Chris Luckett

4. SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)

Release Date: December 15, 1993

Chronology: Released six months after Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List was the last movie Spielberg would direct until The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Amistad four years later

Box Office: $96 million ($158 million, adjusted for inflation)

Oscars: 12 nominations, 7 wins (including Best Picture)

Premise: The true story of Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), a German factory owner would slowly evolved from a member of the Nazi Party to a hero who saved over a thousand Jews from being sent to Auschwitz by hiring them for work and protecting them from Nazis

Over two hours?: Over three hours

John Williams Score?: Yes

Father Issues?: Schindler becomes a father figure to many of the people he saves, but nothing else

War?: World War II

Aliens?: Not at all

Special Appearance: Ralph Fiennes

Fun Fact: Liam Neeson and Ben Kingsley may ultimately have been cast as Oscar Schindler and Itzhak Stern, but Spielberg originally wanted Harrison Ford and Dustin Hoffman for the roles

Best Line: “This list… is an absolute good. The list is life.”

Best Scene: 

Verdict: One of the most important movies of the last few decades, Schindler’s List is just about perfect. Like all of Spielberg’s dramas, it’s too long for its own good, but even though it’s Spielberg’s longest movie (at 195 minutes), it still moves at a good pace. Neeson, Fiennes, Kingsley, and every other actor in the movie does brilliant work, creating memorable and believable interpretations of important figures. Steven Spielberg won his first Best Director Oscar for Schindler’s List (in addition to the movie winning Best Picture) and it was well-earned; Schindler’s List is arguably his most maturely made film.

Rating: 5 stars / 5