Review of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) by Jesse O — 22 Sep 2010

This movie stands the test of time far better than Jaws does. The thing that killed Jaws was its pacing. It may have worked in 75 but watching with 2010 eyes, its pace was far more erratic. It's still a very good and effective movie, but I didn't think it was great.

This movie, on the other hand, is still great and its pacing is far better. It's still on the long side, especially the version I watched as it was the director's cut. When I think about it, when it all goes down, this might be in my top 10 of favorite sci-fi movies of all time, even if it's far more than just a sci-fi movie.

I'm not a big fan of sci-fi per se, so it's not like it's saying much. I remember watching this movie years ago. I don't remember when, but I must have been a teen so I guess it must have been about 8 or 9 years ago.

At the time I watched it with my aunt, who loved the movie when it came out when she was 7. I remember being really fascinated by the movie. Though I was mostly fascinated by the last scene when the giant mothership arrives.

And that scene STILL fascinates me greatly. The way that scene is handled is wonderful. If that actually happened and I was around to experience it, I would be absolutely amazed at what is just happening.

And that's how the actors play the moment, they're amazed at what's going on and the beauty of it. That's actually the thing that takes this movie from being really good to a great movie.

That scene alone is AMAZING and well-worth watching the movie for. Because there is a sense of beauty to it. I just thought it was very wondrous. Like I said the way the scene is shot and is handled is amazing.

There's something very peaceful about. The point I'm trying to make is that it was an amazing scene. Oh and that little kid who played Barry was AWESOME. Thing is, with his performance, is that it felt like they didn't tell the kid that they were filming a movie, so his reactions felt really natural.

Thing is, since he was so young it was far better than if he would have been a 'trained' child actor. If he was a trained child actor, it'd have felt like he was performing and this kid WASN'T performing.

I don't think you can expect that an 'actor' as young as he was at the time, to do exactly what you want them to do. So his being so young was to the benefit of the movie. The one thing I REALLY disliked about the movie and I mean REALLY dislike, is that Roy has an argument with his wife and she takes the kids and leaves to her sister's house.

At the end of the movie, Roy volunteers to be taken by the aliens and he willingly went, not even THINKING about his family and how that might affect them. That scene was BULLSHIT and it's the only thing I really didn't like because it just did not make sense that this guy would leave HIS own children and wife (who he clearly LOVES), for an unknown amount of time to be taken by aliens.

I just didn't get it, but other than that Richard Dreyfuss is a great man and a fine, fine actor. That's it, I love this movie passionately. Watch it...NOW!