I am always up for seeing a documentary about one of my most favourite filmmakers, and this was one right up my street. Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest movie directors, producers and screenwriters of all time, praised by fellow filmmakers, cast and crew, critics and movie audiences all over the world. This film examines his life and career, with insights into his works, from his early experiences in television, to his success in some of the most popular blockbuster, influential and inspiring movies in Hollywood. Spielberg was inspired to become a moviemaker when he first saw David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, and numerous times after, and he mentions later being influenced by Stanley Kubrick after seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey. He made many home movies and short films as a young man growing up in Phoenix, Arizona. He was raised by the orthodox Jewish faith, he had a close relationship with his mother and sisters, while his father, a computer genius, worked a lot. Spielberg was heartbroken as a young man when his parents divorced, after his mother fell in love with another man. He was fascinated by the process of filmmaking, even going on tours for Universal Studios, and sneaking around the studio lot, including sets, and approaching filmmakers asking questions. His early short films include: Fighter Squad (1961), Fireflight (1962), Escape to Nowhere (1963), and Amblin' (1968) (Spielberg's first commercially released film; his production company was named Amblin Entertainment). Directing for Spielberg was a means of escape. Spielberg got his big break when he signed contract and hired as TV director by Universal's Sid Sheinberg, who saw one of his short films. For television, Spielberg directed: Rod Sterling's Night Gallery (1969), starring Joan Crawford, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971), The Psychiatrist (1971), Savage (1973), The Name of the Game (1971), and Columbo (1971). Spielberg's feature-length debut was the TV-made thriller movie Duel (1971), and his feature debut on the big screen was The Sugarland Express (1974). Spielberg was part of a company of aspiring filmmakers, all of which helped each other and became good friends, including Brian De Palma (of Scarface fame), George Lucas (of Star Wars fame), and Martin Scorsese (of Mean Streets fame). He also met actress Amy Irving, they later married and had a child. Spielberg's biggest early success came following the release of Jaws (1975), which over-budget and over filming schedule, but went on to become the biggest blockbuster movie of the summer. Spielberg continued his success with Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), which was another box office hit. Spielberg attempted his first comedy movie with 1941 (1979), but this did not do as well. He picked himself up when George Lucas collaborated with him to create a hero that would outshine James Bond, Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), as well as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). It mentions Poltergeist (1982), co-written by Spielberg), which was a successful horror movie. There was huge success when E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was released, a story inspired by his parents' divorce, with themes of abandonment, and Spielberg gained a great reputation for directing children. But Spielberg wanted to move into serious films and gained some praise for making The Color Purple (1985). Empire of the Sun (1987), set in the Second World War, was an ambitious project, but received mixed reviews, as did family movie Hook (1991). He was saddened by the divorce from wife Irving, having been a child of divorce himself, but found new happiness meeting Kate Capshaw (who converted to Judaism). Spielberg finally got recognition for directing a film with a serious subject when he made Schindler's List (1993), a story set during the Holocaust. The film was a tremendous success at the Academy Awards, Spielberg won the Oscar for Best Director, and the film won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. Following the film's success, Spielberg established the charity USC Shoah Foundation. Spielberg next recognised the revolution of the digital era and made the highly successful Jurassic Park (1993), which used ground-breaking digital special effects, and was another blockbuster success. By this time, Spielberg was officially recognised as a powerful filmmaker, being mentioned Wayne's World, and spoofed in Animaniacs by Pinky and the Brain (the cartoon he produced); he also opened Dive! restaurant, and co-founded Dreamworks production studio. There were mixed results for Amistad (1997). Spielberg then went on to direct his most epic war movie, Saving Private Ryan (1998), which was a second great success at the Oscars, Spielberg won his second award for Best Director. Spielberg has a connection with World War II, as father served, this was part of why he was often absent, but they did resolve their differences years later, and his parents came back together. Entering the century and the new millennium, Spielberg made a good number of darker movies, many with big budget special effects, aliens, futuristic technology, and dystopian worlds, including A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Minority Report (2002), and War of the Worlds (2005), as well as lighter films like Catch Me If You Can (2002) and The Terminal (2004). Spielberg made further movies with serious and real subjects, including Munich (2005) (which subtly references 9/11), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012). Most recently, by the end of this film anyway, it saw Spielberg on set during the making of his drama movie Bridge of Spies (2015), and it also shows clips from his latest family movie at the time, The BFG (2016). Spielberg is a most skilled director, with a great eye, a good insight into audience expectations, working with a great crew, many of who he has collaborated with numerous times, his longest serving being composer John Williams, creating great stories with themes based on his own experiences, including separation and reunification. If you are interested in reliving the great career of Spielberg, including clips from his most acclaimed films, and obviously you want to know more about the great man himself, then this is a most watchable biographical documentary. With contributions from J.J. Abrams, Leah Adler (Steven's mother), Bob Balaban, Christian Bale, Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Cate Blanchett, James Brolin, Peter Coyote, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Brian De Palma, Laura Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Richard Dreyfuss, Sally Field, Ralph Fiennes, Harrison Ford, Francis Ford Coppola, Jeff Goldblum, Dustin Hoffman, Holly Hunter, Tom Hanks, Lawrence Kasdan, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Sir Ben Kingsley, David Koepp, George Lucas, Frank Marshall, Liam Neeson, Martin Scorsese, Anne Spielberg (Steven's sister), Arnold Spielberg (Steven's father), Nancy Spielberg (Steven's sister), Sue Spielberg (Steven's sister), John Williams, Oprah Winfrey, and Robert Zemeckis. Very good!