Rent Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
3.8 of 5 from 326 ratings
2h 11min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) witnesses the arrival of alien ships from a distant world, an incredible series of events begins- planes which disappeared during the Second World War are found intact in Mexico, long lost ships mysteriously re-appear in the middle of the desert and people from all around the world, including Neary are convinced that someone is trying to communicate with them. Nearys search to find an answer leads him to take part in the ultimate encounter with the extra-Terrestrials and to board the vast, beautiful Mothership.
- Actors:
- Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, J. Patrick McNamara, Warren J. Kemmerling, Roberts Blossom, Philip Dodds, Cary Guffey, Shawn Bishop, Adrienne Campbell, Justin Dreyfuss, Lance Henriksen, Merrill Connally, George DiCenzo, Amy Douglass, Alexander Lockwood, Gene Dynarski, Mary Gafrey
- Directors:
- Steven Spielberg
- Producers:
- Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips
- Writers:
- Steven Spielberg, Hal Barwood, Jerry Belson, John Hill, Matthew Robbins
- Others:
- Vilmos Zsigmond, Joe Alves, Douglas Trumbull, David Horton, Michael Kahn, Matthew Yuricich, Roy Arbogast, Robert Knudson, Buzz Knudson, Robert Glass, Gene Cantamessa, Richard Yuricich, Vilmos Zgismond, Don MacDougall, Steve Katz, Frank Warner, Richard Oswald, Sam Gemette, Gary S Gerlich, Chet Slomka
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like Blade Runner, 10 Films to Watch if You Like: Monty Python's Life of Brian, Award Winners, Best Film Quests and Adventures, Films & TV by topic, Films by Genre, Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Renée Zellweger, Giant Leap for Mankind: A History of Astronaut Films, inema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 2, Remembering Alain Delon, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 1, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to François Truffaut, The Instant Expert's Guide to Satyajit Ray, The Instant Expert's Guide to Stanley Kubrick, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1979, Top 100 AFI Thrills, Top Films
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 03/12/2007
- Run Time:
- 135 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- Bonus:
- Steven Spielberg: 30 Years of Close Encounters
- Storyboard to Scene Comparisons
- Extensive Photo Gallery
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind Making of Documentary
- 1977 Featurette "Watch the Skies"
- Deleted Scenes
- Disc 1:
- This disc includes the main feature
- Disc 2:
- This disc includes the special features
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 09/10/2017
- Run Time:
- 137 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, German Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Simplified Mandarin, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.39:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Three Kinds of Close Encounters Featurette
- Steven's Home Videos and Outtakes
- 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' Making-of Documentary
- Steven Spielberg: 30 Years of Close Encounters
- 1977 Featurette: "Watch the Skies"
- Deleted Scenes
- Extensive Photo Gallery
- Storyboard Comparisons
- Theatrical Trailers
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Reviews (3) of Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Keep the memory - don't go back! - Close Encounters of the Third Kind review by AR
Is it me getting older, or has this film that had us on the edge of our seats in the '70s begun to be dated? Or does it rely too heavily on special effects that we now see through? Characters are looking a little threadbare now, and the scene changes take us away from the human interest. Still a great film, but maybe I would have been better off just bathing in the memory...
3 out of 6 members found this review helpful.
Fantastic SciFi - Still Brilliant - Close Encounters of the Third Kind review by GI
One of Steven Spielberg's best films and a science fiction epic that posits that visiting extraterrestrial life would be friendly rather than have nasty designs on the Earth. Spielberg, who also wrote the screenplay, avoids his over sentimentality that he often dripped into his films and tells a remarkable two pronged story which run in parallel and eventually converge. The main one is that of Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an electrical engineer, who is called out one night after a series of strange power cuts. Whilst out in the road he has a strange experience with what he believes to be a UFO and whilst his chaotic family don't believe him they become angry and fearful when he begins to obsess over a strange shape he sees in his mind. Alongside this the film intersperses a scientific investigation led by Lacombe (François Truffaut) into the appearance of strange lights seen in the sky and the discovery of formerly missing aircraft found in bizarre locations. Eventually the characters converge on a remote American location at a landmark mountain site the shape of which mirrors Neary's visions. There they experience the arrival of visiting aliens. A remarkable film brilliantly directed and edited to bring the two story lines together, the special effects are excellent for the time and this is a film that deserves recognition as one of the best science fiction films. It's a lovely story too, a family film that is has mystery, excitement and a feel good ending. It's one to sit down with your children and enjoy today. Interestingly there are three versions available, the original theatrical, a 'Special Edition' and the Director's Cut. I recommend the last one which allowed Spielberg to refine some scenes he was unhappy with in the original release and to remove a new ending that appeared in the Special Edition, an ending that was a step too far and was unnecessary.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Probably the worst film I have ever seen! - Close Encounters of the Third Kind review by EW
The acting is appalling and the characters' behaviours are cringingly outdated (as you might expect) but also irritatingly implausible with long scenes of people just gazing vacantly into space with their mouths open. If you make it to the very end of the film the special effects are admittedly quite good, but I suspect Spielberg blew the entire budget on these, as the rest is like watching paint dry! The ending itself left me cold, thinking "keh...is that it?!!" I couldn't remember if I had seen it before, now I know why...there wasn't actually anything much worth remembering!
0 out of 5 members found this review helpful.