Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writer:

Steven Spielberg (written by)

Release Date:

16 marraskuu 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Close Encounter of the First Kind - Sighting of a UFO. Close Encounter of the Second Kind - Physical Evidence. Close Encounter of the Third Kind - Contact. WE ARE NOT ALONE

Plot:

After an encounter with UFOs, a line worker feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.

Plot Keywords:

Vision | UFO | Desert | Military | Close Encounter Of The Third Kind

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 11 wins & 30 nominations

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss	...	Roy Neary
François Truffaut	...	Claude Lacombe
Teri Garr	...	Ronnie Neary
Melinda Dillon	...	Jillian Guiler
Bob Balaban	...	David Laughlin
J. Patrick McNamara	...	Project Leader
Warren J. Kemmerling	...	Wild Bill (as Warren Kemmerling)
Roberts Blossom	...	Farmer
Philip Dodds	...	Jean Claude
Cary Guffey	...	Barry Guiler
Shawn Bishop	...	Brad Neary
Adrienne Campbell	...	Sylvia Neary
Justin Dreyfuss	...	Toby Neary
Lance Henriksen	...	Robert
Merrill Connally	...	Team Leader

Also Known As:

CE3K (USA) (informal short title)
The Close Encounter of the Third Kind (USA) (working title)
The Special Edition: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (USA) (reissue title)
Watch the Skies (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

132 min (special edition) | 137 min (director's cut) | 135 min (original version)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | French | Spanish | Hindi

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Spain:T | Netherlands:12 (original rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | South Africa:PG | West Germany:12 (f) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Iceland:L | Norway:12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | UK:A (original rating) | Ireland:PG

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The organization that Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut) leads is called Mayflower Project. Its flag is white with a black triangle inside, and it can be seen in the secret reunion scene (where Lacombe explains the manual signals for the musical notes) between the USA and France flags.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Roy's family are leaving him, his wife locks all of the car doors except her own door. In the very next shot, her door is already locked.

Quotes:

[Roy is shoveling soil into his kitchen window]
Roy Neary: Ronnie, if I don't do this, *that's* when I'm going to need a doctor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dawson's Creek: First Encounters of the Close Kind (#3.10)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

LOVE SONG OF THE WATERFALL

Aliens in Muncie make for Spielberg's Best Film Ever

Steven Spielberg has made huge popcorn blockbusters that gross more money at the box office (i.e. "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," or "Jurassic Park") and are more exciting on a visceral level. As he as aged and matured as a director, he has also made movies that are more important and will hold a more solid place in the chronicles of film as an artistic document of history (i.e. "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan," and "Munich"). For my money, his best film will still always be "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." This film is Spielberg's humanistic and heartfelt answer to Kubrick's intellectual and cerebral look at man's first contact with life from elsewhere in the universe in his 1968 opus "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"Close Encounters" came early on in Spielberg's career, made in 1977, and has all the hallmarks of his later films played just right before he became so self-referential. Here we have his typical bag of tricks long before they became so typical: familial strife, coming to terms with something bigger than oneself that challenges the male protagonist's view of the world around him, little kids in jeopardy, superb build up of suspense, fantastic visual effects, and a memorable score from John Williams. From the first UFO sightings in Muncie, Indiana to the fantastic finale at Devil's Tower in Wyoming, this is grand entertainment. Lots of films have emulated this movie to varying degrees of success, from Robert Zemeckis' earnest "Contact," to the shameful scam that was M. Night Shymalan's "Signs," and even Spielberg himself recently did the dark natured flip-side to benevolent alien encounters with his remake of "War of the Worlds" (which makes a fantastic double-feature with this). However, nothing compares to this true original. No other film has made me want to believe in aliens more, and I'll never look at a plate of mashed potatoes the same again.