Review of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) by Kevin M — 22 Aug 2016
I don't believe in Aliens nor UFO's. It is interesting though the old fascination people had with otherworldy beings back in the day. Over the years in cinema we've seen the scary, the silly and downright intriguing portrayals of aliens. Close encounters of the third kind tackles peoples extreme interest in the idea and the effects it has on others. Steven Spielberg directs a film that showcases the nest stage in his directing evolution.
A small town of Indiana is about to experience the most unusual event of their lives. This movie's main character Roy is a citizen of this town and he has an encounter with a UFO one night. This sparks a potentially dangerous fascination with the flying saucer a fascination that also happens to a young woman who loses her son to that same flying apparatus.
The film has a veeeeery slow start. It then finally picks up after 20 minutes and gets real exciting. of all the films to identify as Spielberg film this is the most likely one to have his finger prints. Its made at such a high level. If Imax was around this would have been an even greater feature flick. The film has a very expansive and awe inspiring cinematography. I can tell this was one of his earliest big scale films.
The biggest motif in this film is fascination with what lies in the skies. Spielberg shows religion praying to what lies above them and Also roy's fascination with the UFO's that fly above him. this is fantastic directorial work from the icon. Richard dreyfuss was not bad here. Roy was a guy who graduatually began to lose it more and more thanks to the alien activity. Melina dillion was sort of like a mirror of him as she went equally as nuts as he did.
The screenplay was great and well done just like the film score. I'm sure back then the visual effects were impressive but compared to what he did with War of the worlds it's a far cry. this did however lay down the groundwork which would be used in Independence day. Lastly the the music scene near the end was really weird I must say but the overall ending was good.
This is a pretty darn good speilberg flick. two thumbs up for sure.
This review of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) was written by Kevin M on 22 August 2016.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind has generally received very positive reviews.
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