Devils Tower From Close Encounters of the Third Kind

DEVILS TOWER FROM CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

In the 1977 Steven Spielberg classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the character Roy Neary, played by Richard Dreyfuss, builds a model of Devils Tower in his living room. With this proposal for a new Ideas set, maybe you can too! This display piece recreates the iconic climax of the film, when the giant alien mothership arrives at Devils Tower in Wyoming.

Both the mountain and the mothership are done in micro-scale. To create the hexagonal columns that give the mountain its famous look, I used sideways plates offset by half a stud. Some details on the mountain include the landing zone, featuring the light board the government uses to communicate with the aliens, and the decontamination center which Roy and Jillian escape from. I also included the helicopter which releases sleeping gas to stop Roy and Jillian, and four of the smaller alien spaceships that precede the arrival of the mothership.

The model measures approximately 13.9 inches wide, by 14.8 inches long, by 15 inches tall.

I've included some of the characters from the film as potential minifigures. They are:

Almost 50 years after its release, Close Encounters is still regarded as one of the best science fiction movies ever made. It was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and was an enormous box office hit. I hope this model captures some of the beauty and majesty of this timeless classic, which for so many years has made people look up at the stars in wonder.