Steven Spielberg topped himself with this movie, which arrived two years after JAWS, the movie that blew the movie industry -- and the rest of us -- away.  The first movie to explore aliens from the vantage point of someone  who could be your neighbor, or YOU, is fascinating and utlimately  surprisingly moving.  The visual wonder of this movie is so palpable you  can almost touch it with your hand, and the performances are so in synch  that you become friends with these people by the time the Mother Ship  arrives -- especially Melinda Dillon and Richard Dreyfuss; Teri Garr is as  usual excellent, and Francois Truffaut is the perfect man to embody a  sympathetic scientist, filled with wonder.  When communication between  humans and aliens begins to explode, I found tears welling up in my eyes,  so complete was Spielberg's magic spell.  The fact that this movie  essentially features no real villian is remarkable; it manages to be  profoundly funny, sentimental, interesting and magical without any real  violence and no real character conflict/battle.  John Williams once again  provides a score of majesty and power; the creative collective genius who  concocted an alien encounter entirely through music, whether it was  Williams, Spielberg, the writers, or a combo, deserve(s) special mention,  and Williams' theme evokes precisely the right emotional chords to  transport you to the galaxies above, or at least to heaven.