Surprising as it may seem I am partial to a blockbuster movie, I love a good drama and in terms of Spielberg I mostly favour his older classics. Some of his most notable, in my opinion, are Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan, Hook, and obviously Jaws - I often forget how stunningly shot it is. With Jaws Spielberg created something much more than a summer blockbuster, he essentially created a global fear towards the sea. Based on the 1974 novel by Peter Benchley, Spielberg adapted an idea based on a very human fear which then lead to a spike in shark hunting following the film’s release. But this is not overly surprising, since the same thing happened after the release of Benchley’s book. Fun fact: after the surge in shark hunting, and essentially a ravenous killing spree, Benchley was outraged by the reaction people had towards both the book and the film and became a renowned shark conservationist. As extreme as the reaction was, arguably this is the epitome of sensational storytelling - that dolly zoom shot with Brody on the beach, overlayed by John Williams’ iconic score, still makes my stomach flip. More impressively the audience don’t actually see the shark until the second half of the film, and yet it’s terrifying. Brilliant. Fast forward to 2018 and Spielberg is visually progressing onto bigger things with the release of his latest film Ready Player One - “It’s the place where the limits of reality are your own imagination.” Based on the trailer it’s got all the action of Indiana Jones and the teenage adventures of E.T and The BFG. Progressing from his earlier work with animatronics and very real fears, Spielberg is heading into virtual reality realms which promise the same visual marvel as Avatar. It looks like the PG version of Being John Malcovich, but visually on acid. In a VR world called ‘OASIS’ people can leave the mundanity of reality, which in this film looks like a cross between Blade Runner and The Hunger Games’ districts - all very dystopian - and be… well anything they want. I’m curious. In 2018 is the world of VR more realistic and emotionally impactful than Spielberg’s earlier films with stage sets? Will Ready Player One invoke the same reaction from something fictional into something real, like with Jaws? I’m just going to have to find out.