According to IMDb’s Editors list, Schindler’s List is Steven Spielberg’s highest-rated movie, with a displayed rating of 9.0/10. Saving Private Ryan and Raiders of the Lost Ark follow. The ranking below reproduces the list’s top 15 in its June 2026 snapshot; IMDb user ratings are not a definitive measure of artistic merit, and the scores and vote totals can change.
If you’re choosing what to watch, the list ranges from historical dramas to science fiction, family fantasy and adventure. The brief descriptions below can help you find a film by premise and mood, not just score.
IMDb’s 15 highest-rated Steven Spielberg movies
Ratings and approximate rating counts below are those shown in IMDb’s Editors list, labeled last updated June 2026. IMDb rounds both figures; the vote totals are approximate and change over time. Where films share a displayed score, their order follows IMDb’s list rather than suggesting an unshown difference in rating.
| Rank | Film | IMDb rating | Approx. ratings | What it’s about |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schindler’s List (1993) | 9.0/10 | 1.6 million | Historical drama about Oskar Schindler and the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Poland. |
| 2 | Saving Private Ryan (1998) | 8.6/10 | 1.7 million | A World War II story following U.S. soldiers sent behind enemy lines after the Normandy landings. |
| 3 | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | 8.4/10 | 1.1 million | Archaeologist Indiana Jones races the Nazis to find the Ark of the Covenant. |
| 4 | Jurassic Park (1993) | 8.2/10 | 1.2 million | Science-fiction adventure set at a theme park where dinosaurs have been brought to life. |
| 5 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) | 8.2/10 | 873,000 | An Indiana Jones franchise entry; IMDb places it just below Jurassic Park at the same displayed rating. |
| 6 | Catch Me If You Can (2002) | 8.1/10 | 1.3 million | A crime story that IMDb’s list places ahead of Jaws at the same displayed rating. |
| 7 | Jaws (1975) | 8.1/10 | 751,000 | A thriller about a shark threatening a beach community. |
| 8 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) | 7.9/10 | 478,000 | A child helps a stranded alien return home. |
| 9 | Empire of the Sun (1987) | 7.7/10 | 145,000 | A war drama that IMDb places ahead of The Color Purple at the same displayed rating. |
| 10 | The Color Purple (1985) | 7.7/10 | 106,000 | A historical drama, listed just below Empire of the Sun at the same displayed rating. |
| 11 | Bridge of Spies (2015) | 7.6/10 | 348,000 | A historical drama set during the Cold War. |
| 12 | Minority Report (2002) | 7.6/10 | 628,000 | A science-fiction thriller about a police unit that predicts crimes and an officer accused of a future murder. |
| 13 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) | 7.6/10 | 239,000 | A science-fiction story about an ordinary man whose UFO encounter becomes an obsession. |
| 14 | The Fabelmans (2022) | 7.5/10 | 137,000 | A coming-of-age story about a young aspiring filmmaker and his family. |
| 15 | Munich (2005) | 7.5/10 | 256,000 | A historical thriller, listed fifteenth at the same displayed rating as The Fabelmans. |
IMDb’s Editors list contains 36 titles in total; this guide covers its first 15. Because ratings are rounded to one decimal place, a shared score does not establish that two films are exactly tied beyond the display. A small change in user ratings could also change the order.
#1 Best Overall
Which Spielberg movie should you watch first?
Choose by the kind of story you want rather than treating the ranking as a watch order:
- For a historical drama: Start with Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan or Bridge of Spies.
- For adventure: Pick Raiders of the Lost Ark or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
- For science fiction: Choose the dinosaur-park adventure Jurassic Park, the crime-prediction thriller Minority Report or the first-contact story Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
- For family fantasy: Try E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
- For a suspenseful thriller: Jaws offers a beach-community shark story; Catch Me If You Can brings a crime premise.
The list spans 1975’s Jaws to 2022’s The Fabelmans, with both standalone stories and franchise entries. IMDb’s list also includes runtimes, which can help narrow a choice when viewing time matters.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can you get the top-ranked films in one collection?
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced Steven Spielberg: The Spotlight Collection, an eight-film 4K Ultra HD collection that also includes Blu-ray and Digital. Six of its films appear in this top 15: Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. The other two are War of the Worlds and Saving Private Ryan. It is therefore not a complete collection of the 15 ranked titles.
Universal’s April 14, 2026 announcement described an eight-slot SteelBook library case, individual 4K SteelBooks and more than 25 hours of bonus features across select films. It stated a June 9, 2026 arrival date, with Amazon availability in the United States and Amazon and GRUV availability in Canada. The announcement does not establish current stock or pricing.
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- Introduction: An Overview
- Part 1: The Director's Artistic Identity
- Part 2: Story Development
- Part 3: The Director and the Script
- Part 4: Authorship and Aesthetics
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