5 Movies to Watch After Seeing 'Disclosure Day'

5 movies to scratch the UFO, Spielbergian itch

Watching Disclosure Day was one of the most unusual theatrical experiences of the year, and I’m still processing it days later. It’s one of Spielberg’s most optimistic movies and the message of hope is definitely refreshing for today, but it discusses themes of information-sharing and the power of images to communicate truth - as if it were taking place in the 90’s. Whether you think Spielberg still has talent or that he’s deeply out-of-touch with reality, it’s hard to ignore the nostalgia that Disclosure Day conveys; nostalgia for a bygone era where sci-fi and the question of extraterrestrials had captured a less cynical public’s imagination. It would make sense to follow up Disclosure Day with a revisit to Spielberg’s other alien-themed movies (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., War of the Worlds, and even the infamous fourth Indiana Jones film). But in addition to those classics, here are five 90’s movies I was reminded of while watching Disclosure Day:

Fire in the Sky (1993)

This is a small forgotten thriller that adapts the account of an alleged alien abduction in 1975. Though obviously never verified as true, the movie presents the story as deadly serious, framing it as a mysterious Twin Peaks-style mystery that culminates in the protagonist’s frightening memory of the abduction, the movie’s definitive highlight.

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Tim Burton’s mean-spirited parody adapts a classic 1960’s trading card game and turns it into an all-out farce of celebrities getting squashed by impish Martian invaders. An inverse of Disclosure Day’s “can’t we all just get along” sentiment, although it still suggests violence is all due to poor communication. At least the humans have the power of Slim Whitman and Tom Jones.

Contact (1997)

Adapted from the novel by Carl Sagan, Contact explores the intersection of faith and science, ultimately concluding they are both necessary for helping humanity discover the truth. It features exceptional performances between the agnostic Jodie Foster and the Christian Matthew McConaughey as they grapple with challenging questions about the universe, becoming an unusually mature and contemplative sci-fi drama.

The X-Files (1998)

While it might be no more than a big-budget feature-length episode of the classic tv series, this movie adaptation has all the shadowy government cover-ups and undisclosed extraterrestrial life-forms fans of the show could ask for, only this time with bigger set-pieces. Even today, Mulder and Scully remain some of the most watchable tv-investigators.

The Iron Giant (1999)

Brad Bird’s classic animated adventure forgoes cynicism in favor of true Spielbergian optimism, a belief that the human race can overcome paranoia by acknowledging free will and the capacity to choose the good. In the tradition of E.T., the empathy shared between the human character and the alien creates a powerful bond that communicates the need for mutual goodwill.