Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

This brilliantly realised suburban sci-fi saga reverses years of flying saucer attacks with the notion of friendly visitors from outer space. It praises Dreyfuss's childlike inquisitiveness, spectacular special effects, John Williams's emotionally charged score, and the protracted climax.

The Special Edition improves on the original with a stronger ending inside the spaceship and tighter pacing overall. It captures awe and wonder at extraterrestrial life and stands as one of the great moviegoing experiences.

The review praises the 30th-anniversary DVD's inclusion of all three cuts and highlights the director's cut as the best, noting its balance of domestic drama and awe-inspiring wonder at the unknown.

Close Encounters is a thrilling vision of first contact with extraterrestrials that strips away the sci-fi to reveal compassionate human drama about an ordinary man on an extraordinary quest. The critic singles out the awe-inspiring Mothership arrival as the ultimate testament to Spielberg's gift for wonder and cinema's power.

The digitally restored 40th-anniversary re-release of Spielberg’s sci-fi touchstone has lost none of its grand celestial magic. The film’s credible depiction of everyday Earth life makes the extraterrestrial leaps of faith entirely convincing.

The critic calls it a terrific movie with spectacular special effects that could rival Star Wars, praising the visuals, John Williams score, and convincing portrayal of UFO phenomena as friendly rather than horrific.

Spielberg’s sci-fi epic has been reissued in a 35mm director’s cut as a grainy, gorgeous trip with the tantalising prospect of alien-human friendship at its end. In those pre-CGI days, the effects and powerful John Williams score turn the drama into a moving sound and light show.

It is a big ol' mess of a movie but an extremely lovable one. The film espouses friendliness over aggression in alien contact, with Truffaut's gentle smile singled out as emblematic of honest connection transcending language.

The critic views it as a transitional masterpiece blending 1960s optimism with 1980s spectacle, praising its transcendent climax, trust in the unknown, and emotional duality around family and wonder.

Spielberg's film is the most elaborate 1950s-style science fiction movie ever made, borrowing from earlier films but enhancing them with advanced technology. The final sequence is breathtaking and suggests a religious experience, though some middle sections are uneven.

The film is a magic act with dazzling special effects that stays light, mystical yet not solemn, and positive and pleasurable overall. It ranks below 2001 or Star Wars in execution but offers a more popularly intriguing theme about visitors finding us.

The film is a startlingly innovative blockbuster that approaches the best in science fiction literature by anchoring unimaginable events in ordinary settings and creating a sense of wonder. It later succumbs to quasi-religious uplift and a complacent plot borrowed from 1950s sci-fi.

The critic hails the film as an awe-inspiring sci-fi odyssey that perfectly captures Spielberg's filmmaking ethos through its blend of human drama and spectacle. It singles out the lead performances, themes of obsession, stunning visual effects, and John Williams' score for particular praise.

The critic praises the film's humane fusion of communication and technology, highlighting its optimistic and passionate heart behind the special effects, and notes Spielberg's ability to touch hearts through sight and sound.

The critic deems it Spielberg at his weirdest, most personal, and best, a film that mixes nightmarish and ecstatic elements in a uniquely unsettling way. It singles out the unbalanced structure, tonal clashes of hope and terror, and the director's personal identification with the protagonist's obsession.

The film has aged very well and remains relevant, effective, and at times awe-inspiring decades after its release. The critic singles out Douglas Trumbull’s practical special effects as still superior to modern CGI.