Steven Spielberg is kind of a hack

[cmw43]

Michael Bay can film a mean sunset though. I'll give him that. (The Rock was pretty badass though, for real. And personally I like Pearl Harbor but I'm in the minority on that)


Best frame of reference for action scenes I've ever seen is the first Predator movie. You always know where everything is in relation to everything else and you always know what direction everything is coming from.

Predator director did Predator and Die Hard back to back, that's GOAT level action work.

 

[KONG-D'SNT-TAP]

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.

You can find similar scenes in Spielbergs movies as well. The cinematographer plays a big part in this.

Bridge of Spies

Minority Report

Lincoln

A.I.

Empire of the Sun

 

[moreorless87]

You can find similar scenes in Spielbergs movies as well. The cinematographer plays a big part in this.

Bridge of Spies

Minority Report

Lincoln

A.I.

Empire of the Sun

I can't see the Bridge of Spies of Empire of the Sun shots but looking at the others honestly only the Lincoln one really grabs me. The Minority Report one is nice and quite complex(although that alone is obviously not the only marker for quality) but also I think a bit of a cliché(makes me think of a home furnishing catalog) with the line of the sofa feeding down the hall and the IMHO somewhat overdone light beams. The A.I shot is pretty what I was saying, its clearly much simpler and more direct albeit well done for what it is. Indeed I think the A.I. shot just highlights Spielberg as a director, his natural strength is that more direct appeal to the viewer IMHO.

Also I'm not really "picking out" a still in Blade Runner am I? I mean yes I spose you could find less interesting shots in that film but you could also find dozens of shots just as or more interesting.

Its not really bashing Spielberg to say I don't think he's visually as strong as early Ridley Scott, only a very small number of directors are IMHO and most of them aren't making more mainstream blockbuster type films. That was really my point, Scott at the start of his career represented someone clearly taking a strong influence from people like Kurbick and Tarkovsky but bending it towards cinema that was less eccentric/demanding with wider appeal.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I can agree with the premise of the thread

But he's the right kind of hack

 

[moreorless87]

I can agree with the premise of the thread

But he's the right kind of hack

I don't really agree with the label though just because he makes blockbuster cinema. JJ Abrams for me is a "talented hack", he makes cinema I don't think he believes in personally to a formula to the easiest possible success.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

I don't really agree with the label though just because he makes blockbuster cinema. JJ Abrams for me is a "talented hack", he makes cinema I don't think he believes in personally to a formula to the easiest possible success.

Yah, earlier I said he's a good filmmaker who has hacky moments, schlock. But good schlock.
Not incredibly artistic cinema, but fun films. A lot of great flicks and he gets memorable performances from his actors.

 

[drstrangelov]

I don't know, I think the fact that he abandoned the bad ideas is part of what makes him great. I can't think of many scenes in his movies that take me out of the story. I can't really say that about most other directors.

 

[moreorless87]

I don't know, I think the fact that he abandoned the bad ideas is part of what makes him great. I can't think of many scenes in his movies that take me out of the story. I can't really say that about most other directors.

I actually think this is one of the major problems with a lot of modern blockbusters, they get too locked into tight production schedules that don't leave room for scripts to be worked on at length or changes on set.

The Lord of the Rings films were infamous for the amount of changes that took place during the production and I think were much the better for it, the same more recently with Fury Road and Rogue One. I look at something like The Last Jedi though and to be it just screams for someone standing up and saying "hang on a minute this isn't working".

 

[That209]

So a few silly/bad ideas in 4 decades of hits including some of the greatest movies ever made across several different genres means a director is a hack? Lol... this is the "pointy elbows" of rating beautiful women.

No it’s just proof that once again nothing is ever good enough for Sherdoggers.

 

[Idonotbelieveit]

He had to shoot jaws in a different way which was genius so wasn't lucky.
Probably worked out for the best

 

[Urban Youth]

Skill wise I wouldn't call him a hack, he was lucky for sure, but the guy started really young. It took years for him to hone his craft against a winning formula of box office success he brought about himself. His movies are entertaining, some much more than others. Purely in terms of filmography he has a lot of output and a lot of hits which is why his name is mentioned so much, as should be.

 

[Pugilistic]

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?!

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

So the guy tried out some wacky ideas and landed on some that turned out great. What great inventor or artist hasn't done the same? You have to be willing to go into the realm of silly or crazy as an artist or creator. Considering the number of great films he's made, I don't buy that he got lucky every single time. The guy made so many iconic films and scenes.

Also, I know this is heresy around these parts but Aliens did not surpass Alien. Those are two different movies and I much prefer Alien. I actually wish Aliens wasn't made so that the franchise could've been taken in another direction. Cameron took all the mystery and insurmountable nature and the metaphorical meaning of the alien and basically turned it into a bug. Alien was something more than just a horror movie, but Aliens is just an action movie, albeit a great one.

 

[Stranger Come Knocking]

Ts is obviously an anti semite

 

[ObamaPhoneLady]

and the man STILL ended up surpassing Ridley Scott's classic original Alien

 

[moreorless87]

< Have I come up with the best way of praising Spielberg yet trolling Sherdog?

Actually I think one of the best scenes he's ever done, at close as I'v seen to a classic Gene Kelly style musical.

 

[benebox]

It’s the end result that matters, had the monkey scene worked then we would look at it differently. Trail and error isn’t a bad thing as long as you know what to keep and what to discard which he clearly did. As the saying goes; everyone is a general after the war.

 

[lifelessheap]

The action in War of the World's was incredible.

 

[ShinkanPo]

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

No wonder Spielberg is good friends with George Lucas.

Speaking of Close Encounters I never really like that Film although I know it is a big hit in the states based on some commentary for years that I have read or heard.

But seriously how is that film not a flop?

 

[ShinkanPo]

string of luck resulting in a catalog of massive hits= talent

I do agree he is indebted to John Williams for much of his success.

So is Jorge Lukas

 

[Spoken]

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=

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