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Quentin Tarantino reveals his two favourite Steven Spielberg movies

Thu 11 August 2022 17:00, UK

When it comes to the most significant American filmmakers to grace the silver screen in contemporary cinema, few would argue against Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg making the cut, with both celebrated directors having had a significant influence on the landscape of the modern industry. Inspired by the work of Spielberg throughout the 1970s and 1980s, it is likely that Tarantino may have never got into filmmaking without the magnetising pull of the Jaws and Jurassic Park director.

A great lover of his innovative filmmaking efforts, Tarantino has spoken about the majesty of Spielberg on multiple occasions, praising his attention to detail and enthusiasm for the form, no matter the project he is undertaking. Still making great cinema to this day, Spielberg’s career kicked off in the ’70s, with his film The Sugarland Express being his first major feature film release.

Holding a mighty amount of praise for Spielberg, Tarantino recently spoke on the ReelBlend podcast to discuss his favourite movies from the career of one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time.

His first pick was a no-brainer, with Tarantino having discussed his love for the 1975 movie Jaws several times, praising the release for its almost total perfection. “I think Jaws is the greatest movie ever made, maybe not the greatest film, but it’s the greatest movie ever made,” Tarantino states on the podcast, making a distinction between what he considers a blockbuster ‘movie’ and a complicated narrative ‘film’.

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Explaining that the filmmaker created the kind of movie that he would’ve grown up watching, bringing attention to such films as the 1954 horror flick Them!, 1959s Journey to the Centre of the Earth and 1966s Fantastic Voyage, Tarantino puts Jaws in amongst such movies; thrilling, shocking cinematic experiences. As a lover of cinema from every inch of the globe, Tarantino means no insult by comparing Jaws to such films, seeing them as mere cousins of the same cinematic ideals.

Jaws is a predictable choice for any Tarantino fan, but his second pick for his all-time favourite Steven Spielberg film is a little more left field.

“I think my favourite Spielberg-directed movie, again with Jaws carved out on its own Mount Rushmore, is Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” with Tarantino choosing arguably the worst film of the celebrated original trilogy following the daring archaeologist. Though, if this wasn’t surprising enough, Tarantino goes a few steps further, explaining where the other films in the series rank in comparison.

Tarantino starts with his praise for the Temple of Doom, explaining: “He [Spielberg] pushes the envelope, he creates PG-13; a movie so fucking badass it created a new level in the MPAA.” He adds, “there is a comedy aspect as gruesome as the cinema is; there is an ultimate comedy aspect that’s just not quite there as much in the first one [Raiders of the Lost Ark]”.

Fans of Indy may want to fold their wide-brimmed sable fedora over their ears for this next part, with Tarantino praising the fourth film in the series, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is widely considered to be the worst of the lot.

Tarantino states his contrarian opinion on the film: “I like Crystal Skull more than the Sean Connery one [The Last Crusade]. I don’t like the Sean Connery one… it’s such a boring one… he’s not an interesting character”.

Whilst we can accept that Tarantino is a lover of Temple of Doom, we’re not quite sure how to deal with the fact that he presumably believes The Last Crusade is the worst film in the Indiana Jones series. We’re going to have to mull his whole opinion over as we pin our ears back to listen to the interview one more time below.