Review of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) by Jason K — 06 May 2010

One cannot help but admire Spielberg's imagination, especially in Close Encounters, as he not only directed it, but also wrote it himself, and it's a delight to see his fascination and child-like optimism about UFOs and men from outer space come through in his script, which is a clear forerunner for his major success to come, E.T., and may have even been an inspiration for that later and more magical tale.

So while Close Encounters lacks some of the enchantment of E.T., it's still appreciable as a unique Spielberg work. I definitely enjoyed his use of special effects as far as the lights in the sky- particularly his use of lens flare, preceding J.J. Abrams by decades- and the particularly creepy abduction scene. However, the aliens themselves were hardly convincing, either as puppets or as kids in latex suits. There were also several night scenes that weren't well lit and it was hard to see what was happening. I think the look and effectiveness he was going for in those scenes weren't pull off effectively until A.I.

The tale Spielberg tells us in Close Encounters is about obsession and belief. It's an interesting one, but somewhat slow and seemingly cluttered as you watch it. The ending redeems the rest, and looking back at the film as a whole, you see that it's really a well-paced and complete script, but I got the impression midway through that the script had taken on too many parallel subplots, and wondered which, if any, was supposed to take center stage.

And it's not a perfect script, to be sure, parts are funny when they shouldn't be. At first, I thought the idea that spaceships flew light-years to Earth to take part in some kind of dance number to be silly and a disappointment, but I was soon corrected. The film leaves you with a pleasant taste, and little to pick on, or at least it did me, but I'm partial to Stephen Spielberg, and to John Williams's music. I recommend to movie boughs, and true believers in UFOs. It's made for your kind, by your kind.