This film is boring. In 1977 these special effects with all the electronics activating themselves and the giant spaceship coming down must of been earth shattering but viewed now it is a slow, disjointed mess. I know the guy playing the Frenchman is a legendary director but having the character be French means nothing, and is especially confusing to follow. Why is a French UFO hunter investigating missing American WWII planes? What?!? It goes on from the as we transition from one drawn out scene to the next. The characters are all flat, Dreyfuss is underwhelming and after his encounter, he has visions which cause his wife and family to split. I never cared about any of the characters, they were one dimensional and stereotypical. It just goes on too long. This is a slow plodding film with no rhyme or reason that just doesn't hold up. Save yourself 2 and 1/2 hours and skip this. After Jaws, Spielberg was the it boy and they gave him carte blanche and he gave them an alien encounter movie. He did much better with E.T. but this one not so much.