When Close Encounters of the Third kind was first released, I, along with many others, thought it was a wonderful film. Up until then, most movies involving aliens from outer space, with the exception of 2001, usually portrayed them as sinister beings intent on taking over Earth. Usually in a schlocky way. This was the first time extraterrestrials were looked upon with wonder, and the notion that they may really be out there, and this is how we would meet them. However, upon repeated viewings, the movie has begun to seem dated. Not so much the special effects, which are still remarkable, but the storytelling. It is filled with Spielburgian cliche's that attempt to be funny, but fall flat. And while the events in the film take us on a convoluted course to its climax, I realized there should have been a bigger payoff. And there's one scene that bugs me more and more every time I see it; when Richard Dreyfuss is in the truck, stopped in the middle of the road, he waves on the motorist behind him, and gets yelled at. He responds by saying, "can you tell me how to get to route 31?...TURKEY!" Now who really says that? It is soooo stupid.
Review of Close Encounters of the Third Kind
