Why hasn't there been a decent UFO movie in 35 years?

When it comes to the subject of UFOs, I have seen exactly one (1) motion picture in my life that really does the subject any justice, that being of course this one:



Dramatic Hollywood embellishments aside, Close Encounters got a lot of things right. Unexplainable sightings. Baffled citizens. Government secrecy. Why is it that no mainstream film has tackled this subject in a serious way since Spielberg did it in 1977?

Discuss.

There have been many UFO movies featuring the plot points you describe. However, these films also feature lots of CGI and explosions.

I felt Close Encounters sucked. There's no payoff, just a huge waste of time.

Originally posted by DaTroof
There have been many UFO movies featuring the plot points you describe. However, these films also feature lots of CGI and explosions.

I felt Close Encounters sucked. There's no payoff, just a huge waste of time.

No payoff? The last twenty minutes are a cinematic masterpiece.

reply to post by Orkojoker


Guess you missed Hangar 18 then.

www.imdb.com...

It is of the same ilk as close encounters, however i would say there have been one that surpasses them in some ways recently: Independence day. Aside from those 3 however, not much, yeah.

reply to post by Orkojoker


On the contrary, it's boring and literally nothing happens. Then again, it was the 70s, so it was like every movie from that era.

Originally posted by NeoVain
reply to post by Orkojoker

 

Guess you missed Hangar 18 then.

www.imdb.com...

It is of the same ilk as close encounters, however i would say there have been one that surpasses them in some ways recently: Independence day. Aside from those 3 however, not much, yeah.

Didn't see Hanger 18, but I wouldn't consider Independence Day a movie about UFOs. It's a movie about aliens and their spaceships. Not really based on the phenomenon at all. I'll give that other one a look though. Thanks!

Flight of the Navigator (1989) is now on YouTube. So is the series Dark Skies (1996-7), miniseries Taken (2002), the series Rowell, and the TV movie Roswell.

And Hanger 18 is here:
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Orkojoker


"Fire In The Sky" comes to mind. Not a great film, but interesting as it is purportedly based on actual events.


en.wikipedia.org...

The Day The Earth Stood Still was cool. I might watch it again for a 3rd time later anyway!

reply to post by DaTroof


There's no payoff, just a huge waste of time.



You are so wrong...


That ending showed aliens, how us earthlings 'may' deal with a landing, techno and strobe lights, a possible team that was selected to go with 'them' (to include sun glasses), outhouses used as shelter, and closure far beyond just about any film yet - the aliens choosing Dreyfus because he 'wanted' to go.


You're green...

Originally posted by DaTroof
reply to post by Orkojoker

 

On the contrary, it's boring and literally nothing happens. Then again, it was the 70s, so it was like every movie from that era.

Hey man, that's life...it's boring and nothing happens. That's why Close Encounters is brilliant. Because these people's lives are boring, and nothing is happening. And then something happens, and it's unexplainable. And at that point life has changed for them. That actually occurs.

That being said, I know what you mean. It shows its age for sure. But it's a classic.

S+F for you my friend. While I don't agree that ALL UFO movies since that one have sucked, at least 95% of them have. They're all the same recycled plots; day in the life of main character(s), aliens land in big city, Americans wonder what's going on, aliens get hostile, Jeff Goldblum and Will Smith save the day!!!!

I will confess though, despite it being a Nicholas Cage movie, I thought 'Knowing' was pretty decent.....at least because it was a little different. I'm tired of the alien movies where we end up coming out on top. You're gonna tell me that a super-advanced, cosmos-traversing, angry army of aliens that want to destroy Earth, are gonna be outsmarted by a militia of puny humans?

reply to post by Orkojoker


That being said, I know what you mean. It shows its age for sure. But it's a classic.


Hey OP...if you're gonna fold from rookie comments, allow me to take over the thread, as the original premise was spot on, but you appear to have forgotten that.

reply to post by facelift


If you consider 15 minutes of people staring at the camera "great cinema", then I can see why you like Close Encounters. The "contact" basically amounted to: "Hello." "Hi." "Ok, Bye then." Booooooooooooooooring.

Originally posted by xpoq47
Flight of the Navigator (1989) is now on YouTube. So is the series Dark Skies (1996-7), miniseries Taken (2002), the series Rowell, and the TV movie Roswell.

edit on 27-4-2012 by xpoq47 because: (no reason given)

Flight of the Navigator? Are you serious? I'm talking about unidentified flying objects. I'll give you Dark Skies. Thanks for chiming in.

reply to post by Orkojoker


the best movie, i remember wagging school to see this movie and sneaking into the cinema, (14 times] the movie was better than school, all though star wars was released at the same time(12 times on that one lol)mmmmmm the 70s, ce3k rocks.:

reply to post by facelift






There are plenty of UFO movies. Not many good ones,but plenty. Now are we talking about closer to real,or are we talking about something that involves aliens. Then thats were it gets interesting. Thanks for taking over the thread,facelift......

reply to post by sonnny1


Buddy...





Now are we talking about closer to real,or are we talking about something that involves aliens.


The two can go together if mixed properly...that movie gave a very good 'glance' at how we may go about dealing with contact.


They chose a spot off the map, they came up with a reason to evacuate, it showed you the people affected by the original encounters, it gave a slice of Americana...it had a dog.


What the F*() else do you people need..?

reply to post by facelift



a THREAD COUP...

I love it. Close encounter of the third kind rocked. We found out what happened to flight 19


Enough said.

reply to post by this_is_who_we_are


I admit that Fire in the Sky was good with the facts, aside from what happens in the actual ship.

What I would like to see is a film that centers around an enormous wave of UFO sightings that begins one day. People are getting smoking-gun footage out the yin-yang for weeks on end from all parts of the world and posting in on the Internet. The mainstream begins to take notice in a big way, and the secret keepers go into damage control. I want a movie that shows how that would realistically play out.