John Carpenter Slams Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Robert Altman
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- Опубликовано: 19 май 2022
- John Carpenter slams Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the films of Robert Altman in this short video, originally recorded for British television in 1979, shortly after the release of John Carpenter's Halloween in 1978.
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It's refreshing to see the opinions of a filmmaker who is honest and not afraid of any potential backlash from his peers.
That's most elitist filmmakers
I think is very obvious this comes from insecurity.
He's punching upward, they aren't his peers.
@@Hexon66 At that time ( the time of this interview ) they were. Indeed, I'd put The Thing well over anything Lucas has ever done and equal to the upper half of Spielberg's good work. At this time, Starman > Close Encounters > Return of the Jedi (by a wide margin). However, Spielberg left all of his peers behind in time.
Altman, I can take or leave. If I never saw another Altman film again, I wouldn't be poorer for it.
CEOT3K is one of my least favourite "good" movies of Spielberg's earlier career. I say good because 1941 is an obvious crap fest while Close Enconters is considered one of his best. There's some good things here and there but on the whole it's vastly underwhelming.
If a filmmaker was this outright with their opinion today it’d be a big media thing, everyone who’s ever met the filmmaker would have to deal with questions for months and months aboht “have you heard about the Carpenter/Spielberg controversy? What are your thoughts?”
Remember when Scorsese said he didn’t like Marvel? People are still talking about that today as if he said a racial slur on live tv
Very true. It's generally considered unprofessional to speak about other artists' work in the industry, and people are probably scared it could damage their career opportunities if they step on someone's toes.
Of course; you're on the very website why that is! Everything is amplified on the internet, now. You clicked on the video for this very reason!
@@cinedome1 that sucks.
@@cinedome1 i think this is more evidental today. There was a clip of Bill Friedkin utterly smashing Exorcist II and this was in 1979.
Carpenter is a completely fail as a movie make maker. Not one of his movies was a success on release and even those we now rate are overshadowed by allo the other utter shie he appeneded his name to.
I may disagree, but he’s a honest man
People were a lot more honest with their negative opinions in the 70s and early 80s ...
Too honest. Spielberg clearly watched this. Carpenter should and COULD have been 10x bigger than he was. Bashing Universal and Columbia's golden boy was not a good look in '78. When you have TV crews from the UK visiting you on set, you need to make boss moves.
@@listentothenightfilms Why you say Spiel clearly watched that? He snubbed John's career somehow?
@@cubul32 Indirectly he did, "ET" torpedoed "The Thing" critically, and from then on Carpenter only got diminishing budgets for any film project.
@@noheroespublishing1907 I see, you prob know better than me
'Starman' moved me in a way 'Close Encounters' never did but since Carpenter's talking about not losing control of a film I'd like him to explain 'Ghosts of Mars'.
Or Speilberg's War of the Worlds.
@@chrisdell5679 Speilberg lost control of that film?
@@edwardiii8409 It was pretty terrible. So was De Palma's BONFIRE OF VANITIES.
@@chrisdell5679 War of the worlds is not terrible at all. I rewatched it a few months ago and for a PG-13 film it's frightening.
It struck me that it's basically like a holocaust film in the way the aliens are presented.
The relationship between Tom Cruise and the kids could have been better and the ending is the usual happy one Spielberg falls prey to a lot of times, but the rest of the film is brilliant in presenting the horror of an invasion.
@@rocky8838 Nope
Imagine you're slagging off Spielberg whilst sitting on the set of 'Halloween' lmfao Carpenter was punk rock as fuck.
He makes a good point though . CE3K is kind of propaganda . He didn't show the government honestly . The military has done some evil things keeping UFOs out of American history as much as possible .
Yeah it's like Clash calling Beatles Phony😂
Duel is so underrated.
Carpenter doesn’t give two shits what you think of him or his opinions. He’s always been that way. The man is true to what he thinks and doesn’t give into the self adoring pressure to like something just because he’s “suppose” to. Refreshing.
@Shane Plyler you sound self absorbed
All of that may be true: but at the end of the day, he's a hack director, and the people and movies he's dissing are way better than him/his. I'll take "Close Encounters" ANY DAY over dopey "Halloween", thank you very much. OR "The Thing" or "Starman" or any other movie he directed. And I really am not a Spielberg fan in any way. But between him and John Carpenter? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :D
@@TTM9691 John Carpenter is better than Spielberg.
@@marcusraynak8277 No he isn't, and I don't even like Spielberg. Carpenter is a hack for thumbsuckers with no taste. You keep telling yourself that, though, Marcus, and one day maybe your hilarious dream will come true. Get out of your basement, much?
@@TTM9691 that's fine and all. But even if he weren't director at all, he's entitled to not like those films.
And Carpenters films are more talked about and studied than Close Encounters, in which Carpenter was correct, hasn't held up at all.
And anyone someone ends with "and I'm not even a fan", you know they're full of shit and you just insulted their favorite lmao
You can respect your peers without necessarily enjoying their works. Carpenter understands that.
I don't agree with JC, but I applaud him for having balls to speak up, much like how I applaud Robert Altman for having balls to make movies he wanted.
What balls? People have always dissed on mainstream cinema how is this anything brave.
@@lampad4549 people who dissed on mainstream cinema came more often than not from underground, independent circles. It'd be a real rare when a filmmaker or actor or producer speaking about others in unflattering terms. I wish people diss on Spielberg.
Haha carpenters got balls to talk about those guys like that, good for him, he’s always stood out of the Hollywood crowd and made incredible movies
Since when? John Carpenter's last several movies were box office bombs.
I admire the No non-sense Honesty.
The Thing is 41 years old, and still holds it's ground as an atmospheric masterpiece of sci-fi. The practical effects still hold up, they don't look remotely goofy or dated.
The practical effects hold up yep, and I agree it is a masterpiece, but the final monster doesn't hold up and it does look goofy and dated. Thankfully it's not on screen much but I wish it was done practically.
As much as I adore JC’s The Thing , and as much as I love the scene, “Window’s” death by Venus Flytrap head may have been a touch goofy lol
The only effect I thought looked goofy was the spider head trying to crawl away. It looked like it was being pulled by a chord or driven by remote control with the legs flailing up and down. It didn't look like it was walking on legs at all.
However, for its time I'll take it. It doesn't detract from anything else in that awesome movie.
Yet The Thing got sh*t on from a great height by many critics in 1982. Mostly because of ET's success and the polar opposite feeling of dread that The Thing elicits. Carpenter must've been bitter about that at the time. When I first saw The Thing in 1982/3 (I was too young to see it in theatres so had to resort to watching a grainy VHS bootleg) it completely blew me away (as well as being very entertaining). I immediately knew it was something special and have seen it probably close to 100 times since. Which is far more than the couple of times I've seen ET. The Thing stirs up the depths of the soul, whereas ET is basically a tap on the funny bone.
I watched The Thing couple of months ago. and I don't think it holds well anymore. While gory special effects are the highmark of the movie, the rest falls flat. It just does not work. The movie is cold as characters are cold. Someone said that Carpenter was bitter at the time. I wish he was less bitter. That is why The Fog is my favorite horror film.
Close Encounters is certainly better than Ghosts of Mars.
Close Encounters was made during the hayday of young Spielberg, Ghost of Mars was made by and old and tired Carpenter. Both Close Encounters and ET were some of the worst movies of Spielberg yet they were hyped as fuck by eveybody
40 years later this man would make Ghosts of Mars 😂
So what? A lot of directors make films that either they or the general public find less than satisfactory.
If that's the worst that you have on him, well...
@@markv1274what's a better movie, ghosts of mars or close encounters of the third kind?😂
@@markv1274 I fucking love John Carpenter but he's made some shite movies.
Carpenter is a legend !!!
Close Encounters is a masterpiece, but I've watched The Thing far more often.
Close Encounters has a lot of great visuals but somehow felt a little hollow emotionally somehow ...
I feel Richard Dreyfuss is not quite charismatic enough as the lead character, his wild personality is a bit off putting, not so endearing most of the time .... the fact that he basically does not care about or miss his family at all in the end, betraying them by kissing fellow UFO witness makes him even less likable but they show him "gloriously" walking into the UFO like he's some sort of hero kind of rubs the viewers in the wrong way ...
The problem with the movie is that the characters are not well written, the plot seems to jump all over the place... the one thing that saves the movie is the visuals and cinematography, other than that its not a great movie to revisit repeatedly like other great sci fi like The Thing, Alien, Contact or Blade Runner ...
(although I must say that Contact borrowed a bit from it in terms of alien contact narrative and Blade Runner borrowed quite a bit of the flying craft effects)
@@88feji Close Encounters is my favourite film ever and the one that has moved me most deeply. I've watched it more times than I can count, every cut.
Love both movies, but The Thing fell apart at the end. Close Encounters has a great ending.
I guess JC just didn't get Close Encounters at this period of his career. Close Encounters is a masterpiece, and can be seen as a metaphor for mental illness. The moment when Roy is in the house surrounded by rubbish, with his family gone, but the rest of the world carrying on outside as if nothing had happened, is an incredibly deep moment that anyone who has wrestled with mental illness will understand intuitively. I guess JC did get it later on in his career when he recreated many of the scenes in The Fog, and went on to direct Starman which reused themes from Close Encounters and E.T.
I actually think Starman is a stronger film, with a better overall story than Close Encounters. It follows on some of the same themes and ideas of Close Encounters, but never loses sight of the basic human story.
@@MatsThyWit Starman is a great film.
It can be seen as a metaphor for all that, but was that Spielberg's intention? I think not.That is your reading into it. Not that I disagree, but that is not the text or even the intended subtext of the film.
I really like Altman but you really have to be in a certain kind of relaxed mood to watch most of his stuff.
Yep. I will say McCabe & Mrs. Miller is to my mind one of the great westerns of all time. And the Long Goodbye is quite good.
Those are the only Altman movies I’ve seen so far.
I like the flow of his films. They feel real and in motion. The subjects themselves of his films i could give or take but its his way of filming that I find fascinating. Love the Player.
@@playstationaccount4473 The Player is one of my favourite movies i love how it's a dark satire of Hollywood
i saw M* A *S * H when i was younger and may have to watch it again since i was biased from watching the TV. series first [ i keep expecting a laugh track to go off 😅]
I do really love Carpenter 's films as well since i am a big horror fan and he is a pioneer in that field .
keep quality movies alive 📽🎬
CHEERS .
I agree, I think JC would probably give him more respect these days, I think Altman did most of his great movies way after this interview like Short Cuts for one example.
I respect Altman greatly for artistic integrity power. Same as Ken Russell. No other director managed to make self-satirical or with the same edge movies at the time. I cannot say I liked The Long Goodbye because I am Chandler fan, but McCabe and Mrs Miller is outstanding (anti)western.
John Carpenter is as influential as a director as any of his modern contemporaries. In my opinion, 'The Thing' is the greatest sci-fi horror film ever made!
Alien and The Invasion of Body Snatchers 1978 first!
Pish frankly. Carpenter made two decent films and FUCK ALL since then. He appended his name to god all shite. Vastle over rated as a director. Name a single sucessfl film he's directed/produced since 1990
I agree with you
@@m1lst3r89 Literally: 100% agree. On most days, I would also rank 1956's original _Body Snatchers_ ahead of _The Thing._ Oh... and, personally? _Piranha_ (1978). I'm a feminist and _Piranha_ is such an underrated film for women characters. Oh... and David Cronenberg's _Videodrome._ No contest, a superior film.
and... _Phantasm._
@@entertainmenthell2396 ummmm...Phantasm❤️ Piranha feminist film? I surely never got that impression. I love those 1950s horrors, thank for reminding me. Quatermass Experiment!
i disagree with him re: altman but it’s v good to have strong opinions on art. the hive mentality is why film is in the state it’s in today.
You mean a bunch of solid indie films that go along with a bunch of solid foreign films? Because that's where I see the state of films are today
To be fair, when what you like is 'authority from the director' then you OBVIOUSLY are not going to like a Robert Altman movie which is basically 'organized chaos'. Hell, MASH was essentially three different movies in one.
I don't agree with him on Encounters, and I find some of Altman's movies at least interesting, but it was beautiful to see how people used to voice their opinions not giving a shit. And I don't think it's about hive mentality, it's about playing ball, being extra nice so you don't burn any bridges in today's hypersensitive industry.
@@dr.juerdotitsgo5119 Well, this was a long time ago so we don't really know the context. I dont think its so much that, I think its the pont that at the time you could voice your opinion on an interview show in Backwater USA and not have it appear all over the internet and the world the next day.
Its not typical in any industry to shit over others in your profession, but I get your point. In an age of social media, well, thats now OUR job:)
@@mikearchibald744
Right, Altman was the antithesis of director-as-dictator, actively encouraging his collaborators to improvise and bring their own vision to the overall film. He respected his actors as creative agents in their own right, allowing them considerable freedom in forming the characters they were representing, and many actors relished the opportunity to work with him.
Close Encounters is a masterpiece, but so is Escape from New York.
Escape from new york is mid, am I brave for saying it?
@@lampad4549 You are not brave for saying the word "mid," no.
@@lampad4549no, but you might be 14 year old on tiktok, given they're the only people who call everything "mid".
“Escape from New York” is a great Sci-Fi film but it’s no masterpiece. More like a 4 out of 5 stars.
@@coolcat6303 Heretic
This guy is like the Marco Pierre of filmmaking lol. Also, I agree 100% on his take about flawed films that are still laudable because the director's authority is felt. It mostly comes through in science fiction, horror, or action...which is why I suppose he's attracted to those types of films.
Carpenter strikes me as a Clint Eastwood type of director: he’s almost anti-pretentious to a fault. If Close Encounters is too unwieldy for him, I’d love to see his reaction to something like 2001 A Space Odyssey or Eraserhead. I can almost visualize him raging at the screen.
I think he would forgive both of them from a pretentious point of view as the directors have clear intent of style and don't get lost. Though i don't personally think Close encounters does either :)
This is what I miss: filmmakers giving their honest opinion about other filmmakers and their films without being cancelled.
pity he wasnt a decent movie maker whose movie made a profit. oh wait....
@@redcardinalist Cry less
I don’t think he was really being honest here, his critiques seem insincere and broad, “oh he only made one good movie” or “that was masturbatory”
I don't think you get what "cancelling" implies.
@@entertainmenthell2396 I dunno - have you heard the Backlash that Tarantino and Scorsese got for dissing on Marvel?
I disagree about Close Encounters very strongly (I would be interested to hear at what points he, as a fellow director, though Spielberg "lost control" of the project; I always thought how it gathered up its threads in a drive toward a singular vision at the end is one of its strongest attributes), but I am glad to hear someone knowledgable and experienced being very specific about what he does or does not like in films.
I find that we are on the same page regarding Close Encounters. Spielberg has held, to date, that CE3K was the most difficult of his films to edit -- in particular, the final 40 minutes. The man exercised precise control over the picture; in particular, the resolution sought by both Neary and the viewers in the context of "I just want to know that it's really happening."
no one sensible gives shit what JC thinks. Not a single movie of his was a success on release.Some of his movies have become cult classes but the bulk are frankly shit.
@@redcardinalist Financial success of films is hardly a reliable indicator of quality, in my experience. I prefer to judge the films for myself; and Carpenter, even in his silliest outings, has had some elements of filmmaking brio in his work, or some fascinating ideas, which make them (even in failure) more interesting -- and, ultimately, memoriable -- than a lot of the more conventional generic stuff (such as the umpteenth Jurassic Park or Minions sequel) that gets put out. And his best (Halloween, The Thing, Christine, Starman) are excellent entertainments. For those reasons, I am very interested, even if I disagree. :)
@@redcardinalist JC is an accomplished filmmaker in the horror and pulpy scifi genres, but for him to criticise an epic like CE3K is like Michael Bay criticising Kubrick.
I think it's also important to take into account that this interview made during the filming of Halloween, only a few months after Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out. So at that time the movie wasn't the "classic" that we know today, but a recent movie made by a contemporary young film maker. So it it would be interesting to know what Carpenter thinks today about the movie. Because as he experienced himself in the case of "The Thing", sometimes people don't get a movie after watching it for the first time.
When it comes to my opinion of John Carpenter's filmography, "Starman" (1984) is his greatest movie. "The Thing" (1982) is his second greatest movie. His worst film is "Ghosts of Mars" (2001).
Total respect for the interviewer with great questions and good responses and rebuttal. Many good references
John Carpenter is in my nightmares forever when I saw Halloween I never thought of a white blank face on a unstoppable homicidal maniac before. I won't even listen to the piano music from hell as its soundtrack, so thanks for that.
Close encounters is a great movie and to this day is best, most accurate presentation of the effect of the phenomenon in ordinary people.
I miss the era when directors used to pop their shit 🤣🤣 for me this has to be up there with Tarkovsly randomly roasting Possession (1981) in one of his books and saying how he would just rather go back to the days of Chaplin and Griffith 💀
Didn’t he say he vomited or something lmao
It IS refreshing to hear a director not like certain films.
Whereas today you get the impression that everyone likes every movie anyone makes.
You KNOW the other directors nominated for Best Director probably hated Joker. 🤣
Joker was a bad movie compared to every other movie that was released in 2019.
Joker was so overrated movie. A man goes mad, that's practically everything about it in 2hrs (thank God is only 2hrs).
@@m1lst3r89you could say the same thing about any of the other films nominated.
An alcoholic actor fears that his career is over.
A poor family infiltrate a rich household.
A married couple get divorced.
An elderly criminal looks back on his life.
Etc.
@@Nathan-gd7xq didn't Ford V Ferrari and 1917 got Oscar nominations in any crucial categories at that time
Loved this. And if I’m not back by dawn, call the President!
I liked Close Encounters for its spectacle, and there is some great film making across it. I imagine Carpenter had to appreciate the frenzied terror, the heavy score, the whole sequence when the little kid (Barry) is abducted - fantastic scifi horror, scary, and disturbing. The film's third act at at Devil's Tower was great cinema, made even better if you saw it in a theater with good sound.
Close Encounters feels like a project designed by Steven to impress Stanley Kubrick. It's Kubrick-lite. CETK is a movie you love as a kid and then you watch 2001 and go....'oh'.
It seemed to me Star Trek The Motion Picture felt a little more like 2001 because of the grand space vistas with grand space vista music, the ultra shiny space ship interiors, space suits, and overall production design. CETK seems like Hitchcock with Richard Dreyfus being caught up a "dangerous mystery" that destroys his life for most of the film, but the final reel of CETK I think is more evocative of the spirit of Fantasia as it is anything else. Sideways to that is when you hear "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Pinocchio in John Williams score. The general feel is very Disney.
He’s obviously jealous
@@jkorshak I agree about star trek but Close Encounters opens with the same black screen and increasingly more resonating hum leading ti cresendo, the mothership shot above devils tower is a clear call back to the opening credits of 2001 and the films treatment of military authority rings very true to Kubrick also, as does the dysfunction of family. The tone switches back to Hitchcock rapidly however you're right. I guess its testament to his talent that Steven balanced the two tones, which on paper are antithesis. I love Close Encounters, but Kubrick took sci-fi/alien cinema to the edge and CE ended up at the same central conclusion as 2001 just Disneyifed.
@@bobdrinks It wasnt his kind of sci-fi, even though it kind of was. On paper CE is influenced by all the atomic saucer movies from the 50s Carpenter loves, but there's a pretentious nature to it. The movie glosses over the fact the grays are clearly malevolent in their behavior but it's cool because...it's never explained why everyone in the government was cool with insterstellar kidnappers. Dreyfuss leaves his wife and children but it's all good because...why? Carpenter is right, he lost control of it and went overboard trying to wow you and then get philosophical at the end.
Also I think Carpenter still remembers the summer of '82, where his movie 'The Thing' (which he had spent 1 year filming) basically bombed at the box office. While Spielberg was in the midst of a hot streak that began with 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' the year before, and continued in '82 with 'Poltergeist' and the blockbuster 'E.T.'
Spielberg didn't direct 'Poltergeist' (it was helmed by Tobe Hooper), but rather co-wrote the screenplay and produced. I can now say I regard Carpenter's 'The Thing' as a richer film from an artistic perspective than the Spielberg-related titles cited here, as entertaining as they are.
The Thing is better than any of those Spielberg movies.
This interview was from 1979 though.
The Thing is good but not THAT good. It’s got terrific atmosphere and music, but beyond that it’s just a gorefest
@@cookieface80 The Thing is not better than Raiders of the Lost Ark bud
"That's one way to look at it." ♥
I always wondered why Spielberg never hired Carpenter to direct a film, like he did Joe Dante. Guess this is why.
Carpenter comes off as a massive asshole honestly
I think the control issue is bigger. Poltergeist looks so much like a Speilberg film that Tobe Hooper barely gets credit for directing it anymore because of micromanagement.
Well we're allowed to like what we like and dislike what we dislike, personally I love Close Encounters and its child-like sense of wonder. But everyone's different and one man's The Thing is another man's Ghosts of Mars isn't that right Mr Carpenter. 😉
Yet u call urself Starman not very clever
Ghost of Mars kicks ass bro.
The Thing is a Ghost of Mars? Are you being stupid on purpose?
Most Carpenters movies are westerns, that's his formulae, but The Thing has nothing to do with being a western whatsoever, so he strayed from that due to his HH influences.
You like CE due to being child like, and most of Spielberg's movies were exactly this, at least JC is able to make you get out of your nappies once in a while.
@@dankeplace Spielberg was always a technical virtuoso, and loved entertaining the kid inside us, but he didn't really grow up until "The Color Purple". Carpenter was always a teenager, and maybe stepped out of that with "Starman".
@@aliensoup2420 so Carpenter was a *teenager* when he did Halloween which spurned on umpteen imitations?
He went from 1978 from making one of the most successful independent movies ever, constantly releasing movies every year to 1984 where he managed to get an Oscar nomination for Jeff in Starman?
A teenager managed all this success eh?
I remember revisited Close Encounters and started to appreciate it more than when it first came out. The craftsmanship I feel is on par with Jaws. More so than E.T. which is wonderful and brilliant but in terms of storytelling, might not have aged well. I agree about Altman. Never been inspired by his work. Although I love Popeye which I think I'm in the minority.
You're definitely in the minority if Popeye is honestly the only film of Altman's you love.
The main character in Close Encounters abandons his wife and children.
JAWS is a dumb movie. Suspenseful, technically competent, yet dumb. A shark attacks people. The shark is somehow seen as a villain. The shark is only doing what it normally does in a shark's natural habitat. Quint gives some big pretentious speech that just about everybody seems to adore. The music that provides the aural cue for the shark is typically the type of music that you would hear in a movie concerning a knife-wielding serial killer. Spielberg is so thuggishly unsubtle, he wants to _make certain_ that we cheer for Quint and his men and boo the shark. So what if millions of people loved it? Millions of people _can_ be wrong.
I would happily tell anyone, including Spielberg, that JAWS is one of the dumbest films in existence.
Another thing about Spielberg: he portrays Nazis as a bunch of incompetent morons in the INDIANA JONES series. You know, like they're the Keystone Cops. Don Siegel (INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE BEGUILED, DIRTY HARRY) once said how he hated seeing that in movies, Nazis portrayed as bumbling morons, and how the supervillains should be brilliant.
Remember: the hero is only as good as the opposition that he faces.
People rave about Indiana Jones being the best movie character ever. Indy isn't even _Harrison Ford's_ best movie character (and no, I've not thinking of Han Solo). I'll leave it up for debate, suffice to say that he has done much better.
In INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, Dr Jones emerges triumphant not because he is brilliant, but because evil is stupid. The Nazi choosing the wrong cup is the equivalent of an own goal. All those cups, and only _one_ of them looks ordinary. Wow, which one would _you_ choose? The biggest decision of your life, and you don't even examine each cup.
Not a bad movie, by the way, yet the film is intellectually no better than a standard comic book.
I would say the craftsmanship of Close Encounters is on a level above Jaws given that the animatronic shark looks extremely goofy today but the Douglas Turnbull's spaceships still look awesome
I disagree with a lot of what Carpenter is saying here but he's laying his thoughts down well and respectfully here.
Close encounters song stuck in my head
Funny how people try to slam John Carpenter with Ghost of Mars like his opinion back in the 70s really hurt you so much right now and you have to jab back at him.
I actually like Ghosts of Mars but his opinion does come off as really shortsighted here. I love Ford, Hawks etc and I get that he prefers the old Hollywood style but these days it’s hard to fully dismiss Altman even though he has some duds as well and has a style that’s not for everyone. The body of work Altman has had alone is impressive and even his crappiest movies have elements worth talking about. Old fashioned movies are great and Carpenter is great but I think it’s fair to say he’s being a little reductionist here.
I don’t think criticizing that movie has to do with him saying he doesn’t like Close Encounters and Robert Altman.
In the Mouth of Madness is a great post Princess of Darkness film. Also Vampires is fun but cheap
The pacing of Close Encounters is absolutely perfect. The manner in which the story unfolds is amazing. The air traffic controller scene alone near the beginning really does it for me. Also, you have to recognize the way Altman's films have all that overlapping dialog. Totally unique and original.
Close Encounters is a masterpiece. Carpenter was too full of himself and too anti-establishment just puking bullshit for the sake of it.
I remember paying good money in 1984 to see John Carpenter's idea of a good sci-fi movie. It was called "Starman" and I sat in a nearly empty theater and it couldn't end fast enough for me.
You are like a loudspeaker for my mind. That air traffic controller scene is amazing; my father was an air traffic controller and he still says that's the most realistic air traffic control scene in movies. It certainly looks like I remember it, when he took me to work with him once. And the pacing is fantastic, with a surprising, mindblowing 4th act. As people have gotten so dumbed down and all they want is formula and don't know how to go into a movie without expectations, you find hilarious dummies complaining about it. But back when people were actually cool and were way more culturally advanced and sophisticated, and rewarded invention, innovation and newness, "Close Encounters" was (yet another) masterpiece of the era and beyond. (I've seen countless reaction videos of people born from the 90s on up who watch it and are blown away by it so if someone says "it doesn't hold up", it's not that, it's just the person telling you that is an imbecile)
I feel like I respect and admire everything about the film aesthetically. Love the style and the soundtrack. I really can't stand the main character, though. Was basically a deadbeat dad movie with aliens in it. Never understood why everyone's so in love with it.
@@lowkeyloki8832 How is he a deadbeat Dad? He was a working stiff! The UFOs were drawing people like a magnet, that's the story. You take moves way too literally, couch potato. That's like saying the little kid was a bad seed because he kept trying to run away. You left out the storytelling, the novel structure, it has FOUR acts, not three, it is a virtual time capsule of 1976-1977, INCLUDING the dysfunctional family, the break down of the family unit, EVERYONE was getting divorced in the late 70s, every woman in her 20s was either a single mom or about to become one. The acting is fantastic, ESPECIALLY the family stuff, with Dreyfuss and Teri Garr, and the kids....that's like a Cassavettes movie, those scenes are fantastic. Watch it again, take the stick out of your ass, and watch it again, instead of judging the characters, try understanding them, it's really not that hard, I understood these characters when I was 8 years old so......obviously you didn't see it at the time, on the big screen, with an audience that was WAY hipper than any audience of the last forty years. It's hard to take seriously the perspective and judgment of subsequent eras when they're so glaringly inferior in every way. "Close Encounters" is a grown up movie for people with brains, not thumbsuckers. Even at 8 years old, it wiped the floor with "Star Wars", no comparison. When the lights came up at the end of Close Encounters, people were in a happy daze unlike any other movie I've come out of. And I saw it three times in the theatre (saw Star Wars three times too.) They're "in love" with the movie because it's NOT FORMULA. It's a one-of-a-kind sci-fi film, it's a groundbreaking sci-fi film......and if you're going to get hung up on a FICTIONAL character that you clearly don't even understand.....then you're what they used to call a real pill. Enjoy your one-dimensionalism.
Carpenter’s favourite Movies in December 2022 for Sight and Sound were
---
Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks, 1939)
Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965)
Rio Bravo (Howard Hawks, 1959)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
Bringing up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)
The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932)
Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
Not as brave of a statement as people think. Spielberg was hated on by a lot of film makers back then. He was kinda like Michael Bay. His films were often thought of as lite weight. His shots were even thought of as copying David Lean. It wasn't until he made The Color Purple that he received some credit but even that faced backlash. I grew up during his prime of box office glory. As far as Carpenter goes it has to hurt when E T. (look up Starman) was such a big hit years after this interview
Also, E.T. overshadowed The Thing release at the time, unfortunately.
Imitation or not, Spielberg's movies are dazzling to watch for his camera movement and composition. That is half of visual storytelling. Carpenter has only ever made B movies.
I like how people are saying E.T. is the reason The Thing flopped, when in reality it was the other “Spielberg” film - Poltergeist. Not only was it produced by him, and possibly even directed (depending on various sources), but it was literally the number one highest-grossing horror film of 1982. Even Friday the 13th Part III beat out The Thing, in terms of popularity and box office.
I'm a little surprised he didn't like MASH (1970), directed by Altman. His best film (IMO).
That’s not even a top ten Altman movie
@@randywhite3947 It's one of his best.
@@slw59
It probably remains the most widely popular of Altman's works, and was a substantial financial success in its initial release, as well as becoming something of a countercultural totem for the hip young audiences at the time. I don't think it's his most interesting work, but I do feel a lot of affection for it.
Incidentally, Altman himself cited 'Brewster McCloud', his 1970 follow-up feature, as his personal favorite among his films, not because he thought it represented his best work, but because he thought it showed him at his most adventurous (aesthetic risk-taking was central to Altman's approach to his vocation).
@@barrymoore4470 Not sure if it's true or not, but I read recently that Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould tried to get Altman fired during principal photography. Altman said had he known that, he would have quit.
I find him to be a very hit & miss director but I do love some of his films.
@@slw59
I remember that Altman did harbor bitterness towards Sutherland post-'M*A*S*H' for some reason, and never worked with him again, a rupture which obviously did not apply to Gould.
Altman is indeed an uneven filmmaker, but I value his legacy for its experimentation and risk-taking, which of course contributes to that hit-or-miss quality of much of the work.
There's a clip from Nicolas Roeg's " Don't Look Now " in this video. A fabulous and devious movie. Carpenter sees with a director's eye, ignoring the cash cows of cinema. He's a straight shooter and a maverick.
hes all out of bubblegum. love you john carpenter!!!!
The Thing .........by John Carpenter to this day remains realistic,scary and refreshing....what a great production!
Though I more or less agree with his sentiments here (though I do love McCabe and Mrs. Miller) most have to remember this interview was done around the time he was making Halloween, I believe. He wasn't yet the "hot shot 'name'" director nor had he had the crushing failure of The Thing happen yet. In other words, Carpenter was still a young and cocky filmmaker so these comments have to be taken in that context. I think the failure of The Thing really humbled him. Not to say he wouldn't still agree with these sentiments but he wouldn't be so quick to criticize since he's been through the ringer a lot more since. But at this point he was young low budget filmmaker trying to make straight-foward films and had no patience for stuff he viewed as self-indulgent or not story driven (ironically things The Thing would be accused of.)
And I highly doubt he'd surmise we'd be watching this interview on something called "internet."
@@chrisdell5679 yes but he was being interviewed for a television show so he knew it would be seen and put it out there. I also recall an interview from 1980 where again mention his dislike of DePalma (not to mention an interview a bit later where he trashed ET) and says DePalma's just "jerking off" with a camera. Like I said, maybe the Thing debacle humbled him or maybe he just plain old changed his mind, but in later years he said more complimentary about DePalma et al.
I like his honesty but the fact that he said jaws “was good” makes me sense some jealously lol jaws isn’t just good esp at the time of this interview when it just came out it was ground breaking.
Carpenter forgot the old adage: "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." Because when 1982 rolls around, you and the other guy might have films at the same studio.
Thank you for sharing
At the end of the day, their's several things I can say with certainty: Carpenter, Spielberg and Altman are all great directors I adore, who made a lot of truly great movies, and a lot of truly terrible ones too. P.S. I hate Close encounters also.
Fuck trump?😂 wake up mate ur stuck in 2016
Carpenter made some amazing films such as his Apocalypse Trilogy, Starman, Dark Star, and They Live. He also made a total turd called The Ghosts of Mars.
"Theirs"? Really? I mean, not even done on purpose: THERE'S / THERE IS
I"ve heard it said that that one lady editor is the one responsible for MOST of the modern day classics, and without her they would have ended up total garbage. Theirs of course going to be a lot of subjective criticism on what are terrible movies and good ones.
@@waverlyking6045 GOM wasn't that bad, I think Children of the Damned was worst.
EFLA was horribad, they should have left it alone.
Everyone has a bad Carpenter movie, mine is LA due to so much expectations, FX were so bad that it made me cringe. FX house went broke during filming but still, we have what we see on screen.
I was no fan of Memoirs of an invisible man either, it just felt like a lifeless film to me.
I am sorry, how the hell can anyone dismiss Altman ?
Not me - Altman was brilliant.
Right thank you lost respect for carpenter
I like some of Carpenter's films but he's way off the mark on Altman. Carpenter is very workmanlike, his films carry you efficiently from one finely crafted horror or action set-piece to the next and there are rarely any wasted scenes, but Altman was more about capturing the rhythms of real life in his films. There are weird awkward moments and scenes linger on for too long but that was the whole point, and he had a very loose style that allowed his actors great freedom to work. Carpenter gave this interview in 1979 so I would be curious to know what his opinions on some of Altman's later films like Short Cuts and The Player are.
@@silversnail1413 Well said. I'd also like to add that Carpenter has had way more misses in his careers than hits. He has made about four great films and about 20 crappy ones.
Altman is one of unsung heroes to me. Along with Ken Russell. Both had tremendously audacious vision and had shown no fear in how they approached movies. Altman was one rare people to slag off Titanic, ballsy but prophetic statement (Titanic isn't crap, but is rather overrated melodrama).
Close Encounters is my favourite movie from my teenage years.
You gotta respect a man who isn't afraid to speak his mind ... even though his attitude is probably why it became harder for him to find funding for his movies as he got older. Especially if they were box office flops.
On the other hand, Speilberg always appeared to be a Team Player (at least in public) ... so financial duds like "Hook" and "Always" didn't slow him down.
Spielberg has long struck me as a sincere, humane, and socially responsible person. I think he genuinely likes people and humanity in general, and offers his movies to the public in a spirit of good will. His social adroitness surely has served him well in his ongoing career.
Wait Hook was financial dud?
It made 300 million & 50 million profit for the studio.
@@barrymoore4470 This is the same man who made JAWS.
I'm just going to leave this here.
His last theatrical movie was released in 2001. That is a long dry spell!
I certainly wouldn't blame Carpenter for Universal pushing The Thing away initially for another Spielberg movie a few years down the line. I think ET still leaves a bad taste in Carpenter's mouth 40 years later. Between all the bad treatment he got from Hollywood, I totally understand him going into retirement from filmmaking and doing what he loves for his latter years.
ET had no effect on The Thing. Poltergeist did. They were all released the same month. Poltergeist was the horror movie of that summer, everyone went to see it over and over again. ET was for kiddies and their parents. Poltergeist was the choice you had if you wanted to see a horror film. The Thing felt like Alien rehash (it still does, even though it's Carpenter's best movie) (although that's not saying much). Even after seeing it for the first time, I didn't love it, it took repeated viewings. I watch reaction videos for that movie all the time: some think it's the best thing ever, some don't. (as opposed to, say, Alien, which ALWAYS is appreciated). (Ditto Close Encounters, ironically!). "The Thing" found it's audience immediately on late night cable.
@@TTM9691 the Thing > Alien imo
@@mrskinszszs Sorry Kolby, I don't speak gibberish, lol. What are you trying to communicate to me? The Thing is greater than Alien in your opinion? That may be, but Alien came first. And that's one reason why The Thing tanked. It felt like Alien, a movie we had just seen. I love both movies. I find way more flaws in The Thing.
@@TTM9691 the thing is flawed?? Lol Carpenters The Thing is the Mona Lisa of sci fi horror films. Way better than Alien. Alien has dated somewhat where as the Thing has aged like fine wine.
@@TTM9691 it's not gibberish, its called English. You see the ">" ? That means greater than, so yes. If you're gonna be cunty over grammar, try it on something more valid; not something even a middle schooler can understand. I don't care if Alien came first, The Thing is a better movie imo.
I love this man.
I read the book before I watched the movie and loved it
I dont think it's terrible to have strong opinions and I love John Carpenter but I really hope I never end up being this bitter lol
Correct, i thought he became bitter only when he became old, but now a see he was like these all the time.
Carpenter has a right to be a little bitter. Studios fucked him over constantly
I like ..Close Encounters.. but I love Spielberg's first film even more... The Sugarland Express. No one ever talks about it.. not even Spielberg.
His first feature was Duel and his first short film was Amblin
@@brown22sugar25 Duel.. was originally a TV movie. Not considered his first feature film. Love.. Duel!
@@kencarlson3545 yes it IS a feature film, it was shot on film, just not released in cinemas.
@@dankeplace Duel actually was exhibited in cinemas in the European market.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a masterpiece but in Carpenter's defense it was written backwards, the climatic Devil Tower scene was thought up first with Spielberg trying to create a story before that to get to that scene, so some of this shows.
I like hearing other directors who don't agree with what everyone else thinks
Totally agree about Close Encounters. I'm not a huge Carpenter fan (and I've seen all of his feature-length movies except for Elvis, Village of the Damned, and The Ward) but it's nice to hear his honest thoughts on other directors' work, especially since now a lot of people would be afraid to speak negatively about someone else's movies. I remember seeing an interview of James Cameron where he was asked what he thought about The Force Awakens, and it was so clear that he didn't like it but he couldn't just say it (not that I blame the guy).
"Close Encounters" is the best thing Spielberg has ever done, and I'm not a Spielberg fan. Seeing that in the theater was unlike any other experience I've ever had, people were in a freaking daze as if they themselves had gotten off the mothership.
@@TTM9691 I haven't seen that many of Spielberg's movies. I saw Jurassic Park when I was very young, and for nostalgia alone I think that will always be my favorite. But I think Jaws might be objectively the best. The main reason I didn't like Close Encounters of the Third Kind is I just thought the main character was annoying. I couldn't get behind him after he abandons his family and responsibilities, even if it's to look at UFOs. I'm sure you're right that it's better viewed in a theater. And maybe the theatrical cut is better. I saw the director's cut.
@@fyodordostoevsky9028 The Director's Cut and the theatrical cut are practically the same. I have no use for dummies who make "Close Encounters" about him abandoning his family. That is THE best thing about the movie: that's what EVERYONE WAS DOING in the late 70s. It is a TIME CAPSULE of the family unit during that time, more than ANY movie of the 70s. That element of realism - that little Cassavettes movie that's going on in the middle of this big sci-fi film - is the best thing about it. Take your thumb out of your mouth. Jurassic Park? Grow up. I couldn't believe how atrocious that movie was when I saw it in the theater. I look at that Close Encounters, I see every family of the 70s and 80s. By the 1980s, ALL of these families would be divorced and, in lots of cases, remarried. EVERYONE'S father was ditching their family. To compare, watch "Poltergeist", which is another snapshot of the American family unit, except now it's the new "Reaganites". That's the whole subtext of "Poltergeist", and that's the whole subtext of " Close Encounters". When I meet diaper-people who want this cookie-cutter bulls**t in every movie you see, as if these characters are supposed to be Jesus, I want to puke. Get some taste. NOBODY felt that way in the 70s. You only started hearing crap like that after Spielberg made a chance comment in an interview about how he could never make that ending today now that he has kids. (He also goes on to say it's the movie he'd keep above all others for his legacy. Which is obvious to anybody with a brain.) You also only started hearing that when movies got so insipid and dopey and every characters is as shallow and as one-dimensional as you could possibly get. (ie: Jurrasic Park) The world is more than just good guy/bad guy bulls**t. And we're talking about this in relation to dopey John Carpenter? You need a lot of help and rehabilitation, kid. It's great you have your screenname after Dostoevsky; obviously you don't have such sophisticated taste when it comes to movies.
@@TTM9691 In my defense, my favorite movie is Blade Runner, which I think most people today would agree is a better sci-fi movie. It's influence more movies that came after and it's thematically more rich. Also, I don't need movie protagonists to be good people. I also like Taxi Driver and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Travis Bickle and Randle McMurphy aren't exactly decent role models.
@GJ We'll put that on the who-gives-a-shit channel, GJ. I'm responding to this little boy's comments, not yours, so.....insert your finger back into your nostril and shuffle back to mommy, she'll talk to you in one-syllable words and everything will be all right, I promise.
He knows what he likes, and he explains why. So I've got no problem with it. But he's missing out on some great non narrative movies.
No filmmaker on Earth bats a thousand, including Carpenter.
Interesting that he bigs-up American Graffiti instead of Star Wars, when talking about Lucas (from the '78 set of Halloween, I think?).
While I think Carpenter had a hot take regarding Close encounters, I do agree in general about Altman.
That being said, The long goodbye is one of my favorite films from the 70's and a brilliant adaptation of the book. It's my favorite of his films.
If I’m not mistaken the long goodbye is nothing like the book.
@@randywhite3947 It is, only Marlowe is transported to the 70's.
There’s some resistance and almost school yard-type bitterness that I’ve always detected from Carpenter about his contemporaries. I take his opinions on them with a huge grain of salt. Carpenter tends to define himself, and his maverick attitude in terms of what he says he doesn’t like (most things). It’s part of his charm, and that spirit makes some of his films more endearing. In his shoes it’s probably comfortable to nitpick Spielberg given his unparalleled success at the time, and mostly since. While Carpenter has mostly got by making mostly good cult films that barely break even. You have to read a teeny bit of resentment in his attitude I think. Although at the same time, it is also combined with a personal taste for a more old fashioned aesthetic. Exemplified by his taste for Altman, who wasn’t making huge blockbusters, but had arthouse critical acceptance at the time that JC wouldn’t get until much later, and which he probably found pretentious and “fancy pants”. Personal I think McCabe and Mrs. Miller is one of the greatest films of the 70s. And calling Close Encounters “pretentious” is ridiculous. That film and ET both have an obvious influence on Starman, though he’d die before admitting it.
Starman was written before ET, ET got made first. Also the humans in starman wanted to kill and dissect him. The humans in close encounters wanted a chat.
@@Primenumber19 Starman may have been written before, but it was undoubtedly green-lit because of E.T.'s success.
Agree 100%.
I enjoy Carpenter and his movies, but Close Encounters is a masterpiece that may have just been seen as needless spectacle at the time. Same with Star Wars, which -- although on the surface is popcorn fluff -- is far deeper than what the average casual moviegoer was able to discern in the late '70s.
@@starwarsunfiltered7848 wrong, it was shelved because of ET. They waited years to make it to get distance and that wasn’t enough.
I would suggest that STARMAN was largely influenced by THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, not E.T.
If you know anything about Carpenter, you'll understand this. The man grew up on 1950s sci-fi movies.
STARMAN concerns a man trying to fit in with human society.
E.T. was an excuse to sell Hersey's chocolate and toys by FAO Schwarz.
STARMAN stands up to repeated viewings. Tell me if you've watched E.T. this century.
A new filmmaker saying they only "like" Jaws would seem like jealous back handed compliments if that filmmaker hadn't just made Halloween.
I love CE and John.
Spielberg has held, to date, that CE3K was the most difficult of his films to edit -- in particular, the final 40 minutes. The man exercised precise control over the picture; in particular, the resolution sought by both Neary and the viewers in the context of "I just want to know that it's really happening." John Williams echoes this resolution -- the 'music' near the start of the picture is discordant -- it resolves itself in the conclusion with a grand celebration of variations on the five-note-theme resting squarely on melody. CE3K exists in a genre outside of that which Carpenter's film making has been expressed.
CE3K is my favourite film of all time. It is not just an epic, but represents a deep yearning of all Mankind, to not be alone in a hostile Universe, to make a connection with other intelligence beyond the stars.
Carpenter is a master of the horror and pulpy scifi genres, but honestly, nothing he has done comes close to touching the majesty of the vision and execution of CE3K.
Oh come off it. It's out of control pop garbage like all of Spielberg's work.
Talk about a hot take. 'Close Encounters' is blatantly one of the greatest films ever made.
Carpenter has been known to shit on a lot of films, including his own. While many of us love Dark Star, he loathes it..
Man, who would've thought that a random clip from an interview from 1979 would piss off so many people? LMAO
Some of his criticisms about Close Encounters are valid. While I don't dislike the film, I can't say it's one of Spielberg's that I watch as often as others of his.
I love John Carpenter, and he had probably the greatest run of movies as a director in film history, but I disagree with him about Altman. I think Carpenter is so resistant to anything that’s the least bit arty or pretentious that he misses the innovation and romance in what Altman is doing.
Well, you heard him mention the importance of "control" and Altman allows the film to have its own organic momentum, which probably strikes Carpenter as lazy and unfocused. Carpenter has a pretentious style (Anamorphic, Cinemascope compositions, etc.) but refuses to use it pretentiously; he's dynamic and deliberate, every shot and scene important. Altman would be the antithesis of Carpenter's philosophy in that regard.
I disagreed with a lot of Altman's films in the sense that I didn't see an import to why the film had to be made. I've never liked NASHVILLE, myself.
@@Theomite that's a good way of describing Carpenters work.
im not a big Altman fan either but i really liked The Player.
@@Theomite
Altman is an interesting example of an essentially experimental filmmaker working within the context of the American film industry. The making of the film was a journey of discovery for him, along with his collaborators, and he was open to finding himself in unexpected places at the end of the process. Actors loved working with him for the freedom he gave them in articulating their own characters, respecting them as creative agents in their own right.
His best film was The Thing.Thats about it.
Now now, let's not forget about Big Trouble in Little China
Nope - Starman, Halloween, Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13, They Live, Prince of Darkness even In the Mouth of Madness - all cult classics.
i love john carpenter.
blowshimselfupdude did a great analysis of Carpenter - always low on resources, high on creativity and execution.
Carpenter's right... I always thought Close Encounters was a vastly overrated film. Carpenter's Starman was far superior.
The only Carpenter movie that got an Oscar nominee for best actor.
I don't think John cares for pretentious awards, but for Bridges to be nominated showed Carpenter cared.
He’s not right about Altman
@@dornravlin he is 100% right abt Altman because that is his opinion.
I’m a huge fan of much of Carpenter’s work but half his films are mediocre and lack the authoritarian direction he was talking about… perhaps he was projecting a bit.
@@dankeplace it’s true bad dame does he have to be so An arrogant ass. I’m a filmmaker I know what goes into making a movie getting people together things not going well so to me it’s ok to say I don’t like this guy’s movies but to just dismiss a guys work not every Altman movie is gold but he knocked it out of the park a few times
One of the last modern horror legends left alive - and I couldn't agree with him more. I particularly get annoyed when people fed with too many mainstream films keep acting like Spielberg is the only truly great filmmaker in existence.
Spielberg and Lucas are sell outs, their 1st films were great, only to bow to Hollyweird.
JC just does not give a fk and that's what makes his films good or bad.
Which people are those ya clown? Sounds like you've a Spielberg problem
@@vb8428 14 subs and not content, that clown would be you.
@@dankeplace wow, you got me.
Carpenter made two decent films and FUCK ALL since then. He appended his name to god all shite. Vastle over rated as a director. Name a single sucessfl film he's directed/produced since 1990
I do love seeing somebody actually speak an opinion. It's super popular right now to have nothing really bad to say about anybody else, but that just ensures that everybody will be creating the same thing in turn.
Spielberg is on record saying how unhappy he was with the theatrical version of Close Encounters. I'd only seen the directors cut on TV and liked it very much then saw the theatrical version and yeah its got major problems. spielberg didn't have power at the time to tell the studio suits, "hey this stinks."
I’m not a fan of Close Encounters either. However, Jaws isn’t just good, it’s the greatest movie ever made.
Definitely can't argue
It's mediocre honestly am I brave for saying it?
@@lampad4549 close encounters?
You make me chuckle.
Firstly, there's no such thing as "the greatest movie ever made." You haven't even seen every movie ever made, not even close.
Secondly, JAWS is a dumb film. Really just a stock standard monster movie--yet if you think for yourself for a change, it's obvious that the people, not the shark, are the monsters. That wasn't Spielberg's intention, by the way, yet that's how I see it.
Shark in the water does shark things. People are horrified when the shark eats people. Instead of staying out of water, they hunt the shark, just so millions of filmgoers can cheer for the men and boo the shark. Spielberg has John Williams throw in some heavy-handed (and rather simplistic) music, just in case you need to be reminded that the shark is the evil one.
Stupid.
DARK AGE (which I'm guessing you haven't seen) is far superior. The people who want to kill the crocodile, not the crocodile itself, are portrayed as the real monsters. A few of the characters wish to protect the crocodile, as the creature has significance to the local indigenous population, the crocodile is regarded as sacred. It can be seen as an allegory for traditional culture versus European colonialism.
JAWS has none of that. It's just a bunch of idiots chasing a shark.
Suspenseful? Yes, but the same could be said for a large number of _el cheapo_ slasher flicks. Big name actors and technical prowess are not enough to distract me from the fact that it's a dumb movie.
@@markv1274 no it just is that good
Close Encounters had no purpose??? This movie widenned my eyes when I saw it at only12 yrs old!
3 words for you 70s John Carpenter: Ghosts of Mars.
It's his opinion not yours. Don't get so butthurt. You can still like it.
@@Owen-ub3fv and I just gave my opinion! 🤣😐
I can look at it from his perspective . The ending is a Disney kind of warm and fuzzy nonsense . They even use part of when you wish upon a star . Now look at reality with aliens . I wouldn't call alien anal exams warm and fuzzy . BTW it's odd Jimmy Carter's funding of extraterrestrial "investigation" equals the amount of making Close Encounters of the Third Kind .
Ghosts of Mars Is way More interesting than a guy making a mountain of shit. And I think Ghosts of Mars Is a 4/10 movie.
@@schizofrito Can't disagree with you there! I would watch Ghosts of Mars 10 times rather than watch anybody build a mountain of sh*t!
The Thing is one of the greatest movies ever made.
Assault on precinct 13 is his best film. Soundtrack is brillant also.
It's great that he shared his opinions. He was young, angry and malcontent. I'm sure he would have more appreciation for Altman now with the wisdom of age.
I think they just are on different wavelengths
Gilliam and Carpenter--two directors whose brilliant, politically charged cynicism blinds them to what Spielberg is actually up to in his classics. But the candor is refreshing.
Gilliam still has lingering resentment over turning down Roger Rabbit. I love him, but he’s something of a prick. In psychology parlance, Gilliam has what’s called an external locus of control. He sees all of his struggles as being a result of others conspiring to make it difficult to realize his ambitions, but he’s a challenging person
Gilliam has been senile for over 2 decades. The man is talking out of his ass and Spielberg lives rent free in his head.
Agree, I think it’ll take another couple decades before Spielberg’s esteem stops clouding that judgement. To say that Spielberg didn’t have control over Close Encounters seems like such a misreading. That film gets more personal and beautiful every time you see it. Spielberg is a director who deserves his place. Just a shame he lacks the spirit these days.
@@SC-ew2fc I think Close Encounters is actually Spielberg’s best film in some ways, showing the darker side and the wonder in a striking way he didn’t quite replicate, even with movies where he plumbed into the darkness more.
(Of course I love McCabe & Mrs. Miller, one of Altman’s masterpieces.$
this young man was not to know of ghosts of mars.
He's right about Close Encounters.
Love what he said about Altman. Just a boring pretentious filmmaker. Hated having to watch two of his films in my film studies class.
Whats pretension in directing? THe Player is a fantastic movie. Short Cuts is considered a classic but I admit I only watched it once. MASH is pretty much the OPPOSITE of pretension.
But then everybody says that Barry Lyndon is the height of creative fillmaking, and almost as many agree that it is boring as tap water.
Well I wouldn't be that radical and of course I don't have the inside knowledge, but Carpenter definitely got strong points. I didn't like Nashville or any of the Altman movies (Short Cuts is perhaps the worst of the "connected stories in and around LA" movies). Close Encounters, as much as I like it, is severely lacking in focus and fizzles out at the end, leaving a ton of narrative strands unresolved. What happens to Roy Neary's family? (just for starters).
Ron Neary's family ended up in a homeless shelter located somewhere in New Mexico.
Ron's oldest son joined a drug cartel and is now a paid assassin slash videographer for gore websites.
Sadly his wife fell into drug addiction( heroin/meth) supporting her habit as a truck stop lot lizard & street sex worker.
His middle son came out while still attending high school and was hugely popular with his fellow high school athletes.( tennis & football) He was a porn actor during the late 1990s starring in big budget adult films Close up encounters of the 4th kind & Deep Jaws.
His daughter was abducted by Big foots while camping in Alaska.
She currently cohosts a You Tube podcast celebrating Big Foots achievements throughout history.
The dogs fate is currently unknown.
The goldfish passed peacefully in 1980 and was flushed away.
Barry is still running from his overly possessive & traumatized mom.
@@stephenpmurphy591 needs some cleaning up, but that is a good idea for a screenplay. You need to decide if you want bigfoot as CGI/mo cap, or as a man in an ape suit. And of course if you want the movie rated PG-13 or NC-17.
Short Cuts worse than Magnolia?
@@IJohnSmith we are talking about opinions, not anything that can be scientifically measured. Yes, IMHO worse than Magnolia, Grand Canyon and Crash (2004).
@@IJohnSmith I dunno, I actually like 'Short Cuts' a lot, but it's not a movie I recommend as there's a very specific taste level in how it's made and how it's viewed. I'm also from LA, so it's inside baseball.
Carpenter is very young here. I expect his take on these creative artists he's referenced has changed with his maturity.
Carpenter has his opinions and preferences. They don't match with the general consensus, but that is what makes him a unique filmmaker. I love a number of his films, and there are some I can't stand. Carpenter could have easily done standard films, the same kind of crowd pleasers others were making, and been very successful because he's so learned in the language of film. But he prefers to be honest about who he is as a director.
I don't think Carpenter's ever done a bad film. A few might not be great, but none of them are bad.
Ghosts of Mars?
@@kentallard8852 Ghost of Mars kicks ass. The two leads are not the greatest in it, but it's still a fun movie.
It was not a fun film to make . His mom died during the making and he obviously had budget problems . I still like it . Buckethead worked on the soundtrack was Kool
The Ward, Vampires, Ghosts of Mars, and Village of the Damned were his weakest. But still had good moments. All his other films were brilliant in my opinion. 🙌🏻 An amazing career.
Every time I watch a John Carpenter film I’m always left thinking “ This movie would have been much better in the hands of a more competent director “
Absolutely agree 1000%....and that includes my favorite film of his, "The Thing". Absolutely.
Booooo haha
I've always regarded Carpenter as kind of a hack B movie director.
@@aliensoup2420 Me, too. Look at these hilarious basement-dwellers, they are HILARIOUS. 90% of these doofuses wouldn't know a quality movie if it was straddling their chest, lol. You want to compare Carpenter with....Cronenberg? That is completely apt. Carpenter with Romero? Other horror directors? I won't argue. But ALTMAN? Or Speilberg? Even with my aversion to Spielberg, I would be embarrassed to even compare the two. Compare Spielberg to Lucas, or even Altman (who obviously influenced "Close Encounters" in the best way)....but frickin' John Carpenter?!!!! LOL.
@@TTM9691 As I mentioned in another comment thread, Stanley Kubrick never asked John Carpenter to direct a movie for him (AI).
His instincts are solid. Why did he not rise to the heights of the other movie brats?
he didn't adopt the spectacle
When you make a string of box office bombs like John Carpenter has, you are not going to the top!
One of my favorite film makers of all time. He's one of the few who has always been faithful to his values and vision.
Lol, I mean Carpenter had some really great movies but he had a lot, and I mean a lot of absolute trash and his trash was way, way worse than Spielberg or De Palma's
ABSOLUTELY 100% on the money. And I am no big fan of Spielberg OR De Palma's. (ESPECIALLY De Palma). To be fair, this is an early interview of his. But this is in 1978, right? I'll take "Close Encounters" over ANY film Carpenter ever did, DEFINITELY over "Halloween" which is what I'm assuming he's promoting, and definitely over his next movie, "The Fog" which is laughable!
he made the thing (a fluke) and in the mouth of madness, everything else he's done is utter dogshit, including the overrated garbage that is Halloween
@@TTM9691 He isn’t big upping his own movies over theirs tho. He’s talking about his own view of cinema, whether he thinks he perfected that view in his own films isn’t discussed. Also, the Fog rules.
@@mexicanwarstreets I know he's not. I am, though! lol.