Steven Spielberg is kind of a hack

[blaseblah]

The guy has made wayyyy too many good movies to be a hack. Making a movie is a process. I guarantee other great directors have also had ideas that would have significantly changed the classics they are known for.

 

[MicroBrew]

That really was a film for me where a director showed a big shift forward in terms of visual ability, reminds me rather of Sergio Leone with Once Upon A Time In America, both were clearly talented before that but a long break from conventional film and then really something amazing.

Again I would compare it much more to something like Alien or Blade Runner in terms of visual ambition.

I am a Sergio Leone fan. Love that Spaghetti Western style .

 

[Drain Bamage]

I watched Jaws the other night for the first time in many years and I was all like "wow this is brilliant" and it lead me to watch the making of Jaws on youtube. Which lead me to watch the making of Close Encounters.

He got lucky with Jaws because the shark didn't work. So he had to adapt. Which I give him credit for, he did adapt brilliantly. But if things had gone according to his vision, we would've had a very different movie and probably a far less effective movie. And his career probably would've been far less impressive, since the massive success of Jaws is what launched him.

Then Close Encounters. You would not believe the crap he wanted to do with the aliens in that movie. I mean absolutely ridiculous things. This man, this personification of film director, actually shot a take of a monkey wearing shiny silver spandex clothes wearing an alien mask, on roller skaters, roller skating down the ramp of the ufo. He wanted a monkey because he didn't want the aliens to move like humans, and he put it on roller skates because he wanted the appearance of it hovering down from the ufo ramp. So according to him, the first thing the monkey does is rip off it's mask, reach for it's handler, and roller skates backwards down the ufo ramp. I mean wtf Spielberg? Also...poor monkey He also tried some stuff with a bunch of kids dressed as aliens sped up in the film, and hired mimes to slow down their motion and act like humans in slow motion, so the aliens would move super fast compared to the humans. THIS guy is synonymous with brilliant film directors?!

It made me realize that luck, combined with the fortuitous decision to partner with John Williams, is what really made Spielberg. Spielberg hasn't gotten worse as he's gotten older. He's just had things go his way more often, and things going his way means that we get sub par films. Even Shia Labeouf has commented on how working with Spielberg was not at all what he had envisioned.


I say all this so that all of you can realize the truth. Spielberg is a lucky hack. You want real directorial talent? Go watch a James Cameron flick. Or better yet, go watch the making of Aliens, for example. Where Cameron had to work in England with a hostile crew that didn't respect him and didn't know who he was, had not seen Terminator, didn't care to see Terminator, didn't listen to Cameron, a few high up folks had to be fired, and the man STILL ended up surpassing Ridley Scott's classic original Alien and making one of the best action films of all time.

Cameron's > Spielberg

Jim Cameron and Ridley Scott are great

Spielberg is God with the camera though

Way more intricately directed scenes in his movies

Longer takes, more layers of action going on in every shot, even before digital was around to artificially enhance cinematography

Have Jim Cameron or Ridley Scott ever even featured long takes in their movies?

The long take is what seperates the men from the boys imo

 

[Morning Star]

Can anyone explain what in the fuck that chart is supposed to be showing me?

Literally straight from my post "Here's a chart of directors with movies in the IMDB top 1000. Speilberg has 22 which is far and away more than anyone else"

 

[moreorless87]

Jim Cameron and Ridley Scott are great

Spielberg is God with the camera though

Way more intricately directed scenes in his movies

Longer takes, more layers of action going on in every shot, even before digital was around to artificially enhance cinematography

Have Jim Cameron or Ridley Scott ever even featured long takes in their movies?

The long take is what seperates the men from the boys imo

Can't really agree there, long takes can be quite effective but they can also be quite gimmicky and stand in the way of interesting composition, that highway scene in War of the Worlds(although overall probably the best looking Spielberg film) comes to mind for the latter.

 

[is normal]

I would way rather watch Avatar again than 1941 or Indiana Jones 4.

BLUE LADY (screeching insufferably)
SOLLY! SOLLY!
x3 hours

At least with 1941 you see the cast and can be delusional before it starts.

 

[Fraz]

all of them stand in Spielberg's shadow. Adapting to production difficulties and completing a hit movie (one that defined the "summer blockbuster" genre) is a testament to his genius yet you dare call him a hack?

spielberg=

you=

Lmao.

 

[Drain Bamage]

Can't really agree there, long takes can be quite effective but they can also be quite gimmicky and stand in the way of interesting composition, that highway scene in War of the Worlds(although overall probably the best looking Spielberg film) comes to mind for the latter.

War of the Worlds was a master's course in efficient big budget filmmaking. Fuck I love that movie. Can't agree with ya.

It's why I don't even really think Nolan is that gifted with the camera. Name one elaborately constructed sequence in his movies they just aren't there. In fact, just whenever a shot is sbout to reach a point where it would become challenging to go any further without a cut, Nolan invariably cuts.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

Spielberg is a master of the long take.


The opening to Boogie Nights is another example of it used perfectly

 

[The Diplomat]

Lets see here...

directed:
Jaws
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Raiders of the Lost Ark + Temple of Doom + Last Crusade
ET
The Color Purple
Hook
Jurassic Park
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
A.I.
Minority Report
Catch Me if you Can
Munich
War Horse
Lincoln
Bridge of Spies

Produced Goonies, Gremlins, BTTF, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc.

Yep, total hack.

Just because a director gets reigned in sometimes during production, doesn't mean he's an overall hack. The amount of quality, the differences of genre, the iconic moments that Spielberg has directed speaks for itself.

 

[bad seed]

Spielberg is a master of the long take.


The opening to Boogie Nights is another example of it used perfectly

Panic Room and Goodfellas are also legendary examples.

 

[moreorless87]

I'll take strong composition over elabourately staged long takes personally, my favourite long(ish) take...

 

[Plissken]

Spielberg wanted a monkey wearing skates, Cameron made Avatar and wants to make 4 sequels, which is the greater sin?
Love both of them though (even though they haven't done anything special in a long time).

 

[Stargazer Rex]

Lol @ calling Spielberg a hack. You probably just can't comprehend all the ideas floating in that man's head. None of the stuff you mentioned made it to the final product for a reason, it's a team effort. You gotta bounce ideas around.

Too many classics to be a hack, dawg.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

I'll take strong composition over elabourately staged long takes personally, my favourite long(ish) take...

Spielberg is also a master of composition.

I would also imagine that a cinematographer Has a lot to do with that as well.

 

[ChucksGlassJaw]

Thread's so bad that it kind of makes me hate OP. The first post is bizarre level stupid.

 

[JSN]

He’s not Kurosawa but he ain’t no god damned hack. That’s a ridiculous opinion.

 

[Bob Gray]

I think this might be the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

 

[HHJ]

He’s not Kurosawa but he ain’t no god damned hack. That’s a ridiculous opinion.

Well jesus christ no one is kurosawa. Plus kurosawa had a weapon of mass destruction. An unstoppable war machine of death,exploding with boundless charisma called Mifune.

 

[moreorless87]

Spielberg is also a master of composition.

I would also imagine that a cinematographer Has a lot to do with that as well.

Exacly who's doing what work is perhaps a little in question but shot composing that shot is I suspect almost certain and the lighting of course is natural although equally there the cinematographer is going to be more doing the directors bidding.

SPielbergs compositions tends to be good but also I think quite conventional, it forfills a purpose in the story but personally doesn't stick in the memory as much for me, His best work I think actually tends to be more dymatic stuff in his blockbusters like the shot down the staff of Ra in the map room in Raiders.

Scott back in the day I think had more complex and interesting compositions, you can see in that duelists scene he's working with the cloud forms and the bend in the flooded Loire valley plus he's doing it on the fly as the sun coming out in those conditions is very temporary. I'm sure he'd make a far better landscape photographer than me.

Look at this shot from Blade Runner...

JF Sebastian naturally framed by the rows of equipment either side of him progressively better lit as it gets closer to him and also framed with the poll on the right hand side at the top and with a central light. JF himself is very slightly to the left of central that makes him dominant in the frame but also balanced the replicants/toys to his right with the dwarf being less dominant and the maraquin lady(both of which are moving) less so, the latter is balanced by the back of that big light on the left. Just the right about of lighting and smoke in the air to pick out the different layers of the composition as well.

Again I think long takes very often put directors in the position there they are compromising composition and lighting.