"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" Talkback (spoilers)

[Lord Dalek]

We Are Not Alone

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v92/lorddalek/close_encounters_of_the_third_kind.jpg


"This is important. This means something ..." - Roy Neary



Release Date: November 16, 1977
Studio: Columbia
Director: Steven Spielberg
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban

Plot Summary: Planes reported missing in 1945 suddenly appear in the Mojave desert. A commercial flight is buzzed by a 'bright' object that the pilot 'wouldn't know how to describe'. Roy Neary, while working one night, has a Close Encounter... The US Government determine where the visitors plan to land and create an elaborate cover-up to keep people away. However, a group of people, including Neary, share a vision which draws them to the place and a meeting with new, and old, friends.

COMMENTS?

As part of a masterplan to do a talkback for every Steven Spielberg film for which one does not exist, I will be making ones on and off through out the year. This, along with Star Wars, are considered to be the two films that saved Hollywood in the mid seventies. CE3K was at the time the highest grossing film in Columbia Pictures history, beating out previous record holder "Bridge on the River Kwai".

THE DALEK/SPIELBERG TALKBACK SERIES:

Duel (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=188219)
The Sugarland Express (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=188808)
Jaws (http://www.forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=189321)

[Michael24]

I haven't seen this in its entirety probably since the late-80s, but I remember enjoying it when I was kid. (Though I probably wouldn't rank it among my most favorite Speilberg movies.)

I'm sure there's a DVD, but is it (or are there any plans to release) a definitive cut of the film? It seems like there's so many different versions I've read about over the years that I have no idea which is which.

(On a side note, even this movie doesn't do Devil's Tower justice. It's quite a sight to see in person, which I did back in 1994.)

[Lord Dalek]

I'm sure there's a DVD, but is it (or are there any plans to release) a definitive cut of the film? It seems like there's so many different versions I've read about over the years that I have no idea which is which.
The 1998 version (which the dvd represents) is Spielberg's final prefered cut of the film. It includes the best bits from both versions while omitting the useless parts (spaceship interior).

[rggkjg1]

i caught this on tv back in '05 on thanksgiving day when close encounters was amc's movie of the month. it popped up on tv occausionally and i never able to catch the actual beginning. i picked it up on dvd recently, but it was the one disc "special" edition. theres definately nothing "special" about it. to today's standards or the standards of the early days. i hope to pop it in soon, but i really enjoyed it when i watched it on tv. it didnt feel bored or anything since it was over an hour longer because of commercials.

it's a shame that spielberg was working on this when he was asked to come back for jaws 2. i just wish the jaws people would have let spielberg finish close encounters and come back to jaws when he was ready. i can only imagine if jaws 2 would have been if spielberg was doing it.

[Hanshotfirst113]

I wish Spielberg hadn't gone Lucas on some scences and kept screwing with the movie. Masterful work, though I must watch it again; haven't seen it in years. Probably the purest form of Spielberg.

[Temple Fugate]

I saw this only once, when I was about eight or nine, on VHS. I fell asleep just as everybody had gathered in the desert and made their lightshow to signal the aliens.

Since I've never seen the end result (though I know all about it now) I've always been terrified of this movie. The scene with the "car" behind the guy reading a map at the railroad tracks, and the lights in the clouds coming closer to that woman's house, still give me chills.

[Classic Speedy]

One thing I give this movie credit for is how the aliens aren't some evil race out to kill Earth like in most alien-themed movies. Kudos to Spielberg for taking the road less traveled.

[rggkjg1]

well i finally sat down and watched my dvd. i think i'm gonna get the upcoming 30th anniversary dvd. i hope they fix the french subtitles in the opening scenes. they were difficult to see/read. anyway, 5 stars. a spielberg classic and one of his best/essential films.