Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Released 1977
8Great — Very strong, clearly above average
- Watched
- June 12, 2026
- Format
- TV
- Platform
- Apple (owned)
- Location
- Home
- With
- Heather
Rolling the tape…
Oscars · 1978
8 nominations · 1 win
| Category | Nominees | Won |
|---|---|---|
| Best Cinematography | Vilmos Zsigmond | This film |
| Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Melinda Dillon - | — |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction: Joe Alves, Dan Lomino; Set Decoration: Phil Abramson | — |
| Best Directing | Steven Spielberg | — |
| Best Film Editing | Michael Kahn | — |
| Best Music (Original Score) | John Williams | — |
| Best Sound | Robert Knudson, Robert J. Glass, Don MacDougall, Gene S. Cantamessa | — |
| Best Visual Effects | Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein, Richard Yuricich | — |
My take
What an awesome left right left sequence with 2001, then disclosure day, then this one. I'm beginning to understand "film people". Not that I know as much as they do. But I understand the feeling they're chasing, which is of true meaning both in the watched experience of the individual movie as well as the context and where it fits in the bigger picture. The horror and fright and even comedy (the window scene was among the best I've seen) of the first 75% of this movie is spectacular. The ending, which is normally the emotional and exciting climax was a complete slowdown in pace. They do their frodo/sam climb up the mountain, then they sit and watch the lights. Felt a bit like 2001 in the colors and music sense. But that's it. The pace was so glacial and although beautiful, I didn't feel satisfied with the conclusion at all. He just walks onto the ship? I watched a YouTube video where the guy explains it's about artist struggle with obsessing over the art at the cost of absolutely everything. And I guess that can be true for some. And that helped pull the movie up from a 6 to an 8 (also because I really couldn't give this a 6 given how much I loved the first 75% of the runtime). But even there, the ending is a bit of a let down in an otherwise amazing movie.