Film

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Name: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Released: 1977
Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban

Spielberg's UFO film is less about invasion than obsession — a suburban lineman becomes fixated on a shape burned into his mind after a strange night sky, while government scientists chase the same signal. It trades horror for reverence, building slowly toward one of cinema's great images of first contact. Patient, tender, and genuinely awed by the possibility we're not alone.

TMDb rating

7.4

If you liked this

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial1982

Spielberg's other alien movie, but tender instead of vast — a lonely kid's friendship with a stranded visitor that turns wonder into heartbreak and back again.

But If you want your aliens mysterious and cosmic rather than cuddly and crying, this one might feel too soft.

Contact1997

Jodie Foster's scientist chases a signal from the stars in a film that treats faith and physics as the same kind of longing — echoing this film's awe, filtered through grief and reason.

But Talkier and more cerebral than Spielberg's film; the emotional payoff arrives late and asks for patience.

Arrival2016

Denis Villeneuve's contact film swaps spectacle for linguistics, turning communication itself into the mystery — quiet, aching, and just as reverent about the unknown.

But Its twist rewards a second viewing but the deliberate pace can feel glacial on the first.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Fire in the Sky1993no page yet

It's the nightmare version of Roy Neary's story — same premise of an ordinary man pulled away from his life by an encounter, but Spielberg's transcendence becomes trauma here.

Same setup as Close Encounters — ordinary man, inexplicable lights, a life derailed — but told from inside the horror instead of the wonder, based on a real alleged abduction.

But Genuinely upsetting midsection; the abduction sequence remains one of the nastiest ever put in studio sci-fi.

2001: A Space Odyssey1968

The granddaddy of cosmic-mystery cinema — cold, silent, and utterly convinced that contact with something greater than us should look like nothing you've seen before.

But Famously opaque and slow; there's no dialogue for long stretches, and no easy answers at the end.

Interstellar2014

Nolan borrows Spielberg's trick of making the cosmos feel like a family matter, wrapping wormholes and time dilation around a father's promise to come home.

But Three hours long, heavy on exposition, and the emotional swings can tip into the melodramatic.

Signs2002

Shyamalan keeps the aliens almost entirely offscreen and lets a family's faith crumble and rebuild instead — dread built from suggestion, just like Spielberg's best restraint.

But The tension depends on believing the premise's internal logic, which some found silly by the end.

The Abyss1989no page yet

Cameron takes the 'something benevolent beneath the surface' idea and drowns it — literally — turning first contact into a claustrophobic underwater thriller with real heart.

But The theatrical cut trims the alien material short; you'll want the extended edition for full effect.

Cocoon1985no page yet

A gentler, funnier cousin to Close Encounters — retirees, aliens, and the idea that the universe might actually be kind to the people it visits.

But Broad and sentimental where Spielberg is careful; it's comfort food rather than a genuine cosmic mystery.

Super 82011

Spielberg produced this love letter to his own back catalogue — kids with cameras, a small town, and something enormous hiding just past the frame.

But Wears its influences so openly that it can feel more like homage than its own story.

The Day the Earth Stood Still1951

It's the first-contact film Close Encounters was quietly answering — same faith that visitors might come to teach rather than conquer, shaped instead by nuclear-age fear rather than Spielberg's wonder.

A visitor descends to warn humanity, decades before Spielberg's benevolent lights — cool, formal, black-and-white, and just as convinced we should be listening.

But Its Cold War earnestness and stiff 1950s dialogue will feel dated next to modern effects and pacing.

The Iron Giant1999

Same premise — something huge and inexplicable arrives from above and turns out to want connection, not conquest — but staged as animated family adventure instead of grown-up cosmic dread.

An animated film about a boy and a fallen thing from the sky that nobody else understands — all of Close Encounters' childlike awe, none of the adult dread.

But It's a kids' film in structure and tone; adults expecting cosmic mystery will find it plainer and more sentimental.