Ranking Every Steven Spielberg Alien Movie (Including 'Disclosure Day') | Reel Reflections #5
Disclosure Day is upon us, so let's look back at which of Steven Spielberg's alien movies are the best and worst.
Well, the time is upon us. Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, Disclosure Day is finally here. Ever since the first trailer dropped, it’s been high on my most anticipated list of 2026. I got to see it on Monday and have had plenty of time to ruminate on my personal thoughts as well as seeing the surprisingly divisive thoughts all over social media. Coming out of my screening, I felt there would be much more widespread acclaim, however I do believe the general public will love it.
That said, June has got me thinking quite a bit about Spielberg and his legacy in film. I’ve been watching his filmography non-stop in preparation for a podcast episode at the end of the month on his movies, and the rest of June we’ve been diving deep into his alien films for the podcast. Needless to say, it’s been quite top of mind for me lately.
What fascinates me about Spielberg and how he creates alien movies is that, while the central plot may feature extra-terrestrial beings, the films themselves are rarely ever truly about visitors from another world. Instead, they quite often, in the way many of his films do, deal with the relationships between people in the face of discovery. This throughline carries through most of his films and if you look back at each of these movies I’m going to discuss today (minus one particular choice) through that lens, you’ll see that Spielberg often asks what discovering aliens means for humans.
In addition, some of his most famous work also frames the aliens around a family relationship. It’s no secret that Spielberg’s parents getting divorced when he was a child has become a major driving thematic element of almost every film. So it comes as no surprise that this dynamic comes into play in these movies.
But the central element of his alien films is that they’re all surprisingly human. No matter what the “alien” of the story actually is, Spielberg is more interested in how we as a society and as people contend with it. Disclosure Day is no different. I spoke briefly on the film in my review on TikTok, but we are also doing a full-length episode of The Film Box Podcast covering it that releases next Tuesday, so buckle in for my full thoughts there.
Instead, let’s dive into the rankings, from worst to best of all Steven Spielberg’s alien movies.
5. Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I bet you forgot about this one huh. Yes, the fourth Indiana Jones adventure and the last one to be directed by Spielberg is in fact an exploration of aliens. Unfortunately, this is also easily the worst film on the list. Instead of Spielberg’s penchant for interpersonal relationships in the face of discovery, this is framed as a typical adventure romp in the clothes of Indiana Jones. On the surface, it makes for a fun concept. In practice, it’s truly one of Spielberg’s worst films, not just in this small subgenre, but in his whole filmography. Yes, Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones is always enjoyable and Shia Lebouf is (regrettably) really good as Indy’s kid. But bringing back Karen Allen just to give her nothing to do was a mistake, the plot is nonsensical and goes so over the top that it feels outlandish even for an Indiana Jones flick, and the effects and set pieces just aren’t all that fun. There are some redeemable moments here and there, but they’re surrounded by absurdity that’s just not fun to watch. And don’t even get me started on whatever Cate Blanchett is doing here. She’s actively bad in this film, and I think she’s one of the best actresses we have working today. I hadn’t seen this in probably 15 years before I popped it on today, and I don’t think I’ll ever revisit it.
4. War of the Worlds
In a significant step up in this ranking comes maybe the most cynical Spielberg gets on this list. His rendition of the H.G. Wells novel from 1898 is far from a perfect film but does quite a bit right in its telling of the famed sci-fi story. Starring a terrific Tom Cruise and electric performance by a young Dakota Fanning, Spielberg takes the classic work and twists it to fit his personal theme of family dynamics. Where the original story’s protagonists are two brothers, Spielberg’s follows Tom Cruise as he tries to reunite his estranged children with their mother in the face of an alien invasion of Earth. There’s a lot to love about War of the Worlds, especially the performances and cinematography from his longtime collaborator Janusz Kamiński. I also think that making the focus about people and how they react in the face of ultimate extra-terrestrial danger is smart. There’s surprisingly little actual fighting of the aliens, save for a couple awesome set pieces. The real action comes from how Cruise and family have to navigate panicked masses and complete strangers as they all try and survive the invasion. If not for the horrendous ending to this film, it would probably end up much higher on the list.
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
It’s now been almost 50 years since Steven Spielberg’s first alien film, and it still holds up to this day as one of his best. Thematically one of the first films of his to really dive into his family dynamics (The Sugarland Express did it first, but this one did it best to that point), you can tell just how personal this story is for Spielberg. It’s one of only a handful of films he has a screenwriting credit on for good reason. The film follows Richard Dreyfuss’ Roy Neary as he has a close encounter with aliens and inextricably becomes obsessed with finding the aliens to the detriment of his family. You can feel Spielberg almost yelling at his father for what he believed at the time as him abandoning his family. Like almost every film on this list, the true throughline of this film is how an experience with aliens impacts the social dynamics of the people involved. In Close Encounters, the aliens represent the thing that drew Roy away from his family into the unknown, but we really don’t know anything at all about them. They’re as mysterious to us as they are to Roy, but Roy just can’t control his need to understand what’s out there. At times, the film is nasty and mean, especially seeing Roy break down in the shower while his son shouts “Crybaby!” at him (something Spielberg took from his own childhood) or Roy’s wife Ronnie - played by Teri Garr - screaming at him to figure things out for the sake of his family. It’s heartbreaking and yet, when the alien mothership touches down, you feel for Roy and understand all at once why he ventures into the unknown. We covered this film in depth on The Film Box podcast, so give it a listen there! If not for another film on this list coming just 5 years later, this could have been his best alien movie.
2. Disclosure Day
Here we come to Spielberg’s newest film, Disclosure Day. I’m quite surprised to see the divisive nature of the reactions to this film. Some love it, some hate it. Personally, I thought it was incredibly profound, but also extremely enjoyable as Spielberg mixes genres and themes like the master of his craft he is. Disclosure Day is part political conspiracy thriller, part action-adventure romp, part character study all framed against the idea that if humanity discovered aliens, would we need to know and how would the world react to that news. I think many people went in expecting an alien invasion film a la War of the Worlds, when in reality this is not that at all. Once again, it’s Spielberg grappling with very human themes and dynamics with the backdrop being aliens. Personally, I loved Disclosure Day and feel it’s one of his best films, not just in the alien subgenre, but in his whole filmography. I was locked in the entire time, and the last 20 minutes were incredibly visceral and felt all too real in a way that really made me uncomfortable. Emily Blunt gives a tremendous performance in one of the lead roles that should earn her an Oscar nomination, and the entire cast impressed me quite a bit. Is the film perfect? No, there are actually quite a few things that I wish they had explored more, but as a whole I found the film really fun and enjoyable.
1. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
Was there ever any doubt? Not only is E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Spielberg’s best alien movie, but it’s also maybe top 3 greatest films he’s ever made and, in my opinion, the most important film of the 1980’s as a whole. This is Spielberg at his very best, asking the audience to consider what a friendly alien would mean to us if we made contact and framing it through the eyes of a child. Thematically, this is Spielberg framing his parents’ divorce from the opposite side as he did Close Encounters. Here, Dee Wallace stands in as Spielberg’s mother, a single mom whose ex-husband has run off with a new woman and left her dealing with the three children at home. It’s incredibly personal, but you feel Spielberg speaking to the audience through Henry Thomas’ Elliot as he discovers and makes friends with E.T., who in turn is curious about humans and Earth. This dynamic makes for an absolutely timeless film that’s great for anyone of any age. Not to mention that it’s a great portrait of suburban life and a rollicking adventure film on top of it. There’s a reason why this was the number one film at the box office in 1982 and made over $350 million at the box office on its initial release. We just covered this film in depth on The Film Box Podcast, so give it a listen there!
Physical Media Highlight
For this week’s physical media highlight, I wanted to show off the editions I own of the films I highlighted in this column. Obviously, Disclosure Day has just come out in theaters, and I don’t own Kingdom of The Crystal Skull and probably never will, but the other films I do own in some cool copies that I thrifted. War of the Worlds is just in a normal but hard for me to find Blu-ray. Close Encounters has a cool 30th anniversary Blu-ray box set that comes with all three cuts of the film, a cool booklet and a reversible poster of the original movie poster on one side and a full cut comparison of the three cuts on the other. For E.T., I started with the original DVD collector’s edition set, which was a cool foldout edition where the discs are designed as the moon that Elliot and ET fly over in the film. Recently, I acquired this 4k 35th anniversary box set with lenticular slip that comes with the film on 4k, a booklet with behind-the-scenes photos and essays and a CD with the soundtrack. It’s a nice set and was the way I watched the film last week with my family. The film has never looked better.
The Film Box Podcast
Speaking of E.T., this week on the film box podcast, we continued our dive into Spielberg’s alien movies by revisiting E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. This was a really fun conversation and one of our longest episodes in a long time. There’s a lot to love about E.T. and a lot to nitpick and we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit revisiting the film. Check out our conversation here!
And that’ll do it for this week’s Reel Reflections! Thanks so much for reading, and we’ll see you next week to talk about the movies!