Editing Steven Spielberg (section)

=== 1981–1992: Impresario  ===
Spielberg directed ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' (1981), with a screenplay by [[Lawrence Kasdan]] based on a story by [[George Lucas]] and [[Philip Kaufman]]. They considered it an homage to the [[serial film|serials]] of the 1930s and 1940s.''{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=312}}'' It starred [[Harrison Ford]] as [[Indiana Jones (character)|Indiana Jones]] and [[Karen Allen]] as [[Marion Ravenwood]]. Filmed in [[La Rochelle]], [[Hawaii]], [[Tunisia]] and [[Elstree Studios]], England, the shoot was difficult but Spielberg said that it helped him hone his business acumen.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=32}} The film was a box office success{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=33}} and won Academy Awards for [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]] ([[Norman Reynolds]], [[Leslie Dilley]] and [[Michael D. Ford]]); [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]] ([[Michael Kahn (film editor)|Michael Kahn]]); [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]] ([[Bill Varney]], [[Steve Maslow]], [[Gregg Landaker]] and [[Roy Charman]]); [[Academy Award for Best Sound Editing|Best Sound Editing]] ([[Ben Burtt]] and [[Richard L. Anderson (sound effects editor)|Richard L. Anderson]]); and [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]] ([[Richard Edlund]], [[Kit West]], [[Bruce Nicholson]] and [[Joe Johnston]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 54th Academy Awards {{!}} 1982 |work=Oscars.org {{pipe}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1982 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417060317/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1982 |archive-date=April 17, 2018 |access-date=December 18, 2020 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |language=en}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] wrote: "''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is an out-of-body experience, a movie of glorious imagination and breakneck speed that grabs you in the first shot, hurtles you through a series of incredible adventures, and deposits you back in reality two hours later–breathless, dizzy, wrung-out, and with a silly grin on your face".<ref>{{cite news| last=Ebert| first=Roger| title=''Raiders of the Lost Ark''| date=1981| work=Chicago Sun-Times| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-1981| access-date=November 20, 2023| archive-date=December 15, 2016| archive-url=https://archive.today/20161215224654/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/raiders-of-the-lost-ark-1981| url-status=live}}</ref> ''Raiders'' was the first film in the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' franchise.

[[File:President Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan with Steven Spielberg.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Nancy Reagan]] with Spielberg at [[The White House]]]]
Spielberg returned to science fiction with ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' (1982). It tells the story of Elliot ([[Henry Thomas]]), a young boy who befriends an alien who was accidentally left behind by his companions and is attempting to return home. Spielberg eschewed [[storyboards]] so that his direction would be more spontaneous, and shot roughly in sequence so that the actors' performances would be authentic as they bonded with and said goodbye to [[E.T. (character)|E.T.]] [[Richard Corliss]] wrote, "This was the closing-night attraction at the [[1982 Cannes Film Festival]], a venue not known for blubbering sentiment. At the end, as the little critter bade his farewells and the [[Jules Verne]]-like space ship left the ground, the audience similarly levitated. One heard the audience's childlike applause; one felt their spirits lift. This was rapture made audible, palpable ... Spielberg orchestrated the movements of the camera and the puppet spaceman with the feelings of—it has to be called love—expressed in young Henry Thomas' yearning face. E.T. was the first film character to be a finalist in [[Time Person of the Year|TIME's Man of the Year]] sweepstakes. It would have been fine with me if the little creature, this lovely film, had won."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Corliss| first=Richard| author-link=Richard Corliss| magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| title=TIME 100 Movies: ''E. T. the Extraterrestrial''| url=https://entertainment.time.com/2005/02/12/all-time-100-movies/slide/all/}}</ref>

A special screening was organized for [[Ronald Reagan|Ronald]] and [[Nancy Reagan]], who were emotional by the end.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=36}} ''E.T.'' grossed $700 million worldwide.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=36}} It won four Academy Awards: [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] (John Williams), Best Sound ([[Robert Knudson]], [[Robert Glass (sound engineer)|Robert Glass]], [[Don Digirolamo]] and [[Gene Cantamessa]]), Best Sound Editing ([[Charles L. Campbell]] and Ben Burtt) and Best Visual Effects ([[Carlo Rambaldi]], [[Dennis Muren]] and [[Kenneth F. Smith]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1983 |title=The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners |access-date=October 9, 2011 |publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/55th-winners.html |archive-date=September 5, 2012}}</ref> Kael wrote of  E.T., "His voice is ancient and otherworldly but friendly, humorous. And this scaly, wrinkled little man with huge, wide-apart, soulful eyes and a jack-in-the-box neck has been so fully created that he's a friend to us, too; when he speaks of his longing to go home the audience becomes as mournful as Elliot. Spielberg has earned the tears that some people in the audience—and not just children—shed. Genuinely entrancing movies are almost as rare as extraterrestrial visitors."<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael| date= June 14, 1982| title= ''E.T. The Extraterrestrial''| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-pauline-kael/}}</ref> Spielberg co-wrote and produced [[Poltergeist (1982 film)|''Poltergeist'']] ([[Tobe Hooper]], 1982), released the same summer as ''E.T.''{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=33}} With [[John Landis]], he co-produced the anthology film ''[[Twilight Zone: The Movie]]'' (1983), contributing the "Kick the Can" segment.<ref>{{cite web |last=Heitmueller |first=Karl |date=April 3, 2007 |title=Rewind: Major-Studio flicks that belong in the Grind House |url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1556111/story.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006102305/http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1556111/story.jhtml |archive-date=October 6, 2008 |access-date=January 2, 2009 |website=[[MTV]] |publisher= |quote=Ultimate A-lister Steven Spielberg co-produced this big-budget adaptation of Rod Serling's classic '60s TV show....}}</ref>

[[File:Steven Spielberg with Chandran Rutnam in Sri Lanka.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|right|Spielberg and [[Chandran Rutnam]] in Sri Lanka during the filming of ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'']]
His next feature film was the ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' [[prequel]] ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'' (1984). Working again with Lucas and Ford, the film was shot in the United States, Sri Lanka and China.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=42}} The film was darker than its predecessor, and led to the creation of the [[Motion Picture Association film rating system|PG-13 rating]] because some content was deemed unsuitable for children under 13.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=357}} Spielberg later said that he was unhappy with ''Temple of Doom'' because it lacked his "personal touches and love".{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=43}} Nonetheless, the film was a blockbuster hit,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0087469/?ref_=bo_se_r_1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101184130/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0087469/?ref_=bo_se_r_1 |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |access-date=November 29, 2020 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]}}</ref> won the Academy Award for Best Special Effects and received mostly good reviews.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=43}} Kael preferred it to the original, writing, "Spielberg is like a magician whose tricks are so daring they make you laugh. He creates an atmosphere of happy disbelief: the more breathtaking and exhilarating the stunts are the funnier they are. Nobody has ever fused thrills and laughter in quite the way that he does here. He starts off at full charge in the opening sequence and just keeps going". She conceded that it was less "sincere" than ''Raiders'', adding "that's what is so good about it."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael| title=''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''| date=June 11, 1984| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| url= https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/indiana-jones-and-the-temple-of-doom-review-by-pauline-kael/}}</ref> On this project Spielberg met his future wife, [[Kate Capshaw]], who played Willie Scott.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 18, 1947 |title=Steven Spielberg Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/articles/Steven-Spielberg-9490621 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514201106/https://www.biography.com/articles/Steven-Spielberg-9490621 |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |access-date=January 31, 2011 |website=[[Biography.com]] |publisher=}}</ref> Spielberg recalled, "The second film I could have done a lot better if there had been a different story. It was a good learning exercise for me to really throw myself into a black hole. I came out of the darkness of ''Temple Of Doom'' and I entered the light of the woman I was eventually going to marry and raise a family with."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/indiana-jones-making-temple-doom/ |title=The Making of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom |date=September 10, 2012 |access-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-date=September 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904050535/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/indiana-jones-making-temple-doom/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Thomson writes that "At first sight, the Spielberg of the eighties may seem more an impresario—or a studio, even—then a director."<ref name="Thomson" /> Between 1984 and 1990, Spielberg served as producer or executive producer on nineteen feature films for his production company, [[Amblin Entertainment]]. Among them were ''[[Gremlins]]'' ([[Joe Dante]], 1984), ''[[The Goonies]]'' ([[Richard Donner]], 1985), ''[[Back to the Future]]'' ([[Robert Zemeckis]], 1985), ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' (Zemeckis, 1988), ''[[Joe Versus the Volcano]]'' ([[John Patrick Shanley]], 1990) and [[Arachnophobia (film)|''Arachnophobia'']] ([[Frank Marshall (filmmaker)|Frank Marshall]], 1990).{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=380}}<ref name="Corliss">{{cite magazine|title = This way to the children's crusade|first = Richard|last = Corliss|date = January 7, 1985|access-date = January 2, 2009|quote = he wrote the story and served as an executive producer of The Goonies....|url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959559,00.html|magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]|archive-date = October 19, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091019155426/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,959559,00.html|url-status = dead}}</ref>''{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=105}}''{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=506}} In the early 1980s, Spielberg befriended [[WarnerMedia#Warner Communications (1972–1990)|Warner Communications]] CEO [[Steve Ross (businessman)|Steve Ross]] eventually resulting in Spielberg making films for Warner Bros.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=383}} It began with [[The Color Purple (1985 film)|''The Color Purple'']] (1985), an adaptation of [[Alice Walker]]'s [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[The Color Purple|novel]], about a generation of empowered African-American women in the depression-era South. It was Spielberg's first film on a dramatic subject matter, and he expressed reservations about tackling the project: "It's the risk of being judged-and accused of not having the sensibility to do character studies."{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=45}} Starring [[Whoopi Goldberg]] and [[Oprah Winfrey]], the film was a box office hit and critics started to take note of Spielberg's foray into drama.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=45}} Ebert named it the best film of the year.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=December 20, 1985 |title=The Color Purple (1985) | work=[[Chicago Sun Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-color-purple-1985}}</ref> The film also received eleven Academy Award nominations, and Spielberg won [[Directors Guild of America Award|Best Director]] from the [[Directors Guild of America]].{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=45}} The film was produced and scored by [[Quincy Jones]].

As China underwent economic reform and opened up to the American film industry, Spielberg made ''[[Empire of the Sun (film)|Empire of the Sun]]'' (1987), the first American film shot in [[Shanghai]] since the 1930s.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=395}} It is an adaptation of [[J. G. Ballard]]'s autobiographical [[Empire of the Sun (novel)|novel]] about Jamie Graham ([[Christian Bale]]), a young boy who goes from being the son of a wealthy British family in Shanghai to a [[prisoner of war]] in a Japanese [[internment camp]] during [[World War II]]. [[David Lean]] was originally set to direct, with Spielberg producing. It was written by playwright [[Tom Stoppard]] and co-starred [[John Malkovich]] as an American expatriate. Critical reaction was mixed at the time of release; criticism ranged from the "overwrought" plot to Spielberg's downplaying of "disease and starvation".{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=397}}{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=398}} However, [[Andrew Sarris]] named it the best film of the year and later included it among the best of the decade.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sarris |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Sarris |title=Andrew Sarris' Top 10 lists 1958–2005 |url=http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ejohnson/critics/sarris.html#y1977 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210193008/http://alumnus.caltech.edu/~ejohnson/critics/sarris.html#y1977 |archive-date=February 10, 2001 |access-date=October 21, 2006 |publisher=[[California Institute of Technology]] }}</ref> The film was nominated for six Academy Awards,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 60th Academy Awards {{!}} 1988 |date=December 4, 2015 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1988 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724211840/https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1988 |archive-date=July 24, 2020 |access-date=November 27, 2020 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |language=en}}</ref> but was a disappointment at the box office; Ian Alterman of ''[[The New York Times]]'' thought it was overlooked by audiences.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alterman |first=Ian |date=March 29, 1989 |title=Oscar Nominations Again Snub Spielberg|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/29/opinion/l-oscar-nominations-again-snub-spielberg-544089.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101184138/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/29/opinion/l-oscar-nominations-again-snub-spielberg-544089.html |archive-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref> Spielberg recalled that ''Empire of the Sun'' was one of his most enjoyable films to make.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=47}} Thomson called it "a great work through and through" and "the first clear sign that Spielberg the showman was an artist, too."<ref>{{cite book| first=David| last= Thomson| author-link=David Thomson (film critic)|title=Have You Seen...?| page=259| year=2008}}</ref>

[[File:Steven Spielberg in 1990.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.85|Spielberg, March 1990]]
In 1989, Spielberg intended to direct ''[[Rain Man]]'', but instead directed ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade]]'' to meet his contractual obligations.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=400}} Producer Lucas and star Ford returned for the film. A longtime [[James Bond]] fan, Spielberg cast [[Sean Connery]] as Jones's father, [[Henry Jones, Sr]].{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=47}} Due to complaints about violence in ''Temple of Doom'', Spielberg returned to more family-friendly fare for the third installment.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=48}} ''Last Crusade'' received mostly positive reviews and was a box office success, earning $474 million; it was his biggest hit since ''E.T.''{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=403}} Biographer [[Joseph McBride (writer)|Joseph McBride]] wrote that it was a comeback for Spielberg, and Spielberg acknowledged the amount he has learned from making the ''Indiana Jones'' series.{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=403}} Ebert wrote that, "If there is just a shade of disappointment after seeing this movie, it has to be because we will never again have the shock of this material seeming new. ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', now more than ever, seems a turning point in the cinema of escapist entertainment, and there was really no way Spielberg could make it new all over again. What he has done is to take many of the same elements, and apply all of his craft and sense of fun to make them work yet once again. And they do."<ref>{{cite news| last=Ebert| first=Roger| title=Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade| date=May 24, 1989| work=Chicago Sun-Times| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/indiana-jones-and-the-last-crusade-1989}}</ref>

Also in 1989, he reunited with [[Richard Dreyfuss]] for the romantic drama ''[[Always (1989 film)|Always]]'', about an [[aerial firefighting|aerial firefighter]]. It is a modern remake of one of Spielberg's favorite childhood films, ''[[A Guy Named Joe]]'' (1943). The story was personal; he said "As a child I was very frustrated, and maybe I saw my own parents [in ''A Guy Named Joe'']. I was also short of girlfriends. And it stuck with me."''{{Sfn|McBride|1997|p=406}}'' Spielberg had discussed the film with Dreyfuss back in 1975, with up to twelve drafts being written before filming commenced.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=48}} ''Always'' was commercially unsuccessful and received mixed reviews.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Always (1989) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/always |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101184118/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/always |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=December 22, 1989 |publisher=[[Fandango Media]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=48}} [[Janet Maslin]] of ''The'' ''New York Times'' wrote, "''Always'' is filled with big, sentimental moments, it lacks the intimacy to make any of this very moving."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=December 22, 1989 |title=Review/Film; ''Always'', Love and Death in a Wilderness|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/22/movies/review-film-always-love-and-death-in-a-wilderness.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101184149/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/22/movies/review-film-always-love-and-death-in-a-wilderness.html |archive-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref>

After a brief setback in which Spielberg felt "artistically stalled",{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=51}} he returned in 1991 with ''[[Hook (film)|Hook]]'', about a middle-aged [[Peter Pan]] ([[Robin Williams]]), who returns to [[Neverland]] and encounters [[Tinker Bell]] ([[Julia Roberts]]) and the eponymous [[Captain Hook]] ([[Dustin Hoffman]]). During filming, the stars clashed on set; Spielberg told ''[[60 Minutes]]'' that he would never work with Roberts again.{{Sfn|Jackson|2007|p=52}} Nominated for five Academy Awards, the studio enjoyed the film but most critics did not; Thomson called it "maudlin".<ref name="Thomson" /> Writing for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', [[Desson Howe]] described the film as "too industrially organized", and thought it mundane.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Howe |first=Desson |author-link=Desson Howe |date=December 13, 1991 |title=Hook |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/hookpghowe_a0ae8a.htm |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101184132/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/hookpghowe_a0ae8a.htm |archive-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref> At the box office, it earned more than $300&nbsp;million worldwide from a $70&nbsp;million budget.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hook |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0102057/?ref_=bo_se_r_1 |access-date=November 27, 2020 |website=[[Box Office Mojo]] |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815100151/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0102057/?ref_=bo_se_r_1 |url-status=live }}</ref>