Close Encounters of the Third Kind
First screened in Spring 1998 / Most recently screened in June 2016
Director: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Cary Guffey, Shawn Bishop, Adrienne Campbell, Justin Dreyfuss, Bob Balaban, J. Patrick McNamara, Roberts Blossom, Warren J. Kemmerling, Lance Henriksen, Philip Dodds, Merrill Connally, George DiCenzo, Mary Gafrey, Josef Sommer. Screenplay: Steven Spielberg.

Twitter Capsule: Climax maximizes spectacle but blunts the story. I like global breadth, odd rhythms till then.

VOR:   Of the two 1977 outer-space spectaculars, it's sort of the road not taken: temperate, terrestrial, soulsick at times, grand but often quiet. Still influential in many ways.



Photo © 1977 Columbia Pictures/EMI Films

Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: B+

(in Spring 1998: C+)


Academy Award Nominations and Winners:
Best Director: Steven Spielberg
Best Suppporting Actress: Melinda Dillon
Best Cinematography: Vilmos Zsigmond
Best Art Direction: Joe Alves; Daniel A. Lomino and Phil Abramson
Best Film Editing: Michael Kahn
Best Original Score: John Williams
Best Sound: Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall, Gene S. Cantamessa
Best Visual Effects: Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein, and Richard Yuricich
Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing: Frank E. Warner

Golden Globe Nominations:
Best Picture (Drama)
Best Director: Steven Spielberg
Best Screenplay: Steven Spielberg
Best Original Score: John Williams

Other Awards:
National Board of Review: Special Citation for Special Effects
British Academy Awards (BAFTAs): Best Art Direction

Permalink Home 1977 ABC Blog E-Mail