Steven Spielberg: ‘Jurassic Park’ Career’s Biggest Risk

Thirty-two years ago in the summer of 1975, “Jaws” had moviegoers jumping out of their seats. And it was all thanks to Steven Spielberg, who is now taking a look back at some of his most memorable films in a new documentary.

Beloved by his peers, many consider Spielberg to be the greatest director of our generation.

In the Turner Classic Movies documentary “Spielberg On Spielberg,” the movie titan credits his biggest flop – the 1979 war satire “1941” – as the best lesson of his career.

“What killed the comedy was the amount of destruction. I just blew too much stuff up,” Spielberg noted.

On the flip side, he admits after the mega success of “Jaws” and “Close Encounters,” his ego got too big.

“When I did ‘1941,’ I felt I was made of Teflon. I felt that anything I put on film was going to succeed. I felt invincible,” he explained. “The best thing that could of happened to me was the panning I got from ‘1941’ from the critics and the public. I learned the greatest lessons of my life from ‘1941.’”

And it was a lesson that carried over into his next film – 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

“I went from the disaster of ‘1941’ to my day of shooting on ‘Raiders,’ so in a sense ‘Raiders’ rescued me from getting self-involved. By the time I did ‘Raiders,’ I was humbled. Every shot was storyboarded. I was 14 days under schedule,” he said. “‘Raiders’ was the most prepared I’ve been.”

When it comes to his biggest risk, Spielberg points to the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park.”

“There was a lot of risk in the art form. In a way, ‘Jurassic Park’ was the first movie that success or failure of the story was dependent on these digital characters and that was risk we all took,” he revealed.

“Spielberg On Spielberg” premieres on TCM on July 9.

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