Although his penchant for sentimentality keeps him out of the highbrow cinematic league containing Akira Kurosawa and Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg is arguably the most famous filmmaker working today. He’s directed three films that have gone on to become the highest grossing of all time, as well as plenty of other beloved blockbusters on top of that.
Spielberg’s movies can always be counted on for a handful of memorable characters, as the director is responsible for such cinematic icons as Indiana Jones, Dr. Ian Malcolm, and the shark from Jaws. So, here are the best characters from IMDb’s 10 top-rated Spielberg movies.
10 Empire Of The Sun (7.7) – Jim Graham
Played by a young Christian Bale, Empire of the Sun’s lead protagonist Jim Graham is a kid who was born into a wealthy family with a silver spoon in his mouth and has quite a culture shock when he’s locked in a Japanese internment camp.
As a child viewing opposing sides of a worldwide war from captivity, Jim is the perfect lens through which to gain a pragmatic view of the spirit and politics of World War II.
9 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (7.8) – E.T.
Although Elliott and his family ensure that there is some human substance to this story of an alien stranded on Earth, it’s really the alien who’s the star attraction.
The titular extraterrestrial in E.T. arrived as a heartwarming counterpoint to all the bloodthirsty aliens bent on dominating the planet that viewers had seen in decades of science fiction cinema before it.
8 The Color Purple (7.8) – Celie
Reviews for The Color Purple criticized the treacly sentimentality that Spielberg brought to the story, but he undeniably cast the perfect actors to bring the emotions of each character to life.
In particular, Whoopi Goldberg stands out as Celie, the story’s embattled heroine, who endures an assortment of traumas throughout the film, including a sexually abusive father giving her away to an equally abusive husband.
7 Jaws (8.0) – Chief Brody
Chief Brody is the perfect protagonist. As a loving husband and father who makes an honest living and just wants to spend time with his family, he’s an everyman. He’s not a grizzled seafaring badass like Captain Ahab. When Hooper and Quint are comparing gruesome injuries, Brody just has a little scar that he’s too embarrassed to show.
Brody just wants to do the right thing. He wants to close the beach to protect Amity Island’s residents from the shark. Alas, the mayor won’t let him, and Brody faces consequences for bowing down to his bureaucratic overlords before heroically taking matters into his own hands.
6 Jurassic Park (8.1) – Dr. Ian Malcolm
Spielberg’s blockbuster adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park is anchored by three incredible characters: the curmudgeonly Dr. Alan Grant, the fierce Dr. Ellie Sattler, and the irresistible Dr. Ian Malcolm. But it’s the latter who really grabbed moviegoers’ attention.
The role of Dr. Malcolm solidified the ultra-charming oddball persona of Jeff Goldblum. Malcolm’s quick acting with the flare during the T-Rex attack proved that he was a noble guy under his cynical, smooth-talking facade.
5 Catch Me If You Can (8.1) – Frank Abagnale, Jr.
The true story behind Catch Me If You Can is incredible. The con man at the movie’s core, Frank Abagnale, Jr., pulled off some truly impressive scams over the years — and it’s easy to root for him, because he conned banks and airlines and big corporations, not just regular people.
Leonardo DiCaprio played the cons beautifully, slipping seamlessly into Abagnale’s various personas whenever a situation called for it.
4 Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade (8.2) – Henry Jones, Sr.
When George Lucas first brought the idea for the Indiana Jones character to Steven Spielberg, Spielberg saw it as a chance to give American audiences their own version of James Bond. So, when it came to casting Indy’s father in the third movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the casting seemed obvious: Sean Connery, the original 007.
Connery knocked the role of Henry Jones, Sr. out of the park, unsurprisingly nailing the character’s comical moments as well as building a real emotional connection with his on-screen son, Harrison Ford.
3 Raiders Of The Lost Ark (8.4) – Indiana Jones
Naturally, the best character in Raiders of the Lost Ark is the timeless icon at its center, Indiana Jones, the role that Harrison Ford was born to play. Harking back to the old adventure serials of the 1930s, Indy is the quintessential action hero.
He’s as cool as ice, he always has the perfect one-liner for a given situation, and no matter how many times the bad guys get the better of him, he always wins in the end.
2 Saving Private Ryan (8.6) – Captain Miller
Although Saving Private Ryan is about the search for the titular private, the lead character is Captain Miller, played by Tom Hanks, who leads the way. Hanks brought a real humanity to Miller, bringing the audience along for his harrowing wartime experiences emotionally as well as visually.
He’s not a fearless soldier marching into battle like the average propagandic war movie protagonist; he’s a school teacher who’s been drafted to fight in a global conflict, and he’s terrified.
1 Schindler’s List (8.9) – Oskar Schindler
In the hands of the usually sentimental Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List could’ve washed over the fact that Oskar Schindler was a member of the Nazi Party and let the Holocaust go on for a long time before taking action and using his resources to save over 1,000 Jewish lives.
But Spielberg told the story as it happened. Schindler turned a blind eye until he couldn’t anymore. Liam Neeson played the role spectacularly, leading the definitive cinematic portrait of the horrors of the Holocaust.
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