"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is a film of visual awe and spectacular imagination, but it's not much of a human story. Watching it for perhaps the first time in a decade, I was struck by how much the childlike wonderment and special effects stand the test of time. "Close Encounters" is less a movie about aliens from outer space than about humans — what motivates and frightens us, and how we can reach the best inside ourselves despite our many weaknesses and failings.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is a film of visual awe and spectacular imagination, but it's not much of a human story. Watching it for perhaps the first time in a decade, I was struck by how much the childlike wonderment and special effects stand the test of time. "Close Encounters" is less a movie about aliens from outer space than about humans — what motivates and frightens us, and how we can reach the best inside ourselves despite our many weaknesses and failings.