Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Watched first hundred minutes 20110102 (Netflix, Instant)
Watched last thirty minutes 20110108 (Blu-ray) English subtitles.
Watched 20140606 (Netflix, Instant) 137 min
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Steven Spielberg.

Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss)

Relevant Links:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (IMDb.com)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Wikipedia.org)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (RottenTomatoes.com)

Barry Guiler (Cary Guffey)

20110104,20110108:
The Blu-ray has three versions of the film: Original, Special, and Director's Cut. I'm pretty sure the one I started on Netflix was the original version.

Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut)

The movie starts slowly and builds up some mystery. Eventually the mystery is resolved, but the plot continues. By the end of the movie, I felt unsatisfied. Perhaps the movie made me expect that something exciting would happen. Instead, the ending is drawn out and slow. On the plus side, the movie is visually pleasing.


I will try watching this movie again some time.

previous movie (Scream):next movie (Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers)
previous movie (Meet Me in St. Louis):next movie (Rio Bravo)

[20110108][20130310 Edited]

20140606:
There are three official versions of the film: Theatrical (135 min, 1977), Special Edition (132 min, 1980), and Director's Cut (137 min, 1999). Of the three, today I definitely saw the Director's Cut Version.

Roy Neary and Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon)

In contrast with my previous viewing, I enjoyed most of the movie this time around, with the exception of the ending.*

*20190926: Today I noticed that I left this sentence unfinished: "with only the final t." I decided to guess what I meant to say.

[20140606][20190926 Edit]

Instant Comments:
2: It sang to him. (I probably didn't notice this the first time I watched)

David Laughlin (Bob Balaban)

2: Haha. The conversation between Roy and Brad is hilarious. [Apparently this scene is indicative of the fact that this version is the Director's Cut.]
Brad: "Dad, do my problems for me."
Roy: "I don't have to do your problems for you. You do your problems for you. That's why I graduated, so I don't have to do problems."
Brad: "I don't understand these fractions."
Roy: "All right. What's one-third of 60?"
Brad: "That's a fraction, I don't understand them."

Roy Neary and his son Brad

2: Ha. He waves the UFO to pass him.
2: The people chant the tones. (Again, I had no reason to know that these tones were relevant)
2: Ha. A $2500 globe.

Roy Neary and Ronnie Neary (Teri Garr)

2: "You're crazy, you're not even dressed."
2: Ha! The exact thing they devised to keep the masses away becomes the media exposure necessary to attract a select few.
2: Hahaha. "Look, I guarantee you, this whole thing is a put on." They proceed to put on their gas masks.


2: "Have you recently had a close encounter?" 1 hour 28 min
2: "They belong here more than we."
2: Ha! The Jaws (1975) theme plays near the end of the communication!


2: Why did some people get picked up and others get invited to come to this location?
2: "Goodbye."
2: I'm curious as to whether the other red-suited people got to walk aboard the ship, or if only Roy was allowed.

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