Close Encounters was a very interesting film. Not literally, (Although to an extent) but it was probably my first roller coaster film. I started out thinking that it was a good movie, it went downhill very quickly towards the middle, but the late middle brought it back up again before the climax dealt the finishing blows to the movie. On the bright side, we actually do get to see one of the aliens at the end so there wasn’t a cop out there!

Roy was just an average dude when he happened to notice a spaceship one day! Its lights mesmerized Roy to the point where he became slightly mind controlled. Now he will stop at nothing to find their home base, even if it means that his marriage may end up breaking as a result! Can Roy really find the aliens and more importantly…does he really want to find them!?
One thing that becomes very noticeable at different points in the film is that the characters constantly overreact to everything. Whether it is crying because of a bowl of mashed potatoes or staring in awe at musical notes, these guys are easily impressed and saddened. It’s certainly a bit much and doesn’t do the film any favors. If I ever actually gave the acting abilities for a film any merit, this is one time where I would give it a thumbs down.

One aspect of the film that had been dicey for quite a while was when the film showed us the bodies of many animals. If they had actually been dead, then the score for this film would have been incredibly low as it would have moved to Ganondorf tier in Melee. Luckily, a twist towards the end of the film occurred so the animals were just sleeping thanks to a sleeping gas attack from the government. That certainly helped the film.

One thing that didn’t help was Roy’s big meltdown outside of his house. He decided to fill his place with dirt and also broke through the property of the neighbors on his way there. It was a very odd scene that really had no place in the film and also made Roy less sympathetic. That being said, Roy was definitely not a good character. He was married, but that didn’t stop him from having a moment of passion with another woman who had been chasing the UFOs. Sure, Roy’s marriage was on the rocks thanks to his meltdowns, but this was still way too soon and he has to wait until he’s available again.

As for the government, they get a pretty big role here. Their part is actually kind of fun as they communicate to the aliens using musical notes. You can see that they’re really invested in this and have practiced a lot. Imagining that in real life is just hilarious and you can see the humor in the film as well. It was definitely an enjoyable scene even if it did go on for a while. It’s always been tough to talk with people who speak a different language so the same thing certainly applies to the aliens.

However, rather than wondering if the aliens are hostile or not, the government should just jump to the hostile theory. They did kidnap several of out officers and a little kid after all. There can be no negotiations with these aliens at this point! All of the human prisoners are also fairly quiet and subdued when they get back so they’ve clearly been brainwashed. Otherwise, their non reactions are completely unrealistic as anyone else would be yelling or at least running.

That final scene does take an incredibly long time though. We get to watch everyone’s facial expressions over and over again as the camera angles change a little bit. I get that the film needed to bulk up on its run time a little, but surely there are better ways to do this than to go all 2001 Space Odyssey right? It’s a little more interesting though because at least the visuals here keep you entertained with the spaceship and it’s still not quite as long as it could have been.

As I mentioned earlier, I’m also glad that we actually got to see the aliens. There were no cop-outs this time folks! The alien doesn’t look very impressive and it’s very much like an ET creature, but at least it appeared so we can know who we’re up against in a possible sequel! Roy basically abandoned the human race so I’m looking forward to seeing a new protagonist take the wheel. He/She would likely be a vast improvement.

One plot that was also a little dull was with these two scientists who were trying to find the aliens. They got very old very quickly and the plot felt like it had nothing to do with the movie. One guy ended up being a translator since one guy could only speak Spanish or French, but again….why is this plot here? Roy would have found the alien base anyway and this may have been the first time that a government related subplot was not interesting. It’s hard to pull that off, but I can’t say this in a good way.

In a way, this film started out better than it ended even if the intro was a little slow. It could have been fun to see the neighborhood try to get to the aliens as they crossed the government lines. Unfortunately, things just got dicey as the film went on. It had its good moments and its bad ones. It was cool to see a random joe try to make it to the mountains too before getting knocked out just to show that this adventure was not for the faint of heart. Even the girl who accompanied Roy decided to give up towards the end. Roy was the chosen one so only he could truly complete this mission!

About the heroine though, her plot was mainly not that good because of her son. As you may remember, I rarely enjoy plots that involve little kids. The kid was about as annoying as you would expect and he makes it very easy for the aliens to abduct him. This was another plot that really had no point being in the film. The aliens could have abducted an adult or a teenager and it would have been a lot more enjoyable for the banter that we could have gotten! “You can’t get away with this you martian!” “Watch me Mortal!” That would have been epic!

Overall, Close Encounters had the potential to be so much more than what it was. Unfortunately, it simply couldn’t measure up to its full potential. The animals twist was great, but the film needed to trim the ending a little and make Roy a better main character. There was certainly no reason to keep in his falling in love with a new person after a day and his early meltdown was terrible. You definitely couldn’t blame his family for heading out of state for a little while so that he could calm down. I can’t really recommend this one, but if you want a trippy adventure with a lot of odd happenings, this could be up your alley. Otherwise, check out the new Dragon Ball Z Resurrection F for a good alien story.

Overall 4/10