In the year 2054, there is no crime. That's because Spielberg and star/co-producer Tom Cruise made it so by adapting Philip K. Dick's story of the same name. Minority Report meshed science fiction and moral philosophizing with incredibly satisfying action, set in a gorgeously blue and black-tinged future. You know what else the future holds? Flying cops! Rocketeer, eat your heart out.

After mining the historic perils of the Holocaust in Schindler's List and the slave trade in Amistad, Spielberg continued his dramatic streak by making one of the best modern war movies of all time: Saving Private Ryan. Again putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations, Spielberg's action-packed WWII drama recounts the terror of war in harrowing detail; his famous opening sequence depicting the D-Day landings at Normandy is one of the most iconic war scenes ever filmed. Eleven Oscar nods went to the film (including a win by Spielberg for Best Director) and it garnered critical acclaim for its cast (Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg, Barry Pepper, Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, and Jeremy Davies).

5. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Tomatometer: 95%

You know the melody. The sequence of five tones scientists use to communicate with a massive alien mother ship in Close Encounters of the Third Kind is, like the movie itself, a cultural event in itself; once you've seen what's perhaps the most wondrous film of Spielberg's career, you can't forget it. Written and directed by Spielberg, Close Encounters not only celebrated a universally human curiosity for the unknown, it also showed aliens -- with admittedly primitive special effects -- as benign beings. Though his buddy George Lucas may have overshadowed him that year with his own space-related saga, Star Wars, Close Encounters laid the groundwork for Spielberg's subsequent return to sci-fi, one which would eventually surpass the box office success of Luke Skywalker and friends: E.T.

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After offering the tale of Holocaust anti-hero Oskar Schindler to Sidney Pollack and Martin Scorsese, Spielberg decided to direct himself, inspired by his own Jewish heritage. (Somehow, he made his dino-blockbuster Jurassic Park in the same year.) He filmed contrary to his signature styles, favoring on-the-fly set-ups for meticulously composed shots, with mostly black-and-white photography by Janusz Kaminski; what Spielberg didn't want was a Hollywood film. What he delivered is one of the most moving and heartbreaking works of his generation. Schindler's List won numerous awards (including Oscars, BAFTA, and Golden Globes wins) and grossed $321 million; Spielberg donated all of his profits to charity.