10 ) francois truffaut i be sorry and nothing against the guy personally and but spielberg casting him in this movie be a mistake . at least without give him a solid and intensive course in how to speak english . i do not mean to be so u. s. centric and but come on when one of your main character have to have his every sentence translate and it get awfully annoying and and call undue attention to itself . a real special edition would have show mercy for the audience and have his entire character edit out . 9 ) terri garr again and nothing against her and but this have to be and next to willie scott in temple of doom and the bad write female character in any spielberg film . ok and be suppose to get that roy neary be become obsess and move dangerously away from his family but how well serve be that premise if his wife be such an unfeeling bitch from the get go . we never see any kind of harmonious rapport between them and but neither be any marital problem examine or make clear to u . she just the cardboard bad guy of the piece and and such two dimensionality be cheap in a movie which purport to at least be partly about real people . after all and darth vader or the nazis make more enjoyable and less offensive villain than teri garr ever could . but her character be only symptomatic of a much big problem the film have and which lead directly to . . . 8 ) who the hell be these people . and why be they so gosh darn obsess with ufo . why be it so important that roy neary get on that spaceship . why be melinda dillon kid alone amongst the entire pre adolescent population single out for abduction by the mysterious alien . why be all these seemingly normal people draw to make replica of that ooga booga lookin devil tower . i mean and i know there a place for dramatic ambiguity ( hey and i love 2001 . ) and but steven can you at least throw u a bone . what be it about the particular people who be invite ( in the word of truffaut interpreter ) to see the alien landing that make them so special . if spielberg could have figure out some way to tie these people emotional life to the urge for extraterrestrial contact ( a he do in e. t. ) he might have have something powerful here . in the absence of any such clear link and however and all we get be a bunch of sound and fury ( oh and and light and too . ) which ultimately signify nothing . 7 ) the funereal pace steve and yo steve who tell you that you have to be so damn solemn about this whole thing . i guess and after jaw and you be try to prove that you could be serious and and weighty and that translate inevitably a slow . thing take forever to happen in this movie probably to cover up for the fact that not much do . 6 ) the run up the mountain sequence ok and this be perhaps a crass criticism and but be i the only one who notice that neary and jillian escape to the top of devil tower ( against direct army order ) could have make for a great action chase . in a movie and i might add and which desperately need some action . a whole ten minute cat and mouse game between neary and co. and the army helicopter in pursuit could have be a tour de force of style and tension and kineticism . you know and the kind spielberg be know for . instead and he just throw the sequence away . they get to the top of the mountain end of story . 5 ) mothership sequence last far too long and with no real payoff yeh and all those flash light be cool and and that five note musical motif be ominous and haunt but what of it . ok and so the set piece be in place for a great sequence and but . . . nothing really happen and do it . and and a with the rest of the movie and it take so long for it not to happen and that youre numb about halfway through . this be where all the individual failure of the movie come together to lay one big colossal turd upon the viewer . since we do not care about and or even understand and the character we be cut off from their personal rapture at the landing while since the alien plan or general purpose be never articulate ( or even suggest ) and there be no tension generate by wonder what they be go to do when they get here while and since the entire movie have be so deliberately slow and ponderous and this scene have to be even slow you know and to show how important and climactic it be . what be leave with be a big sound and light show and nothing more . anyone who ever be to a pink floyd concert have see it all before and good . ah and i do not have the heart or the interest to continue with this list anyway and you get the idea . close encounter so clearly want to amaze and enrapture u and but it forget that you do that best by engage u with actual character and make u care about them and and then lead them through a fantastic trip or quest where they find some kind of meaning . the movie have the quest part down and but neither the meaning nor the engaging character . it like and it believe that the suggestion of ufo and other intelligent life in the universe by itself be enough to make u sit up and take notice . well and it isn not . this movie lack the zip and excitement of star war on the one hand and and the philosophical or metaphysical speculation of 2001 represent a space odyssey on the other . from spielberg own canon and it be miss the fundamental heart and whimsy of e. t. and as well a the strong interconnectedness of the main character find in poltergeist . so what do it have . a rant frenchman and a shrewish wife and a rag tag group of inexplicable character and a deathly snail pace and and a cheesy disneyesque parade of bright light and color ( wow . ) . if that your idea of a good time and then be my guest . you deserve every frame of this movie .