Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) is a science fiction movie about unidentified flying objects. It was written and directed by Steven Spielberg. It stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, and Cary Guffey. The movie has visual effects by Douglas Trumbull and a score composed by John Williams.

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

Close Encounters is a landmark science fiction film, not only for its special effects, but also for its portrayal of UFO occupants as benign, even kind, which was a sharp departure from the "evil monster" style of most earlier films. It popularized a number of UFO motifs, many of which had earlier been reported in conjunction with UFO sightings, such as alien abduction, small and thin aliens ("greys"), and UFOs covered in lights rather than the disc shapes popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

The enigmatic title refers to the three "kinds" of "close encounters" with UFOs, as categorized by the noted astronomer UFO investigator, Dr. J. Allen Hynek who defined Close Encounters of the First Kind as "Sighting," the Second Kind as "Evidence," and the Third Kind as "Contact." In line with Hynek's rejection of the extraterrestrial hypothesis during his life, (and somewhat in line with the "interdimensional" ideas of Hynek's colleague, the astrophysicist, computer expert and UFO investigator Dr. Jacques Vallee), the UFOs and their occupants, as depicted in the film, are not necessarily regarded as "aliens" and are not described as such in the film.

In 2007, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

It received eight Academy Award nominations. Director of Photography Vilmos Zsigmond won the Oscar for Best Cinematography and sound effects editor Frank E. Warner was granted a Special Achievement Award and in 1998, The American Film Institute placed the film on its list of the 100 greatest American films.

In 2003, the film received another type of recognition as the primary special effects model of the "Mother Ship" was placed on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM), located near Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.

In 2007, this film was among 25 films to be added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.

When the original director of Jaws 2 was fired, Spielberg considered taking over. However, his contractual obligations to Close Encounters of the Third Kind meant that production on the sequel would have been delayed by an expensive year. Steve McQueen, Gene Hackman, Jack Nicholson and James Caan were all considered for the main role (McQueen was a recluse at the time, Hackman passed for unknown reasons, Nicholson was deemed too old and Caan's price tag was too high). Principal photography began in spring 1976 and continued until late-summer, with additional filming taking place in India in February 1977.

Cast

Richard Dreyfuss - Roy Neary

François Truffaut - Claude Lacombe

Teri Garr - Ronnie Neary
Melinda Dillon - Gillian Guiler
Bob Balaban - David Laughlin

J. Patrick McNamara - Project Leader
Warren J. Kemmerling - Wild Bill (as Warren Kemmerling)
Roberts Blossom - Farmer
Philip Dodds - Jean Claude
Cary Guffey - Barry Guiler
Shawn Bishop - Brad Neary
Adrienne Campbell - Sylvia Neary
Justin Dreyfuss - Toby Neary

Lance Henriksen - Robert
Merrill Connally - Team Leader
George DiCenzo - Major Benchley
Amy Douglass - Implantee
Alexander Lockwood - Implantee
Gene Dynarski - Ike
Mary Gafrey - Mrs. Harris
Norman Bartold - Ohio Tollbooth Attendant
Josef Sommer - Larry Butler
Rev. Michael J. Dyer - Himself
Roger Ernest - Highway Patrolman

Carl Weathers - Harry (Air Traffic Controller)
F.J. O'Neil - ARP Project Member
Phil Dodds - ARP Musician
Randy Hermann - Frank Taylor (Returnee #1 Flt. 19)
Hal Barwood - Harry Wallclage (Returnee #2 Flt. 19)
Matthew Robbins - Matthew McMichaels (Returnee #3 Flt. 19)
David Anderson - Air Traffic Controller
Richard L. Hawkins - Air Traffic Controller
Craig Shreeve - Air Traffic Controller
Bill Thurman - Air Traffic Controller
Roy E. Richards - Air East Pilot

Gene Rader - Hawker
Eumenio Blanco - Federale
Daniel Núñez - Federale (as Daniel Nunez)
Chuy Franco - Federale
Luis Contreras - Federale

James Keane - Radio Telescope Team
Dennis McMullen - Radio Telescope Team
Cy Young - Radio Telescope Team
Tom Howard - Radio Telescope Team
Richard Stuart - Truck Dispatcher
Bob Westmoreland - Load Dispatcher
Matt Emery - Support Leader
Galen Thompson - Special Forces Trooper

John Dennis Johnston - Special Forces Trooper
John Ewing - Dirty Tricks #1
Keith Atkinson - Dirty Tricks #2
Robert Broyles - Dirty Tricks #3
Kirk Raymond - Dirty Tricks #4

Basil Hoffman - Longly
J. Allen Hynek - Himself - Smoking Pipe at Landing Site

Monty Jordan - Special Forces Commander / Helicopter Pilot

Stephen Powers - UN Observer
Howard K. Smith - Himself - TV News Anchor

Plot

The movie plot has three basic threads:

A group of scientific researchers including Lacombe (Truffaut) and Laughlin (Balaban) investigate UFO reports worldwide, and discover a lost squadron of World War II aircraft (see Flight 19) in the Mexican desert of Sonora.
During a motorized pursuit of several UFOs, Indiana electrical lineman Roy Neary (Dreyfuss) experiences a close encounter of the second kind (a sighting that leaves physical evidence) and thereafter becomes obsessed with UFOs, to the great dismay of his wife, Veronica "Ronnie" Neary (Garr). Roy begins making models of a distinctive, flat-topped mountain or hill - a place he has never actually seen, and with which he is unfamiliar. At one point, he and Ronnie attend a meeting featuring both patronizing and skeptical government officials, and an archetypal crackpot ("I saw Bigfoot once!")
A widow named Jillian Guiler (Dillon) witnesses a UFO landing, in which her son Barry (Guffey) is abducted by unseen beings who appear to invade her home. Soon after, Guiler also becomes obsessed with the mental picture of a unique-looking mountain.
After Roy's increasingly bizarre conduct causes Ronnie and their children to abandon him (even though their two sons Brad and Toby believe in UFOs), he sees the feature he has been modeling on a television news show: Devils Tower in Wyoming. Guiler also sees the same news broadcast, and both Roy and Jillian - as well as others with similar experiences - obsessively head toward the site. Elsewhere in the world, the pace of UFO activity is increasing; Lacombe (a character based on Jacques Vallee) and Laughlin investigate a host of weird occurrences along with other United Nations experts.

After Laughlin recognizes a signal from space as a simple set of geographical coordinates pointing to Devils Tower, all parties begin to converge on Wyoming. The United States Army evacuates the area after spreading false reports that a train wreck has spilled highly dangerous nerve gas, all the while preparing a landing zone for the first human contact with the UFOs and their occupants. While the other humans drawn to the site are unable to reach Devils Tower, Roy and Jillian persist and make it to the site as dozens of UFOs appear. The enormous "mothership" lands, and returns people who had been abducted over the years, including Barry. With an understanding of peace between the two civilizations, the UFOs take Roy and several people on board their ship as ambassadors from Earth, and one of the UFO occupants comes out to greet the humans. Lacombe communicates with him by using the hand signs that are used to create the five tones in the human contact. The UFO occupant does the same and smiles before he boards back on the ship. All the humans smile once the ship soars away to the stars, knowing that they will meet the UFO occupants again.

Alternate versions
The movie has been revised and re-edited numerous times, notably for a 132-minute "Special Edition" reissue in 1980 and again for a 137-minute "Collector's Edition" in 1998 (see List of films recut by studio for details on these alternate versions).

The Special Edition features several new character development scenes, the discovery of a lost ship, the SS Cotopaxi, in the Gobi Desert, and a view of the inside of the mother ship. The interior of the mother ship is deleted from the "Collector's Edition". (Spielberg added this scene as a concession to be allowed to make the Special Edition. He decided it was a mistake and removed it in the later edition.)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a 30th Anniversary "ultimate edition" of the film on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on November 13, 2007. This edition features all three cuts of the film — the original 1977 theatrical cut, the 1980 "Special Edition" cut, and the 1998 "Collector's Edition" director's cut. In addition, the Blu-ray edition includes a storyboard-to-scene comparison to the original 1977 Watch the Skies short feature. This set marks the first time that a Spielberg film has been released in high-definition video.

References and parodies
Saturday Night Live spoofed the film when Dreyfuss was the guest host as "Cone Encounters of the Third Kind" featuring the recurring Conehead characters. In this case, instead of removing the cone top from the clay sculpture like he did in the film, Dreyfuss attaches it to make it right.
The film was spoofed in a short titled Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind on the original 1980's videotape Hardware Wars and other Film Farces. In this short, the mother ship was a huge pie accompanied by marching music.
On the episode "Who Wants It More?" of That '70s Show, Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) tells of seeing a UFO. Hyde (Danny Masterson) later mocks Kelso by sculpting Devils Tower out of mashed potatoes and saying "This means something".
The movie is also spoofed in two episodes of The Simpsons. In the episode "The Springfield Files", Homer sculpts his mashed potatoes into a shape similar to Devils Tower after he encounters what he believes to be an alien. Also in "The Springfield Files", while the citizens of Springfield are gathered in the field awaiting the 'alien's' appearance, the school music instructor, Mr. Largo and 5 of his students play the famous 5 note tune on marching band instruments. Finally, just before this, Kent Brockman references the title with "Close Encounters of th Blurred Kind", show Homer's photo and videocam evidence. In another episode called "Homie the Clown", Homer forms a large mashed potato circus tent after becoming obsessed with a billboard advertising a local clown college.
In the film UHF, George Newman ("Weird Al" Yankovic) sculpts his mashed potatoes into Devils Tower and says, "This means something, this is important."
The mashed potato sculpture is once more spoofed in the film Muppets From Space, where a fan of Gonzo presents Kermit the frog with a mashed potato sculpture of Gonzo's head.
Close Encounters was parodied in an eighth-season episode of the British comedy The Goodies entitled "U-Friend or UFO?". Steven Spielberg was a fan of The Goodies and in 1979 he considered making a film with the British trio.
In the movie Bruce Almighty, there is a deleted scene, which may be viewed on the DVD, of Jim Carrey's character, Bruce, parodies being crazy and sculpting what looks like Devils Tower out of cookie dough, saying "This means something, this is important!"
In the film Canadian Bacon, Rhea Perlman's character, swept up by a faux Cold War with Canada, builds a replica of the CN Tower in Toronto out of mashed potatoes.
The five-note musical motif of the film has been referenced many times. It was used as a code entered on a pushbutton keypad in Moonraker of the James Bond series, and the first five notes on Mr. Herriman's keypad security system in the Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends episode: The Big Cheese, and in the Power Glove sequence of The Wizard. In one episode of the short-lived animated series The Oblongs, the tones are used for the doorbell of an alien masquerading as a teenage girl. Rock guitarist Steve Vai referenced it in his song "Little Green Men" from his 1984 solo album, "Flex-Able." John Petrucci plays it before beginning the song Trial of Tears on the Dream Theater album Once in a LIVEtime. Jerry Garcia also quotes it in a solo from the Grateful Dead's January 22, 1978 concert at the University of Oregon. The tone is also played at the beginning of Alien Hominid. Enigma also borrowed the motif for the song "Back to the Rivers of Belief". Daft Punk opened their 2006 U.S. performance, their first in 8 years, at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with the theme music from the movie, performing in an LED pyramid. Duran Duran plays it before beginning the song The Chauffer on the Arena Album.
Close Encounters was parodied in an episode of That's So Raven, called Close Encounters Of The Nerd Kind.
It was mentioned by Captain Steve Hiller in the movie Independence Day, when he knocks out an alien. He says, "Now that's what I call a close encounter".
The title is brought up briefly in the X-Files episode "Squeeze".
Matt Bellamy of Muse played the musical motif from the film before Knights of Cydonia at their two massive gigs at Wembley Stadium on June 16, 2007 & June 17, 2007. This was probably due to the stage being heavily sci-fi based.
There is an episode of the anime series Pani Poni Dash! where the character Akira Miyata tries to communicate with aliens using music, but gets shot by their laser for her efforts.
In the first episode of the anime series Vandread, when the character Dita first meets Hibiki for the first time, she does the hand signs as a greeting, believing he is an alien.
ImprovBoston's fourth annual "GoreFest" Halloween production, "Gross Encounters of the Nerd Kind," was named for the film although there are few similarities otherwise.
The five note sequence was used (played on violin) in a sketch by Trev and Simon, on Live and Kicking, the main thread of the parafy being related to the release of Stargate[citation needed].
The five note sequence quoted in the James Bond film Moonraker as a "doorbell"-sound, an electronic sound effect resembling the unlock code of a security key pad.
One of the chapters in Rodman Philbrick's novel, Freak the Mighty, is called Close Encounters of the Turd Kind.
Belgian stand-up comedian Alex Agnew sings the five note sequence in his show "KA-BOOM"

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