I am always fascinated by what movies my favorite filmmakers are watching. And since my favorite filmmaker is Steven Spielberg, seeing a list he compiled is especially nice. 

In The Fabelmans, we see him recreate the story of meeting John Ford. And we know he has immense reverence for people like David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock, and many others. Spielberg grew up watching and immersing himself in the world of cinema.

Check out the movies he counts among his favorites.  

Steven Spielberg’s 20 favorite movies

  1. It’s a Wonderful Life – Frank Capra (1946)
  2. The Godfather – Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
  3. Fantasia – Walt Disney (1940)
  4. A Guy Named Joe – Victor Fleming (1943)
  5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn (2014)
  6. War of the Worlds – Byron Haskin (1953)
  7. Psycho – Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
  8. 2001: A Space Odyssey – Stanley Kubrick (1968)
  9. Lawrence of Arabia – David Lean (1962)
  10. Untouchable – Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano (2011)
  11. The Dark Knight – Christopher Nolan (2008)
  12. The 400 Blows – François Truffaut (1959)
  13. Day for Night – François Truffaut (1973)
  14. Citizen Kane – Orson Welles (1941)
  15. Captains Courageous – Victor Fleming (1937)
  16. The Best Years of Our Lives – William Wyler (1946)
  17. The Searchers – John Ford (1956)
  18. Tootsie – Sydney Pollack (1982)
  19. Seven Samurai – Akira Kurosawa (1954)
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