Steven Spielberg is kind of a hack

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

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

 

[Jack Reacheround]

What happened to the shark on Jaws and how did that affect the direction? What did he do to adapt? I have never heard this before.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

What happened to the shark on Jaws and how did that affect the direction? What did he do to adapt? I have never heard this before.

In his vision, ok for example the iconic opening sequence. In his vision, he wanted the audience to actually see the entire girl inside the skarks mouth. He wanted to see the shark a LOT more than what actually ended up on film. But the mechanical shark didn't work worth a crap in salt water. It hardly ever worked. So they ended up doing a Hitchcockian style thing where the dread is what you DON'T see. That scene with the barrels speeding across the top of the water is a good example. That wouldn't have existed if the mechanical shark actually worked.

You should go youtube the making of Jaws. It's pretty interesting.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

In his vision, ok for example the iconic opening sequence. In his vision, he wanted the audience to actually see the entire girl inside the skarks mouth. He wanted to see the shark a LOT more than what actually ended up on film. But the mechanical shark didn't work worth a crap in salt water. It hardly ever worked. So they ended up doing a Hitchcockian style thing where the dread is what you DON'T see. That scene with the barrel's going through the water is a good example. That wouldn't have existed if the mechanical shark actually worked.

Yeah, not seeing the shark definitely made it more suspenseful. Sometimes less is more. You know who else doesn’t get that? Michael Bay. Unless by less you mean less context for the action sequences in his films. I have no fucking clue what is going on because there is no frame of reference for where anything is happening. Everything is a close up of a fucking explosion or a robot’s arm.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Yeah, not seeing the shark definitely made it more suspenseful. Sometimes less is more. You know who else doesn’t get that? Michael Bay. Unless by less you mean less context for the action sequences in his films. I have no fucking clue what is going on because there is no frame of reference for where anything is happening. Everything is a close up of a fucking explosion or a robot’s arm.

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.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

This is the vid where he talks about the monkey on roller skates as an alien in Close Encounters. I'll have to go find the time where he talks about it, but it's in this video.

 

[Starck]

If you've seen one Spielberg movie, you've seen them all. They all follow the same formula. Basic cinema tropes.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

If you've seen one Spielberg movie, you've seen them all. They all follow the same formula. Basic cinema tropes.

Pretty much. The guy has made some great movies, no doubt. But I can easily list several directors that I think surpass him in actual talent. Cameron, Zemeckis, Fincher, Nolan, Scorsese, John McTiernan, etc.

 

[Zer]

I wouldn't say he's a hack exactly but I've never really cared for his movies. Minority Report is prob my fav of his

 

[bad seed]

Pretty much. The guy has made some great movies, no doubt. But I can easily list several directors that I think surpass him in actual talent. Cameron, Zemeckis, Fincher, Nolan, Scorsese, John McTiernan, etc.

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=

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

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=

Jaws did in fact give us the term summer blockbuster. And it was that. But dude got lucky with that movie. The shark didn't work. Dude then got lucky with Close Encounter. Monkeys can't roller skate worth shit. Then he got even luckier by realizing john williams is a genius. Luck does not equal talent. Like I said, and like you talked about, you want to see a real directorial talent surpass hardships and still deliver? Go watch the making of Aliens.

Worst movie Spielberg ever made was Indiana Jones Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Worst movie Cameron ever made was Avatar.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

Both Spielberg and Cameron are overrated af.

 

[bad seed]

Jaws did in fact give us the term summer blockbuster. And it was that. But dude got lucky with that movie. The shark didn't work. Dude then got lucky with Close Encounter. Monkeys can't roller skate worth shit. Then he got even luckier by realizing john williams is a genius. Luck does not equal talent. Like I said, and like you talked about, you want to see a real directorial talent surpass hardships and still deliver? Go watch the making of Aliens.

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.

 

[Otto!]

I was 9 years old when Jaws came out. Some of the scenes freaked me out back then, but rewatching it many times over the years really made me appreciate the opening scene and the power of the unseen. I agree with TS, showing the actual shark would have been less powerful. That opening scene scared an entire generation.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

Both Spielberg and Cameron are overated af.

 

[Agent Mulder's Hair]

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

Michael Bay can boast the same accomplishment.

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

At least we can both agree on that.

 

[Vergilius]

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

When you work creatively, it's pretty normal to adapt and change your ideas along the way. I'm sure you could find similar stories from tons of great movies if you dug a little.

 

[HomerThompson]

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

X-Files sucked.

 

[HHJ]

You cant be a hack that many times. You start with something and work until the final result is achieved. As an artist myself,the initial attempt at vision can turn into something that makes original idea look ridiculous in comparison.

You are just a hater.