Saw this today, seen it a few times already but haven't seen it in some time. The remaster looked pretty decent but a lot of times it seemed like there was Vaseline smeared on the screen. I have no way of knowing if this was an issue with the projection system in my particular theater or a shortcoming of the remaster. I have to say I think this movie is a little overrated and the ending really, really bugs me. Basically i have a really hard time being excited for Richard Dreyfus' character when he is leaving his family behind to be with the greys. And he also shares a kiss with the other lady whose son is abducted by the aliens. Spielberg wrote the script for this movie and this seems like a pretty major oversight on his part. The story would have worked better for me if Dreyfus was not already married with kids. I also think it was a miscalculation to show the aliens at the end, and to have little kids dressed up as your prototypical Area 51 grays. This movie has not aged that well and I think it's probably one of Spielberg's lesser movies overall. I mean it's not bad but it didn't sit well with me today. My brain would not let me succumb to the spectacle.
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind 40th anniversary in theaters now
- Thread starter JB1981
- Start date
I saw it last night at the Grand Lake theater in Oakland. I really enjoyed it but yes, I don't know Think it's aged all that well. I took my 9 year old daughter with me and she says it was a 8/10.
I think spielberg has said that if he had made the movie after he was a father he wouldn't have had Roy just leave Earth and abandon his family.
I think spielberg has said that if he had made the movie after he was a father he wouldn't have had Roy just leave Earth and abandon his family.
I can see that but I think it was still a REALLY strange creative decision even for someone who was not yet a family man.
Abstruse Moose
Member
I would have gone. How can you pass on that?
I mean yea once in a lifetime opportunity but he literally didn't give two fucks about his wife and kids. It was WEIRD man.
BackLogJoe
Member
I dont think its weird at all. Wasnt his obsession due to his close encounter? He was not acting rationally.
Abstruse Moose
Member
No doubt. I was speaking more as a non family man. Though now that I think about it, I would totally understand if my own father went with them.
He also seemed to have become romantically interested in Terry Gar's character as he shares a kiss with her just before leaving.
Are you a parent?
BackLogJoe
Member
What does that matter? The movie pulled from actual cases of people who claim to have been abducted. Some of the people in those cases exhibited behavior such as Roy. Roy was altered by his alien encounter. He literally wasnt thinking clearly. Clearly its shown in the movie as he throws the neighbors yard into his house to sculpt Devils Tower.
I mean, his mental state is clearly affected by the encounters. He literally has a breakdown in front of his family. Sure the aliens were good, but his reaction to them isn't supposed to be rational at all.
And that's IF you don't think about the opportunity - one of the first people in all of history to go to an alien world to make contact with asociety changing civilization. Astronauts have families. test pilots have families.
To this day, I use mashed potatoes at the dinner table as a passive aggressive threat to my wife.
Teri Garr plays his wife. You mean Melinda Dillon.
Abstruse Moose
Member
No.
WoolyNinja
Member
That's a ridiculous thing to change - after witnessing the alien ships on the highway Roy became obsessed with the vision of Devil's Tower, nothing else mattered, even his family. It would make no sense to have him finally snap out of it last second before boarding the ship.
SteveMeister
Hang out with Steve.
Ronnie abandoned Roy. There were clearly issues with the marriage, you can tell by her attitude towards him in their first scenes, by her wistful "I remember when we'd come to places like this to look at each other" when Roy takes her and the kids to the bend in the road, etc. By the time Roy really starts losing it she's already given up on him. All Roy wanted was support and she willfully contradicted and dismissed everything he said. Sure, she was worried about his obsession's effects on the kids, but she didn't even give it a chance. And then after she left, she wasn't even willing to meet him in person to talk things out. Their marriage was already in trouble, but her refusal to even pay lip service to believing what he said happened to him made it clear that it was over.
Roy left his kids, yes. But Ronnie had already taken them away from him, and shut him out.
As far as Roy and Jillian's relationship goes, her sole motivation was getting Barry back, and Roy helped her do that. She knew full well his own motivations were very different (Roy: "I have to go down there" Jillian: "I know"). There was an attraction between them, sure, mostly because they believed each other. But the kiss was a thank you and goodbye kiss. I wouldn't read any more into it than that. Jillian has her son back. I didn't get any sense that she also needed a man in the picture.
Roy left his kids, yes. But Ronnie had already taken them away from him, and shut him out.
As far as Roy and Jillian's relationship goes, her sole motivation was getting Barry back, and Roy helped her do that. She knew full well his own motivations were very different (Roy: "I have to go down there" Jillian: "I know"). There was an attraction between them, sure, mostly because they believed each other. But the kiss was a thank you and goodbye kiss. I wouldn't read any more into it than that. Jillian has her son back. I didn't get any sense that she also needed a man in the picture.
Beer Monkey
Member
Just watched in large format 4K (Cinemark XD).
I'd forgotten how soft this film was lensed. I'm sure the 4K Blu-Ray will most likely look excellent but there are far sharper films from 70s so I don't think the effective resolution of the 4K remaster is notably different than the 2K/1080p versions. That's not a criticism FWIW, I suspect the soft focus is intentional as it keeps the film consistent with the production of the effects shots.
I'd forgotten how soft this film was lensed. I'm sure the 4K Blu-Ray will most likely look excellent but there are far sharper films from 70s so I don't think the effective resolution of the 4K remaster is notably different than the 2K/1080p versions. That's not a criticism FWIW, I suspect the soft focus is intentional as it keeps the film consistent with the production of the effects shots.
It's shot by Zsigmond, the "softness" is 100% intentional, and if anything films lensed by him are usually the ones who have get the biggest upgrade when the resolution+bitrate increases.
TAJ
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
It it was the projector then none of it would have looked sharp.