I sort of agree with the OP. Close Encounters still rocks. However, do checkout Contact with Jodie Foster. That's a pretty under the radar film with a similar subject matter.

This movie was a first in that nobody ever saw anything like it prior to it''s release. Although it was released a short time after Star Wars it was as NOTHING like Star Wars. Lol.
Damn, some great, groundbreaking films came out of the 70's!

Well, there was "2001" almost a decade before that approached the question of alien life forms in a very mature and thoughtful way.

Was this a "first"? was it the first science fiction movie to not be corny or silly like all those god awful 1950s and 1960s sci fi movies where you would paint some actor green and make them wear aluminum foil suit and you are supposed to pretend they are a "martian" or something? Was this this first movie about aliens to be "cool" and "modern"? It was filmed at close to the same time as the first Star Wars movie so it was on the cusp of greatly improved special effects compared to earlier films. Maybe that is why it became a classic, because it was a "first"?

I can't think of one I liked better- or got more out of- than "CE3K". Beautiful film.