Word: ufo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Mushrooming 273 ft. into the skyline, sited in 52 acres of the central business district, the copper-toned Superdome looks like a happily defected UFO, or-more to Orleanians' tastes-a gargantuan cheese souffle. Inside, despite a decidedly sublunary decor, the building is a mechanical marvel, capable of seating in air-conditioned comfort the entire populations of Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco, with room left over for a couple of football teams, four trade exhibitions, a dog show and a few hundred ushers, guards and food vendors. Or, as Orleanians never fail to point out, it could swallow Houston...
...film tries to answer two basic questions that have been on a lot of minds: Is there anybody out there? And, if so, are they friendly? The answers the film provides are overwhelming affirmatives. Consequently, this movie will probably herald a new wave of UFO-mania and will set UFO-debunkers back years (see page one). The one redeeming factor is that from now on, people will be running to try to catch UFOs instead of running away to avoid being caught. One could argue, seriously, that this movie has earned its keep just because it will obviate...
...movie commences with several scenes of people befuddled by various mysterious and unexplainable events which the viewer can easily speculate have something to do with flying saucers. Several groups experience close encounters of the first and second kind (sighting a UFO and obtaining physical evidence of a UFO, for those unfamiliar with the jargon), but these people either do not believe what they saw, or are smiled at when they try to make others believe them. Director Steven Spielberg effectively makes the point early in the film that no one could possibly know whether a self-proclaimed UFO sighter...
...instrument panel starts acting up, and the saucer shines a blinding light on the truck. The curious electrician pokes his head out the window and tries to focus his eyes on the UFO, but he is cowed by the light. Suddenly, the electrician's facial expressions seem to indicate that the alien beings inside the saucer are communicating with him telepathically, probably trying to force the innocent earthling to commit some dastardly deed for the invaders...
...meantime, the cameras follow a French UFO expert--played by Francis Truffaut (who is actually a French UFO expert)--as he scrambles from one side of the globe to the other gathering evidence that has been left in the wake of the same aliens who caused the ruckus in Muncie. Our expert finds one detail quite interesting. The inhabitants of a small town in India--believing a visit by the stellar spooks to be a sign from the great one--created a four-note jingle to sing in honor of the other-wordly visitors. The expert, which his amazing conjectural...