Rated: PG
Starring: a brunette Richard Dreyfuss, a slender Teri Garr, a positively nubile Lance Henriksen
Plot: Strange UFO encounters connect several individuals in small-town America.
Tanya’s Verdict: I had only hazy memories of this film – something about mashed potatoes and a door opening on a reddish sky. So I was happy to see it re-released within theatres to mark its 40th anniversary. I gathered up my girls and we went to see it. While it is undeniably a groundbreaking movie for its time and still holds up – there were plenty of times I zoned out. Spielberg definitely crosses genres with this movie – it can’t simply be pigeon-holed in the sci-fi category – yet the scenes involving government bureaucracy did seem to go on a bit longer than I (or my girls) liked. I can definitely see that this film influenced last year’s Oscar-contender Arrival (2016) but in my opinion Arrival did a better job blending drama with sci-fi. That said, it’s still a good movie – but not one I want to sit through again any time soon. As for kids, probably best to stick with the stalwart classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).