“He Says the Sun Came Out Last Night. He Says it Sang to Him.”
Revisiting Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
Introduction
May 25, 1977. George Lucas’ “Star Wars” was released and forever altered the course of multiple industries such as film and filmmaking, licensing, and technology. Now known as “Episode IV: A New Hope,” Lucas’ original blockbuster would also spawn countless imitators.
Among the early films inspired by “Star Wars” were “Starcrash” (1978), Japan’s “Message from Space” (1978), “Star Odyssey” (1979), “Battle Beyond the Stars” (1980), and Turkey’s “The Man Who Saves the World” (1982). Films in development that were in large part greenlit due to the financial success of “Star Wars” included “Superman: The Movie” (1978), “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979), and “Alien” (1979). Television’s first “Battlestar Galactica” series was an early clone (the pilot of Glen A. Larson’s series was also released theatrically as a feature), “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (1979; another Glen A. Larson project with a theatrically-released pilot), and “Jason of Star Command” (1978).
Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was released on November 16, 1977, six months following the release of George Lucas’ “Star Wars.” It was neither an…
