Close Encounters

[ddmoit]

I watched the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time last night.

I fully expected to like it, but I was barely able to get through it. Am I the only one who thinks this was a terrible movie?

I've liked other Spielburg movies, but this one is bad.

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[Bellsfloors]

Your more patient then I. I have tried a couple of times but luckily something better has always come along to take my attention away. :)

[Davestone]

I think the whole thing about them matching tunes to communicate is just about the whole movie.You notice nobody talks about it much,well other than us Trekkies at our conventions.:D
I watched an older slasher movie called Baby Blues yesterday,i almost had to turn it off it was so brutal,it was based on a true story,realy good movie though.

[ceramictec]

Am I the only one who thinks this was a terrible movie? it wasn't in 1977 when it came out.

32 years ago Dan

[dgunnels]

I'm not a movie buff and don't feel one way or another about this flick but I am curious...What didn't you like about it? Plot/story, dialogue, effects, acting????

[Marge]

It was an amazing movie, due to the special effects, when it was released. Wouldn't be impressive by today's standards. IMO :)

[GraniteGirl]

Those movies were amazing when they came out - they were the first of the "new fangled" special effects spectaculars, with contemporary films including Jaws and the $13m movie by a relative unknown George Lucas, called Star Wars. Amazing, isn't it, to think about what they accomplished with very little other than imagination and some very creative thinking.

George Lucas was also the first producer ever to ask for the rights of a sequel. People thought he was insane. :D How things have changed. 13 Million won't even pay for the food budget on a cheap movie nowadays...

Who here likes The Goonies?

http://justiceleagueunlimited.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/goonies1.jpg

[ceramictec]

it's like watching Flash Gordon (http://www.etsu.edu/math/gardner/sputnik/flash-spaceship.jpg) compared to the new Star Trek (http://www.freewebs.com/earth-federation/star_trek_poster.jpg) movie. :D

[dgunnels]

When movies are done with 'over the top' effects which are great at that time the movies and it's effects usually don't hold up for viewing in later decades. In other words, eventually the flick looks cheezy. However, as always, class beats brass every time...

That said, there is one movie I can think of in which the effects still hold up today and it will still spook the fool out of you...Psycho. Any others you can think of?

[ddmoit]

The special effects were indeed amazing by the standard of its time. In fact, they didn't look too bad today. But that's where my praise ends.

The version I saw is 137 minutes long. In a movie that long, every second needs to count, or the editor should be hanged.

Spielberg is credited with writing and directing the movie. I had problems with both. I found the dialog and behavior of the characters to be unrealistic. In many of the scenes, the characters were talking over each other. I know that happens in real life, but it was overblown in this movie. In one scene, a mother leisurely gazes at her child from a second story window as the child wanders off into the woods. Most mothers I know would have been on that kid before he could have taken another 10 steps.

So, music was used to bridge the communication gap. That's nice. These aliens also abducted adults, children, and property - sometimes for decades. I think that would likely lead to a defensive posture from the humans. It didn't seem to. A child was abducted in a terrifying scene. Where is the animosity for that?

The humans present at the contact site used deception and abused their authority against their fellow humans. And yet, they are somehow suitable ambassadors to meet beings from another world?

I'll suspend disbelief when it comes to the supernatural and other-worldly beings in a movie - that's part of the deal. But, I expect the characters to behave in realistic and believable ways. I didn't get that from this movie.

Roger Ebert gave the thing 4 stars back in 1978, and then did it again in 1980 when a director's cut was released. I don't always agree with Roger, but he did set my expectations pretty high for this movie.

In fairness, I should point out that I find Richard Dreyfuss to be generally annoying, but that can't explain all the problems I have with this movie.

[HS345]

In fairness, I should point out that I find Richard Dreyfuss to be generally annoying
Agreed! I thought I was the only one. :D

[Davestone]

Funny. I always liked him except for a few roles,but i put him in the same class as Robert Duval..i just don't get what they see in him as an actor.:bow:

[davem]

Who here likes The Goonies?


I love that movie! Ruth, Baby Ruth? :D

[Davestone]

John Matuzsaks one and only movie i think.:D

[John Bridge]

I thought it was a great movie -- Close Encounters -- but I haven't seen it in decades. It's a generational thing, Dan. The tech knowledge we had in the seventies barely included computers. :D

[Tool Guy - Kg]

Who here likes The Goonies?"Booty trap"

"You mean booby trap"

"That's what I said, booty trap"!

:D

[tileguy_n_ky]

Granite Girl
Not only did he keep rights to the sequels, but he also kept all merchandising rights. I think he made a little on the movie, but made all of his money off of the toys. Which I must admit to having had quite a few. What made Lucas even more amazing is that most of the special effects in the original Star Wars were created for the movie. Industrial Light and Magic was his doing. There have been a few other spin offs of his that have gone on to be big things. For instance, he had a computer animation company that he sold to Steve Jobs. I think Jobs had just been asked to step down from head of Apple by the Board of Directors. He pumped some $55 million of his own money into Pixar Animation. Steve sold it to Disney a year or so ago and now Steve Jobs is the largest share holder of Disney. So large in fact that he gets to sit on Disney's BoD.

Back to the thread, never did care for close encounters. Just seemed to slow paced. I have always feel asleep when trying to watch it.