This movie is yet another small scale first contact movie set in the heartland of America in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It’s very competently made, as are all films with John Carpenter at the helm, but it also has nothing to separate it from the crowd apart from a brief special effects shot early on that is up to Carpenter’s usual high standards. Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen have dynamic chemistry and Bridges does especially well with a strange role. While it’s certainly worth a watch for fans of quirky first encounter movies, most cinephiles can give it a miss.

Closest comparison: It’s like E.T. in the the era road trip trappings of Smokey and the Bandit.

Setting: First Contact
Plot: Road Trip
Tone: Fish out of Water