CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND: THE ULTIMATE VISUAL HISTORY

released OUT NOW! 192 pages | Hardback Author Michael Klastorin Publisher Titan Books

Forty years on, Steven Spielberg’s fable of first contact earns a meticulously researched, exhaustively illustrated behind-the-scenes book.

Drawing on fresh interviews with key players, Michael Klastorin dissects the movie’s journey from inspiration – Spielberg remembers gazing up at the Perseids as a suburbiabound kid – to celluloid. We learn of some intriguing slipstream realities along the way: Steve McQueen was first choice for the lead, while Spielberg toyed with the idea of staging the film’s awe-drenched climax between two fast food restaurants (would you like some Greys with that?).

The visual material delivers everything from rare on-set photos to pre-production art. A primal take on the alien mothership is an abstract collection of smudges; initial sketches of a long-armed alien visitor look positively demonic. There are loose-leaf pieces of ephemera throughout – telegrams, set plans, transcripts. Frustratingly there’s no index for these treasures. But that’s a minor quibble. If you’ve never spotted R2-D2 hitching a ride on the mothership, turn to page 155 and your life will be complete. Nick Setchfield