1001 Club - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

#640. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Why It's In The Book: "A terrific sci-fi mystery in which an Everyman’s search for its meaning climaxes thrillingly in first contact with extrasterrestrials, Close Encounters incorporates themes that recur throughout director Stephen Spielberg’s work… take away the spectacular special effects sound-and-light show, and what remains is a compassionate human story of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances…

Close Encounters shows all the sensibilities of the suburban Baby Boomer nurtured on Disney and 1950s sci-fi, and was indeed an adult, professional rethink of Spielberg’s adolescent, homemade epic, Firelight. While E.T. may be even more revealing of his psyche, Close Encounters is a definitive Spielberg film in both style and substance. It is also one he can’t leave alone, reediting it into 1980’s Special Edition… and 1997’s Collector’s Edition… Released close to his friend George Lucas’s Star Wars, Close Encounters was another instantly iconic event film. The five-tone greeting-cum-language musical motif by John Williams and the mashed potato mountain both directly entered popular culture, and the collective gasp of awe at the mothership coming over the mountain serves as yet another testimonial to Spielberg’s gift for wonder." -1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Member Ratings

Alyson - 10/10
"The tale of a shared psychic communication and the drive to find its meaning feels full of hope and wonder, like only a Spielberg film can.  This is one of those films that I suggest everyone see at some point in their lives.  Turn the lights down, the volume up and just immerse yourself in it."
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marie_dressler - 9.5/10
"What better way to get back into the swing of my “must-see” movie viewing than with this practically perfect science fiction/fantasy? This would have received full points from me if the aliens had been left a mystery at the end."
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Movie Guy Steve - 9/10
"There’s something very special about a film that manages to take a fairly standard fiction trope (aliens visiting our planet) and does something original and unique with it. It’s happy science fiction; it’s optimistic rather than defeatist or pessimistic."
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Adolytsi - 8/10
"This is a film of my favorite kind; one to be experienced more than just merely watched."
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Nicolas Krizan - 8/10
"clever mix of the ordinary and the otherworldly"
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Squish - 8/10
"Gotta love the ocean liner in the middle of the Mongolian desert."
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Kim Wilson - 7/10
"For me, the best thing about writer/director Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) is that François Truffaut is in it."
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Overall Rating: 8.6/10