re: What is your Mount Rushmore of Steven Spielberg directed movies?

Spielberg always admired Tobe Hooper. When he got the job to direct Jaws his exact words were "I want to make the Texas Chainsaw Massacre on water." There was obvious amount of respect between the two.

The rumors that Spielberg directed the film harmed Hooper in the long run. This isn't the first time Hooper was screwed over by the industry. Keep in mind despite Chainsaw being a nationwide phenomenon in the 70s, it will still looked down on by the Hollywood producers running show business at the time. What is ironic is that the auteur film makers of the time recognized Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a masterpiece. Ridley Scott said Texas Chainsaw Massacre was his biggest inspiration for Alien, and when Hooper was visiting Pinewood studios in London, Stanley Kubrick stopped working on The Shining to personally meet Hooper and ended up giving him a bear hug out of excitement.