WAR OF THE WORLDS / CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

ABOUT THE FILMS:

WAR OF THE WORLDS, 2005, Paramount, 117 min, USA, Dir: Steven Spielberg. 

An ordinary man has to protect his children against alien invaders in this science fiction thriller, freely adapted from the classic story by H.G. Wells. Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a dockworker living in New Jersey, divorced from his first wife Mary Ann (Miranda Otto) and estranged from his two children Rachel and Robbie (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin), of whom he has custody on weekends. On one such visitation, looking after the kids becomes a little more difficult when, after a series of strange lighting storms hit his neighborhood, Ray discovers that a fleet of death-ray robotic spaceships have emerged nearby, part of the first wave of an all-out alien invasion of the Earth. Also starring Tim Robbins, WAR OF THE WORLDS was directed by Steven Spielberg, who had been planning the project for years, but set it aside until a wave of “alien invasion” films (led by INDEPENDENCE DAY) had run its course.

FORMAT: 35mm

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, 1977, Sony Repertory, 137 min, USA, Dir: Steven Spielberg.

“We are not alone.” Director Steven Spielberg’s thrilling, suspenseful and somehow very human speculation on the possibility of alien contact with mankind was one of the most surprising blockbusters of the 1970s. Richard Dreyfuss does a terrific job of anchoring the film as an unhappily married Everyman who’s suddenly possessed – along with hundreds of others – with visions of a strange tower rising up. And then the colored lights start appearing in the night sky … The passages of the massive alien ships appearing over the desert – told almost entirely without dialogue – are among the most radiantly beautiful images in all of Spielberg’s career. With Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon and Bob Balaban.

FORMAT: DCP