Steven Spielberg’s biggest blockbusters…

This weekend headlines across the internet declared that Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg had attacked Netflix, calling it “a clear and present danger to filmgoers” and that Netflix movies don’t “deserve” Oscars.

The crowds on the pay per view platform are crying out for blood.

The internet is in total melt-down.

The actual articles focused on a couple of pulled quotes from a video interview with ITV News. But they failed to give the full context to Spielberg’s involved answer.

First off, comparing Netflix and Amazons models is unfair. Netflix has had short theatrical runs for movies like Mudbound and Okja so they can qualify for awards like the Oscars. Films less likely to garner Oscar notice go right to Netflix. And so Bright, Mute and The Cloverfield Paradox are barred from Oscar consideration. By contrast, Amazon has traditional theatrical runs that can span for weeks or months depending on their success. The Big Sick ran for 18 weeks. Manchester By the Sea ran for 23. Not all SVOD platforms are alike, which might be why Netflix gets more open hostility and scorn than Amazon.

Spielberg does recognize why filmmakers would take to SVOD. Studios are shying away from riskier fare, and betting on big productions like recognizable properties and big names, for instance the Steven Spielberg directed Ready Player One, which is based on the popular Ernest Cline novel that folds in allusions to a ton of beloved movies from John Hughes comedies to Back To The Future. But Spielberg shows how he’s a bit out of touch with the struggle of up-and-coming filmmakers when he seems to suggest The Post was a risk. Maybe for him it was a tougher sell than his recent projects. But it was a feel-good biopic that was Oscar bait, starring two of America’s most beloved actors: Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Pffft… Culturedemandsgeeks says to the legend… Spielberg isn’t as hellfire and brimstone against SVOD as splashy headlines might want you to believe. But he’s still on the wrong side of history, and its quite disheartened to have a major player in the world of film come out and drive that ‘nail’ through the coffin.

Steven Spielberg is one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in Hollywood. With a career spanning over 40 years, the Oscar-winning director has several cult films to his credit.

And so…

We’ll take a look at several of his biggest blockbusters.

Jaws (1975)

Release date: June 20, 1975

Box office: $470,653,000 (worldwide)

This is the film that started the idea of the “summer blockbuster.” The story revolves around a giant white shark that terrorizes Amity Island. Ultimately, the local sheriff teams with a marine biologist and a shark hunter to bring it down.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Release date: Nov. 16, 1977

Box office: $306,889,114 (worldwide)

The film follows a UFO-obsessed lineman Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and a mother (Melinda Dillon) whose son has disappeared, as they are drawn to a mysterious location for a close encounter with an alien spacecraft.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Release date: June 12, 1981

Box office: $389,925,971 (worldwide)

Featuring Harrison Ford as the lead character, this is the first installment of the “Indiana Jones” franchise. In the film, Jones is hired by the U.S. government to search the Ark of the Covenant before a group of Nazis finds it.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Release date: June 11, 1982

Box office: $792,910,554 (worldwide)

One of Spielberg’s most loved films, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” tells the story of a lovable stranded alien who is befriended by a young boy. The film was one of the first appearances of Drew Barrymore.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Release date: May 23, 1984

Box office: $333,107,271 (worldwide)

In the second “Indiana Jones” film, Ford arrives in India to find a mystical stone and rescue children from a secret cult.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Release date: May 24, 1989

Box office: $474,171,806 (worldwide)

In the third film from the franchise, Jones is in search of his father (Sean Connery), who has been kidnapped by the Nazis.

Hook (1991) Release date: Dec. 11, 1991 Box office: $300,854,823 (worldwide)

In this fantasy adventure, an adult Peter Pan fights an old enemy, Captain Hook, after the latter kidnaps Pan’s children.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Release date: June 11, 1993

Box office: $1,029,153,882 (worldwide) The film is about a billionaire and his small team of scientists, who must save their lives from cloned dinosaurs in a wildlife park after the safety mechanisms break down during a preview tour.