Steven Spielberg

Spielberg's first major directorial effort was A Louca Escapada (1974), with Goldie Hawn, a film that marked him as a rising star. It was his next effort, however, that made him an international superstar among directors: Tubarão (1975). This classic shark attack tale started the tradition of the summer blockbuster or, at least, he was credited with starting the tradition. His next film was the classic Contatos Imediatos do Terceiro Grau (1977), a unique and original UFO story that remains a classic. In 1978, Spielberg produced his first film, the forgettable Febre de Juventude (1978), and followed that effort with Carros Usados (1980), a critically acclaimed, but mostly forgotten, Kurt Russell/Jack Warden comedy about devious used-car dealers. Spielberg hit gold yet one more time with Os Caçadores da Arca Perdida (1981), with Harrison Ford taking the part of Indiana Jones. Spielberg produced and directed two films in 1982. The first was Poltergeist: O Fenômeno (1982), but the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point was the alien story E.T.: O Extraterrestre (1982). Spielberg also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. The concept, while not uncommon, was still relatively low-key when Spielberg raised the practice to almost an art form with his famous (or infamous) placement of Reese's Pieces in "E.T." Spielberg was also one of the pioneers of the big-grossing special-effects movies, like "E.T." and "Close Encounters", where a very strong emphasis on special effects was placed for the first time on such a huge scale. In 1984, Spielberg followed up "Raiders" with Indiana Jones e o Templo da Perdição (1984), which was a commercial success but did not receive the critical acclaim of its predecessor. As a producer, Spielberg took on many projects in the 1980s, such as Os Goonies (1985), and was the brains behind the little monsters in Gremlins (1984). He also produced the cartoon Fievel, Um Conto Americano (1986), a quaint little animated classic. His biggest effort as producer in 1985, however, was the blockbuster De Volta para o Futuro (1985), which made Michael J. Fox an instant superstar. As director, Spielberg took on the book A Cor Púrpura (1985), with Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, with great success. In the latter half of the 1980s, he also directed Império do Sol (1987), a mixed success for the occasionally erratic Spielberg. Success would not escape him for long, though.

The late 1980s found Spielberg's projects at the center of pop-culture yet again. In 1988, he produced the landmark animation/live-action film Uma Cilada para Roger Rabbit (1988). The next year proved to be another big one for Spielberg, as he produced and directed Além da Eternidade (1989) as well as Indiana Jones e a Última Cruzada (1989), and De Volta para o Futuro: Parte II (1989). All three of the films were box-office and critical successes. Also, in 1989, he produced the little known comedy-drama Meu Pai, uma Lição de Vida (1989), with Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson, which got mostly mixed results. Spielberg has also had an affinity for animation and has been a strong voice in animation in the 1990s. Aside from producing the landmark "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", he produced the animated series Tiny Toons (1990), Os Animaniacs (1993), Pinky e o Cérebro (1995), Freakazóide! (1995), Pinky, Felícia e o Cérebro (1998), Vida de Cachorro (1993) and Toonsylvania (1998). Spielberg also produced other cartoons such as Em Busca do Vale Encantado (1988), Os Dinossauros Voltaram (1993), Gasparzinho, o Fantasminha Camarada (1995) (the live action version) as well as the live-action version of Os Flintstones: O Filme (1994), where he was credited as "Steven Spielrock". Spielberg also produced many Roger Rabbit short cartoons, and many Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and Tiny Toons specials. Spielberg was very active in the early 1990s, as he directed Hook: A Volta do Capitão Gancho (1991) and produced such films as the cute fantasy Joe Contra o Vulcão (1990) and Um Conto Americano: Fievel Vai para o Oeste (1991). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller Aracnofobia (1990), De Volta para o Futuro: Parte III (1990) and Gremlins 2: A Nova Geração (1990). While these movies were big successes in their own right, they did not quite bring in the kind of box office or critical acclaim as previous efforts. In 1993, Spielberg directed Jurassic Park (1993), which for a short time held the record as the highest grossing movie of all time, but did not have the universal appeal of his previous efforts. Big box-office spectacles were not his only concern, though. He produced and directed A Lista de Schindler (1993), a stirring film about the Holocaust. He won best director at the Oscars, and also got Best Picture. In the mid-90s, he helped found the production company DreamWorks, which was responsible for many box-office successes.

As a producer, he was very active in the late 90s, responsible for such films as A Máscara do Zorro (1998), MIB: Homens de Preto (1997) and Impacto Profundo (1998). However, it was on the directing front that Spielberg was in top form. He directed and produced the epic Amistad (1997), a spectacular film that was shorted at the Oscars and in release due to the fact that its release date was moved around so much in late 1997. The next year, however, produced what many believe was one of the best films of his career: O Resgate do Soldado Ryan (1998), a film about World War Two that is spectacular in almost every respect. It was stiffed at the Oscars, losing best picture to Shakespeare Apaixonado (1998).

Spielberg produced a series of films, including Evolução (2001), A Casa Amaldiçoada (1999) and Shrek (2001). he also produced two sequels to Jurassic Park (1993), which were financially but not particularly critical successes. In 2001, he produced a mini-series about World War Two that definitely *was* a financial and critical success: Band of Brothers (2001), a tale of an infantry company from its parachuting into France during the invasion to the Battle of the Bulge. Also in that year, Spielberg was back in the director's chair for A.I.: Inteligência Artificial (2001), a movie with a message and a huge budget. It did reasonably at the box office and garnered varied reviews from critics.

Spielberg has been extremely active in films there are many other things he has done as well. He produced the short-lived TV series SeaQuest (1993), an anthology series entitled Histórias Maravilhosas (1985), created the video-game series "Medal of Honor" set during World War Two, and was a starting producer of Plantão Médico (1994). Spielberg, if you haven't noticed, has a great interest in World War Two. He and Tom Hanks collaborated on Shooting War: World War II Combat Cameramen (2000), a documentary about World War II combat photographers, and he produced a documentary about the Holocaust called Eyes of the Holocaust (2000). With all of this to Spielberg's credit, it's no wonder that he's looked at as one of the greatest ever figures in entertainment.