Tonight's marathon is about the arrival of alien species into our universe, as well as witnessing the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of whether they come in peace or not. In the case of Steven Spielberg and his incredible filmography, the man knows how to captivate audiences with his sense of imagination and spectacle. Tonight's marathon pays homage to the great extraterrestrial stories that Spielberg gave us during the 1970's and 1980's, and showing the good and bad of the arrival of aliens. We have on our menu for this evening:
Close Encounters of The Third King 1977, ET: The Extra Terrestrial 1982, War of the Worlds 2005, and The Edge of Tomorrow 2014
One word to describe this marathon is quite simply badass. Spielbergs entire alien filmography is present here (minus Indy 4), and it blends in well with the epic battle between the U.S army and the soldiers in Edge of Tomorrow. Before Schindlers List, Spielberg's early days was about delivering
thrills to the audience, while building emotional connections between humans and aliens. What other director can make you care about an alien like ET, and want him to stay on Earth? It takes a real filmmaker and someone with a genuine heart to make you feel emotion like that, and we are grateful to have Spielberg giving us his imagination. He is truly one of a kind. The first film Close Encounters of the Third Time is Spielberg's first film after Jaws, and this time he flirts with the concept of Extraterrestrial life. In this tale, a line worker has an encounter with a UFO in the night sky, and becomes drawn to an isolated area in the desert where an arrival of a UFO ship is about to happen. This is the beginning of the theme of alien arrival on Earth with their presence appearing to be friendly. The second film ET is about a troubled child mustering up the courage to take care of a peaceful alien, while also helping him return to his home world. This film runs far deeper than Close
Encounters in terms of emotion and character development. Whereas that one you feel compelled to follow Richard Dreyfuss character in his quest to seek the truth about the governments secrecy towards the existence of UFO'S, you really care for the character of Elliot in the film and his relationship with ET. This movie unfortunately lost the Best Picture Oscar to Gandhi in 1982, another great film but not on the same pop culture level of impact. The entrance of War of the Worlds into the marathon is where the shift begins in terms of alien arrivals on Earth being peaceful. This time they come, but now it's for hostile reasons. In this story, Tom Cruise fights to protect his family for survival while Earth is being invaded by alien Tripod forces. This is Spielberg getting dark with the invaders, and here he doesn't hold back. The aliens are frightening, the fight for survival is one of the most intense scenarios ever put on film, and Tim Robbins cameo steals the show. War of the Worlds serves as a great prelude to the grand finale of the night titled The Edge of Tomorrow. This film places Tom Cruise as an officer who places himself in a time loop in a war the alien race. Not being trained for war, his skills increase as he battles brute combat forces in different scenarios, and his partnership with a female officer puts him one step closer towards figuring out the way to destroy the enemy. With all four of these films, the experience of alien arrival on Earth is realized through the side of good and evil. As for Spielberg, the man is a genius and a magician. He knows how to captivate his audience and take us on wild experiences that burn in the memory. Here's to one of the great filmmakers of our time.
No comments:
Post a Comment