Take one of the greatest directors to pick up a megaphone and pair him with an actor widely lauded as one of the most talented, acclaimed and popular movie stars of the modern era, and you’re almost guaranteed a certain level of quality. Based on their reputations, then, it’s no surprise that the collaborations between Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks have almost always delivered.
The two have teamed up for feature films Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, Bridge of Spies and The Post, as well as co-creating and producing Band of Brothers, The Pacific and upcoming AppleTV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, and it’s brought no shortage of critical, commercial and awards season glory.
All told, their five theatrical projects to date have won six Academy Awards from 21 nominations, and their small screen efforts have fared even better, with Band of Brothers and The Pacific combining to scoop fifteen Emmys and a Golden Globe from a mind-boggling 49 nods in total. As mentioned, take two of the best at what they do and throw them together, and greatness is never out of the equation.
That being said, The Terminal is comfortably viewed as the weakest Spielberg/Hanks venture, even if it drew decent enough reviews and made close to $220 million at the box office. As always, the leading man delivers a reliably strong performance, but the schmaltz gets a little bit on-the-nose towards the end, even if it serves as a diverting and frothy enough dramatic comedy.
For those who want to witness Tom Hanks‘ Viktor Navorski try to make his way back to the fictional nation of Krakozhia, The Terminal is now available to stream on Netflix.
