I had the advantage of seeing this movie with absolutely no advance knowledge of what it was about. I was not living in North America at the time and saw it while on vacation from Britain. I'd seen no trailers or other publicity, so I came to it with no preconceptions whatever. I found the sense of wonder in the movie and the gradual drawing together of the threads to the climax to be fascinating; and the climax itself, on a giant screen, was awe-inspiring. I've never got quite the same feeling of magic from any other movie. It's 35 years since the movie burst upon the scene and evidence of its influence is still seen in numerous movies (most recently 'Super 8'), but nothing has quite matched the original. It is truly a seminal movie of the genre.