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Steven Spielberg: All the Films: The Story Behind Every Movie, Episode, and Short
A first-of-its-kind deep dive into Steven Spielberg's decades-long career, covering everything from early short films and television episodes to each of his more than 30 feature length-films.
Organized chronologically and covering every short film, television episode, and blockbuster movie that Steven Spielberg has ever directed, Steven Spielberg All the Films draws upon years of research to tell the behind-the-scenes stories of how each project was conceived, cast, and produced; from the creation of the costumes to the search for perfect locations; details about Spielberg's work with longtime collaborators like George Lucas, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and composer John Williams; and of course, the direction of some of Hollywood's most memorable scenes. Spanning more than fifty years, this book details the creative processes that resulted in numerous classic films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Jaws , Jurassic Park , The Color Purple , Schindler's List , and Saving Private Ryan (to name just a few). Newer work like Lincoln , The Post , and The Fabelmans is also featured alongside awards stats, original release dates, box office totals, casting details, and other insider scoops that will keep fans turning pages. Featuring hundreds of vivid photographs that celebrate one of cinema's most iconic artists, Steven Spielberg All the Films is the authoritative guide to the man who invented the Hollywood blockbuster.
Organized chronologically and covering every short film, television episode, and blockbuster movie that Steven Spielberg has ever directed, Steven Spielberg All the Films draws upon years of research to tell the behind-the-scenes stories of how each project was conceived, cast, and produced; from the creation of the costumes to the search for perfect locations; details about Spielberg's work with longtime collaborators like George Lucas, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and composer John Williams; and of course, the direction of some of Hollywood's most memorable scenes. Spanning more than fifty years, this book details the creative processes that resulted in numerous classic films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , Jaws , Jurassic Park , The Color Purple , Schindler's List , and Saving Private Ryan (to name just a few). Newer work like Lincoln , The Post , and The Fabelmans is also featured alongside awards stats, original release dates, box office totals, casting details, and other insider scoops that will keep fans turning pages. Featuring hundreds of vivid photographs that celebrate one of cinema's most iconic artists, Steven Spielberg All the Films is the authoritative guide to the man who invented the Hollywood blockbuster.
504 pages, Hardcover
Published November 7, 2023
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149 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 10, 2024
The good news is I loved this book. The bad news is that now I need to watch all the Spielberg movies I have not yet seen, which is more than I thought.
February 17, 2024
Wonderful insight into the man.
June 20, 2024
Your response to this coffee table book will depend upon your expectations. The authors assume you know all of Spielberg's movies, so they shortcut descriptions and provide very little actual content to most of the chapters. There are a few good summary sections where they contrast his different films, but way too many giant photos and wasted space that could have been filled with solid content or new revelations.
The giant 500-page book starts out promisingly with individual summaries of the short films and TV series Spielberg directed. He didn't just begin with well-known Duel but had a number of television dramas under his belt, which were interesting to learn about.
Early chapters on his first full-length features show promise at detailed objective content, but that is not sustained. Jaws gets 15 pages, Close Encounters has 12, Raiders 16 and E.T. 11, but soon sections go single-digit, and many seem like quickly written Wikipedia entries with little substantive outside research. There are a few exceptions, but the text becomes sloppy, stilted and biased, nowhere more noticeable than in the West Side Story chapter near the end.
For some reason the authors feel the need to use this book to criticize the original West Side Story movie, which is one of the greatest film musicals of all time and won more Oscars than almost any other movie in history. Spielberg's attempt to update it was a well-intentioned mistake (proven by how audiences stayed away), and while sitting in the theater I kept comparing it negatively or neutrally to the wonderful original. It simply wasn't necessary.
These three writers fail to see it that way, making excuses for the lack of boxoffice, claiming the new version was more racially contemporary and timely during the racial divisions over immigration during the Trump administration. Huh? It's a 1950's musical!
They praise the hiring of Tony Kushner to update the screenplay. White, Jewish, gay, rich Tony Kushner, who was born in Manhattan and raised in Louisiana, was the one putting words in the mouths of immigrant Puerto Rican straight women. "Kushner's work is therefore more realistic, in line with the political movements toward empowerment of women and minorities." They must mean more politically correct, not realistic, for the original production seemed to actually better dramatically represent cultural differences.
And just a note to the authors--no musical or film is "realistic." All creative works represent only pieces of reality and can take on very distorted or exaggerated imagery in order to communicate an artistic vision.
The authors even claim that the original movie's Russian-heritage actress (Natalie Wood) and Greek actor (George Chakiris) were "both slightly disguised." Then add about the two, "The use of the blackface would be unthinkable today, hence Spielberg's choice of an ethnically appropriate cast."
Um, none of the original movie performers were in "blackface," everyone in film wears makeup (often to darken their skin slightly for many non-racial reasons), and since when is there a Hollywood scorecard on what's "ethnically appropriate?" There are many reasons performers are cast in roles, and isn't requiring ethnic accuracy actually biasing the process?
Would these writers have the same issue with other movies that are not "ethnically appropriate" where black or "whiteface" Latino actors play roles meant for real characters of white European ancestry? Would they complain that the Hamilton cast is ethnically inappropriate since blacks portray real-life whites? Or shouldn't the authors object to the newest filmed Little Mermaid being black since Han Christan Andersen's fairy tale was written as white blonde-haired Danish? Being "ethnically appropriate" in casting must work both ways if you insist on making it "realistic" (and we certainly all want a "realistic" Danish mermaid, don't we?)!
The authors, who call themselves "journalists," for some reason use the book to call the Spielberg version's cast members Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist "two of the film's most stunning revelations." This critique is totally out of touch with journalism, using subjective opinions in place of objective comments from others. The chapter turns Spielberg's West Side Story work politically correct instead of seeing him as a more practical and authentic artist.
The whole book seems unnecessary beyond those few sections that put the films in context compared to his other works. There are massive gaps and inconsistent stats. It is, as the title says, "all the films," but it certainly isn't the definitive objective story behind all the works of the great director.
The giant 500-page book starts out promisingly with individual summaries of the short films and TV series Spielberg directed. He didn't just begin with well-known Duel but had a number of television dramas under his belt, which were interesting to learn about.
Early chapters on his first full-length features show promise at detailed objective content, but that is not sustained. Jaws gets 15 pages, Close Encounters has 12, Raiders 16 and E.T. 11, but soon sections go single-digit, and many seem like quickly written Wikipedia entries with little substantive outside research. There are a few exceptions, but the text becomes sloppy, stilted and biased, nowhere more noticeable than in the West Side Story chapter near the end.
For some reason the authors feel the need to use this book to criticize the original West Side Story movie, which is one of the greatest film musicals of all time and won more Oscars than almost any other movie in history. Spielberg's attempt to update it was a well-intentioned mistake (proven by how audiences stayed away), and while sitting in the theater I kept comparing it negatively or neutrally to the wonderful original. It simply wasn't necessary.
These three writers fail to see it that way, making excuses for the lack of boxoffice, claiming the new version was more racially contemporary and timely during the racial divisions over immigration during the Trump administration. Huh? It's a 1950's musical!
They praise the hiring of Tony Kushner to update the screenplay. White, Jewish, gay, rich Tony Kushner, who was born in Manhattan and raised in Louisiana, was the one putting words in the mouths of immigrant Puerto Rican straight women. "Kushner's work is therefore more realistic, in line with the political movements toward empowerment of women and minorities." They must mean more politically correct, not realistic, for the original production seemed to actually better dramatically represent cultural differences.
And just a note to the authors--no musical or film is "realistic." All creative works represent only pieces of reality and can take on very distorted or exaggerated imagery in order to communicate an artistic vision.
The authors even claim that the original movie's Russian-heritage actress (Natalie Wood) and Greek actor (George Chakiris) were "both slightly disguised." Then add about the two, "The use of the blackface would be unthinkable today, hence Spielberg's choice of an ethnically appropriate cast."
Um, none of the original movie performers were in "blackface," everyone in film wears makeup (often to darken their skin slightly for many non-racial reasons), and since when is there a Hollywood scorecard on what's "ethnically appropriate?" There are many reasons performers are cast in roles, and isn't requiring ethnic accuracy actually biasing the process?
Would these writers have the same issue with other movies that are not "ethnically appropriate" where black or "whiteface" Latino actors play roles meant for real characters of white European ancestry? Would they complain that the Hamilton cast is ethnically inappropriate since blacks portray real-life whites? Or shouldn't the authors object to the newest filmed Little Mermaid being black since Han Christan Andersen's fairy tale was written as white blonde-haired Danish? Being "ethnically appropriate" in casting must work both ways if you insist on making it "realistic" (and we certainly all want a "realistic" Danish mermaid, don't we?)!
The authors, who call themselves "journalists," for some reason use the book to call the Spielberg version's cast members Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist "two of the film's most stunning revelations." This critique is totally out of touch with journalism, using subjective opinions in place of objective comments from others. The chapter turns Spielberg's West Side Story work politically correct instead of seeing him as a more practical and authentic artist.
The whole book seems unnecessary beyond those few sections that put the films in context compared to his other works. There are massive gaps and inconsistent stats. It is, as the title says, "all the films," but it certainly isn't the definitive objective story behind all the works of the great director.
June 6, 2024
Ungh, as if I didn't have enough to read, watch, and do. I just wanted to gain some insight into what went on behind or in creation of my favorite titles. Jump around. Have some light reading fluffy fun. That is not this book! My first clue should have been the girth of this book. It weighs 50 pounds. It's as big as a tablet. Not the modern ones, I mean the 10-commandments kind.
Each entry is kind of incomplete without the preceding one. Now I have to re-borrow and re-read this book from start to finish without the jumping around I had wanted to do.
I should have read the read the jackets description. My description?
"The most in depth analysis you’ll ever read into Spielberg’s life that you didn't want but now need!" Ungh!
On the plus side, I was the first person to get to borrow this from the local public biblio.
Each entry is kind of incomplete without the preceding one. Now I have to re-borrow and re-read this book from start to finish without the jumping around I had wanted to do.
I should have read the read the jackets description. My description?
"The most in depth analysis you’ll ever read into Spielberg’s life that you didn't want but now need!" Ungh!
On the plus side, I was the first person to get to borrow this from the local public biblio.
August 3, 2024
She's a big one, but what a read. What a career! So many brilliant films, it has inspired me to re-watch many of them. This is a really comprehensive compendium of Spielberg's career, and each project is laid out clearly with history, beautiful pictures, behind the scenes info and details for mega fans. My only criticism is that there weren't enough stills from his films.
December 4, 2023
An overview of the director's career that offers plenty of information, but very little critical analysis to provide proper context.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews