This movie is based on actual events and presents the story from the point of view of 6 people who actually believe they had a close encounter. There are some scenes that show the witnesses memory of the actual alien encounter complete with a spaceship and other trappings of an alien encounter.James Garner plays the no-nonsense disbelieving CIB agent sent to investigate. Seemed like a pretty typical performance for him.The actors who played the 5 guys left behind are convincing portraying men who are at times terrified, confused, angry, and outcast. D.B. Sweeny had to play both terror and near catatonia which was fine. To me the story lacks anything outstanding. The movie is OK, but not great.

I came across this movie on several top lists while on the hunt for some good alien abduction/horror movies and with a fair bunch of likable actors I decided to give it a shot.While it might not contain some of the classic "pillow in your face" scary moments there are certainly parts that are somewhat unsettling and eerie.With some solid acting and decent special effects this movie still holds up very well for being more than 20 years old by now and I thoroughly enjoyed it.If you are a fan of alien abduction/mystery movies I would sincerely recommend watching this movie.

A group of loggers encounter a UFO, and Travis Walton (D.B. Sweeney) is taken. When they tell the authorities, nobody could find any evidence. Soon the police and the public suspect foul play. These friends find themselves isolated and accused of Travis' murder.This is obviously made from the views of the the loggers. Right from the start, there isn't any question if they met a UFO. That's probably the big problem. I'm not dismissing their claim. As a movie, it would help with the suspense if that question remain outstanding for most of the movie. That way they could climax when they answer the question.The acting is very solid. Robert Patrick is as solid as they come. In addition, they have Craig Sheffer, Peter Berg, Henry Thomas, and D.B. Sweeney. All of them have great skills.The movie would be so much better to leave the UFO question unanswered until the climax. As such, it's a missed opportunity.

I must have gone thru Netflix sci-fi section for tens of times and never really finding anything worthwhile to watch. I've either seen them all or the rest just don't light a spark. I've looked at this title for many many times without even thinking of watching it, I've never heard of it and the cover looked a tad cheap.Yesterday I noticed it's got a pretty nice cast, big names in it and I'm quite fond of 90's flicks at the moment.. why not give it a go. I was dragged into it quite quick, very interesting, well made beginning. The movie went on and I was totally hooked and I found myself thinking "why haven't I heard of this movie before". I know movies, it's not often I run into an older movie that has somehow slipped my eye and still be worth looking at, but this is one of those. This really is.The movie has an interesting story, it's very (and I mean very) well acted and the direction is on par with many bigger name directors. I don't know why this guy doesn't have more movies under his resume. He seems to have been quite active on TV tho. I've never been that big a fan of Robert Patrick, but he is great in this movie. Great performance, I must say I look at this man in a completely different light from now on. DB Sweeney on the other hand was miscast in my opinion. Not that he doesn't do a good job, but he's a bit of a comedian in my eyes and a bit of a goofy one at it. In some dramatic scenes he looked a bit funny twisting his face, even tho he did quite a good job most of the time.I'm not quite sure if this movie was ever even released in Finland when it was new, it may be that it was completely overlooked. The story is something that might not appeal to a big audience tho, it's quite a lot on the drama side and the characters are 70s "regular people", not Fox Mulders or Men in Black. Anyway, despite the movie being mostly character driven drama, it's got one of the most striking alien scenes I've seen on screen, I was genuinely horrified and really not expecting anything like it. It was a bold choice from the writers and director to combine such strong drama to a more - how should I say it - mainstream appealing scene. It's a weird combo, but works like a charm here.Don't miss this.