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Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1977

Steven Spielberg

Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, François Truffaut ...

7.3

59,552

Sci-Fi. Fantasy. Mystery Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) becomes obsessed with meeting extraterrestrials after encountering a UFO on an abandoned road one night. Against the wishes of his wife (Teri Garr) and children, Neary, along with another witness to the sighting (Melinda Dillon), travels to a mysterious mountain where the government has built a landing strip hoping to attract the aliens. At the same time, a group of scientists led by Claude Lacombe (François ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Arthur Knight The Hollywood Reporter	"A terrific movie (...) It is also to Spielberg's credit, however, that despite all of this visual opulence, his actors are never dwarfed (...) One of the virtues of 'Close Encounters' is that it makes us want to know more."	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi masterpiece may be the nearest thing he created to an old-fashioned epic (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"Giant, spectacular (...) 'Close Encounters' is most stunning when it is dealing in visual and aural sensations that might be described as being in the seventies Disco Style."	POS
United Kingdom	Angie Errigo Empire	"It remains the definitive Steven Spielberg film, both in substance and style (...) Years ahead of it's time in terms of SFX, it's a masterpiece of wide-eyed whimsy (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A very good film (...) An astonishing achievement, capturing the feeling of awe and wonder we have when considering the likelihood of life beyond the Earth (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	A.D. Murphy Variety	"'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' is a daring film concept which in its special and technical effects has been superbly realized (...) the first 100 minutes, however, are somewhat redundant in exposition and irritating in tone."	NEU
United Kingdom	Tom Huddleston Time Out	"Masterpiece (...) The story’s thrilling and the set-piece special effects are still unrivalled (...) It’s the tricky personal stuff that makes the film remarkable (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Almar Haflidason BBC	"[Spielberg] is a director who is capable of creating moments of pure cinema, where the visual form relates in a flash what an entire script could struggle to deliver (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Kate Muir The Times	"[A] gorgeous trip with the tantalising prospect of alien-human friendship (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Bilge Ebiri Rolling Stone	"While the film's odd structure is certainly an asset, it devolves into a great big lightshow for its final act – and there's something discomfiting about all these people staring wide-eyed in wonder at the skies."	NEU
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"For better or worse, one of Steven Spielberg's best films (1977), and perhaps still the best expression of his benign, dreamy-eyed vision (...) Thanks to considerable craft and showmanship, it packs an undeniable punch"	POS

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