Whether you went to the movie theater to enjoy this masterpiece or have rented it a hundred or so times – Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) is an especially important alien and UFO-related film that has captured the attention of millions of people. With the following tagline , how could you resist: “Close Encounter of the First Kind – Sighting of a UFO. Close Encounter of the Second Kind – Physical Evidence. Close Encounter of the Third Kind – Contact. WE ARE NOT ALONE.”
Exploring the Plot
The movie involves a character by the name of Roy Neary , a cableman who is one of a handful of people who experience a close encounter of the first kind in the film. This means that he joins a group who has caught sight of UFOs flying in the sky one night. Afterwards, he is greeted by a haunting image that triggers an obsession that includes learning the meaning behind these thoughts. In the meantime, his marriage suffers as a result.
All of the world , weird things start to happen, as government agents begin to experience close encounters of the second kind, where physical evidence is revealed that something out of this world is having an effect of humans. Clues are found throughout the movie, which Roy and the government agents follow until they encounter what is known as a close encounter of the third kind , contact.
Close Encounter of the Third Kind Trivia
The ‘Mothership’ displayed in the movie is now part of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy annex of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, which can be found south of the Dulles Airport, in Chantilly, Virginia. When visiting this attraction, you will encounter a cemetery, mailbox, a miniature R2-D2, and airplane models that were abducted by the ship.
The landing strip complex located behind Devil’s Tower was constructed and filmed in an abandoned aircraft hanger located at Brookley AFB in Mobile, Alabama.
Notable actors in the film include Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, and Lance Henrickson.
Steven Spielberg had only a vague picture of what the mothership would look like when filming the live action scenes. He knew that he wanted it to become a large and rather dark entity. While filming in India, he had the chance to find a muse for the mothership. A huge oil refinery crossed his path each day, which happened to highlight the shape of a spaceship with its many lights and pipes. This would give him the idea to have the spaceship rather lit with brightness. This is how it appears in the final film.
Although Paul Schrader wrote the original script, but Steven Spielberg altered it a great deal. Afterwards, Schrader decided to remove his credit. A film cannot go on without a credit for writing, so Spielberg took this honor for himself.
In the opening scenes of the movie, authentic air-traffic controllers were used.