From E.T. to Disclosure Day: Steven Spielberg’s alien movies ranked by Rotten Tomatoes — see which classic comes out on top

Spielberg and aliens go way back. For almost 50 years he has bounced between awe, dread, mystery, and big-hearted optimism whenever something not-from-here shows up on screen. With his new movie 'Disclosure Day' putting him back in that lane, the obvious question is: where does it land next to 'E.T.', 'Close Encounters', the 'War of the Worlds' panic attack, and even Indy's UFO- era detour? I lined them up by Rotten Tomatoes scores to see how the extraterrestrial era stacks up now.

1. War of the Worlds (76%)

   In 2005, Spielberg traded wonder for nerves-of-steel survival. This is a ground-level disaster movie about a regular dad trying to keep his kids alive while towering Tripods rip out of the earth and turn cities into smoke and screams. No generals around a big table, no heroic counterstrike — just street-by-street panic.

   The look is intentionally drained of color, the imagery is full of ash-caked survivors, and those machines let out a bone-rattling mechanical wail you do not forget. Underneath the carnage, it is a story about responsibility and hanging on to family when the world stops making sense. It is darker and more intense than most of his alien work, and it still absolutely grips. People still call it underrated, and I get why.

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (77%)

   Yes, the Indy with aliens one. With a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, it sits in a weird corner of Spielberg's extraterrestrial filmography and, honestly, that is part of the appeal. Set in the paranoia-heavy 1950s, it swaps out ancient religious relics for otherworldly questions and throws an older Indy into a chase that mixes a crystal skull, Soviet agents, lost cities, and the hint of knowledge humans maybe should not have.

   It leans hard into retro sci-fi flavor — secret facilities, atomic-age jitters, even a brush with interdimensional ideas — while still playing like an Indiana Jones adventure: punchy set pieces, goofy humor, and family threads tugging at the edges. It is a bold mash-up of archaeology and extraterrestrial myth, and it knows exactly which pulpy buttons it is pushing.

3. Disclosure Day (82%)

   Spielberg has circled the idea of contact for decades, and 'Disclosure Day' (2026 ) feels like him turning the lens to a different, more human angle. Instead of chasing spaceships, it asks a more unsettling question and lets that do the heavy lifting:

   "What if the greatest discovery in human history was being deliberately kept from us?"

   The movie blends mystery, road-thriller momentum, and sci-fi drama as a handful of people follow odd patterns, buried connections, and too-many-to-be-coincidence moments across the U.S. What starts as a personal search quietly widens into a story about truth, trust, and how we handle a world-shifting idea together. It is moody, charged by emotion more than spectacle, and very much in line with Spielberg's habit of focusing on people dealing with the unknown as much as the unknown itself. That 82% suggests the approach is landing.

4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (91%)

   Before 'E.T.', before 'War of the Worlds', and long before 'Disclosure Day', there was 'Close Encounters' in 1977 — the movie that set the tone for Spielberg's lifelong interest in life beyond Earth. It tracks an ordinary guy whose brief brush with a UFO turns into an obsession. Strange visions take hold, his life unravels, and he follows a breadcrumb trail that outgrows any official explanation.

   Crucially, it chooses curiosity over fear. The visitors are not invaders; they are explorers. The payoff is about communication, not destruction. Packed with mystery, feeling, and jaw-drop imagery, it remains one of Spielberg's most influential high-water marks — and that 91% backs it up.

5. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (99%)

   Still the champ. Set in suburban California, the 1982 classic is about a lonely kid who befriends a stranded alien and finds connection where he least expects it. Strip away the spaceships and you get themes Spielberg crushes: loneliness, family, empathy, belonging.

   It is told from a child's point of view, which is why the whole thing feels like pure movie magic — shadowy woods, a glowing chest light, and that bicycle ride against the moon that changed pop culture forever. John Williams' score soars, the performances are indelible, and the film reframed how audiences saw aliens on screen. Critics have basically never stopped applauding it for its heart and its then-groundbreaking effects, which is how you end up at a near-perfect 99% and a permanent slot in cinema history.

That is all five of Spielberg's alien stories, stacked by Rotten Tomatoes. Which one is your favorite? Drop a comment — I am curious where 'Disclosure Day' lands for you now that it is in the mix.