Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Average Rating: 8.7/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 2
Close Encounters' most iconic bits (the theme, the mashed-potato sculpture, etc.) have been so thoroughly absorbed into the culture that it's easy to forget that its treatment of aliens as peaceful beings rather than warmongering monsters was somewhat groundbreaking in 1977.
Average Rating: 8.8/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 0
Close Encounters' most iconic bits (the theme, the mashed-potato sculpture, etc.) have been so thoroughly absorbed into the culture that it's easy to forget that its treatment of aliens as peaceful beings rather than warmongering monsters was somewhat groundbreaking in 1977.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 137,574
Movie Info
Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975), his first major box-office success, with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is an electrical lineman who, while sent out on emergency repairs, witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a "sunburn" from its bright lights to prove it. Neary's wife and children are at first skeptical, then concerned, and eventually fearful, as Roy refuses to
Nov 15, 1977 Wide
Nov 13, 2007
Sony Pictures Releasing
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Richard Dreyfuss
Roy Neary -
François Truffaut
Claude Lacombe -
Teri Garr
Ronnie Neary -
Melinda Dillon
Jillian Guiler -
Cary Guffey
Barry Guiler -
Bob Balaban
David Laughlin -
J. Patrick McNamara
Project leader -
Warren Kemmerling
Wild Bill -
Roberts Blossom
Farmer -
Philip Dodds
Jean Claude -
Shawn Bishop
Brad Neary -
Adrienne Campbell
Silvia Neary -
Justin Dreyfuss
Toby Neary -
Merrill Connally
Team Leader -
George DiCenzo
Major Benchley -
Norman Bartold
Ohio Tolls -
Robert Broyles
Dirty Tricks #3 -
Luis Contreras
Federale -
Amy Douglass
Implantee -
Gene Dynarski
Ike -
Matt Emery
Special Leader -
Chuy Franco
Federale -
Lance Henriksen
Robert -
Randy Herman
Returnee #1 Flt. 19 -
-
John Dennis Johnston
Special Forces -
James Keane
Radio Telescope Team -
Alexander Lockwood
Implantee -
Dennis McMullen
Radio Telescope Team -
F.J. O'Neil
ARP Project Member -
Bill Thurman
Air Traffic -
Carl Weathers
M.P. -
Keith Atkinson
Dirty Tricks #2 -
Hal Barwood
Returnee #2 Flt. 19 -
-
Matthew Robbins
Returnee #3 Flt. 19 -
Josef Sommer
Larry Butler -
Jon Ewing
Dirty Tricks #1 -
Eumenio Blanco
Federale -
Gene Rader
Hawker -
Galen Thompson
Special Forces -
David Anderson
Air Traffic Controll... -
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All Critics (44) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (2) | DVD (41)
It must weather some bummy mid-passage exposition, but the movie survive its flaws triumphantly, evolving into a uniquely transporting filmgoing spectacle.
One of the great moviegoing experiences.
This is dopey Hollywood mysticism all right, but thanks to considerable craft and showmanship, it packs an undeniable punch.
A daring film concept which in its special and technical effects has been superbly realized.
The first film in years to give its audiences a tingle of shocked emotion that is not entirely based either on fear or on suspense.
Top CriticThe best -- the most elaborate -- 1950's science fiction movie ever made, a work that borrows its narrative shape and its concerns from those earlier films, but enhances them with what looks like the latest developments in movie and space technology.
The special effects are spectacular, John Williams's score is emotionally charged, nouvelle vague director François Truffaut makes an elegant UFO expert and it's impossible not to get caught up in the protracted climax.
Another classic from Spielberg's most fertile period.
In Spielberg, the cosmic has dinner-table consequences.
A film of visual awe, but it's not much of a human story. Close Encounters is a terrific bit of imagineering, but ultimately is a minor work in the Spielberg filmography.
perhaps, my favourite alien movie ever
Though made the same year, Spielberg's awe-inspiring sci-fi fable has held much better than Star Wars due to his sublime crafstmanship, which benefits from sharp imagery and F/X, and engaging story and charcaters, well-acted by Richard Dreyfuss and others
It plays out as a film buff's idea of what a UFO sighting would be like if it could be a cross between a Disney theme park and a 1970s light show at a disco.
Spielberg answers the "Are we alone?" question in fine form.
Not even Spielberg makes them as they used to.
Has just not held up.
What I could see of the special effects were wonderful, and they hold up over time, unlike many sci-fi movies. The landing scene at the end still fills you with wonder and amazement.
Build a monolith, and they will come.
Viewing Close Encounters we are reduced to a childlike perception, overwhelmed by the luster and might of the vision before us.
Definitive cut of director Steven Spielberg's masterpiece isn't just great science fiction: It's great art.
Audience Reviews for Close Encounters of the Third Kind
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Movies Like Close Encounters of the Third Kind
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- Roy Neary: You can't fool us by agreeing with us.
-
- Toby Neary: Dad, after this can we throw dirt in MY window?
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- Farmer: [at press conference to discuss UFOs] I saw Bigfoot once! [everyone in thr room reacts. The Farmer stands up] 1951! It made a sound that I would not want to hear twice in my life. [sits down]
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- Jillian Guiler: [on the police inquiring about her missing son] They asked me if I'd seen any strangers in the neighborhood.
-
- David Laughlin: Who flies crates like these anymore?
- Project leader: No one. These planes were reported missing in 1945.
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- Project leader: He says the sun came out last night. He says it sang to him.
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Foreign Titles
- Close Encounters of a Third Kind (UK)
- Rencontres du 3ème type (FR)
