Steven Spielberg movies in order
Fifty years and more than thirty features. Here are the ones that matter, and where to start.
Updated 5 August 2026 · 35 titles tracked
Spielberg has directed more films than anyone else on this site, across more genres, for longer. Any list is a selection, and this one covers the major works.
There are effectively two Spielbergs, and which one you meet first shapes everything.
Spielberg films, in a suggested starting order
His major works rather than every credit. An entry path. Toggle to release order on the filmography page.
- 1Jaws1975 · Major work
- 2Raiders of the Lost Ark1981 · Major work
- 3Jurassic Park1993 · Major work
- 4Schindler's List1993 · Major work
- 5E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial1982 · Major work
- 6Saving Private Ryan1998 · Major work
- 7Close Encounters of the Third Kind1977 · Major work
- 8Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade1989 · Major work
- 9Minority Report2002 · Major work
- 10Catch Me If You Can2002 · Major work
- 11Munich2005 · Major work
- 12The Fabelmans2022 · Major work
- 13Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom1984
- 14The Color Purple1985
- 15Lincoln2012 · Major work
- 16Bridge of Spies2015 · Major work
- 17Empire of the Sun1987 · Major work
- 18A.I. Artificial Intelligence2001 · Major work
- 19War of the Worlds2005
- 20The Post2017
- 21Duel1971
- 22Hook1991
- 23The Lost World: Jurassic Park1997
- 24The Adventures of Tintin2011
- 25War Horse2011
- 26Ready Player One2018
- 27West Side Story2021
- 28The Terminal2004
- 29Amistad1997
- 30The Sugarland Express1974
- 31Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull2008
- 32The BFG2016
- 33Always1989
- 3419411979
- 35Disclosure Day2026 · Major work
Start with Jaws or Raiders
Jaws invented the summer blockbuster, largely by accident. The mechanical shark kept failing, so he shot around it, and the film is terrifying precisely because you barely see it.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is the other answer, and very nearly a perfect adventure film. It also sits in the Indiana Jones order if you want the whole series.
Then Jurassic Park, then E.T. That is the popular Spielberg, and it is the half most people already half-know.
The other Spielberg
Schindler's List came out the same year as Jurassic Park. 1993, both directed by the same man, which remains one of the strangest facts in film history. It won him Best Director.
Saving Private Ryan rewrote how war is filmed; the Omaha Beach opening is still the reference point. Munich is his most morally uncomfortable film and the better for it.
Save these for after the blockbusters. They land differently once you know the register he is departing from.
Watch The Fabelmans last
It is a lightly fictionalised account of his own childhood. The divorce, the camera, the discovery that film can lie. It is a good film cold and a moving one if you already know the fifty years it produced.
Common questions
What order should I watch Spielberg movies in?
They are standalone, so any order works. Start with Jaws or Raiders of the Lost Ark, then Jurassic Park and E.T., then the dramas; Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.
Which Spielberg movie should I watch first?
Jaws. It invented the modern blockbuster and still works completely.
How many movies has Steven Spielberg directed?
Thirty-five features across fifty-five years, from Duel (1971) to Disclosure Day (2026). All of them are listed here.