CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE 3RD KIND

anything interesting you want to post about it. go ahead

 

although i like it. its a bit drawn out. could have been shorter but it might have ruined it if they rushed it

 

Recently saw CEOT3K again after many years. It's availble for free (in HD, no less)to Comcast Digital Cable subscribers with ON DEMAND. Sorry if I sound like a shill for Comcast. What an amazing film. Sure, the FX are a tad dated but the human story at the film's center is timeless. IMHO, it's Dreyfuss' best work. I still think this is one of Spielberg's greatest moments in film, better than ET.

 

Steven's "revisions" of the film nearly killed it for me.

My favorite part of the entire movie was seeing Richard Dryfuss running around the neighborhood, ripping up people's yards to create his mountain in his living room. When Steven edited that out to add his new extended ending, I never wanted to forgive him.

Luckily, I think most DVDs today contain the full on version of the film.

I also think that Close Encounters is one of Steven's best films, full of Hitchcock type suspense and human drama that's missing in many sci-fi thriller films today.

 

Positively scared the hell out of me as a kid, but not quite as bad as Poltergeist, which ruined my life.

 

I don't know how many people have ever caught this, but in the X-Files episode Jose Chung's It came From Outer Space when Mulder is talking to the lost Area51 UFO pilot in the diner, the pilot is making a mashed patatoes "Devil's Tower" with his fork.

 

Really? I need to rewatch it - I just remember Mulder scarfing down a whole sweet potato pie

 

Close Encounters was probably the fourth sci-fi movie I ever saw - after the three SW movies. I don't think I understood it at the time, but I watched it... Thanksgiving night, actually. I just think it's generally cool.

 

I agree that the "Special Edition" with the crappy shots of Dreyfuss inside the mothership was bad. There was a reason that footage was axed. The HD version I mentioned was the original theatical cut.