Steven Spielberg wasn't really famous until Close Encounters. Sure, Jaws was out, but this made him famous. The same happened with Richard Dreyfuss.
Close Encounters has Roy Neary as a regular married man who sees strange lights in the sky. Soon he starts building strange structures out of shaving cream and mashed potatoes. His wife (Teri Garr) thinks that he is crazy. But, Roy can't stop making things to resemble that structure. And soon he is on a hike out to the West for no apparent reason.
Close Encounters really plays like two movies. The first one is a tense sci-fi about spaceships and strange callings. The second is an adventure of running away from the army. It didn't seem to fit well together. Maybe if I wasn't half-asleep (and who knows, maybe I did sleep), I would have liked it more. The "adventure" part seemed too far away from the true plot of the film.
It is wonderous of it's achievement of aliens and UFOs. It takes a subject used too often and puts it in a whole new light. The aliens don't want to harvest us a la Signs. They came out the same reason we would want to go out there-for discovery. Which is what the film is about. The discovery of your true calling and what to do about it. Roy goes out to the West not for a vacation or to see what it's like. His intuition tells him to go there, and that's what he does. But that's where some of the problem of the movie is.
As you may know, I like movies that leave us guessing at the end. They make you think. But this left a few too many. Such as: what happened to Roy? Did he go back and get back with his wife? And why were the callings made? Were they just so Roy could find a reason to go out there and meet the aliens? But then what about the other people who did have callings but left? And why am I asking so many questions? The ending scene is truly amazing in my point of view. It doesn't rely on special FX (that musical-light board was awesome-I need one of those) or computer tricks. It's a guy dressed up in a suit, except he doesn't look like that. He looks like a real alien. Except he had to be so stereotypical. Maybe Spielberg didn't feel like thinking very hard that day.
So, see it if you like alien movies. See it if you like sci-fi movies. See it if you like Steven Spielberg or Richard Dreyfuss. And, see it if you like movies in general. No movie buff should go without seeing this extraordinary achievement of movie magic.
Rated PG for aliens and some language.
Close Encounters has Roy Neary as a regular married man who sees strange lights in the sky. Soon he starts building strange structures out of shaving cream and mashed potatoes. His wife (Teri Garr) thinks that he is crazy. But, Roy can't stop making things to resemble that structure. And soon he is on a hike out to the West for no apparent reason.
Close Encounters really plays like two movies. The first one is a tense sci-fi about spaceships and strange callings. The second is an adventure of running away from the army. It didn't seem to fit well together. Maybe if I wasn't half-asleep (and who knows, maybe I did sleep), I would have liked it more. The "adventure" part seemed too far away from the true plot of the film.
It is wonderous of it's achievement of aliens and UFOs. It takes a subject used too often and puts it in a whole new light. The aliens don't want to harvest us a la Signs. They came out the same reason we would want to go out there-for discovery. Which is what the film is about. The discovery of your true calling and what to do about it. Roy goes out to the West not for a vacation or to see what it's like. His intuition tells him to go there, and that's what he does. But that's where some of the problem of the movie is.
As you may know, I like movies that leave us guessing at the end. They make you think. But this left a few too many. Such as: what happened to Roy? Did he go back and get back with his wife? And why were the callings made? Were they just so Roy could find a reason to go out there and meet the aliens? But then what about the other people who did have callings but left? And why am I asking so many questions? The ending scene is truly amazing in my point of view. It doesn't rely on special FX (that musical-light board was awesome-I need one of those) or computer tricks. It's a guy dressed up in a suit, except he doesn't look like that. He looks like a real alien. Except he had to be so stereotypical. Maybe Spielberg didn't feel like thinking very hard that day.
So, see it if you like alien movies. See it if you like sci-fi movies. See it if you like Steven Spielberg or Richard Dreyfuss. And, see it if you like movies in general. No movie buff should go without seeing this extraordinary achievement of movie magic.
Rated PG for aliens and some language.