How Steven Spielberg Made Aliens His Ultimate Muse

Some of Steven Spielberg's most iconic work has come with some little green men. His work with extra terrestrials has run the gamut from visually groundbreaking to emotionally gut-wrenching all the way to... frankly not very good. But one thing remains true for each of Spielberg's forays into cosmic territory; aliens represent something much more personal to the filmmaker than meets the eye. For this Art of the Scene, we're looking at Spielberg's Art of the Alien, and how the father of the modern blockbuster has evolved his use of E.T.'s throughout his career. With Disclosure Day being Spielberg's most recent alien adventure there's a through-line from the iconic director's earliest teenage work, through Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and War of the Worlds. Even including the murkier, hair-splitting stops along the way for A.I. Artificial Intelligence and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spielberg has made a habit of framing very personal ideas with fantastic beings from outer space. This Art of the Scene was written by Siddhant Adlakha, edited by Justin Donaldson and produced by Clint Gage.