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Night Skies by Gerry Shannon
 Author
says: what if Steven Spielberg made a "Close Encounters" sequel instead
of "War of the Worlds"? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post
do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s).
In 2005,
the Steven Spielberg-directed feature film "Night Skies",
is released in cinemas worldwide. It is the subject of much pre-release
hype, not only for being another big budget sci-fi venture from the famed
director, but a sequel to his earlier 1977 classic, "Close Encounters of the
Third Kind".
"Night Skies struggles to re-capture the spirituality
of Close Encounters" ~ Director Steven SpielbergThe film expands on
the alien mythology at the end of the previous film, opening with a group of
scientists of the same alien race on a space craft observing a farming
family in southern California. Recently widowed Ray Ferrier (played by Tom
Cruise) brings his daughter Rachel (played by Dakota Fanning) to visit his
brother's family on their farm. (The brother is played by Tim Robbins, who
gives a haunting preformance that earned him a Best Supporting Actor
nomination the following year). In the meantime, the aliens dispatch several
of their number to engage with (and ultimately abduct) the family members,
including killing the farm animal stock and generally terrorizing, and
murdering several individuals in the house in their various assaults on the
farmhouse over the course of a single night.
 "Spielberg
was under contract to make a Close Encounters sequel, and brainstormed –
sorry, mind-showered – this family under siege thriller that saw evil aliens
attacking a farm. While Night Skies never got past early writing, it spawned
ET, taken from the idea of one of the aliens befriending the son of the
family" - MSN ArticleThe thrilling conclusion sees Ray venture alone
into the alien spacecraft to rescue Rachel - where he suddenly comes
face-to-face with Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss who briefly reprises
his role from the original. Though Ray is successful in saving Rachel and
escaping to Earth, before father and daughter depart Neary warns that the
alien race intends to return at an undetermined point in the future to mount
a worldwide invasion of Earth.
The film, though financially successful and praised for it's innovative
effects, receives mixed reviews, not the least of which for the depiction of
the aliens from Close Encounters as now cruel and destructive. Spielberg had
originally written the treatment in the late 70s, which then contained an
idea that one of the group of alien scientists would be benevolent and
befriend one of the Ferrier children. This idea would eventually be taken
out of the outline for Night Skies and become Spielberg's hugely successful,
"ET: The Extra Terrestial".
In an interview promoting 2011's "Indiana Jones and the Doomsday Machine",
Spielberg would admit that Night Skies "struggles to re-capture the
spirituality of Close Encounters".
Author
says to view guest historian's comments please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site where this thread continues.
A Selection of Other Contemporary
Stories
Gerry Shannon, Guest Historian of
Today in Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In
History That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
Facebook, Myspace and
Twitter.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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