Spielberg Summer

Our Spielberg Summer series is kicking off exactly where you'd think: with July 4th weekend screenings of his industry-changing, pop culture-shifting, era-defining masterpiece Jaws! When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town's chief of police, a young marine biologist, and a grizzled hunter embark on a desperate quest to destroy the beast before it strikes again. The film that invented the modern Summer blockbuster remains just as crowd-pleasing as ever over 50 years later. Powered by nerve-shredding suspense and Steven Spielberg’s astonishing command of tone and performance (especially for only being 27 years old at the time of production), Jaws is a masterclass in modern American filmmaking.

We are not alone. Our Spielberg Summer series continues with one of the filmmaker’s most personal and awe-inspiring works: the Director's Cut of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a Science Fiction epic that looks to the stars with wonder instead of fear. After an inexplicable encounter with a mysterious object in the night sky, ordinary family man Roy Neary begins experiencing strange visions that consume his life and lead him toward a destiny he cannot understand. As reports of unexplained phenomena spread across the globe, Roy joins a growing search for answers that culminates in one of the most unforgettable finales in movie history. Where many Sci Fi films imagine alien contact as a threat, Close Encounters of the Third Kind dares to imagine it as a miracle. Spielberg's knack for groundbreaking visual effects with a deeply human sense of curiosity shine brightly here, paired, of course, with a brilliant score from the one and only John Williams. It's a reminder of why we go to the movies in the first place.

Spielberg Summer keeps rolling on with Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the film that introduced audiences to one of cinema’s greatest heroes: Indiana Jones! When the famous archaeologist and adventurer is tasked with locating the legendary Ark of the Covenant before it falls into Nazi hands, Indiana Jones embarks on a globe-trotting quest filled with pulse-pounding action! From Peruvian jungles to Egyptian deserts, Indy must stay one step ahead of ruthless enemies in a race for an artifact said to possess unimaginable power. A loving tribute to the adventure serials of the 1930s and '40s that Spielberg and George Lucas grew up on, Raiders of the Lost Ark combines old-fashioned movie magic with some of the most inventive action filmmaking ever put on screen. More than four decades later, it remains the gold standard for cinematic adventure and proof that nobody does it quite like our guy Stevie!

He is afraid. He is totally alone. He is 3,000,000 light years from home. Our Spielberg Summer series phones home with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, one of the most beloved family films ever made and a landmark of modern American cinema. When a lonely young boy named Elliott discovers a stranded alien hiding near his home, the two form an unlikely friendship that changes both of their lives. As E.T. becomes part of Elliott’s family, the children must help their otherworldly companion evade government authorities and find a way back home before it’s too late. Few films capture the wonder of childhood as beautifully as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Spielberg transforms a simple story of friendship into something genuinely magical. Decades after audiences first watched that bicycle lift off against the moonlit sky, the film, like so many others from Spielberg, continues to inspire awe from audiences across the globe.

Our Spielberg Summer series goes a little darker with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the wildly pulpy sequel that pushed blockbuster adventure into uncharted territory. When Indiana Jones finds himself in a remote Indian village stripped of its children and sacred stones, he follows the trail to a sinister cult operating beneath an ancient palace. Joined by a skeptical nightclub singer and a brave young boy, Indy descends into a nightmare as he fights to free the enslaved children and recover the stolen Sankara stones. Stripped of the comfort and romance of its predecessor, Temple of Doom is a literal roller coaster cimeatic event. It’s Spielberg at his most unrestrained, mixing fairy-tale darkness with explosive spectacle.

Our Spielberg Summer series takes a more sobering turn with Empire of the Sun, a sweeping coming-of-age epic full of chaos and loss of wartime innocence. Based on J.G. Ballard’s semi-autobiographical novel, the film follows young Jim “Jamie” Graham, a privileged British boy living in Shanghai whose life is shattered when World War II erupts and he is separated from his parents. Alone in an occupied city, he survives in a brutal internment camp while clinging to the fading grandeur of his former life. One of Spielberg’s most ambitious and emotionally complex works, Empire of the Sun transforms war into a surreal landscape of endurance and disillusionment. Anchored by a remarkable early performance from a young Christian Bale, the film reveals Spielberg expanding his visual language to capture not just wonder, but its disappearance. Rarely shown theatrically, this 80s gem demands to be seen big and loud! 

Our Spielberg Summer series returns to a world of pure adventure with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the heartfelt capper to one of cinema’s greatest action trilogies ever! When Indiana Jones sets out to find his missing father, Dr. Henry Jones Sr., he’s pulled into a globe-spanning race against Nazis for the Holy Grail itself. Joined by his father (Sean Connery), Indy must navigate a lifetime of unresolved tension (oh and like booby traps and stuff) as the search becomes as much about family as it is about legend. Spielberg's take on the buddy comedy, The Last Crusade is one of his most effortlessly (at least...he makes it look that way) entertaining films, balancing whip-smart humor with his knack for old school thrills. With Ford and Connery at the center of your movie, you can't really lose.

Our Spielberg Summer series flies to Neverland with Hook, the once-maligned fantasy film that time has steadily re-appraised as one of Spielberg’s most heartfelt flights of imagination!!! When grown-up lawyer Peter Banning (the former Peter Pan) returns to Neverland after Captain Hook kidnaps his children, he must rediscover the boy he forgot in order to lead the Lost Boys and face his old enemy. Along the way, he’s guided by Tinker Bell (Julia Roberts), challenged by Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), and slowly drawn back into a world of belief. Initially met with mixed reception and criticized for its tone and excess, Hook has since been embraced by many as a deeply personal story about adulthood’s erosion of wonder and the struggle to reclaim it. Beneath the spectacle and whimsy is a film about imagination and the cost of forgetting how to play, revealing Spielberg’s enduring belief that growing up doesn’t have to mean letting go.

An adventure 65 million years in the making. Our Spielberg Summer series is taking a trip to Jurassic Park, the groundbreaking blockbuster that made audiences believe...and then run for their lives. When a billionaire philanthropist unveils a revolutionary theme park filled with genetically resurrected dinosaurs, a small group of experts is invited to preview the island before opening day. But when the park’s security systems fail, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), along with mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), are forced to survive a prehistoric nightmare unleashed by the follies of human ambition. A landmark in visual effects and suspense filmmaking, Jurassic Park remains one of cinema’s great “how did they do that?” experiences. Spielberg blends awe and terror in perfect balance, expanding his horizons to new themes that he would explore even more more in the second half of his career.

Something has survived. Our Spielberg Summer series ventures to The Lost World: Jurassic World, the oft-maligned sequel to the 1993 classic. When mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is pulled back into the dinosaur project after a second island is discovered, he joins a rescue expedition that quickly becomes a fight for survival as corporate greed and apex predators collide. What begins as a mission of observation spirals into full-scale chaos when dinosaurs prove, once again, who is higher on the food chain. Darker and much more unruly than its predecessor, The Lost World: Jurassic Park explores the consequences of trying to manage wonder once it’s been unleashed. Spielberg leans into scale and spectacle, building some of the best set pieces of his career, each more intense than the last.