"I never thought I wanted to do a dinosaur movie better than anyone else's," he says, "but I did want my dinosaur movie to be the most realistic of them all. I wanted the audience to say, 'I really believe this could happen today.'"

Steven Spielberg is one of the world's greatest popular talents. He has directed or produced six of the 20 highest-grossing films of all-time, including the top two - " Jurassic Park" and "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" - and in 1994 he won the Academy Award for best director, for "Schindler's List." He has also received the Irving Thalberg Award for career achievement and the Directors Guild of America Award for "Schindler's List" and "The Color Purple."

Spielberg made his feature directing debut in 1974 with "The Sugarland Express." The two films that followed, "Jaws" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," were phenomenal successes.

He later teamed with longtime friend George Lucas on "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" as well as "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." He also directed "1941," "Always" and "Hook."

The year 1993 was perhaps Spielberg's most momentous. In June, "Jurassic Park" was released, becoming the hit film of the summer, breaking box-office records and eventually becoming the top-grossing film of all time. The film also won three Academy Awards. And in December came "Schindler's List," the acclaimed drama which won the Academy Award for best picture and earned Spielberg his first Oscar as best director.