Empire of Dreams

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of Steven Spielberg

By (author) Andrew M. Gordon

Not available to order

Publication date:

15 October 2007

Length of book:

302 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9780742555778

Empire of Dreams is the first definitive look at all of the science fiction (SF), fantasy, and horror films directed by Steven Spielberg, one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the world today. In the 1970s and 1980s, along with George Lucas, Spielberg helped spark the renaissance of American SF and fantasy film, and he has remained highly productive and prominent in these genres ever since. SF, fantasy, and horror films form the bulk of his work for over thirty years; of the twenty-six theatrical features he directed from 1971 to 2005, sixteen are of these genres, a coherent and impressive body of work. His films have become part of a global consciousness and his cinematic style part of the visual vocabulary of world media.

Chapter 1 Introduction: "I dream for a living"
Chapter 2 1: Duel (1971): Paranoid Style
Chapter 3 2: Jaws (1975): Hydrophobia
Chapter 4 3: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977; rev. 1980): Unidentified Flying Object Relations
Chapter 5 4: E.T. (1982) as Fairy Tale
Chapter 6 5: Poltergeist (1982): Divorce American Style
Chapter 7 6: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): Totem and Taboo
Chapter 8 7: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): Bad Medicine
Chapter 9 8: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989): Raiders of the Lost Father
Chapter 10 9: Always (1989) and the Eternal Triangle
Chapter 11 10: Short Films: "Kick the Can" (1983) and "The Mission" (1986)
Chapter 12 11: Hook (1991): The Peter Pan Syndrome
Chapter 13 12: Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997): Jaws on Land
Chapter 14 13: A.I. (2001): Separation Anxiety
Chapter 15 14: Minority Report (2002): Oedipus Redux
Chapter 16 15: War of the Worlds (2005) and Trauma Culture
Chapter 17 Conclusion: Moving Toward the Light

Andrew Gordon has produced an exhaustive investigation of this major part of Spielberg's oeuvre—appreciative but also critical, finding the complexities inside films that superficial critics have dismissed as childish or manipulative. It's very rewarding to mentally rewind and watch them again with Professor Gordon's insights playing along.