Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a great example of a film doing away with conventions and making a compelling and even magical film that you can't imagine being made today. When it comes down to my top 5 favorite films ever, this tends to interchange with E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. Whereas that film is still touching and more emotional, Close Encounters is filled with a visual splendor where the images are made to show us the wonder of things that can happen. Despite Spielberg's claim that it's the one film that "dates" him, it's still arguably one of his best, even in light of Schindler's List or Jaws.