Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Alien movies tend to go in two directions.  You have movies where aliens invade Earth, either forcefully or subtly.  Then, there are movies like Alien Nation, with the aliens generally being peaceful.  (Don’t even get me started on Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.)  A few, like Contact, deal strictly with first contact.  We don’t get to see much of the aliens, if anything at all.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is closest to Contact.   What we see of the aliens is mostly their ships.  One of them seems to take notice of Roy Neary’s truck before moving on.  After that encounter, Roy becomes increasingly obsessed with something.  He doesn’t know exactly what, but the vision is getting clearer.  It gets to the point where his wife takes the kids to her sister’s house.

Roy eventually gets a clear picture of what he learns is Devils Tower in Wyoming.  Along the way, he catches up with Jillian Guiler, who is also headed to Devils Tower.  Her son was abducted by the aliens and, in the process, she apparently got the same message as Roy.

It’s not going to be easy for them.  The government has also received coordinates for Devil’s Tower and subsequently quarantined the surrounding area.  Roy, Jillian and a few others do manage to make it most of the way, but are stopped by the government.  Claude Lacombe, who’s running the show for the government, realizes that they were invited by the aliens, but that doesn’t make things easier for those who were invited.

The thing that I’ve always wondered, and I know I’m not the first to do so, is why we tend towards the extremes.  If we’re to assume that aliens invade, we would have to ask why.  What does this planet have that’s so valuable that it would be worth going through all the effort of wiping us out.  You‘d think they‘d be able to get it by some other means.  On the other hand, would a peaceful race even want anything to do with us?  I’ve often thought that any civilization capable of crossing vast interstellar distances would probably have a look at us and be scared.  Look at what we do to our own species.  Do you think we’d treat them any better?

What would first contact actually look like?  I mean, what would actually happen if aliens came down and asked to meet our leaders?  Would it be a simple message like The Day the Earth Stood Still?  Would it be obvious like all of the invasion movies or would it be more subtle like They Live?

The close encounters for Roy and Jillian are a bit bumpy.  When the aliens visit Jillian’s house, all of her electronics seem to turn on.  Radios start blaring.  Toys start moving around.  Roy’s experience is similar.  Nearby signs and mailboxes start rattling.  Is it the aliens intent to scare them?  It could just be a byproduct of their technology.

There is an assumption that aliens would look like us.  It’s easier to have a human actor play the alien, hence the proliferation of humanoid aliens on TV and in movies.  However, there’s no reason to think that we’d have a common form or language for that matter.  The use of music in Close Encounters of the Third Kind makes sense, at least, as would the use of hand gestures.  It stands to reason that if they’ve studied us, they would be able to find some way to at least attempt communication.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is relatively well known.  I remember watching Jeopardy! once.  The final clue referenced the five-note tune repeated throughout the movie.  I remember not only getting it instantly, but wondering why my parents didn’t.  It was one of those clues that if you had seen the movie, the response was obvious.  There are definitely worse ways to spend a few hours of your life.

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Harry and the Hendersons (1987)

As a child, well before everyone had a decent camera in their phone, I thought it impossible that a creature like Bigfoot could go unnoticed.  You’d think with humanity constantly encroaching on every corner of the planet, someone would have found a Bigfoot community or something.  All we have are a few fuzzy photographs and vague molds of footprints of what people claim are the hairy cryptoid.  Yes, new species are discovered all the time, but nothing as big as this.  Thus, it comes as a surprise when the Henderson family hits one with their car.  Twice.

The father, George, gets out and assumes that the creature is dead.  The only thing to do is take Bigfoot home and see what their options are.  No easy task, considering how big Bigfoot is.  George Henderson is played by John Lithgow.  Lithgow is a tall guy at 6' 4".  Bigfoot is taller.  Bigfoot is played by Kevin Peter Hall, who stood 7' 2½".  This makes it hard to lift him onto the car, to say nothing of where they’ll put him when they get home.

When Bigfoot wakes up, he goes through the house and destroys a good portion of it.  He also tries to bury George’s hunting trophies in the back yard.  It takes a while for the Hendersons to realize that Bigfoot isn’t that dangerous.  They decide to let him stay, even calling him Harry.  They eventually realize that Harry has to go back; he has no place in a major city.  Dr. Wallace Wrightwood is willing to help once he realizes that Harry does exist.  Jacques Lafleur, however, is hot on Harry’s trail and will stop at nothing to get his prize.

The movie is generally safe for older children.  Harry goes from being frightened and defensive to sweet and friendly pretty early on, so any really scary scenes will be in the beginning of the film.  Much of the humor is slapstick, though.  Harry is every bit as clumsy as you’d expect, which is understandable.  He’s out of his element.  George teaches Harry to sit.  When Harry does sit, it’s often with destructive consequences, like destroying a table or putting a hole in the floor.

There’s also the moral dilemma.  George sees dollar signs, but the rest of the family sees him as a living creature.  George eventually comes around, realizing the he’s not even sure who to turn Harry over to.  Is it fair to make money off of a living creature, especially knowing that they’d be poked and prodded?  The alternative is to keep him trapped in a house that’s too small for him and hope they can find food for him.  It doesn’t help that neighbors would likely not understand.

Interestingly, they did make this into a TV sitcom.  I never saw it, but I do vaguely recall hearing about it.  I actually ran for 72 episodes over three seasons.  I’m assuming that the show would have used a plot similar to ALF, in that Harry would have been confined to the house.  I might check that out if it ever comes on Netflix.  One thought crossed my mind while watching the movie, though:  What would have happened if Syfy had gotten their hands on the script?


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