Videos
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.
7.352
137 min
Release
1977-12-14
Genres
Cast
Richard Dreyfuss
as Roy Neary
François Truffaut
as Claude Lacombe
Teri Garr
as Ronnie Neary
Melinda Dillon
as Jillian Guiler
Bob Balaban
as David Laughlin
J. Patrick McNamara
as Project Leader
Warren J. Kemmerling
as Wild Bill
Roberts Blossom
as Farmer
Phil Dodds
as ARP Musician
Cary Guffey
as Barry GuilerShawn Bishop
as Brad NearyAdrienne Campbell
as Sylvia NearyJustin Dreyfuss
as Toby Neary
Lance Henriksen
as RobertMerrill Connally
as Team LeaderAmy Douglass
as Implantee
Gene Dynarski
as Ike
Carl Weathers
as Military Policeman
Norman Bartold
as Norman Bartold
F.J. O'Neil
as ARP Project MemberHal Barwood
as Returnee #2 Flt. 19
Matthew Robbins
as Returnee #3 Flt. 19Gene Rader
as HawkerDaniel Nunez
as FederaleChuy Franco
as Federale
Luis Contreras
as FederaleGalen Thompson
as Special ForcesJohn Dennis Johnston
as Special ForcesRobert Broyles
as Dirty Tricks #3
George DiCenzo
as Major Benchley
Alexander Lockwood
as Implantee
Josef Sommer
as Larry Butler
Bill Thurman
as Air Traffic
James Keane
as Radio Telescope TeamPhilip Dodds
as Jean ClaudeMary Gafrey
as Mrs. HarrisMichael J. Dyer
as HimselfRoger Ernest
as Highway PatrolmanRandy Herman
as Returnee #1 Flt. 19David Anderson
as Air Traffic ControllerRichard L. Hawkins
as Air Traffic ControllerCraig Shreeve
as Air TrafficRoy E. Richards
as Air East PilotEumenio Blanco
as FederaleDennis McMullen
as Radio Telescope TeamCy Young
as Radio Telescope TeamTom Howard
as Radio Telescope TeamRichard Stuart
as Truck DispatcherBob Westmoreland
as Load DispatcherMatt Emery
as Support LeaderJohn Ewing
as Dirty Tricks #1Kirk Raymond
as Dirty Tricks #4Keith Atkinson
as Dirty Tricks #2Monty Jordan
as Special Forces Commander / Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Basil Hoffman
as Longly (uncredited)Stephen Powers
as UN Observer (uncredited)
J. Allen Hynek
as Man Smoking Pipe at Landing Site (uncredited)Howard K. Smith
as Howard K. Smith (uncredited)Director
REVIEWS
IanBeale
**Do the mashed potato!** Roy Neely is a gas repair man who has a close encounter with an alien craft and begins having strange visions of mashed potatoes, shaving cream and mud mountains. This all leads to Needy's marriage breaking up and he sets out to find the truth about his mashed potato visions. The climax at a mountain is breathtaking when Neely comes face to face with his destiny. One of Spielberg's best with a nice cameo by French director Francois Truffaut.
Geronimo1967
I always remember as a child hoping/praying that if extra terrestrials ever did come to visit us, that they wouldn't arrive in America. Think "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) or most other sci-fi stories: the first things they would see when they opened their door would be guns, tanks, missiles, soldiers... This film takes a far more sophisticated approach to how we might engage with an alien species, and together with some super effects and a far more nuanced storyline leaves us with room for optimism that we might not just try to shoot first and ask questions afterwards - should anyone ever do arrive. Spielberg was still, in my view anyway, learning his craft when he wrote/directed this and that shows in the real paucity of pace for the first hour. Richard Dreyfuss is adequate, but the constantly amazed/perplexed looks on his face start to become annoying after a while. François Truffaut features now and again - largely as part of a parallel storyline - but really, this only begins to engage in the last thirty minutes when the threads all knit together giving us a clever denouement as the scientists discover an innovative, musical, way to communicate that doesn't involved threats and bullets. Oddly enough, even when I first saw this at the age of 9, I never got any sense of menace from our travellers and the absence of any substantial physical form for us to identify with seems to help keep the magic working. Not John Williams' finest work, I thought the score suffered from the slow rate of progress with the plot but the symbolism and curiosity of spirit this film engenders makes it still, just about, worth sticking though...
