Strange phenomena, have caught science attention, all the things that they believed now in suspension, certain craft are turning up, in places they should not be put, it defies all known belief and comprehension. Roy Neary, catches sight, of strange night flights, it overwhelms, engulfs and leaves his face in stripe, causes family concern, an obsession starts to churn, as creative conjurings, are set alight. It consumes him every minute, every hour, until he links the creations, to Devils Tower, then he makes a bee line for, along with others just in awe, summoned by an unknown source, with unknown power.

Original and innovative for its time, and not too shabby when revisited many years later.

Aged forty, and there are many films I should have watched, and haven't, I will be rectifying that as soon as I can.

First up, Close encounters of the third kind, I can only imagine what it would have been like for someone seeing this at a cinema in 1977, I imagine it was epic. Watching this on a big screen in the dark, if is a spectacle lights.

Yes it's dated somewhat, of course it has, but the special effects are decent, but the story remains wonderful.

This showcases the art of storytelling, a movie that relies on the narrative, script and journey, as opposed to just special effects. It's an exciting, uplifting, wondrous affair, one I totally enjoyed.

Someone dismissing this out of hand, clearly has no concept of movies of any kind. When I'm bored with a film (Wonderwoman 1984) I twiddle on my phone, I didn't pick it up.

A wonderful movie. 8/10.

I know this is a dissenting view, but this is a film that just never resonated with me. It feels too procedural, the obsession scenes seem overblown, and the 'close encounter' is unsatisfying. I admired how it was a peaceful meeting of civilizations trying to communicate given how these things are usually depicted, but I'm not sure it jived with the terrorizing assault at the home earlier, and the lack of any astonishment or fear didn't feel authentic. Humans coming back to the Earth after thirty years, ah yes, to be expected, right this way for your debriefing. Meanwhile the idea of a man leaving without a single thought about his wife and small children was bound to make viewers wonder, and you could just see the wheels turning in Spielberg's mind when he had the guy kiss the other woman on their hike up the mountain, a ridiculous moment probably in there to create stepping stones to what he does next. The story is just not that good here, character motivations are often suspect, and with its padded runtime dominated by tedious terrestrial subplots and other little annoyances like product placement, it felt more hokey than spiritual. Watch Arrival (2016) instead.