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billreynolds (1)
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ecarle - Your analysis is very interesting, and I agree with it in large part. I think it is true that the very distinctive Spielberg "magic" left his films several decades ago. He directed his early movies - I would say up through the end of the 80s - with an extraordinary energy and vibrancy that he no longer has. Even weaker movies like Always and Temple of Doom have wonderfully well-directed set pieces in them.
The very greatest time for the Spielberg magic was up through 1982, as you point out. By the way, I recently re-watched Sugarland Express and was simply astounded by how good, and how well-directed, it was. I would also rate 1941 pretty highly, not so much in terms of comedy but rather in terms of visual, kinetic energy.
By the summer of 1982, Spielberg, then 35, simply owned Hollywood. E.T. was an incredible personal triumph for him, on top of his triumphs with Jaws, Close Encounters, and Raiders. It was probably inevitable that he would never bring quite the same level of energy and creativity again.
The exception, for me, is Schindler's List, and to a lesser extent Saving Private Ryan. I think the subject matter of those two films pushed Spielberg to do his very best - especially in Schindler, which I consider one of the dozen greatest movies ever made. But those examples aside, as you point out, Spielberg has been since 1982 a solid, highly professional director, with some hits and quite a few misses.
I do also attribute some of the disappearance of the Spielberg magic to his long association with DP Janusz Kaminski (starting in 1993), who really changed the look of Spielberg's films. They no longer have the visual warmth and naturalism of Spielberg's early films. Kaminski uses a bunch of techniques that I really don't like, most notably over-saturation from light sources (i.e., windows are always glowing and radiating with a gauzy, diffuse light).
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