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1. Jaws (1975)

But in the end there can only be one and I have to go all the way back and pick the movie that really put him on the map as my favorite Spielberg film of all time. This one has everything you associate with Spielberg: an unlikely hero, Oscar snubs (but a Best Picture nomination), box office records (Jaws became the highest grossing movie of all-time in 1975), franchises spawned (three sequels and, with the success of Jurassic World, you know the greedy studio execs are thinking about it), and masterful use of moviemaking technological prowess.

This movie, of course, was a cultural phenomenon. Generations upon generations of us are still afraid of the water because of it. The score is a classic, recognizable by almost every person on the planet who has even seen a movie. And the story every bit as compelling as his most serious drama.

What explains the mastery of Jaws, indeed, one of the best movies ever made? If you look closely, you will see it in basically every cut. The way Spielberg tells the story and the different cinematic techniques on display prove it. The opening scene is on its own magnificent. Playful at first, then spooky, and ultimately deadly. You don't really see the monster, of course, just a dark glimpse of him.

As the story unfolds more of the beast is revealed, but so is the human beast: the greedy, misguided town-folk give a stressful crescendo to the plot, as the suspense sequences with the shark become tenser and more frightening. Then, the movie turns into another gear, that of a car chase scene, as the three explorers give chase to Jaws in the open water. There, again, Spielberg shows a mastery of movie styles that is difficult to fathom from someone in his late 20s, as he was when he made Jaws. And then, of course, we have one of the most iconic scenes of the movie, in my mind, when Robert Shaw's character tells the story of his experience aboard the ill-fated U.S.S. Indianapolis. Bone-chilling even to write and think about, the juxtaposition of this serious (and based on a true story) exchange, with all of the science fiction, the suspense, and the adventure of the rest of the film, is breathtaking, exhilarating, and, of course, memorable.

With a loud splash, Spielberg made his appearance on the scene of American film to change it forever. Jaws and countless other Spielberg films spanned summer blockbusters, franchises, sequels, and obsessions with box office. It also spanned hundreds of movies that explore our relationship to the fantastical, our heroic impulses, and our darkest instincts, all within the frame of an adventurous and technically pleasing movie. It was clear that Spielberg was greater than a lot we had seen before.

We're gonna need a bigger movie screen.

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