30 most iconic Steven Spielberg movie moments

Fortune and glory

Film-making maestro Steven Spielberg has turned his attention to the Cold War for the upcoming Bridge of Spies, so what better time to look back at his career and how he's made his indelible mark on cinema. Directorial outings only because if we included his producing career, we could be here all year.

30. Young Indy

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Why it's iconic: It could be any other opening to an Indiana Jones movie until the reveal of River Phoenix as a young Indy back in 1912. Phoenix brilliantly mimics Harrison Ford's mannerisms as he takes back an artefact and then, in true Indy style, looks like he's making it up as he goes along trying to escape from his pursuers. What follows is a truly thrilling chase scene on board a train which also solves the series' great mystery - why does Indy hate snakes so much?

29. "You are the Pan"

Movie: Hook (1991)

Why it's iconic: Sure, Hook isn't peak Spielberg - and even he doesn't particularly like it - but that didn't stop him conjuring up a feeling of magic when Peter Pan (Robin Williams) remembers to how to fly and starts soaring through the air of Neverland. Spurred on by some banging dance moves from the Lost Boys, Pan hits a slam dunk (we don't quite know why, either) before Rufio (Dante Busco) proclaims "you are the Pan" and Pan starts squawking. As you do.

28. Aborted bomb

Movie: Munich (2005)

Why it's iconic: It's all going smoothly until the wrong person picks up the phone. Spielberg shows his immaculate craftsmanship as Ciarn Hinds' Carl realises the terrorist's daughter is in the room with the hidden telephone bomb, starting a dash to stop Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz) from detonating as the sound goes silent all but for his fiddling with the remote. It's as tense as you'd like and unpredictable to boot, and brings back memories of another red-coated girl in a Spielberg movie. More on that later.

27. "Do you concur?"

Movie: Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Why it's iconic: Leonardo DiCaprio's con artist Frank Abagnale Jr. is winging it through almost all of Catch Me If You Can, but none more so than during his stint as a doctor. Confronted with the gory aftermath of a bicycle incident, Frank struggles to keep himself from being sick yet does at least manage to show a slight air of authority as he consistently asks "do you concur?" Somehow, it works, and it's an early showcase of DiCaprio's skill with deadpan humour which he would later mine to great effect in The Wolf of Wall Street.

26. Spider robots

Movie: Minority Report (2002)

Why it's iconic: Don't know about you, but we get a bit squeamish when even an eyelash gets stuck in our eye. Spare a thought for Chief John Anderton (Tom Cruise) who has to deal with a double eye transplant and some spider robots determined to interrupt his recuperation time. And that's before we even get to the ice bath. It's a gripping 'will he get caught?' sequence which makes us realise one thing: we don't EVER want to live in a future where there are hordes of spider robots.

25. Looking over the cliff

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Why it's iconic: The best gag in the climactic Indiana Jones movie (what's this Crystal Skull you speak of?) has bleak beginnings as Indy's dad (Sean Connery) looks out over a cliff thinking that his son has plunged to his death. All the while, Indy (Ford) is struggling up a tree root and proceeds to join the group to see just what they're all looking at, before letting out a perfectly-timed sigh of exasperation.

24. "You will procure me those votes"

Movie: Lincoln (2012)

Why it's iconic: Arguably the scene that could have single-handedly won Daniel Day-Lewis his Oscar. Lincoln (Day-Lewis) has had enough of pussyfooting around the subject of slavery and lets rip at his compatriots, including a Westlife-esque key change as he stands up to deliver the killer line. "I am the President of the United States of America clothed in immense power," he bellows, "You will procure me those votes." The speech also provides the added bonus of one of cinema's best putdowns: "Buzzards' guts, man."

23. Raptors in the long grass

Movie: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Why it's iconic: The stand-out moment of the Jurassic Park sequel plays like Jaws in a field. In classic cinema fashion, a team of 'experts' go into the long grass despite being specifically warned not to and duly meet their grisly ends. A terrific overhead shot shows the group tracked by a pack of unseen raptors who swoop down on their prey in rapid succession before the humans even know what's hit them. Well, apart from the one show-off raptor who decides to leap on his dinner because that's more fun.

22. Chasing down the falcon

Movie: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)

Why it's iconic: A stunning example of just what motion-capture technology can do comes in The Adventures of Tintin's stand-out action sequence. As Tintin chases a falcon on a motorbike through a city (the pesky bird has nicked some scrolls), we're shown an extended tracking shot that swoops all around with breathtaking majesty and without missing a beat. It's a pulsating statement of intent from Spielberg in his first animated film, and such a shame we never got to see what else he had up his sleeve for the sequels.

21. Captain Nicholls' death

Movie: War Horse (2011)

Why it's iconic: Though it lacked the overall power of the stage show, Spielberg's adaptation of War Horse does deliver one impeccable moment as Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston) charges to his death. It all starts so well, the cavalry sweeping through camp relentlessly, before they come up against automated weapons at the edge of the forest. As the music swells, Hiddleston is terrific as Nicholls realises the game is up. Tears form in his eyes - and ours - and the tragic scene ends with a slow pan up that shows a field littered with bodies, human and horse.

20. Opening arrest

Movie: Minority Report (2002)

Why it's iconic: Through Colin Farrell's audience surrogate Fed, we're introduced to the world and rules of Minority Report in a breathless opening sequence. Chief Anderton (Cruise) prevents a scorned husband from exacting his revenge on his wife and her lover, which also sets up the movie's central moral dilemma: can you really be guilty if you haven't done anything and just thought about doing it? If that ever proves to be the case, then we're likely to have been found guilty most days after a trip on a rush hour tube.

19. Carl catches Frank in France

Movie: Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Why it's iconic: By this stage in his conning career, Frank (DiCaprio) thinks that everything is a con and therefore has a hard time believing Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) when he says the French police will kill Frank. Hanks does his trustworthy everyman routine and Frank gives in, handcuffing himself before the two walk out into a deserted street. For the moment, it looks like the con artist has been conned, although the police do eventually come. Few other pairings could sell the scene as well as Hanks and DiCaprio do.

18. "Welcome to Jurassic Park"

Movie: Jurassic Park (1993)

Why it's iconic: There aren't many who can deliver spectacle quite like Steven Spielberg. Our first visit into Jurassic Park is pure cinema as the camera pans from the awe-struck faces of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to a Brachiosaurus as John Williams' gorgeous score swells up. Even 22 years later, it has lost none of its power and John Hammond's (Richard Attenborough) words could not be better delivered: "Welcome... to Jurassic Park". And yeah, we know shit eventually hit the fan, but we still would have given anything to be there.

17. David meets the Blue Fairy

Movie: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Why it's iconic: Unfairly maligned on its release, A.I. has rightly been reappraised in recent years, and no part of it is more deserving than its final coda. Some have dismissed it as schmaltzy, but they're missing the inherent bleakness. Having waited for millennia at the bottom of the ocean hoping the Blue Fairy can turn him into a real boy, David (Haley Joel Osment) gets to finally spend a day of happiness with a clone of his mother, the only catch being that the process cannot be repeated and the clone won't last more than 24 hours. It's hope and heartbreak rolled into one.

16. Monkey brains banquet

Movie: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Why it's iconic: We all love a free meal, yet even we think we'd pass up an invitation to Pankot Palace for a feast. Indy, on the other hand, doesn't know what he's letting himself in for as he attends the banquet hosted by the young Maharajah. What follows is Spielberg's take on gross-out, a meal (if you can call it that) of snakes inside a snake, beetles and eyeball soup, before the pice de rsistance for dessert: chilled monkey brains. We'll stick with apple crumble, thanks.

15. Sword vs gun

Movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Why it's iconic: Face melting a Nazi might have more visual impact but for pure joy, it's hard to top the short-lived battle between Indy and a swordsman. Delivering a crowdpleasing moment that rivals any of Spielberg's action beats, it sees Indy take decisive action when faced with some fancy swordplay. The gag alone is genius, yet it's also topped off by Ford's wonderfully nonchalant look around as the crowd behind goes nuts. After all, everyone knows you don't bring a sword to a gunfight.

14. Reprieve

Movie: Schindler's List (1993)

Why it's iconic: No one could ever accuse Schindler's List of being anything other than a bleak watch. However, there is one moment of hope among the hopelessness. We see a group of women arriving into Auschwitz and eventually herded into a shower room. Panic, justifiably, sets in which turns into relief when they realise it's just water and they aren't in a gas chamber. It's a scene that has been subject to accusations of inaccuracy, yet there's still no denying its power within the overall tone of the movie.

13. Tripods take aim

Movie: War of the Worlds (2005)

Why it's iconic: They definitely haven't come in peace. The alien Tripods launching their first brutal attack on humankind results in the stand-out sequence in Spielberg's patchy adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel. Seen initially through a nifty camera move behind a handheld camera's viewpoint, humans are vaporised relentlessly leaving clothes flying left, right and centre as Ray (Tom Cruise) attempts to escape the carnage. Pleasingly, it gives Cruise ample opportunity to whip out his patented high-energy running style as buildings are destroyed behind him.

12. Overheating radiator

Movie: Duel (1971)

Why it's iconic: That Duel was initially a TV movie is hard to believe given the cinematic feel of its climactic chase sequence. It sees Mann (Dennis Weaver) attempt to outrun the malevolent truck that has been stalking him throughout, all the while dealing with an overheating radiator which leads to a nerve-shreddingly tense drive up a mountain. Despite its low-key beginnings, this was the movie that marked Spielberg out as a film-maker destined for greatness, and a little known film about a shark followed just four years later.

11. Roy waves UFO past

Movie: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Why it's iconic: Showcasing his innate knack for a visual gag, one of Close Encounters' best moments is Spielberg as his cheekiest. Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) has got his head in a map as headlights approach from behind him which he obliviously waves on. Yet they don't go forward... they go up. Moments later, they illuminate his car fully and make it go all funky, ensuring he finally realises it wasn't just any old vehicle he waved by.

10. Girl in the red coat

Movie: Schindler's List (1993)

Why it's iconic: One of the few flashes of colour in Spielberg's black & white masterpiece, Schindler (Liam Neeson) spotting a girl in a red coat plays a major role in spurring him on to save people from the Nazis. He sees the girl calmly wandering amongst the horror of the Krakw ghetto, seemingly slipping away from harm as she hides in a house. It's a powerful image that later breaks our heart as we spot the familiar splash of red in a pile of bodies as the Nazis remove evidence of the slaughter.

9. Raptor kitchen attack

Movie: Jurassic Park (1993)

Why it's iconic: Before Jurassic World came along and made raptors something a little child could beat with just a cattle prod, they were rightly terrifying. Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex (Ariana Richards) know the deal: you don't attack raptors, you run the hell away from them. It's a brilliantly sustained sequence that ranks, alongside the T-Rex attack, as one of Spielberg's scariest. That doesn't stop him from being playful too, including an ace reflection visual beat that completely flummoxes one raptor.

8. "You're gonna need a bigger boat"

Movie: Jaws (1975)

Why it's iconic: Not just one of Spielberg's most iconic moments, the crew of The Orca's first encounter with the titular great white provides one of cinema's most iconic lines. Brody (Roy Scheider) is chucking bait into the sea when he gets a face-to-face look at Jaws and, without taking his eyes off the water, backs into Quint's (Robert Shaw) cabin to proclaim the now endlessly quoted line (which Scheider ad-libbed), "You're gonna need a bigger boat". Personally, we'd just have turned back to shore that very instant.

7. Mothership landing

Movie: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Why it's iconic: Even if you haven't seen the movie (and if you haven't, stop reading and rectify that immediately), you'll know the distinctive five-tone sequence that the aliens use to communicate given it has been homaged in just about everything. The mothership landing more than matches it as one of the most iconic and wondrous moments of cinema, delivering not only on pure spectacle but also emotion as the abductees are returned, seemingly unharmed yet also not a day older. It's a moment to make you fall in love with cinema all over again.

6. "I'll be right here"

Movie: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Why it's iconic: No, YOU'RE crying. E.T.'s goodbye to Elliot (Henry Thomas) is one of cinema's most heartbreakingly beautiful farewells. It's mostly played silent but then Spielberg, along with brilliant writer Melissa Mathison, decide to completely break us as E.T.'s finger lights up as he tells Elliot "I'll be right here" pointing to Elliot's head. E.T. then picks up the flowers Gertie (Drew Barrymore) gave him (that he revived) and heads off, forever leaving a hole in our hearts. It's a pitch perfect ending to the movie and wonderfully played by all. Now, can anyone give us a hug?

5. Golden idol troubles

Movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Why it's iconic: Perfectly setting up the tone of the movie while delivering an eye-catching and attention-grabbing opening isn't an easy feat, yet it's exactly what Spielberg achieves with the exhilarating Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indy thinks he's done everything right as he grabs the golden idol, before everything goes to pot. He has to showcase all of his derring-do as he battles a treacherous ally, booby traps and, last but not least, a great big bloody boulder. Even after all of that, Indy still doesn't get to keep the idol. Harsh.

4. "Get out of the water"

Movie: Jaws (1975)

Why it's iconic: All together now: Duuun dun duuun dun dun dun... you know the rest. The moment that has spawned several generations' worth of galeophobia (that's fear of sharks to me and you) is an exquisite slow build of tension as Brody (Scheider) looks on hopeless as Jaws lets loose. Technically, it's a marvel too from the first-person shark cam as it closes on its prey to Spielberg's perfect use of a dolly zoom (first used in Psycho) to convey Brody's horror. And to top it all, it's got a glorious use of a blood fountain, in a PG, no less.

3. Omaha Beach landing

Movie: Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Why it's iconic: Often imitated, but never bettered, the Omaha Beach landing is quite simply one of the greatest openings to any movie. It's a staggering set piece that'd be worthy of being any movie's climax, yet the brutality is just starting for Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and co. Most remarkably, Spielberg didn't storyboard the sequence. It feels authentic because the reactions genuinely are from its excellent cast. Brutal, often horrifying and wholly unforgettable, Saving Private Ryan set a standard for filmed battles that few have come close to matching since.

2. T-Rex makes ripples

Movie: Jurassic Park (1993)

Why it's iconic: Or, the reason why we're often wary of public toilets out in the open. We're given the first look at the T-Rex's enormous power as he attacks Dr. Grant, Lex and Tim, as well as injuring Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and eating Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) who has the worst timing in the world for a toilet break. What really sets the sequence apart though is not the wanton destruction, but the quiet build-up as Tim realises that something is rippling the water in a glass on their vehicle's dashboard. See, folks, water is good for you.

1. Bicycle ride

Movie: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Why it's iconic: It's a measure of its brilliance that however much it's parodied or homaged, the image of E.T. and Elliot (Thomas) flying past the moon retains its awe-inspiring magic. From the visuals to John Williams' sumptuous score, not a frame is wasted in its attempts to tug on your heartstrings. If an alien were to come down to Earth and wanted to know is 'what is cinema?', then this would be the very first thing you showed them.

Ian Sandwell is an entertainment journalist, an avid FrightFester, and horror genre lover, as well as being a bit of a Marvel geek. Ian was the Features Writer at GamesRadar between 2015-2017, and has since moved on to Digital Spy where he currently sits as the website's movies editor.