In anticipation of Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg’s two most beloved alien films face off in the inaugural Filmspotting Movie Death Match. Representing Close Encounters of the Third Kind is Dr. Margaret A. Weitekamp, Chair of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum. Making the case for E.T. the Extra‑Terrestrial is longtime critic and author Jen Chaney. Host Chris Klimek presides.

Which film better captures Spielberg’s vision of alien contact — and his ideas about the nuclear family? Vote at ⁠moviedeathmatch.com⁠.

Movie Death Match is a new Filmspotting podcast that determines which one of a pair of linked movies — each championed by a passionate and highly credentialed advocate — shall be preserved in perpetuity, and which one shall be lost to history. Through opening statements, formal debate rounds, and closing arguments, a single cinematic judge renders an irreversible verdict. One movie survives. One is erased. Listeners may disagree — but there are no appeals.

Intro & Meeting the Advocates (00:00:00-00:04:40)

The Matchup (00:04:41-00:06:21)

Opening Statements (00:06:22-00:10:26)

Rd. 1: The Movies in Their Time (00:10:27-00:28:49)

Rd. 2: The Movies in Our Time (00:28:50-00:45:39)

Rd. 3: The Movies for All Time (00:45:40-01:01:57)

Closing Arguments & The Verdict (01:01:58-01:04:22)

Credits (01:04:23-01:08:40)

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More From Margaret Weitekamp

-Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight

-Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program

More From Jen Chaney

-On E.T. and Why the Spielberg Classic Endures

-As If! The Oral History of Clueless, As Told by Amy Heckerling, the Cast, and the Crew

-Instagram | Bluesky