Close Encounters Of The Third Kind Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
We are not alone
Now There Is More (USA 1980 special edition re-release)
Cableman Roy Neary is one of several people who experience a close encounter of the first kind, witnessing UFOs flying through the night sky. He is subsequently haunted by a mountainlike image in his head and becomes obsessed with discovering what it represents, putting severe strain on his marriage. Meanwhile, government agents around the world have a close encounter of the second kind, discovering physical evidence of otherworldly visitors in the form of military vehicles that went missing decades ago suddenly appearing in the middle of nowhere. Roy and the agents both follow the clues they have been given to reach a site where they will have a close encounter of the third kind: contact.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Steven Spielberg |
7.70 out of 10 (29738 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Absolutely brilliant!
posted on 21 Aug 2009I'm not English... Sorry for mistakes...The movie is magnific! I watched it for the first time in 1990, when I was 11 and since that I consider it as my number one :) Many SF were made after. Some of those were really good and interesting but CEFK has its own spirit. I have to mention also of John Williams music. I love to listen to it for hours every day.I can not find words to describe how I love this movie. It's more than just the movie... It's 8th wonder of the world :)Greetings to all CEFK fans. Do not hesitate to contact me if you want to discuss about the movie. It would be a real pleasure for me :)
Poetry on Film
posted on 19 Jul 2009Let's start off by saying that when I was a child, I always just fast forwarded this movie to the end. It wasn't until fairly recently when I actually watched the film start to finish.The film follows Richard Dreyfruss' character as he slowly becomes obsessed with UFO's. From here, the film transcends into pure brilliance. To the people who always skip to the end scene, all I can say is who can blame them. The last 5-10 minutes of this film are just so poetic, so vivid and so legendary. The director succeeds in building your hopes up throughout the film and then closing them all up in one of the most awe-inspiring and climatic endings ever to grace the big screen. A must see from start to finish.
They don't make movies like this any more; not even Spielberg does...
posted on 16 Jul 2009What can I say, this film is a triumph on every level. It has top notch acting, a rock solid screenplay, dazzling visual effects that hold up even today, and a wonderful musical score by John Williams.This is one of the movie greats, and certainly should never EVER be remade. Spielberg hits every note with this film. Audiences back in 1977 had never seen anything like this and it's almost a shame it didn't beat "Star Wars" to the theaters. Even though they are roughly two different kinds of films, I think "Star Wars" stole some of the limelight from this one. Both films are certainly better than "Annie Hall" (which took the Oscar for that year).I'd like Mr. Spielberg to take a look at some of his earlier work. Lately he's been making more "adult" films, and while they are also well made, they are not the caliber of the films he used to direct. A lot of themes in his earlier films deal with "childhood" and not growing up. Peter Pan has indeed grown up now, and I wish upon a star that he'll remember his youth and crank out some classics again...
Spielberg is great at what he does.
posted on 13 Jul 2009Steven Spielberg knows what he likes to see in a movie and usually the audience feels the same way. Spielberg doesn't seem to make very many mistakes at all. I'm not as big of a fan of this film as I am of other Spielberg films, but it is very good all the same.
Magic
posted on 10 Jul 2009On one level, Close Encounters is an archetypal Spielberg film; breathless, thrilling and awe-inspiring. On another level, it carries a profundity and depth which is unparallelled even by some of his biggest cinematic wonders. One thing's for sure; its brilliant storytelling and a dazzling piece of film-making. The superb Richard Dreyfuss is the down-at-heel electrician who becomes obsessed with the UFOs that one night pop up all over his home town, embarking on a journey which takes him literally towards the unknown. Spielberg's childhood fascination with alien life keenly explains why a third-time director handles this epic with such bruava yet the director's own neuroses over his parents' divorce lends an understated but nonetheless effective layer to Dreyfuss' character. All this is tied into an old-fashioned mythical adventure plot line with many implications. Like Kubrick a decade earlier, Spielberg uses the liberty of science-fiction to deliver a visually stunning and three-dimensional piece of cinema.
A great motion picture that deals with the UFO subject for the public at large.
posted on 07 Jul 2009It has been more than 28 years since Spielberg created this classic motion picture "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" that deals with the subject of UFOs and arguably is still the best all round film to date in that it ranks as high as any of the most remembered and popular motion pictures made by Hollywood. Contray to popular belief the subject of UFOs is not all Science Fiction as many would have you believe as the title of the movie itself is based on Dr J.Allen Hynek's classification of UFO encounter, in this instance of those of the "third" kind in which beings are encountered. Dr Hynek himself appears for a brief instance along with the more present French investigator/researcher Mr Vallee who in the film does a lot of psychic research with his subjects - well known and real researchers in the UFO field. Hynek himself whose original profession was that of an Astronomer was requested by the US Airforce during its investigation into UFOs to give possible Astonomical explanations to UFO cases and was scientific consultant to the highly controversial USAFs Project Blue Book that ran from 1947 to 1969 that examined the UFO subject. At first Hynek essentially treated UFOs as a "lark" as he put it with the famous swamp gas explanation for UFO events in Michigan USA during 1966. However over the years his attitude towards UFOs changed amid the growing pile of credible witnesses, evidence that was being recorded and observed by even those in the military and finally its global nature. Dr Hynek's book "The UFO Report" makes good reading for those in the public who want a fuller story on the UFO field that have seen this film. Spielberg manages however to weave together both the more creative and fictional themes of alien contact such as the climatic plot ending with the Alien Mothership and the personal adventures of Roy Neary to the lay person, all the way to the more intricate complexities of those that are more familiar with Ufology such as psychic and paranormal phenomena. It is the very essence of these varied scenes in the movie that many viewers and commentators of this film sense their fascination,fear,bewilderment and even entertainment that actually form much of the facets of UFO encounters and activity which is more based on fact than fiction. From the Radar Operators and Airliner Aircrew that encounter a UFO, to various individuals from all walks of life culture and profession on a global scale that encounter everything from strange lights to the multiple of Unidentified Flying Objects that swarm in and out before the Mothership arrives much like its actual real world UFO counterparts, like the small Alien beings that all bear an uncanny resemblance to what people over the ages have experienced and reported to this very day,to Nearys encounter at the Railway Crossing and even Alien abduction of the little boy from his mother combined with the strong undertones of psychic and mental telepathy on UFO witnesses that Spielberg uses to form the plot of the story gives this film its powerful and potent message on the subject of UFOs with more than a hint that Governments and their agencies particularly the Scientific community, where UFOs challenged so many cherished principles and foundations in the physical sciences have all not come clean with the subject of UFOs.Hynek clearly makes this point as he becomes a critic in favor of a real on going phenomena soon after he left Blue Book and in his latter work. As in real Ufology the task for us is to unravel the UFOs enigma - its meaning and purpose on the Human Race. However Close Encounters succeeds in making the public aware while at the same time being able to create a Human based drama that proved popular in what is in fact a very difficult and shaded field. The greatest problem so often in new fields is the mental barrier which forced so many including those that should know better to shrug off UFOs and just dismiss the subject altogether. The comprehension of the UFO arena became the grounds for its rejection. Close Encounters of the Third Kind does some justice to rectifying this situation despite it still being classed as Science Fiction. Spielberg even adds a little extra such as scenes of the recovered and lost Aircraft and Ships presumably from the Bermuda Triangle found in the Mongolian deserts such as the Avengers of Flight 19 whose crew we get to meet at the end along with many missing people over times gone by! Perhaps a reminder that the World still holds many mysteries. Spielberg manages to capture the publics imagination and curiosity in a way that no other UFO film has never quite matched and that is what counts. All in all one of Spielberg's best and a constant reminder that while we may not be alone real unknowns still exist in the universe around us. Weather you are curious, fascinated or even somewhat skeptical on such a subject as UFOs you are sure to be entertained as Speliberg has surely already managed with the public at large. Perhaps Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind has done more for the subject of UFOs than any of us thought possible.
We Are Not Alone
posted on 19 Jun 2009Overshadowed somewhat by the mega-successful STAR WARS in 1977, Steven Spielberg's sci-fi film CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is nevertheless an exceptionally brilliant piece even today, nearly a quarter of a century later.Richard Dreyfuss stars as Indiana power lineman Roy Neary, who is called out one night to investigate a sudden and unexplained massive power failure in Muncie. But on a dark road, he and his truck are suddenly flooded with the ultra-intense light of an alien spacecraft. He meets up with a mother (Melinda Dillon) whose son (Cary Guffey) has suddenly run away. All three of them witness the passage of UFOs mere feet above their heads. Dreyfuss becomes obsessed with his encounter so much that he loses not only his job, but also his family. Meanwhile, Dillon's home is laid siege to the aliens; and Guffey is abducted.Both Dreyfuss and Dillon are consumed with this visions each of them has of a helmet-shaped mountain. When they turn on their TVs to a news story about a train derailment involving deadly nerve gas and see the mountain itself on the screen--which turns out to be Devils Tower in northeastern Wyoming--they both venture there. The story about the nerve gas spillage is a cover for what is really going on there--the setting up of the first contact between humans and extra-terrestrials, being led by a French UFO expert (Francois Truffaut, the legendary film director of THE 400 BLOWS, THE WILD CHILD, and FAHRENHEIT 451).The final sequence--of the UFOs swarming around Devils Tower, the arrival of the gigantic Mother Ship, the reunion of Guffey and Dillon, and Dreyfuss' going with the friendly humanoid aliens--ranks as one of the most dramatic and heartfelt sequences ever captured on film, bolstered by John Williams' usual excellent score. Equally superb are the special effects that were supervised by Douglas Trumbull, the genius behind the Stargate sequence of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, a film that clearly influenced Spielberg's style here. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS won a special Oscar for sound, and a Best Cinematography award, which went to the legendary Vilmos Zsigmond (although four other legends--William Fraker, Doug Slocombe, John Alonzo, and Laszlo Kovacs--are also credited).One of the most powerful combinations of drama, suspense, and special effects ever created, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS remains a masterpiece to this very day.
Not a captivating viewing experience
posted on 30 Mar 2009While CE3K may have captured the imagination of audiences at the time of its release I found it a labor to view. Rarely was I captivated by events transpiring onscreen and I am big fan of Spielberg's other sci-fi films E.T., A.I., and especially Minority Report. What more can I say? It just didn't engage my interest. 6/10.
Another Spielberg Classic
posted on 24 Mar 2009While the movie's pages are dogeared and frayed, and there is a sure sign of wear about the edges, this film still maintains the ability to satisfy.Released the same year as Star Wars 1 (later to be known as Star Wars 4), Close Encounters had its work cut out for it in competition for the box office buck. The result in this skirmish was Star Wars = $11M budget/$798M Worldwide, and Close Encounters = $20M/$300M Worldwide. Not a bad return for either production, if you ask me, but Star Wars is the clear winner.Why? Well, first off, there was the over-Christianized element of a priest (Why was he even IN this movie?!) telling everyone the aliens were "angels," and then, as the aliens begin emerging out of their ship, some stupid woman begins PRAYING to them, on her knees! That's always upset me. Are humans really this ignorant? Of course, this isn't Spielberg's fault. These were the days of Eric von Dankien's wildly popular book, "Chariots of the Gods," and it must have been considered "trendy" to chuck this kind of smarm into the movie, but it lessened its worth greatly, in my estimations.And secondly because Close Encounters failed to capture the imagination as firmly as Star Wars did. Star Wars surrendered effects such as would make you believe you were watching something real, where CE dwelled more on the human psyche rather than the effects. It would have done three times as well, had it not had the fierce competition of SW.While it was a wonderful movie then, and is still a wonderful movie now, I'd say it's time for a (definite) make-over for this old girl.She still rates an 8.2/10 from...the Fiend :.
Excellent special effects, no story
posted on 15 Mar 2009Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a treat to watch and will always be a favourite of many. However, I was hardly taken in by this film and felt that it had no point, a weak story and a lackluster finish.Spielberg's efforts in this film are nothing compared to the greatness he has achieved in other films such as E.T., Saving Private Ryan and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The only thing this film succeeds in, is in its great special effects. The mothership that makes contact with mankind at the end of the film is a technical masterpiece and a feast for all eyes to see. The cinematography helped this film out tremendously and never failed in getting great shots of these special effects. However the alien space-crafts are not seen enough during the film which strikes me as odd because it is really the aliens of which the film is about.The film starts off right into the lives of the characters, giving the viewer no time to understand who they are and what they are about. Richard Dreyfuss gives a well-played performance in this film as an ordinary family man who is targeted by the aliens and given messages on where to go to meet them again. WHY? There is no solid reason in this film that makes the viewer understand what the aliens want and why they take over the minds of those whom they have discovered. Without any understanding for who the aliens are and what they want with the humans, we are left with nothing but a cute film about aliens (a la E.T.).This film has no guidance and even the ending was somewhat unsatisfactory for me. The aliens came, gave us back all the people they had previously abducted and took more humans back for God knows what reasons. Then the film ends and we are left to wonder what it all meant. What did it all mean? Nothing at all.7/10 stars.
All this for what?
posted on 28 Feb 2009CE3K is that kind of movie that starts off rather well and gets you interested in the material but then the film slows down, the plot becomes less believable and you wonder what the conclusion is going to be like and when that conclusion finally comes, you feel let down.SPOILERSThe first 30-45 minutes of CE3K is excellent. The story has a certain electricity about it, the effects are nicely done and you can feel a certain foreboding tension in the air. A lot of strange things are going on - alien spaceships with pretty lights flying over head, knocking out power grids (from their mere presence), and sending some people, including main character Roy, into a state of newfound discovery, awe and bothersome confusion. I liked the pace of the film during these parts and my eyes felt glued to the screen.During the middle part of the film, the pace changes and the material becomes pedestrian. Spielberg spends too much time forcing us watch Roy go nuts, digging up plants from his front yard and throwing them through the kitchen window (while the neighbors just dumbly watch). Then he makes this 10 foot high mountain out of dirt in his living room because he has these visions. His wife Ronnie scurries away with the kids thinking her husband has gone mad. Ronnie was terribly unrealistic and dated. I would never expect a modern woman today to act like she did: whining, indecisive, helpless, weak. I couldn't stand her character. Remember how Princess Leia is treated like meat in Star Wars? Same kind of idea here.So Roy travels to Wyoming to find Devil's Tower, the location depicted by his dreams and visions, where the US government has set up shop in preparation for some alien encounter. Roy - along with Gillian, another woman with similar visions - manages to get through to a top security military "base" aside the mountain, despite military personnel stationed all over the area and flying over head. Night comes, pretty lights fill the sky, an alien mothership lands at the base, the government people play some tunes on a large keyboard, the spaceship replies with tuba-like noises, lost humans from the past come out of the spaceship, then the aliens come walking out, find Roy and encourage him to join them, he boards the ship, the human "project leader" makes some hand gestures to another alien, then they all pack up and the spaceship flies away. Credits roll.Early on in the film you are led to believe something big is going to happen, but nothing does, unless you think trading human passengers with aliens is somehow exciting. I think not.Perhaps CE3K's special effects had some impact back in 1977 but today the film seems trite and nonsensical. Some claim this is one of Spielberg's best. Absolutely not. A.I.:Artificial Intelligence was eons better, though you could argue that Kubrick's influence had something to do with that.I've seen this film twice. That's more than enough.
Extraordinary, but what's the point?
posted on 28 Feb 2009I know that Steven Spielberg has always had a feeling inside himself to try and bring to life the human fantasies of aliens coming to Earth and what that experience would be like for us. This idea flourishes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as Spielberg gives us visually stunning scenes to explore the concept of alien contact with humans. Still, I felt that the actual story lacked heart and soul. Certainly the alien contact with humans was well-played, but contact between the humans, between Roy and his family; it's almost as if Spielberg is trying to say that aliens are more important than family. This is not to say that this film isn't extraordinary, because it is, but Spielberg's lack of consistency and depth to the supporting characters keeps this from being one of his best pieces of work. It is extraordinary, especially for 1977. However, I started to watch this expecting more, and the only highlights for me were the brilliant special effects and John Williams' masterful score. It's good, just not great.
A story of fantasy and self-encounter
posted on 25 Feb 2009A man named Roy played by Richard Dreyfuss after seeing an UFO,do whatever he cans to contact it.A woman named Gillian played by Melinda Dillon tries desperately to find a UFO that took her son.People from around the world are gathering because of the strange things happening which say that something unusual is going to happen.Roy ,after leaving his family to reach his goal befriends Gillian and together they go to the point where an encounter will take place to see if they can encounter the aliens.Spìelberg manages to deliver a tale that shows that we always have to follow our dreams and leave everything behind if necessary and gives us one of the most incredible and touching encounters in the history of the cinema.
Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975) with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence.
posted on 07 Feb 2009Several years in the making and, like Jaws, millions over budget, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) became Steven Spielberg's second blockbuster, confirming his skills at creating visually spectacular popular entertainment. Blending his reverence for the power of movies with a science fiction UFO tale, Spielberg turns an average man's "close encounter" with an extra-terrestrial into an uplifting excursion into fantastic sights. Unlike in Cold War 1950s UFO stories that posit a threat from outside, Spielberg turns the unknown from an initially menacing force that imperils normality into a universal ambassador of transcendent goodwill, providing an escapist note of cinematic hope during the late '70s cultural malaise. Still, 2001 F/X master Douglas Trumbull's pre-digital age visual effects were an even stronger draw, as Close Encounters moves from initial appearances of space pod lights towards the climactic appearance of the enormous and stunningly rendered "mother ship." Praised for Spielberg and company's dazzling craft, amid reservations over the cardboard characters, Close Encounters became one of the biggest hits of the 1970s, helping financially teetering Columbia Pictures and strengthening the late '70s turn towards youth-oriented blockbusters. Beginning with a 1980 "Special Edition," Spielberg re-edited Close Encounters several times after 1977.
Well done by Spielberg. Special effects are great with a believable story.
posted on 30 Dec 2008"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is a film that's clearly well done in terms of special effects and imagery. Plus the sounds and musical themes played during the course are both wonderful and entertaining. Most of all director Steven Spielberg makes this film seem believable and down to earth so many can relate to it. The story centers in a small Indiana town with Roy Neary(Richard Dreyfuss) who's a common hard working family man as an electrician he and his town start to see strange things. Up in the night sky strange lights, shapes, and objects as images of space crafts. This film showed that the strange and unexpected can have an emotional and stressful impact on anyone and anywhere it makes one wonder too are we really alone, or do aliens really exist? Great job by Spielberg his special effects are memorable and dazzling he really had the guts to explore thru this art about UFO's and aliens and at the same time make a memorable film that makes us all wonder and feel amazement.
No anal probe or implants today, Mr. Dreyfuss.
posted on 06 Dec 2008Once Upon a time..."Stars Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" were both released in 1977, and were enormously successful films, both critically and commercially. This began a new era in Hollywood, in which special effects became much more important as a lure to bring customers to the theater. Thus began the golden age of cinema through the 80's.But anyway, I digress...The plot to Close Encounters of the Third Kind involves aliens visiting the Earth with a fleet of ships. Scientists discover how to communicate with the aliens through musical and mathematical codes. The big bad naughty evil U.S. Government, naturally, launches a massive conspiracy, inventing a deadly nerve gas leak story in order to relocate the local population away from the nearby area the aliens have chosen as the point of contact with humanity.Richard Dreyfuss is well cast as an average joe who happens to coincidently encounter a flying saucer one evening. This close encounter causes him to soon lose his job, his sanity, and his wife (Teri Garr) and kids. Melinda Dillon is a mother of a young child (played by wide-eyed and mute Cary Guffey) who, without reason is abducted by the aliens. Dreyfuss and Dillon are both strongly and deeply compelled to visit Devil's Peak, not knowing or fully understanding why.Steven Spielberg wrote and directed "Close Encounters". As with his later film "E.T.", the aliens are benevolent, and the special effects are used to create a mood of childlike wonder. This mood is ultimately manipulative, however, and the jaded viewer may not be especially impressed with hairless, big-eyed, unisex aliens and glowing spaceships. Ethical considerations, such as the rights of aliens to kidnap whomever they wish for close inspection, are not addressed.Tellingly, "Close Encounters" won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, but was not nominated for Best Picture or Screenplay. While it is a very good film, it is not outstanding. The story succeeds as a drama, but there is more form than content.
A MORE INTERESTING AND INTELLIGENT SCIFI FLICK THAN STAR WARS
posted on 15 Nov 2008Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is the kind of science fiction film that you either love or hate. I should know because this is a film my family is divided on. My mother hates this film, mostly because of its' snails pace. As for myself, I have a tolerance for long, slow films and I happen to love science fiction, so it worked for me.But I could be biased due to the various versions that have been issued throughout the years. While my mother saw the original 1977 cut, I have only seen the 1998 reedited Collectors Edition, which uses all existing footage. So my rating only applies to this version.What I think makes this film work is that it is not built on special effects like most alien films. And Spielberg does not resort to the standard evil alien cliche. Instead, he gives us a group of aliens who just want to observe human nature and are not malicious, but peaceful. Spielberg is more concerned with human nature and characterization, and that's why this is such a successful film. **** out of 4 stars
Those hand signals...
posted on 15 Nov 2008Okay, so everyone knows about the song, hand motions, and mud mountain. All in all, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is one great movie. Nearly every scene is impressive. I'm never able to decide whether this movie or "Mr. Holland's Opus" was Richard Dreyfuss' best movie ever. But he does a great job in this movie as Roy Neary, who becomes convinced that he is needed somewhere, and leaves his family to follow his dream. Bravo also to Melinda Dillon as Jillian Guiler, who feels the same pull as Roy. Further kudos still to Francois Truffaut as scientist Claude Lecombe, who at first participates in a government cover-up but then has second thoughts. Maybe a few parts are a little sentimental, but Steven Spielberg created a masterpiece here. A great movie if there ever was one.
Masterfully mounted and presented...but the script is both stale and unfair
posted on 27 Aug 2009Steven Spielberg mounts "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", which he wrote and directed, with canny precision. We are introduced to key players in this UFO story with both color and humor, and the cast is extremely good. Richard Dreyfuss is a suburban husband and father who has a seemingly chance encounter with a spaceship and becomes a man obsessed, pretty much shunning his wife and kids in the quest to find answers to improbable questions. On the rural side of town, Melinda Dillon is a single mom whose little boy has been taken by aliens; she and Dreyfuss are linked by their visions of a craggy mountain where they are sure something incredible will take place. It turns out the vision is really an invitation to be a part of something extraordinary, but the secretive government may stop them both from reaching their destination. This is where the picture begins falling apart: in preparing the scenario for The Ultimate Interstellar Answer, Spielberg loses the heart of the piece, namely his characters. We are greeted with beautifully-realized special effects, but at the expense of a general understanding of the situation. "Close Encounters" is never just a light show--it is far more assured and satisfying than that--but in Spielberg's need to be warm and fuzzy, the picture closes with far more questions than any filmmaker would care to answer. That hoked-up, "sentimental" slant (complete with heavenly choir) is a bummer--and to viewers following this story with any interest, a cheat. What happens to the many obsessive crazies and oddballs (not to mentions scientists and astronauts) at the end is unfair. The movie ends up being a valentine to outer space--but the first two-thirds of the picture doesn't prepare you for that, and I for one felt betrayed. **1/2 from ****