2000s / Action / Adventure / Science Fiction
by Vincent Leo · Published May 24, 2008 · Last modified February 3, 2019
Almost a relic worthy of putting into a museum himself, Indiana Jones (Ford, Firewall) comes back after nearly 20 years to the big screen in this just-for-fun adventure to please the fans and, of course, score...
The Japanese didn’t plan an assault on Hollywood, Spielberg did. One of his few misfires, but it’s a big one, 1941 sees director Steven Spielberg having fun playing with a “sky’s the limit” budget and...
Steven Spielberg’s intended follow-up to Close Encounters of the Third Kind was a darker alien-invasion concept called Night Skies. The story idea came during Spielberg’s UFO research, stumbling across the Kelly-Hopkinsville incident in which aliens...
by Vincent Leo · Published February 11, 2006 · Last modified December 14, 2019
It may not meet the standards of some groups as to its historical accuracy, but Steven Spielberg’s Munich nevertheless is engaging and thought-provoking moviemaking of the highest order. Munich marks the second time that the aftermath...
1970s / Adventure / Science Fiction
by Vincent Leo · Published October 3, 2005 · Last modified August 11, 2020
For years prior to making Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg was fascinated by UFOs. As a teenager in Scottsdale, AZ, he made a 135-minute 8mm feature called Firelight. The $400 film paid...
1970s / Adventure / Horror / Thriller
by Vincent Leo · Published July 3, 2005 · Last modified May 25, 2020
Nearly a year prior to its publication in February 1974, film producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown, in collaboration with Universal Pictures, acquired the rights for a screen adaptation of “Jaws,” a novel being...
2000s / Action / Science Fiction
by Vincent Leo · Published June 30, 2005 · Last modified May 21, 2019
Yet another adaptation of the oft-visited alien invasion classic by H.G. Wells, Steven Spielberg takes his turn for a credible, but a touch underdeveloped, update of War of the Worlds. Produced at breakneck speed for...
Originally airing on ABC (yes, on television), later beefed up to 90 minutes to show in European theaters, Duel is a wholly visceral thrill-ride that shows the potential of the great Steven Spielberg’s eye for letting...
1980s / Action / Adventure / Comedy / Science Fiction
by Vincent Leo · Published March 3, 2005 · Last modified May 16, 2019
Back to the Future is pure entertainment, and very successful at that. Wholly inspired and brilliantly executed, this brainchild of co-screenwriter Bob Gale and director Robert Zemeckis is chock-full of in-jokes and sight gags...
Steven Spielberg follows up one of his lighter films, Catch Me If You Can, with an even frothier affair in The Terminal, another film inspired by a true story catapulted to the realm of the fantastic through...
Reviews from film writer Vince Leo, covering all eras and genres of films from classics to the latest releases.
Film reviews from Vince Leo, from classics to new releases, since 1996.
