Spielberg Alien

Few filmmakers have shaped the public imagination of extraterrestrial life more than Steven Spielberg. Across four decades, he returned again and again to the question of what would happen if humanity encountered beings from beyond the stars. Sometimes the answer was wonder. Sometimes fear. Sometimes friendship. Sometimes all-out war.

In this series, Now Playing Podcast reviews Spielberg's four films centered on extraterrestrial visitors: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, War of the Worlds, and Disclosure Day. Together, these movies form a fascinating evolution of the director's ideas about alien contact, reflecting changing generations, technologies, hopes, and anxieties.

From mysterious lights in the sky and secret government cover-ups to childhood wonder, planetary invasions, and global revelations, Spielberg's alien stories have repeatedly captured the dreams and fears of audiences around the world. Each film asks a different question about humanity's place in the universe and how we might react when confronted with the unknown.

Join us as we explore four very different encounters with life beyond Earth, examining how one of cinema's greatest storytellers used visitors from the stars to tell stories about curiosity, family, fear, faith, and what it means to be human. The truth may be out there, but Spielberg gave us some unforgettable possibilities.