Steven Spielberg Explains What Each of His First Movies Taught Him... About All the Things He Never Wanted to Do Again

Steven Spielberg has had a rich and storied career, beginning with low-budget action films, and building to blockbusters and classics that have gone down in history as fan-favorites. Across all of his first films, he learned a ton of tricks of the trade that he carried into the next films he made. And even if what he learned was what he never wanted to do again, it was all still valuable, though he found himself repeating the past… much to our enjoyment.

In an old November 1981 issue of American Cinematographer Magazine (via /Film), Spielberg wrote an article, outlining his experience making Raiders of the Lost Ark, wherein he explained that Raiders was essentially the "last time" for him. He regretted not going small and was not going to make giant studio pictures anymore. The existence of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial reveals that he did not stick to that conviction, but Spielberg was determined to downscale eventually.

He explained:

"Every movie has surprises. You can make all the 'Jaws' and 'Star Wars' in the world, but every special effects movie has something in it that teaches you something you probably wouldn't want to do again."

The filmmaker continued:

"I keep saying to myself, after I finish a massive production, that I'm going to make my 'little movie,' and I never have. I said it after 'Sugarland Express,' which was massive in its day and its own scale. After 'Jaws,' I said I would never go underwater and work with anything with pneumatics or hydraulics; and after 'Close Encounters' I said, 'That's it with 70mm and optical effects and matte paintings.' After '1941' I said, 'No more miniatures and no more multiple storylines.' And I wound up smack dab in the middle of it again with 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'"

Spielberg didn't expand on what kind of "little movie" he wanted to make, and he surely went on to make a bunch more huge blockbuster-types, but maybe his autobiographical 2022 film The Fabelmans, which won him two Golden Globes and seven Oscar nominations was always on his mind and in his heart, and I’m glad he got to make it.

Whatever annoyances and frustrations Spielberg endured in each of his films, I’m so glad he did and kept going. And I bet he’s glad too.