#64. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” would have been a subpar movie no matter what year it was released. The fact that it had to come out the same year as a little indie flick called “Star Wars” just makes it that much more awful by comparison (as long as you don’t factor in what the “Star Wars” franchise would eventually become).

In order for me to be able to take any movie about alien abduction seriously there has to be a shred of me that is willing to believe there are such things as aliens, and I’m sorry, that just isn’t happening. Maybe I’m a cynic, maybe I’m in denial or maybe it’s because I wasted my formative years with girls instead of dreaming about what it may be like to be probed on a mothership. However, I promise not to let my somewhat jaded views on extra terrestrials effect my ability to objectively appraise “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

A lengthy prologue illustrates a series of bizarre events which set the tone for the rest of the film. Intentionally leaving all sorts of questions that will invariably be answered over the course of the next couple hours. Several old-style bombers are discovered by an excavation crew in the middle of the desert, some mysterious blips pop up on an Air Traffic Control screen somewhere clearly in a different part of the world but likely at the same time and somewhere in the Midwest, a little boy seems hypnotized by the glow of some objects in the night sky- almost to the point of obsession.

A lot of eerie darkness and silence creates an ambiance during these vignettes to suggest the presence of something ominous. The mood lightens as the body of the story begins at what appears to be a typical suburban home. The patriarch, Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) is shown to be easily distracted and scatterbrained. While he doesn’t necessarily come across as cold to his family he is clearly detached to some degree. His wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) attends to his somewhat out of control children while he participates in various activities that command his attention (movies, toy trains etc).

What should be a routine service call for Roy (a power company employee) leads to another unexplained event when his truck stops on a set of railroad tracks, is engulfed in industrial quantities of light, shakes, rumbles and finally returns to normal as the bright light flies off into the twilight. From this point on Roy’s level of indifference to reality deteriorates even further. He shows no concern when he loses his job or when Ronnie threatens to leave him. Rather, he becomes obsessed with recreating a chimney-rock shaped structure, first with mashed potatoes and eventually at more drastic extremes by transporting dirt into his living room.

Roy soon realizes that he is not alone and that other people who have had similar “encounters” are converging on a landmark in Wyoming, Devil’s Tower which bears a striking resemblance to Roy’s spud sculpture. Among those making the pilgrimage is Jillian, the mother of Barry, the little boy we saw earlier.

In one of the most intense scenes in the film it is revealed that Barry has been abducted by the strange ships. Jillian makes every effort to keep him safely inside via bolted doors and boarded windows. However the visitors are so intent on leaving with Barry that a grate on the floor is violently broken away and he is carried off. This scene really plays off the concept that more is less, as even during an invasive kidnapping, we see nothing more than heavy lighting and shaking walls.

Roy and Jillian discover a sort of Area 51 vibe at Devil’s Tower- complete with armed military guards, restricted access and lots of government secrets. After sneaking through the obviously tightened security they discover a sort of staging area behind the rock structure. It is in this climactic sequence that Steven Spielberg clearly put all his proverbial eggs in one basket, condensing all of the interesting parts of the film into this section.

“Americans shot more than seven billion photographs at a record of 6.6 billion dollars for film, equipment and processing. Now with all those shutters clicking, where is the indisputable, photographic evidence?” (Maj. Benchley, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”)

Using sophisticated light and sound equipment that makes the command center look like a state-of-the-art stadium it is implied that the government has mastered the art of manipulating natural phenomena such as weather and sunset through sound. The musical commands however take the experimentation one step further when what appears to be a quintessential “mothership” arrives, leading a large fleet of the same ships we have seen for the whole movie. People begin departing the ships in droves, each one announced as a missing person who has been returned home. Giving credence to the claims that time moves slower in space, none of the passengers appear to have aged since their initial abductions, some dating back to World War II. And of course, little Barry is reunited with Jillian.

For the first time in the film Roy finally seems comfortable in his own skin. So much so that he enthusiastically agrees to depart with the alien ships. The big climax comes when the ramp of the mothership lowers and, amidst the blinding light of the landing gears and runway lights, ethereally glowing little people start walking towards Roy and lead him by the hand aboard the ship, welcoming him to their world as the film ends to the melody of “When You Wish Upon A Star.” This ending, while very “happy” is also very innovative and surprising. Thanks in part to the abduction of Barry but also just because of the history of sci-fi films, encounters with aliens are always expected to be hostile, like “War of the Worlds” hostile. To see the visitors depicted as harmless and peaceful is very refreshing.

For all the bad things I can (and will) say about this film, I can’t even begin to deny the technical achievements it attained. The ships are shown in incredibly detailed close-ups; the camera stays still while the ships sweep over, almost creating a frozen still effect for the viewer. Even more amazing though are the effects during the weather manipulation scenes which really go the extra mile in a genre where you can just as easily get away with basic black and white sky and star scenery. Also, the lighting in the staging scenes when synced up with the music looks like an enormous live-action Lite-Brite.

Now, if Steven Spielberg’s goal with this film was to make people walk away feeling as though THEY had been abducted by an alien and thinking “What the fuck just happened?” then mission accomplished. The sequences depicting the strange happenings jump around too much. Despite knowing that it will all be tied together eventually it feels disjointed and sloppy. This happens again with the scenes where the government is experimenting with music/sound frequencies; the payoff of being able to say “Oh that explains it!” at the end of the movie is simply not worth two hours of asking “what going on now?”

The most clear-cut evidence that this movie sacrificed overall quality in exchange for some dazzling special effects lies in the characters themselves. Not just the poorly written dialogue, but their actions in general. Ronnie leaves Roy and is never seen again and only referenced in an implied phone call with Roy, thus lifting her and the children out of the film entirely- which could work if it was ever pointed out that Roy has no reason to stay on Earth at the end of the film, but this does not happen. Instead they inexplicably turn Jillian into a love interest when the two non-platonically kiss at the staging area right before splitting them up completely. Not only is this pointless but it is unrealistic given the seemingly limited amount of time they have spent together and the even more limited dialogue the two exchange.

The problem that this movie faces when being held up to other classics as one of the all time greatest is that when it is scrutinized its’ flaws become more glaring. What becomes of the returning World War II vets whose loved ones are likely dead? What is Jillian going to do with the numerous photographs she takes of the ships landing and aliens de-boarding? When does the cover-up begin the full level of understanding of the
strange happenings end? Since the abductees don’t age, exactly how long was Barry up there? Exactly how long did it take to set up this elaborate staging area and why is it so poorly guarded?

I know that these are nitpicky things and that sometimes you can’t overanalyze a movie because what you see is what you get, but I just don’t think having simple questions answered about unexplained plot elements is too much to ask from a film that is regarded as one of the 100 Greatest.