close encounters of the third kind

Society & EntertainmentFilm ReviewClose Encounters of the Third Kind What do you get when you combine aliens, a little bit of mystery, tastefulcomedy, good acting, and award-winning direction? A wonderful film from one of themost celebrated directors of our time, Stephen Spielberg. "Close Encounters" placesRichard Dreyfuss and Melinda Barro in roles of regular suburbanites who both believe tohave seen a UFO. The plot thickens and the intrigue begins when these two determinedpeople try to find out what is really going on in their town. Dreyfuss, obsessed with theUFO sightings, nearly drives his family away, and destroys his home in suburbia becauseof his unrelinquished need to answer his own questions. Although this is obviously ascience fiction film, Dreyfuss also turns in just the right amount of delightful comedy tokeep boredom from the audience's grasp. Spielberg has won a hit with his heartfelt,intriguing, sci-fi flick that has that patented Spielberg ending we all have grown to loveover the years. The reason for the greatness of this movie lies firmly in the outstandingperformances by Dreyfuss, Barro, and co-star Terri Garr. Dreyfuss has a knack for beingable to portray an erratic man who in one instant is completely normal, and at other timesbecomes utterly insane. Melinda Barro also puts in an extremely believable performanceas Dreyfuss's side-kick in search of her abducted son. But perhaps the most hiddensuccess of this movie is the very underrated actress Teri Garr, who put in her two cents asDreyfuss's wife. Garr did play a small role, yet it was effective, it produced a gauge ofjust how crazy Dreyfuss was really getting. The wonderful acting carried the film overthe obvious special effects that Spielberg uses. This film was pretty much original for it's time, but once you see the specialeffects, you are instantly reminded of films like E.T., Star Wars and other such sciencefiction slash space odyssey's of our time. But since this movie was made before many ofthese others, I believe it was just a draw off all of the stories and possibilities ofencountering another life form. "Close Encounters" has a good mixture of character and film cinematography. Spielberg relies on the actors to make the special effects seem that much more special. He also uses several very effective camera techniques, like tilt shots to convey themessage of power or insignificance, or a series of jump-cuts to relay the feel ofintenseness to the audience. In one particular scene, a chase scene, Spielberg effectivelyuses jump-cutting between the protagonists, Dreyfuss and Barro, and the government,who are trying to keep these two away from a rendezvous with the aliens. During mostof the movie the shots were straight up full shots with some interesting close-ups to bringsignificance to character or object, relying on the special effects to wow the audience. I believe that Spielberg wanted simply to make the audience think. He wanted usto ponder the possibilities of an encounter with another life form as well as to think of themany things that we are naive to. He wanted us to realize that we know very little ofwhat the government does, and far less about the rest of the universe. "CloseEncounters" is not another one of those no-brainers that spoon feed everything to you; thefilm makes you think and formulate your own opinions. For me, this flick was veryinteresting and extremely worth the time and money I spent to watch it. Hooray forSpielberg!!! . before many ofthese others, I believe it was just a draw off all of the stories and possibilities ofencountering another life form. " ;Close Encounters& quot;. Society & EntertainmentFilm ReviewClose Encounters of the Third Kind What do you get when you combine aliens, a little bit of mystery, tastefulcomedy, good