I voted "Sometimes..." because I guess I'm a little undecided. In the movies you suggested, I wouldn't want Apocalypto to be made in English instead because I love the movie so much. The same goes with Schindler's List. I love it just the way it is.

There are movies though that I think would be better in the original language with subtitles. One that pops into mind is Enemy at the Gates. I really enjoyed this movie, but was irritated by the assortment of accents, such as Ed Harris playing a German speaking English with an American accent, and Jude Law playing a Russian who also speaks English but with a British accent. I think if that movie were in all the original languages, it would have made the movie much more authentic, and the actors accents wouldn't have been so distracting.

So I think I chose "Sometimes..." because it depends on how well the movie was made, subtitles or not. I hope that makes sense.

You wouldn't want to see a SCHINDLER'S LIST in German & Hebrew? I'd be interested to see how it went.

As long as the cast remains the same, Schindler's List would have been awesome in German & Hebrew.

That's true, it would be interesting to see Schindler's List in German and Hebrew. If it were possible to go back and change it I would be scared to do so because I would be worried it might take away from how good the movie already is.

Of course it could very well have made the movie better. Interesting question about subtitles Irish.

Thanks, I've just always wondered how that film would do with subtitles. I'd have to think of some others but it would have to add to the film, not take away from it.

I'm against asking "what if" questions about masterpieces. I don't think questioning whether or not Schindler's List would be better with German and Hebrew is as valuable a question as "Would Schindler's List be worse if the accents were removed"?

I ask myself "What if instead of Jews, they were Oompa Loompas?" There'd be no way to argue that Steven Spielberg wasn't taking courageous artistic risks! Maybe you could, but still, what if...

The Oompa Loompa's would sing the whole time and would be subtitled, of course.

That reminds me of a Southpark episode where Spielberg changes Saving Private Ryan by instead of the soldiers having rifles they have walkie talkies.

Has Spielberg ever taken an artistic risk?

I don't even think of him as an artist as much as I do a business man.

I don't think so. Hopefully he is reading this thread right now (I BET HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!11!!1) and he can take my advice: Remake Schindler's List with Oompa Loompa's instead of Jews. But he needs to have Tom Hanks in there somewhere to keep the everyday moviegoer interested. He could sit there and whisper into each and every Oompa Loompa's ear "Earn this." and then pick them up and throw them into the ocean where they can swim around in a sexy manner before being devoured by Jaws. Only a few of them would be saved, by Tom Cruise, who would make millions of dollars for having his usual blank stare and monotonous voice.

And the ending? A T-Rex would burst through a randomly placed bunch of trees and eat Tom Cruise and the Oompa Loompas. They would all sit there, Indian style in a circle, inside of the dinosaur's stomach, slowly being digested and singing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...".

I sure hope Spielberg is reading this. He could make millions from this idea.

That made me el-oh-el.

Seriously though. Spielberg is so fucking bland. I hope he becomes sterile.

EDIT: Did I mention your idea actually sounds like something Spielberg would make?

I needed subtitles for the godfather

I think Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Duel, Jurassic Parkand Jaws are all excellent films. If only businessmen were so imaginative...

True.

False.

Jurassic Park and Jaws were shit. Great if you're drunk, and it's 3 AM, and you've already played spin the bottle a handful of times with your frat buddies, going around the circle to decide who will pretend to be the girl next, but otherwise... not much going on at all.

I've yet to see Saving Private Ryan or Duel and I enjoyed Schindler's List, but I wouldn't say the man has made a masterpiece as of yet. Schindler's List is the closest he's come to a masterpiece, and may be the closest he'll ever come, but I wouldn't exactly call it a masterpiece. It's the best of what he has to offer, but it just doesn't seem to stand a chance against hundreds of other films I've seen in my life time.

It's been a long time since I saw Jurassic Park, but when I saw it on the big screen when I was young, it was fucking amazing. I think that and Jaws may be two of the most tense films ever made. That kitchen scene in Park with the two velociraptors is incredibly intense. And Jaws... it's great!

...In fact, even ET, despite its shameless sentimentality, is structured superbly; a finely measured adventure.

I'm getting in the mood for a Spielberg retrospective, with all this defensive talk.

Yeah, I have to disagree with you a little bit as well LLC. I wouldn't call Jurassic Park a masterpiece by any means, but when that movie came out it really was amazing. I saw it several times in the theater. Any of the Jaws sequels are crap, but I don't think Spielberg made any of those. His Jaws really is intense! Again, maybe not a masterpiece, but definitely not crap.

You should watch Saving Private Ryan at least. It is in my top ten favorite movies. Again, when he made that movie it was going in new filming directions. Any war movie since has copied it, but he took those battle sequences to a new level. For the first time I felt like I was actually in the fighting.

By the way, how about those subtitles huh? <---- I mentioned subtitles, so my post is still on topic right?

Well, his films could be worse. They could also be a lot less generic/void of any emotional relevance.

Again, watch Saving Private Ryan.

Spielberg's Best Work (in no order)

-JAWS
-RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
-E.T.
-INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
-INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE
-SCHINDLER'S LIST
-SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
-CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
-WAR OF THE WORLDS
-MUNICH

Spielberg's Worst Work (again in no order)

-CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
-HOOK
-JURASSIC PARK
-THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
-MINORITY REPORT

I will. I just wish I didn't already know the ending. Actually, I've seen it. TCM did something on Spielberg a week or so ago, and I found myself watching it at some ridiculous hour. The "aging" close-up was a cool trick, I'll admit that.

Blasphemy! Who doesn't enjoy watching Richard Dreyfuss build a mountain the size of an average human being out of mashed potatoes!?

This guy in the back

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is Spielberg's WORST work?!?!

What about HOOK?
What about 1941?
What about THE TERMINAL?
Shit, what about ALWAYS?