Steven Spielberg movies available on 4K Blu-ray, ranked by transfer quality.
dir. Steven Spielberg
S-Tier Paramount 4K. Crystal Skull is the Indy film nobody loves but everyone buys to complete the set. Paramount released individual steelbooks after the box set, leaving anyone who bought the collection feeling like they'd been double-dipped. The 4K set also had loose discs rattling around inside the case on arrival, which didn't help.
Paramount Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
S-Tier Paramount 4K. The best Indy film by popular vote. The individual steelbook has been as low as $13 USD on Amazon and under $15 USD at Best Buy. Paramount has released and re-released these steelbooks enough times that early adopters are pretty tired of it.
S-Tier Paramount 4K. Spielberg's darkest Indy. The individual steelbook came after the box set, which meant double-dipping for anyone who already owned the 4-film collection. The mine cart chase is the demo sequence.
S-Tier Paramount 4K. Spielberg's adventure masterpiece. The individual steelbook with the original title and poster art is much better-looking than the box set artwork. All five Indy films are considered reference-quality discs. The steelbook art debate between the individual releases and the Best Buy set was heated.
The black and white photography in 4K is consistently cited as reference quality for the format. The 30th Anniversary steelbook is the current edition most people are buying. Paramount's 4K handling of their prestige catalog has been strong, and this is one of the best examples. Not a film anyone watches casually, but the one everyone owns.
Universal Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
A-Tier Sony 4K. Spielberg's UFO film. The collectors edition with the different cuts is the better option. Multiple packaging options exist but the discs are the same.
Sony Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
A-Tier Universal 4K. Spielberg's alien. The transfer exists in multiple packaging options with the same disc.
A-Tier Universal 4K. Considered one of the best 4K remasters from the 70s, and the contrast to how badly the original Star Wars films have been treated is a favorite collector talking point. The ocean photography and Amity night scenes look fantastic on a modern display.
A-Tier Paramount 4K. Spielberg's sci-fi thriller, and the 4K announcement alongside Catch Me If You Can was one of the biggest Paramount reveals of the year. The Catch Me If You Can artwork was universally panned while Minority Report's was better received. The steelbook inner photo is oddly from a 2009 Empire magazine shoot, not the film itself.
When the creator of a popular video game system dies, a virtual contest is created to compete for his fortune.
Warner Bros. · 4K + Blu-ray
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.
Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.
Four years after Jurassic Park's genetically bred dinosaurs ran amok, multimillionaire John Hammond shocks chaos theorist Ian Malcolm by revealing that he has been breeding more beasties at a secret location. Malcolm, his paleontologist ladylove and a wildlife videographer join an expedition to document the lethal lizards' natural behavior in this action-packed thriller.
Universal Pictures · Steelbook
20th Century A-Tier 4K. Spielberg's newsroom drama. Decent transfer but not a disc that demands 4K. More of a Hanks/Streep collection purchase than a demo pick.
20th Century Studios · 4K + Blu-ray
The Spielberg 4K steelbook showed up in a haul this week. The audio track is the real reason collectors want this one, with 'bass you can taste' being the phrase going around.
B-Tier from Paramount on a film that deserves better. The steelbook has been commanding high resale prices, with some listings hitting $200 USD. Sony taking over Disney's disc production created temporary OOP situations across Paramount's catalog too, and Saving Private Ryan availability fluctuated. The Omaha Beach sequence is the obvious demo material, but the B-Tier transfer means it's not showing what a proper 4K restoration could.
C-Tier Paramount 4K. Spielberg and DiCaprio. Paramount announced this alongside Minority Report. The C-Tier might improve with a future rescan.
C-Tier Universal 4K. Spielberg's TV movie debut. A truck chasing a car for 90 minutes.
