I saw this in Communist Czechoslovakia with my dad when I was seven years old in 1978. For some reason, Close encounters was shown in selected theaters there and then while Star Wars was not. I wonder if Lucasfilm never licensed the film for European release or it was just that the Communist government was against showing a movie where "ordinary" good people rise up against tyrannical oppressive rule.
Either way, this is the movie that introduced me to quality special effects for film and showed me what was possible from American film producers
I love the use of lens flares in this movie... I use a lot of lens flares in my artwork because of Close encounters and Bladerunner.
This movie has been airing lately in high definition on HDnet.
Keywords: steven spielberg close encounters concept ships art looped flash multimedia animated animation sequence of the film ceskoslovensko kino czechoslovakian theater showing close encounters 1978
