Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History

Numa época em que censura era um detalhe a parte assiste esse filme na esquina da Av. Paulista e Av. Brig Luis Antonio; Um tema que persegue minha vida desde sempre o ‘extraordinário’; Diretor, Elenco, História, Ficção, ou seria um ‘DOC’, vale a pena saber; Compre e saiba.

Almost the perfect large (9 1/2 x 11 1/4) hard cover book for one of my favorite movies.

Loaded with tons of color and b/w photos and illustrations, many rare, the book is an excellent document of the production of the film. Chapters are laid out in mostly chronological form from background on the subject of “close encounters” and earlier related sci-fi films to first drafts, pre-production filming, model work, effects, etc. There’s even coverage of the “Special Edition” footage. IMO, there could have been more space devoted to the design, construction and photography of the ships, especially the mothership as well as the “pipe cleaner” alien as there’s much more photos of these subjects out there as seen in the late 1970’s Cinefantastique magazine article and the soft cover CEOT3K “Document Of The Film” book.

Only downsides that prevent me from giving this book an easy 5 star rating are the repros of everything from internal memos to blueprints on various sized pieces of white xerox paper stuck on pages throughout the book like sticky notes often covering text and photos on the regular pages making for difficult reading. These bits should have been included as a addendum chapter. I can see these xerox pages getting folded over or falling out over time.

One other nitpick is perhaps one of Ralph McQuarrie’s most iconic paintings of the mothership which is deservedly given a two page spread (p. 150-151) is a poorly scanned, blown up image from another publication, probably from the old 1977 CEOT3K portfolio.

These quibbles aside, the book is well worth picking up and by far the best visual document of the production of this film.

Of all the spectacular movies Steven Spielberg has helmed over nearly the past 50 years, perhaps none have affected me more deeply than his ’77 masterwork Close Encounters of the Third Kind. On that score alone, this thoroughly researched and well-designed companion book is LONG overdue. Between the cast and crew interviews, the detail work regarding the preproduction and filming process, and the magnificent photos throughout, this book can only re-ignite your appreciation for one of the most influential (and still novel in its approach) and beloved sci-fi movies of all time…!

Precioso libro para recordar una película muy especial de mi niñez, con abundantes fotografías, diseños de producción, dibujos de efectos preliminares, localizaciones, etc.
Dividido en tres partes; concepción de la película y elección de los actores, muestra del Set del rodaje y creación de los aliens, y para finalizar, efectos visuales, entre otros temas. Maravilloso

This book, quite simply, is a stunning look at the Making of Spielberg’s classic movie, Close Encounters. Ignore the fact that the title of the says the ultimate visual companion as a subtitle. That’s misleading and the only mistake concerning this book. It’s so much more than visual. Yes, there are wonderful behind the scenes, photos and pre-production art sketches galore, but the author did an incredible job of presenting an all around oral presentation of the movie through the words of those who worked on it. All the big names are involved and this book presents the movie from start to finish. Wonderful anecdotes, production notes and commentary on every aspect of this classic movie. The book even contains add ons like pages that are fold outs or letters. This book is 190 pages of pure Spielberg magic that shows you how that magic is made, but never ruins the feature showing for its audience.

First let me talk about the size. It is right at the sweet spot of large (9.5″ x 11.25″), so it’s nice and big but not too big that makes it awkward to old and read.
The book is laid out in what appears to be a production pipeline format. What I mean by that is it starts with some of the early talk, inspiration and first drafts. Then segways into preproduction, filming, and effects, etc. So, the reader is really taken on the journey the filmmakers took back in the 70’s. There is even some coverage of the Special Edition footage.
Some of the images do appear to be scans of other photos/publications. This is mostly like due to the fact that this film (at the point of this review) is over 40 years old, and original memos, blueprints, etc. have probably been discarded or even auctioned off.
Definitely the best documentation of this film to date, and I would highly recommend for any fan of the film, if you are someone who is just really into movie behind-the-scenes, or into film history!