Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Roy Neary, an electric lineman, watches how his quiet and ordinary daily life turns upside down after a close encounter with a UFO.

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writer:

Steven Spielberg

Stars:

Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr

Won 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 38 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Roy Neary
François Truffaut	...	Claude Lacombe (as Francois Truffaut)
Teri Garr	...	Ronnie Neary
Melinda Dillon	...	Jillian Guiler
Bob Balaban	...	David Laughlin
J. Patrick McNamara	...	Project Leader
Warren J. Kemmerling	...	Wild Bill (as Warren Kemmerling)
Roberts Blossom	...	Farmer
Philip Dodds	...	Jean Claude
Cary Guffey	...	Barry Guiler
Shawn Bishop	...	Brad Neary
Adrienne Campbell	...	Silvia Neary
Justin Dreyfuss	...	Toby Neary
Lance Henriksen	...	Robert
Merrill Connally	...	Team Leader

Storyline

Two parallel stories are told. In the first, a group of research scientists from a variety of backgrounds are investigating the strange appearance of items in remote locations, primarily desert regions. In continuing their investigation, one of the lead scientists, a Frenchman named Claude Lacombe, incorporates the Kodály method of music education as a means of communication in their work. The response, in turn, at first baffles the researchers, until American cartographer David Laughlin deciphers the meaning of the response. In the second, electric company lineman and family man Roy Neary and single mother Jillian Guiler are among some individuals in Muncie, Indiana who experience some paranormal activity before some flashes of bright lights in the sky, which they believe to be a UFO. Roy becomes obsessed with what he saw, unlike some others, especially in some form of authority, who refuse to acknowledge their belief that it was a UFO in not wanting to appear crazy. That obsession ...

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Plot Keywords:

close encounter of the third kind | vision | alien | mothership | ufo | 

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Taglines:

Now There Is More (USA 1980 special edition re-release)

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish Hindi

Release Date:

14 December 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

CE3K

Filming Locations:

Mobile Civic Center, Civic Center Drive, Mobile, Alabama, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,767,758, 3 September 2017

Gross USA:

$135,189,114

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$306,898,466

Company Credits

Production Co:

Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips Productions, EMI Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min (Special Edition) 135 min (Theatrical Original) 138 min (Director's Cut)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Spielberg knew only vaguely what the mothership would look like when he was filming the live action scenes; he decided it would be big, hulking, and very dark. While filming in India months later, he drove past a giant oil refinery every day and was inspired by the many lights and pipes and outcroppings on the rig to change the look of the spaceship. He now decided it would be brightly lit, which is how it appears in the final film, even though the footage of it casting a dark shadow over the crowd had already been shot.

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Goofs

The giant globe wouldn't have been necessary since the coordinates would have been available at the existing work stations. Even in 1977.

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Quotes

Scientist 1: Einstein WAS right!
Team Leader: Einstein was PROBABLY one of them!

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the credits it starts to reads as follows: "During the filming of all animal sequences, H.L. EDWARDS, Veterinarian of Gillette, Wyoming, was in attendance at all times to aid the filmmakers and the anesthetist in proper treatment of the animals used, and at no time were the animals harmed or mistreated in any way."

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Alternate Versions

An ABC television version aired that ran 143 minutes. It incorporated all the scenes from the O.V. as well as all the new scenes from the S.E. This version has never been released to video.

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Connections

Referenced in The O'Reilly Factor: Episode dated 28 August 2008 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Love Song of the Waterfall
(1937)
Words and Music by Bob Nolan, Bernard Barnes, and Carl Winge
Published by Unichappell Music, Inc./Elvis Presley Music
From the United Artists Records album "Love Song of the Waterfall"
Sung by Slim Whitman

User Reviews

Aliens in Muncie make for Spielberg's Best Film Ever

Steven Spielberg has made huge popcorn blockbusters that gross more money at the box office (i.e. "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," or "Jurassic Park") and are more exciting on a visceral level. As he as aged and matured as a director, he has also made movies that are more important and will hold a more solid place in the chronicles of film as an artistic document of history (i.e. "Schindler's List," "Saving Private Ryan," and "Munich"). For my money, his best film will still always be "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." This film is Spielberg's humanistic and heartfelt answer to Kubrick's intellectual and cerebral look at man's first contact with life from elsewhere in the universe in his 1968 opus "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"Close Encounters" came early on in Spielberg's career, made in 1977, and has all the hallmarks of his later films played just right before he became so self-referential. Here we have his typical bag of tricks long before they became so typical: familial strife, coming to terms with something bigger than oneself that challenges the male protagonist's view of the world around him, little kids in jeopardy, superb build up of suspense, fantastic visual effects, and a memorable score from John Williams. From the first UFO sightings in Muncie, Indiana to the fantastic finale at Devil's Tower in Wyoming, this is grand entertainment. Lots of films have emulated this movie to varying degrees of success, from Robert Zemeckis' earnest "Contact," to the shameful scam that was M. Night Shymalan's "Signs," and even Spielberg himself recently did the dark natured flip-side to benevolent alien encounters with his remake of "War of the Worlds" (which makes a fantastic double-feature with this). However, nothing compares to this true original. No other film has made me want to believe in aliens more, and I'll never look at a plate of mashed potatoes the same again.