae Dawn Chong,
and introducing Whoopi Goldberg as Celie Harris.
Filmed in
Anson and Union counties in North Carolina, the film tells the story of a young
African American girl named Celie Harris and shows the problems African
American women faced during the early 1900s, including poverty, racism, and sexism.
Celie is transformed as she finds her self-worth through the help of two strong
female companions.
The film
is one of only two of Spielberg's films for which John Williams did not compose
the score.
Plot:
Taking place in the
Southern United States during the early 1900s to late 1940s, the movie tells
the life of a poor African American woman named Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg)
whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is fourteen, she has
already had two children by her father (Leonard Jackson). He takes them away
from her at childbirth and forces the young Celie (Desreta Jackson) to marry a
wealthy young local widower Albert Johnson, known to her only as
"Mister" (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her
clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert
beats her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's
sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, and there is a brief
period of happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to
teach Celie how to read. This is short-lived, after Nettie refuses Albert's
predatory affections once too often, he kicks her out. Before being run off by
Albert, Nettie promises to write to Celie.
Albert's old flame,
the jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has carried a
torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with
sickness, Shug initially regards Celie (wearing a face mask) as
"ugly" on their first meeting. Despite this, they eventually become
close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence. Shug and Celie
also enter into an affair (more pronounced in the book, but only hinted at in
the film).[3] Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who marries
Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has also suffered abuse from the
men in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This
high-spiritedness proves to be her downfall, as a rude remark to the town
mayor's wife and a retaliatory punch to the mayor himself ends with Sofia
beaten and jailed.
Nettie, meanwhile,
has been living with missionaries in Africa and writing to Celie often.
Unbeknownst to her, Albert confiscates
Nettie's letters,
telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again. During a visit
from Shug and her new husband, Grady, Celie and Shug discover many years' worth
of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the assurance that
she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She
almost slits his throat while shaving him, but is stopped by Shug. During a
family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and permanently disfigured
due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and demoralized into an almost
catatonic state. During that time, Celie finally asserts herself, excoriating
Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that she and Grady are leaving, and
that Celie and Harpo's girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong) are coming with them.
Despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse Celie into submission, she stands
up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away from her because Nettie was
the only one who really loved her. Before she leaves him permanently, she tells
him that until he does the right thing, everything he does will go wrong. After
seeing Celie stand up for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing
hysterically at a dumbfounded and embarrassed Albert. She also warns Celie not
to follow in her own footsteps, as Celie holds a knife to Albert's throat.
In Tennessee, Celie
opens a haberdashery selling "one size fits all" slacks. Upon the
death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her stepfather, and that
she has inherited a house and shop from her real father. She opens her second slacks
shop next to her home named Miss Celie's Folks Pants, while Harpo and Sofia
reconcile. Meanwhile, Albert is feeling the effects of Celie's words. His
fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he slips into
alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo's speakeasy. At one
point, his father is seen suggesting that he find a new wife, but Albert
casually grabs his father by the arm and turns him off his property. Years of
guilt finally catch up with him, with the knowledge that he has been a horrible
person most of his life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness
unknown to her, Albert takes all the money he has saved over the years, goes to
the immigration office, and arranges a family reunion with Nettie for Celie.
Her children, Adam and Olivia, who were raised in Africa, are also reunited
with her. Albert looks on from a distance, and Shug smiles at him because he
finally did the right thing. Nettie and Celie play their childhood clapping
game as the sun sets.
Spielberg`s Versatile Movies List Starting from Science Fiction Movies like E.T , A.I , Minority Report , War of The World .
War Movies with human touch Like Saving Private Ryan , Schindler's List , War Horse.
Movies against bad Social Issues like Slave Trade (Amistad) Social oppression for American African women (The Color Purple)
Adventure and Fantasy Movies Like Indiana Jones Series , Goonies , Hook
Dinosaur and Ferocious Animal Movies Like Jurassic Park Series , Jaws
Autobiographical and Period Movie Like Lincoln, Schindler's List, Munich and the List still continue.
This Versatile Genius Movie Maker also the Father of Special Effect in Hollywood he also teaches how Human Values and expression create Intense Magical effect and social consciousness within the Society with the movie The Color Purple and Schindler's List
Nature Magazine
National Geographic
Cartoon Games
History Channel
Online Movies
Scientific American
Filmfare Mag
Online Britannica
Time Mag
Unexplained Mysteries
No comments:
Post a Comment