The lighting, blocking, sound, sound mixing, editing, acting, and writing in this scene are basically as good as it ever gets. It's simply one of the most well directed scenes of all time. It's stunning.
Speilberg directed, Michael Khan edited and Vilmos Zsigmond photographed it. Zsigmond was responsible some other very visually rich movies. Heavens Gate, The Deer Hunter, Blow Out, Deliverance, notice how he shoots almost everything from 25-45 degree angles giving the image a lot of perception depth.
My father was a heavy transport pilot in the Navy during WWII, and a commercial airline captain into the early 80s. He was not a man prone to exaggeration or emotional extreme, but I watched him watch this scene when this movie was in the theater, and he was on the edge of his seat. He later said it was the most accurately portrayed aviation related scene he’d ever seen in film.
I love the long pause of the pilots when they're first asked to report. You can picture them in the cockpit looking at each other contemplating their careers.
@@robynperdieu3434 Thanks. I was out there last year and took the pic. Then I got notified that COVID was closing everything down and had to drive all the way back to Chicago.
@@robynperdieu3434 Nothing surreal, other than how unbelievably quiet it was. I was lucky enough to be able to walk the path all the way around. It was beautiful, and since it was winter, not too many people. Also, the day before, I pretty much had The Badlands to myself, lol.
@@Muckylittleme Spielberg originally had actors for this, but then found actual air traffic controllers worked better. Those guys are the real thing. Amazing.
@@johnnycats5157 Yeah? Well it really worked and all the opening scenes set the mood of wonder and trepidation perfectly. I can't watch the majority modern mainstream movies, just the odd unexpected gem.
@@lpb3731 It's the tension of the scene and sets the tone for the film. They were real Air traffic controllers too. The pilots probably didn't want to file a UFO report due to any ridicule or disbelief from the authorities that they could have faced.
@@lexie5973Wouldn’t be surprising to me if these incidents happen often. Hopefully the recent UFO hearing at Capitol Hill will pave the way/provide the necessary and right reporting system for commercial and military pilots to report UFOs and remove any scrutiny or stigma.
There's a scene in NORAD in the episode "Condition Red" of the 1960s TV series The Invaders which is similar to this. I'm sure young Spielberg was inspired by it 😅
@GaryGuevara Really? You've seen EVERY movie ever made before Spielberg? Um, try Robert Altman, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Joseph von Sternberg, Ernst Lubitsch...
that's why I love Quentin Tarrantino so much. DO you realize Vincent Vega went to the toilet 3 times. Once is Jack Rabbit slims, once in Butch's apartment and once at the Diner.
That is why I love Tarratino films. Do you realize in Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega went to the toilet 3 times, once in Butch's apartment, once in the diner and once at Jack Rabbit Slims. You won't see Dominique Toretta taking a shit.
FYI: "Spielberg wanted the air traffic controllers’ dialogue to sound as authentic as possible, so he cast real air traffic controllers - David Anderson, Richard L. Hawkins, Craig Shreeve, and Bill Thurman from Los Angeles ARTCC in Palmdale - to play them."
This scene plays like a radio play. Allowing the audiences own imagination to create the images. The overwhelming feeling during this scene is "MY GOD!! WHAT are they seeing?" It completely hooks you for the rest of the film. After this scene Steven OWNED me.
This entire scene is brilliant, but the moment of Spielberg genius that always gets me is when we hear the whoosh of the UFO passing the plane. Shivers.
@@jeshkam Well you get to "hear" the UFO's as they fly by the plane. The pilot says "Ultra bright and exhibiting non ballistic motion".. Your brain goes.."omg they're hovering" I love this scene.
What makes this brilliant is the attention to detail, both technical and behavioral. They would never portray a scene like this today. It would be dumbed down and full of crappy cgi instead of it being a theater of the mind type scene.
That's because the people have been dumbed down to now mostly responding only to overloaded visual and sound effects in movies instead of compelling stories and simple tension scenes.
@@smaze1782 Per the IMDB trivia page, these were real air traffic controllers brought in for the film. The way they speak and know the language so naturally really lends to the realism of this scene.
This scene always gives me chills.. especially after the controller said "continue to send at your discretion, over"... things are getting serious! Also, how all of the other controllers are getting pulled into the action that is unfolding is perfect. Really jacks up the tension. Nothing exploding, no chases.. just great dialog and perfect pacing.
Indeed. I can't think of any modern director who could come anywhere close, they don't know how, not helped by studios that think CGI which looks like a unicorn has vomited a rainbow is compulsory in order for any film to be a commercial success. I've been acquiring older movies on DVD/BR when I can, before they disappear enirely for whatever reason, so many movies from the 80s and earlier in the same category (managed to bag a bunch on Laserdisc aswell). Close Encounters focuses on that which matters the most, ie. telling a good story. It's not just the director of course, also the writing, director of photography, musical score, etc., though in the latter aspect the team was smart enough to realise this scene needed no music at all. I also like the more realistic overlapping dialogue, something rarely done in most movies. Even the simple camera angle choice of allowing us to see the controllers' faces reflected off the screen while we can also see the radar markers is genius, something which of course wouldn't work with a modern flat panel display.
To this day, this one scene gives me goosebumps and makes me tear up. Brilliant, dramatic, and spectacular.... With no special effects.... just dialogue and editing.
Well, not to mention, the absence of music is stark and chilling, and also the fact that we only hear descriptions as to what those crew members are seeing, is so eerie, dramatic and makes for a brilliant scene.
@@MVR326That's the magic of Spielberg. He leaves it to your imagination to create the scene in your mind. Plus, sometimes not seeing what's going on makes it all the scarier.
This scene is beyond directing… it’s pure art in every sense of the word. The fact that they threw in an actual airline (TW517), adds to it. To this day I still get goosebumps. Utter brilliance.
Not to mention, the fact that we don't see what the crews are seeing, we only hear their descriptions makes it even more stark and chilling, and the lack of music is powerful, except for the scene opens we hear a menacing and ominous chord as though to establish the mood. . I used to work for TWA by the way ;)
“Traffic is quite luminous and is exhibiting some non-ballistic motion”. The fear in the controllers eyes. They know what that means. The best of Spielberg.
Sounds like “non-ballistic motion”. Never heard of anomalistic. The word would be anomalous. But what is non-ballistic? Ballistic motion is that which is pulled by gravity alone and experiencing zero-g; like a thrown object. I think “non-ballistic motion” would be a vehicle experiencing g forces. An airplane in level flight is non-ballistic…it’s at 1 G. I don’t think a pilot would describe an unidentified aircraft as “non-ballistic”. That’s a term for physicists, maybe. A little technobabble in the movie. It sounded pretty good, though. A pilot would say “That thing’s pulling some hard G’s,” or something similar. This movie scared me quite a lot, at first, when I saw it as a kid. It was COOL! 😬😄
Yep, a regular jet or aircraft has built in features to prevent "non ballistic" motion while in flight. As that type of motion can damage an aircraft airframe. But to see a craft coming straight at them exhibiting non ballistic motion at very high speeds had to have been a mind blowing sight to the pilots of Air East 31.
The reaction of the other controllers when the collision alert sounds, is something you are born with, not taught in film school. That is what makes Speilberg a master.
I keep forgetting how brilliant this scene is. A masterwork of suspense with no score, use of non-actors, static shots and not a single special effect. Pound for pound maybe the best 3.5 minutes Spielberg ever directed.
I completely agree. The direction for the voice actors for the pilot's is superb. The weary inflection of their voices when asked if they want to report is such a powerful touch. Those voices communicated so clearly to me that they were scared, couldn't process what they had encountered, and they were not going to officially report and damage their careers.
The inter connecting conversations in this scene are magnificent. You always hear the relevant dialogue louder than the other but still hear what the other party is saying. It's so realistic. The sound editing , mixing and superb acting, and pacing. This film is a masterpiece.
I watch this movie at least once a year, and I love this scene. This comment section tells me I’m not alone. I really enjoy reading what other fans have posted about this clip!
Peak Spielberg tension building. The way controllers start to approach the desk one-by-one as tension builds, and then the dialogue all stepping on each other, feels so real! Without any special effects, in your mind you have a crystal view of the strangeness of the pilots encounter. More like this please!
All the upcoming 'Mother Ship' footage, the five notes, the red whoosh, climbing the tower, and this is STILL the best scene in the film. Nothing is shown, things are implied only, and it's as tense as a cable about to snap. Tremendous.
The scene at the dinner table when his eldest son starts sobbing is great too. I love the whole Mexico dust storm opening too. I’ll be honest, this movie probably has one the most astonishingly well directed first 15 mins ever made.
@@andywilliams8540 not unlike the first 30 minutes of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, Moments of absolute masterclass filmmaking. I wish he'd get back to this type thing.
There’s a nice bit on The Bearded Trio site that discusses this scene, one of the most tight/taut/perfect in all of film, IMO. Turns out it was the very first scene shot, before CE3K was greenlighted; filmed in the last three days of 1975 because Columbia needed some stuff “in the can” from calendar year ‘75 in order to qualify for tax-shelter monies. David Anderson is the name of the principal air traffic controller “Harry,” tho’ Morgan Freeman is many folks’ (entirely reasonable) guess. Truly a fantastic scene, in every respect.
Great scene...I don't think most filmgoers are thinking about the audio mix, but the use of overlapping dialogue here, where you can follow several conversations at once, is brilliant...
This scene actually happened to me some months after the movie was out. I was an Air Traffic Controller at ABQ ARTCC and was working high-altitude West of El Paso with a Westbound at FL350 headed for LAX that had just checked on freq. The pilot said there was a bright object changing colors headed right for his windshield. I had no other traffic other that two Eastbounds at FL330 but they were to the West about 150 miles. I told the pilot “deviation right or left of course approved as necessary.” They turned right 45 degrees. The Pilot said the object was still on an intercept with their aircraft. A few minutes later the pilot said the object suddenly disappeared. “Rodger, turn left heading 270 degrees direct TNP when able.” One of the Eastbounds had been switched to my freq and apparently heard some of the conversation and had asked the Westbound if they were having a Close Encounter.. No reply…
In the Air Force, I was a meteorologist, working in the control tower. One of my good friends was at Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan, and saw ... something ... moving and changing directions and speeds impossibly fast. He confirmed this with that area's ARTCC. All hell broke loose, and he was convinced that what he saw didn't happen. As he still wanted to be a controller, he agreed. Fully five years later, as he told me this story, he said he will never see another UFO, even if one lands on his driveway.
Yes, they were real controllers (at ZLA I believe). This is so well done. Not over acted, this is very much natural and how it would go. Former ARTCC here
@@drep-hr8er A little jealous aren’t we? I bet you wish you were one but you couldn’t be one or pass the test. Yes there are women pilots. Even in the Air Force, fighter jet pilots. So suck it
Showing ATC Personelle at their Radar Monitors during mundane flight operations, then interjecting an unknown object with Flight Crews along with ATC Operating Staff trying to make sense of it all; Brilliant! Then it makes some of the Audience Members wonder: How Often do Incidents like the one in the Movie happen and if those involved can maintain their cool like those depicted in this movie.
Not that often in North America or Europe. When situations do arise, focus on the job and stay calm. Not to worry... Just like in this scene, supervisors will be heading to your station to monitor and advise.
I remember seeing this movie in the theater as a kid. I was enthralled. This scene, though we never see any of the action depicted, is one of the most exciting scenes in film history.
DJdefcon4 totally agree. Luv this scene! Very intense, keeps the peddle to the metal. Beautiful direction and Actor David Anderson is all over it, focused, intense, smooth, calm and humane all at the same time brings what I can only imagine is a realistic situation in the Traffic Control Room.
@@johnnycats5157 that’s actually really cool and I never knew that. I just guessed he had a capable liaison on the set. They did a hell of a job without being actors.
The power comes from the Gothic approach. We have a group of men staring at a screen, with all the tension occurring out of sight - so our minds fill in all the missing detail to elevate the scene..... absolute classic story telling.
maybe not sacked directly, but the fact that they reported a UFO, even in the general sense of an unidentified flying object, would hang over them for the rest of their career even the rest of their lives. Even if the incident was later found to have an earthly explanation, it would have an impact on their career advancement
that's the thing, an UFO is an UFO, you report it, could be anyone, anything. This happens IRL. and as long people will say " i don't know what I saw" there will be forever that huge alien thing. " Yes I report an UFO. sned in some jets to control or intercept whatever is this shit."
Good observation. I always wondered why they wouldn't say anything. This makes total sense. You see something remarkable like this, and officials think you are full of shit...
Exactly- one of the pilots says- "we don't want to report one of those either" Neither pilot wants to even mention the phrase UFO - The pilots know they'll be ridiculed if they make a report- maybe even grounded.
As an airline employee, I have jump seated on many DC-10s, 747, L-1011s and A310s, and have listened to the ATC 'chat'. I have also seen a few 'anomalies' which I have never reported, but can only imagine what these pilots are seeing in disbelief !
You can picture the pilots in the cockpit just looking at each other after being asked if they want to report, and realizing what would happen to their careers if they did.
My favorite scene in this wonderful film. I love when Spielberg gives the “authorities “ a sense of intelligence and not portray them as idiots. Very powerful scene.
The tension in this scene is palpable. As a child I knew something terrifying and intense was occurring without understanding all the jargon. I would be interested to know how often this actually occurs and is never reported by the parties involved.
One of the most realistic scenes of this fine movie. This ATC is highly convincing. His troubleshoot lines of text appear to be very good. Excellent actually.
The acting and the intensity is great! It’s like your not watching a movie but in a control tower watching this unfold in real life. A beautiful piece of cinema.
It’s actually in an Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) which is different from a control tower that you see at airports. ARTCC’s are responsible for large sectors of airspace unlike an airport control tower that controls the airspace in a small radius around the airport.
This scene is so real! I was 11 in 77 when this came out and this scene knocked my socks off. What a hook. Always thought that was Morgan Freeman, sounds just like him.
Goosebumps when the conflict occurs, and the atc leans in and goes to work, with all the chatter around him, he is on point.... all building to the relief you hear in the pilots vox as the object passes by. Perfect.
In my opinion, this is one of the finest movie scenes ever filmed. I think this, along with earth coordinates being discovered in the glass lorry, are the best in the movie.
@@PlayerFalcon4- it’s when the French translator realises the message being received from the aliens is actually coordinates on earth and not a place on in space. They fetch a globe from an office and find out it’s in Wyoming.
Black guy witnessing an earth changing event yet he's staying totally professional and in charge. This is the best understanded moment of a monumental film.
My favorite scene in the movie. I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind when it was in theaters. I was 16 years old. It was so well-directed and so realistic. Before it came out, I had a map in my bedroom with pins for every UFO encounter that had occurred as well as pins for the disappearances that had occurred around the world. I was an original nerd. I used to whistle the 5 note tune in high school after seeing the movie. Movies like CE3K will never come again. Directors like Spielberg will never come again. The dumbing down of our minds in America will soon eradicate all we knew from that time.
This is brilliant filmmaking. They easily could have cut to the POV of the pilots at any point, but the decision to keep everything isolated in the ATC Tower (and let the audience's imagination fill in the blanks) makes this so much scarier and more memorable.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a masterpiece. The single greatest Extra-Terrestrial Encounter ever put to film. This scene especially, is one of those moments that will always be one of the best ever done in film history. As fantastic as all of the rest of this wonderful movie is, this scene stands out as simply brilliant. CE3K is for me, Steven Spielberg's best movie he ever made, period.
Phenomenal writing, acting, directing, and editing. It also teaches me to have a lot of respect for air traffic controllers and pilots, who have to keep track of complex and unexpected situations in three dimensions while keeping a clear line of communication operating at all times.
Love the whole film, but this part of it is exceptional. I'm sure any other director would have had it cut between the AT perspective and the pilot's, having this scene filmed with just the ATC perspective makes it so much more dramatic. My other favorite scene is when Roy is lost in his truck and the UFO flies over, again exceptional!
This scene still gives me goose bumps after all these years. I saw this movie with my wife in a theater the first time. While leaving after the film I looked up at the starry sky. Glancing around I noticed others doing the same thing. Powerful effect.
only 24 cuts in the 3:26 scene. Freaking brilliant, all of it is in your head. One of the all time best written and photographed scenes in all of cinema
This is what you call acting, no dramatic camera movements, sound cues or close ups of the face. this is genius how they make everything so realistic. All round great opening to a movie. I also heard that the chatter is spot on to what you would normaly hear in ATC
3:14: Wow, I've watched this film many times but I've never considered the shot composition and the lighting in this shot! Looks like a classic work of art. The black guy in the middle, the guy with the glasses to the left with his face washed in light, the white-haired guy op top with the light coming up, embracing the black guy's shoulder. Classy! :D Renaissance period? ;)
I was at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood the day after the film came out. It was a sold-out show. When this scene came on, the audience was riveted. I didn't even realize it at the time but I, and probably half the audience, were holding our breaths. When the Air East pilot said, "That was really close," there was such an exhalation of people holding their breaths and nervous laughter, I've never forgotten that moment.
Only an expert movie maker could make this scene so riveting and entertaining. Bravo. It is my favorite scene from "Close Encounters". NoSx. No car chase. No swearing. Not one frame was wasted. The close-ups and pan outs were done with skill and perfection. The talking over each other was astoundingly perfect. The joining of each of these men around the main controller was perfect.
An anecdote from my family living in Denmark in the seventies maybe 1975: my mother, two aunts, grand father and grand mother experienced a craft about 30 meters in diameter (unknown height) moving across country silently. My grand father chased it on foot (visually conformed as a solid object). My mother said it had orange, red, etc. lights surrounding the craft in a saucer shape configuration. I tell you this, it changed the outlook of my family forever and it stands as a certain fact. The universe is roughly 14 billion years so....
@@elliotthebrave7296 It's not a rough estimate, it's a wild guess. If it was silent it could be a shiny toy balloon six feet above observer's heads, that happens a lot. Not even pro observers can accurately estimate sizes & speeds of objects against a sky background. e.g. Starlink satellites two hundred miles up are mistaken for much closer UFOs every day of the week.
It was not a baloon. I was told it had lights moving around the center of a saucer like shape with bright lights in multiple colors. It was not a small object and people were shocked. You were not there so be carefull with pseudo explanations. Size and distance are indeed relative, but they all agreed that it was not from Earth (man made). Now don't give me that it was a classified project or Chinese in origin. The universe is much more than you can ever imagine or comprehend.
@@elliotthebrave7296 You were not there either Sir & your bar for evidence is set very, very low. For example, you believe from a book written years after the 'event', that a tortured & crucified Jewish activist rose from the dead & walked the Earth before ascending into Heaven. You don't know how to assess evidence. In 2010, the worldwide number of camera phones totalled more than a billion devices - that's 1,000,000,000 & yet there's not one convincing real image of a UFO today. Use your brain.
Another Spielberg staple. He, like Oliver Stone, is always great at believable supporting characters. Everyone in this scene is an "everyman", who arent well known actors.
As a career pilot I can tell you that this is one of the best, most realistic and believable scenes in cinema history. It turns out that this scene was actually shot in the last few days of 1975 for tax reasons before the movie was officially green-lit because Columbia Pictures realized that in order to qualify for certain tax shelters they would need to shoot at least one scene before the new year (1976). This scene, which was supposed to be the last scene of the movie but was moved to beginning. It was shot at the real Palmdale, CA center using local actors. The scene is perfect and the actors are spot on (They even sound like controllers). I like the camera angles too.
A lesser director would have shot scenes in the aircraft cockpits and intercut. I'm in agreement with most here; one of the finest scenes in cinema history.
An absolutely BRILLIANT scene! No quick cuts, a lot of crosstalk which is probably how it really is in a traffic control center. This film pulled you in from the moment the first burst of light hit the screen.
This scene lasts less than 4:00min yet showcases everything about Spielberg within that time. His sense of pacing, camera angles, lighting, blocking, dialogue and editing. Even his signature double reflection shot appears here. Masterful. This is and the "The Indianapolis Story" from 'Jaws' are Spielberg in a nutshell. And THIS is the opening scene. Incredible.
I'm honestly surprised that, in all the years since 1977, no one writing a script for DOCTOR WHO has ever tried to recreate this scene as a cold open for an episode with the Doctor interrupting the pilots at the end, and saying that he's ever so sorry to have bothered them, but he really needed to talk to a passenger, and it was the most efficient way to get to the passenger.
The way the controller is telling the pilots what to do and the pilots to do it. This scene is gold! Awesome acting. Feels like this isn’t a movie, we are watching real life shit going on. Spielberg Rules!!
i have this scene from the script framed on my wall at home... one of my favorite steven spielberg scenes....this and the uss Indianapolis scene from jaws... "can you say aircraft type"?? "ah negative center.. no distinct outline... ahh... tell you the truth the target is rather brilliant..some of the brightest anti collision lights i think ive even seen.. luminating white to red"... fantastic scene left upto your imagination.
When the pilot reported that the anti-collison lights were "luminating white to red", that was the tipoff that this was no ordinary aircraft. Or not even an airplane at all.
The lighting, blocking, sound, sound mixing, editing, acting, and writing in this scene are basically as good as it ever gets. It's simply one of the most well directed scenes of all time. It's stunning.
They're barely acting.... 😎 👍
@@olivierdelyon8196 I believe they are real air traffic controllers that's why
@@halon7476 yes. They were.
I agree !!!! And the fact that there is NOT ONE SINGLE NOTE OF MUSIC in it is pure genius
A masterclass in production.
literally a radar scope, radio dialogue and the facial expressions of controllers.
Yet it's one hell of a scene.
Considering that those were real ATCs, it worked really well.
Speilberg directed, Michael Khan edited and Vilmos Zsigmond photographed it. Zsigmond was responsible some other very visually rich movies. Heavens Gate, The Deer Hunter, Blow Out, Deliverance, notice how he shoots almost everything from 25-45 degree angles giving the image a lot of perception depth.
Yeah,I remember seeing this movie 🍿 when it came out in 1977,when I was in High School.🏫 I thought it was a pretty 🤩 amazing 😻 movie for its time.😊
My father was a heavy transport pilot in the Navy during WWII, and a commercial airline captain into the early 80s. He was not a man prone to exaggeration or emotional extreme, but I watched him watch this scene when this movie was in the theater, and he was on the edge of his seat. He later said it was the most accurately portrayed aviation related scene he’d ever seen in film.
Cool story. 😎
Wow...I'll bet he saw something. That's awesome.
Yeah, well, in civil aviation no one says 'over', or 'out' come to that, and they didn't in the 70s either. .
lol stop making up story
lol speeky engrish
The authenticity and plausibility of this scene is gripping.
The controllers are the real thing
If you’ve researched the material it’s like watching the reconstruction of a reap event.
I love the long pause of the pilots when they're first asked to report. You can picture them in the cockpit looking at each other contemplating their careers.
I love your icon. :)
@@robynperdieu3434 Thanks. I was out there last year and took the pic. Then I got notified that COVID was closing everything down and had to drive all the way back to Chicago.
@@Nhamp2000 Awesome. Did anything surreal happen while you were there? I have been many times and something happens every time. :)
@@robynperdieu3434 Nothing surreal, other than how unbelievably quiet it was. I was lucky enough to be able to walk the path all the way around. It was beautiful, and since it was winter, not too many people. Also, the day before, I pretty much had The Badlands to myself, lol.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing.. Pair of them are like "Wtf?" "Do we want to ruin our careers?"
for my money, this is hands down the best 3 and a half minutes of movie ever created.
Gave me goose bumps the first time I watched it. The script, acting and understated nature of it just gave it real authenticity.
Johnny Cats you would be hard pressed to find 3 1/2 minutes any better.
I was about to post the same.
@@Muckylittleme Spielberg originally had actors for this, but then found actual air traffic controllers worked better. Those guys are the real thing. Amazing.
@@johnnycats5157 Yeah? Well it really worked and all the opening scenes set the mood of wonder and trepidation perfectly.
I can't watch the majority modern mainstream movies, just the odd unexpected gem.
The boss's hand on the air traffic controller makes the gravity of the situation just that more palpable
What director John Ford used to call "grace notes".
No dramatic music. No CGI. Actors are 100% believable.
They weren’t actors, they were real ATCs.
@@musicmanfelipe And they did a good job acting.
The movie has excellent music, John Williams’ music, and in the right places.
Makes you realise just how poor todays movies are.
These wern't actors, they used ATCs in this simulator and just reacted to the simulated incidents on the radars....pure speilberg genius
since I discovered youtube and this clip I’ve watched it atleast once a week. must be over ten years
I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is one of the best scenes in movie history.
How so ? I honestly don’t get it. And why do the pilots not want to report a ufo ? Sorry English second language
@@lpb3731 It's the tension of the scene and sets the tone for the film. They were real Air traffic controllers too. The pilots probably didn't want to file a UFO report due to any ridicule or disbelief from the authorities that they could have faced.
@@lexie5973 reporting a UFO was like saying you saw a pink elephant no professional wanted that on their record
@@lexie5973Wouldn’t be surprising to me if these incidents happen often. Hopefully the recent UFO hearing at Capitol Hill will pave the way/provide the necessary and right reporting system for commercial and military pilots to report UFOs and remove any scrutiny or stigma.
There's a scene in NORAD in the episode "Condition Red" of the 1960s TV series The Invaders which is similar to this. I'm sure young Spielberg was inspired by it 😅
Classic Spielberg, people talking over each other throughout this film.
In my humble opinion, a work of genius.
I found it annoying, but adds greatly to the realism.
hardest thing to do for actors. fantastic scene
@@ericfletcher8454 How do you know?
@GaryGuevara Really? You've seen EVERY movie ever made before Spielberg?
Um, try Robert Altman, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, Joseph von Sternberg, Ernst Lubitsch...
John Grabowski because I shoot TV and films for a living and have shot overlapping dialog scenes
Two or three conversations at once. No music. THIS is filmmaking. GOD bless you Steven Spielberg.
that's why I love Quentin Tarrantino so much. DO you realize Vincent Vega went to the toilet 3 times. Once is Jack Rabbit slims, once in Butch's apartment and once at the Diner.
That is why I love Tarratino films. Do you realize in Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega went to the toilet 3 times, once in Butch's apartment, once in the diner and once at Jack Rabbit Slims. You won't see Dominique Toretta taking a shit.
spielberg at some point always has that type of dialogue in his films... 3 or 4 different conversations at once... fantastic filmmaking
No. Music. 100%
@@mohanicus Yeah y'know SurprisingLY the OnLY Other time I remember seeing that is in the Original black&white "The ThinG"
FYI: "Spielberg wanted the air traffic controllers’ dialogue to sound as authentic as possible, so he cast real air traffic controllers - David Anderson, Richard L. Hawkins, Craig Shreeve, and Bill Thurman from Los Angeles ARTCC in Palmdale - to play them."
Ah that explains how professional they sound, they're the real deal.
I thought that was a young Morgan Freeman doing a cameo appearance?
Great move. They were fantastic.
Yeah,I saw this movie 🍿 in 1977,when I was in High School.🏫 I thought it was;a pretty,good,movie for that time.😊
@@janetlawrence9749pretty sure that’s him too..unmistakable voice
This scene plays like a radio play. Allowing the audiences own imagination to create the images. The overwhelming feeling during this scene is "MY GOD!! WHAT are they seeing?" It completely hooks you for the rest of the film. After this scene Steven OWNED me.
Agreed. No need to show shots of the planes, cockpits or external aircraft shots. Everything is left to the viewer's imagination.
Well, that's good writing. Some of the John Grisham novels can make you feel that.
This entire scene is brilliant, but the moment of Spielberg genius that always gets me is when we hear the whoosh of the UFO passing the plane. Shivers.
Despite being an old time radio shows' fan, I never thought of that this way, wow! Brilliant!
@@jeshkam Well you get to "hear" the UFO's as they fly by the plane. The pilot says "Ultra bright and exhibiting non ballistic motion".. Your brain goes.."omg they're hovering" I love this scene.
I was a really young Commerical Pilot in 1977 and this maybe one one the best scenes ever filmed double so for aviation,
What makes this brilliant is the attention to detail, both technical and behavioral. They would never portray a scene like this today. It would be dumbed down and full of crappy cgi instead of it being a theater of the mind type scene.
That's because the people have been dumbed down to now mostly responding only to overloaded visual and sound effects in movies instead of compelling stories and simple tension scenes.
Exactly...!...spielberg is a master at it
Brandon Hill so true Brandon. This is my favorite scene in the whole movie. The atc guys are so authentic.
@@smaze1782 Per the IMDB trivia page, these were real air traffic controllers brought in for the film. The way they speak and know the language so naturally really lends to the realism of this scene.
@@deloreanman14 Especially Morgan Freeman an fantastic air traffic controller from way back......
This scene always gives me chills.. especially after the controller said "continue to send at your discretion, over"... things are getting serious! Also, how all of the other controllers are getting pulled into the action that is unfolding is perfect. Really jacks up the tension.
Nothing exploding, no chases.. just great dialog and perfect pacing.
Indeed. I can't think of any modern director who could come anywhere close, they don't know how, not helped by studios that think CGI which looks like a unicorn has vomited a rainbow is compulsory in order for any film to be a commercial success. I've been acquiring older movies on DVD/BR when I can, before they disappear enirely for whatever reason, so many movies from the 80s and earlier in the same category (managed to bag a bunch on Laserdisc aswell).
Close Encounters focuses on that which matters the most, ie. telling a good story. It's not just the director of course, also the writing, director of photography, musical score, etc., though in the latter aspect the team was smart enough to realise this scene needed no music at all. I also like the more realistic overlapping dialogue, something rarely done in most movies. Even the simple camera angle choice of allowing us to see the controllers' faces reflected off the screen while we can also see the radar markers is genius, something which of course wouldn't work with a modern flat panel display.
"Continue descent"
"after the controller said "continue to send at your discretion, over"."
The line spoken is "continue to descend at your discretion, over."
To this day, this one scene gives me goosebumps and makes me tear up. Brilliant, dramatic, and spectacular....
With no special effects.... just dialogue and editing.
Same here
just dialogue and editing...no soundtrack, but SOUND
Well, not to mention, the absence of music is stark and chilling, and also the fact that we only hear descriptions as to what those crew members are seeing, is so eerie, dramatic and makes for a brilliant scene.
@@MVR326That's the magic of Spielberg. He leaves it to your imagination to create the scene in your mind. Plus, sometimes not seeing what's going on makes it all the scarier.
Spielberg stuck a stick in little girl who played in Poltergeist causing her to have infection and die.
This scene is beyond directing… it’s pure art in every sense of the word. The fact that they threw in an actual airline (TW517), adds to it. To this day I still get goosebumps. Utter brilliance.
Don’t forget another actual airline in the scene Allegheny that later became USAir probably not long after this film was made.
Not to mention, the fact that we don't see what the crews are seeing, we only hear their descriptions makes it even more stark and chilling, and the lack of music is powerful, except for the scene opens we hear a menacing and ominous chord as though to establish the mood. . I used to work for TWA by the way ;)
Shame they screwed up the comms. No one says 'over'. It destroys the suspension of disbelief.
you need to go out IRL this just a movie
twunt@@lufasumafalu5069
Truly a brilliant, magical scene.
And hearing things like L1011 makes me all nostalgic
As a 18 year airline pilot. This is our language. Perfect dialogue.
“Traffic is quite luminous and is exhibiting some non-ballistic motion”. The fear in the controllers eyes. They know what that means. The best of Spielberg.
The conflict warning would make any controller crap their pants
I'm pretty sure he said, "...some anomalistic motion".
Sounds like “non-ballistic motion”. Never heard of anomalistic. The word would be anomalous. But what is non-ballistic? Ballistic motion is that which is pulled by gravity alone and experiencing zero-g; like a thrown object. I think “non-ballistic motion” would be a vehicle experiencing g forces. An airplane in level flight is non-ballistic…it’s at 1 G. I don’t think a pilot would describe an unidentified aircraft as “non-ballistic”. That’s a term for physicists, maybe. A little technobabble in the movie. It sounded pretty good, though. A pilot would say “That thing’s pulling some hard G’s,” or something similar.
This movie scared me quite a lot, at first, when I saw it as a kid. It was COOL! 😬😄
@@CrandMackerel”non ballistic” is likely, the pilot means that the UFO is moving in a way that is contrary to gravity etc, unlike their planes.
Yep, a regular jet or aircraft has built in features to prevent "non ballistic" motion while in flight. As that type of motion can damage an aircraft airframe. But to see a craft coming straight at them exhibiting non ballistic motion at very high speeds had to have been a mind blowing sight to the pilots of Air East 31.
movies used to be so magical, and this is the prime example of that
The reaction of the other controllers when the collision alert sounds, is something you are born with, not taught in film school. That is what makes Speilberg a master.
They're all actors.
I keep forgetting how brilliant this scene is. A masterwork of suspense with no score, use of non-actors, static shots and not a single special effect. Pound for pound maybe the best 3.5 minutes Spielberg ever directed.
I completely agree. The direction for the voice actors for the pilot's is superb. The weary inflection of their voices when asked if they want to report is such a powerful touch. Those voices communicated so clearly to me that they were scared, couldn't process what they had encountered, and they were not going to officially report and damage their careers.
No ATC scene is this well done anymore. Absolutely awesome.
They're real controllers. They understand how to deliver the jargon.
Yes, maybe Diehard with Fred Thompson, Pushing Tin was a bit over the top
The inter connecting conversations in this scene are magnificent. You always hear the relevant dialogue louder than the other but still hear what the other party is saying. It's so realistic. The sound editing , mixing and superb acting, and pacing. This film is a masterpiece.
I watch this movie at least once a year, and I love this scene. This comment section tells me I’m not alone. I really enjoy reading what other fans have posted about this clip!
Peak Spielberg tension building. The way controllers start to approach the desk one-by-one as tension builds, and then the dialogue all stepping on each other, feels so real! Without any special effects, in your mind you have a crystal view of the strangeness of the pilots encounter. More like this please!
In light of the recent congressional hearings, this scene takes on heightened reality. Hats off to Mr. Spielberg.
All the upcoming 'Mother Ship' footage, the five notes, the red whoosh, climbing the tower, and this is STILL the best scene in the film. Nothing is shown, things are implied only, and it's as tense as a cable about to snap. Tremendous.
The scene at the dinner table when his eldest son starts sobbing is great too. I love the whole Mexico dust storm opening too. I’ll be honest, this movie probably has one the most astonishingly well directed first 15 mins ever made.
@@andywilliams8540 not unlike the first 30 minutes of Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, Moments of absolute masterclass filmmaking. I wish he'd get back to this type thing.
There’s a nice bit on The Bearded Trio site that discusses this scene, one of the most tight/taut/perfect in all of film, IMO.
Turns out it was the very first scene shot, before CE3K was greenlighted; filmed in the last three days of 1975 because Columbia needed some stuff “in the can” from calendar year ‘75 in order to qualify for tax-shelter monies.
David Anderson is the name of the principal air traffic controller “Harry,” tho’ Morgan Freeman is many folks’ (entirely reasonable) guess.
Truly a fantastic scene, in every respect.
Great scene...I don't think most filmgoers are thinking about the audio mix, but the use of overlapping dialogue here, where you can follow several conversations at once, is brilliant...
This scene actually happened to me some months after the movie was out. I was an Air Traffic Controller at ABQ ARTCC and was working high-altitude West of El Paso with a Westbound at FL350 headed for LAX that had just checked on freq. The pilot said there was a bright object changing colors headed right for his windshield. I had no other traffic other that two Eastbounds at FL330 but they were to the West about 150 miles. I told the pilot “deviation right or left of course approved as necessary.” They turned right 45 degrees. The Pilot said the object was still on an intercept with their aircraft. A few minutes later the pilot said the object suddenly disappeared. “Rodger, turn left heading 270 degrees direct TNP when able.” One of the Eastbounds had been switched to my freq and apparently heard some of the conversation and had asked the Westbound if they were having a Close Encounter.. No reply…
It was swamp gas
actually swamp ass
Most pilots aren’t going to talk about it cause it might be the end of their career if they do.
In the Air Force, I was a meteorologist, working in the control tower. One of my good friends was at Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan, and saw ... something ... moving and changing directions and speeds impossibly fast. He confirmed this with that area's ARTCC. All hell broke loose, and he was convinced that what he saw didn't happen. As he still wanted to be a controller, he agreed. Fully five years later, as he told me this story, he said he will never see another UFO, even if one lands on his driveway.
Wow
This single scene has always resonated with me over the decades as one of the most natural, realistic performances in film.
Yes, they were real controllers (at ZLA I believe). This is so well done. Not over acted, this is very much natural and how it would go. Former ARTCC here
My mother was a pilot and she says this is exactly what happens, pilots never report.
Woww
your mother?
@@drep-hr8er Yes that’s what he said. Women can be pilots too. There just aren’t many of them
@@gmar7836 thank god for that
@@drep-hr8er A little jealous aren’t we? I bet you wish you were one but you couldn’t be one or pass the test. Yes there are women pilots. Even in the Air Force, fighter jet pilots. So suck it
Showing ATC Personelle at their Radar Monitors during mundane flight operations, then interjecting an unknown object with Flight Crews along with ATC Operating Staff trying to make sense of it all; Brilliant!
Then it makes some of the Audience Members wonder: How Often do Incidents like the one in the Movie happen and if those involved can maintain their cool like those depicted in this movie.
Not that often in North America or Europe. When situations do arise, focus on the job and stay calm. Not to worry... Just like in this scene, supervisors will be heading to your station to monitor and advise.
I remember seeing this movie in the theater as a kid. I was enthralled. This scene, though we never see any of the action depicted, is one of the most exciting scenes in film history.
possibly the best scene ever - sense of foreboding with the music at start - so many layers to this short piece of film - rather striking 10/10
DJdefcon4 totally agree. Luv this scene! Very intense, keeps the peddle to the metal. Beautiful direction and Actor David Anderson is all over it, focused, intense, smooth, calm and humane all at the same time brings what I can only imagine is a realistic situation in the Traffic Control Room.
Ed Well, it was the 70's. In the 70's I had a few incidents like that myself.
"....rather striking" lol, nice coda
Foreboding.
Fantastic scene to a great film. Still the best UFO movie to date.
I agree, this a forgotten movie. So good whatever the decade!
Most accurate / realistic ATC to pilot interchange produced for a movie I’ve ever seen. Even to this day.
Sully was great too
Spielberg actually hired real ATC people for this scene. None of these people are actors. Brilliant move.
@@johnnycats5157 that’s actually really cool and I never knew that. I just guessed he had a capable liaison on the set.
They did a hell of a job without being actors.
My late father took me to see Close Encounters when it first premiered,we both loved it.This scene for whatever reason always stayed with me.
The power comes from the Gothic approach. We have a group of men staring at a screen, with all the tension occurring out of sight - so our minds fill in all the missing detail to elevate the scene..... absolute classic story telling.
This is such a great scene for the Actors. The realism. The direction is perfect.
David Anderson plays the main air traffic controller. His film debut...
He sounds like Morgan Freeman
It's like the pilots say "No" as they know they will be sacked for reporting
maybe not sacked directly, but the fact that they reported a UFO, even in the general sense of an unidentified flying object, would hang over them for the rest of their career even the rest of their lives. Even if the incident was later found to have an earthly explanation, it would have an impact on their career advancement
that's the thing, an UFO is an UFO, you report it, could be anyone, anything. This happens IRL. and as long people will say " i don't know what I saw" there will be forever that huge alien thing.
" Yes I report an UFO. sned in some jets to control or intercept whatever is this shit."
Good observation. I always wondered why they wouldn't say anything. This makes total sense. You see something remarkable like this, and officials think you are full of shit...
Exactly- one of the pilots says- "we don't want to report one of those either" Neither pilot wants to even mention the phrase UFO - The pilots know they'll be ridiculed if they make a report- maybe even grounded.
Back then, if you reported something strange, you would be considered crazy
As an airline employee, I have jump seated on many DC-10s, 747, L-1011s and A310s, and have listened to the ATC 'chat'. I have also seen a few 'anomalies' which I have never reported, but can only imagine what these pilots are seeing in disbelief !
DC-10? L1011? You must have been flying in the 70s.
I also noticed they mentioned airlines, TWA and Pan AM, which no longer exist 🤔
@@ernesthill4017 Actually DC-10, A310 and L-1011s flew well into the 1990s and early 2000.
@@dhakaboy1 thanks, you know your aircraft ✈️
You can picture the pilots in the cockpit just looking at each other after being asked if they want to report, and realizing what would happen to their careers if they did.
My favorite scene in this wonderful film. I love when Spielberg gives the “authorities “ a sense of intelligence and not portray them as idiots. Very powerful scene.
The tension in this scene is palpable. As a child I knew something terrifying and intense was occurring without understanding all the jargon.
I would be interested to know how often this actually occurs and is never reported by the parties involved.
Thank God for the jargon! It wouldn't work otherwise.
Probably many.
A terrific scene. The whole build-up of the tension in this film is cinematic brilliance.
One of the most realistic scenes of this fine movie. This ATC is highly convincing.
His troubleshoot lines of text appear to be very good. Excellent actually.
The acting and the intensity is great! It’s like your not watching a movie but in a control tower watching this unfold in real life. A beautiful piece of cinema.
It’s actually in an Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) which is different from a control tower that you see at airports. ARTCC’s are responsible for large sectors of airspace unlike an airport control tower that controls the airspace in a small radius around the airport.
This scene is so real! I was 11 in 77 when this came out and this scene knocked my socks off. What a hook.
Always thought that was Morgan Freeman, sounds just like him.
I thought so too.
I always return to it. An entire film in one scene. Haunting.
Goosebumps when the conflict occurs, and the atc leans in and goes to work, with all the chatter around him, he is on point.... all building to the relief you hear in the pilots vox as the object passes by. Perfect.
I believe that the air traffic controllers in this scene are the real deal.
In my opinion, this is one of the finest movie scenes ever filmed. I think this, along with earth coordinates being discovered in the glass lorry, are the best in the movie.
"earth coordinates being discovered in the glass lorry" I dont understand that reference can u explain?
@@PlayerFalcon4- it’s when the French translator realises the message being received from the aliens is actually coordinates on earth and not a place on in space. They fetch a globe from an office and find out it’s in Wyoming.
Spielberg is a master, creates tension and suspense just looking at those screens and actors faces.
Black guy witnessing an earth changing event yet he's staying totally professional and in charge. This is the best understanded moment of a monumental film.
L1011, TWA, Allegheny (Airlines). They're all long gone now.
L1011 will forever remind me of The Ghost of Flight 401.
Same goes for airlines like Braniff, Eastern, Western, Continental and Pan Am too.
Love this scene! As a commercial pilot it's always interesting to think about the possibility of something like that happening to me.
I had a similar experience many years ago as an ATCer at Myrtle Beach SC Approach Control
My favorite scene in the movie. I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind when it was in theaters. I was 16 years old. It was so well-directed and so realistic. Before it came out, I had a map in my bedroom with pins for every UFO encounter that had occurred as well as pins for the disappearances that had occurred around the world. I was an original nerd. I used to whistle the 5 note tune in high school after seeing the movie. Movies like CE3K will never come again. Directors like Spielberg will never come again. The dumbing down of our minds in America will soon eradicate all we knew from that time.
This is brilliant filmmaking. They easily could have cut to the POV of the pilots at any point, but the decision to keep everything isolated in the ATC Tower (and let the audience's imagination fill in the blanks) makes this so much scarier and more memorable.
It's like delaying showing the shark in JAWS. Implying is more effective than showing.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a masterpiece. The single greatest Extra-Terrestrial Encounter ever put to film. This scene especially, is one of those moments that will always be one of the best ever done in film history. As fantastic as all of the rest of this wonderful movie is, this scene stands out as simply brilliant. CE3K is for me, Steven Spielberg's best movie he ever made, period.
Spielberg is a genius. Worth an Academy Award for directing for that scene only. Has was far far ahead of his time.
1 of my favorite scenes
SUPERB ‘textbook’ on how to shoot a scene, how to do everything.
I love the way the other controllers, sensing something wrong, slowly gather around and crosstalk.
Text book example of creating suspense and tension in the mundane by letting people and dialogue be real. Entire scene is a mini 3 act movie
This is my favorite scene of this movie. It reflects real life so well with multiple simultaneous conversations.
Excellent scene! Still gives me goosebumps... too cool!
same here
Me too Lawrence Johnson
..Steven was using real airtraffic crew for this gem scene!
Phenomenal writing, acting, directing, and editing. It also teaches me to have a lot of respect for air traffic controllers and pilots, who have to keep track of complex and unexpected situations in three dimensions while keeping a clear line of communication operating at all times.
Love the whole film, but this part of it is exceptional. I'm sure any other director would have had it cut between the AT perspective and the pilot's, having this scene filmed with just the ATC perspective makes it so much more dramatic. My other favorite scene is when Roy is lost in his truck and the UFO flies over, again exceptional!
This scene still gives me goose bumps after all these years. I saw this movie with my wife in a theater the first time. While leaving after the film I looked up at the starry sky. Glancing around I noticed others doing the same thing. Powerful effect.
only 24 cuts in the 3:26 scene. Freaking brilliant, all of it is in your head. One of the all time best written and photographed scenes in all of cinema
This is frankly one of my favorite scenes from any movie ever. Outstanding. Superb.
“….traffic is quite luminous and exhibiting some non ballistic motion…”
I think it's Novelistic Motion (Of a new and unusual kind; different from anything seen or known before).
This is what you call acting, no dramatic camera movements, sound cues or close ups of the face. this is genius how they make everything so realistic. All round great opening to a movie. I also heard that the chatter is spot on to what you would normaly hear in ATC
Maybe 74 Gear can do a video on what’s accurate here.
3:14: Wow, I've watched this film many times but I've never considered the shot composition and the lighting in this shot! Looks like a classic work of art. The black guy in the middle, the guy with the glasses to the left with his face washed in light, the white-haired guy op top with the light coming up, embracing the black guy's shoulder. Classy! :D Renaissance period? ;)
I was at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood the day after the film came out. It was a sold-out show. When this scene came on, the audience was riveted. I didn't even realize it at the time but I, and probably half the audience, were holding our breaths. When the Air East pilot said, "That was really close," there was such an exhalation of people holding their breaths and nervous laughter, I've never forgotten that moment.
Only an expert movie maker could make this scene so riveting and entertaining. Bravo. It is my favorite scene from "Close Encounters". NoSx. No car chase. No swearing. Not one frame was wasted. The close-ups and pan outs were done with skill and perfection. The talking over each other was astoundingly perfect. The joining of each of these men around the main controller was perfect.
My favorite part of this scene is how serious everyone got when they were asked if they wanted to report officially
Yeah. You can almost see the pilots in their cockpits looking at each other, knowing what would happen to their careers if they did. Different era.
Filmed at Los Angeles ARTCC ("Los Angeles Center") in Palmdale, Calif. The principal controller here was actually an FAA controller at this facility.
no wonder he sounds so real.
An anecdote from my family living in Denmark in the seventies maybe 1975: my mother, two aunts, grand father and grand mother experienced a craft about 30 meters in diameter (unknown height) moving across country silently. My grand father chased it on foot (visually conformed as a solid object). My mother said it had orange, red, etc. lights surrounding the craft in a saucer shape configuration. I tell you this, it changed the outlook of my family forever and it stands as a certain fact. The universe is roughly 14 billion years so....
If they can't determine the height, it's not possible to say it measures 30 metres in diameter.
@@nightjarflying Rough estimate but it was silent too.
@@elliotthebrave7296 It's not a rough estimate, it's a wild guess. If it was silent it could be a shiny toy balloon six feet above observer's heads, that happens a lot. Not even pro observers can accurately estimate sizes & speeds of objects against a sky background. e.g. Starlink satellites two hundred miles up are mistaken for much closer UFOs every day of the week.
It was not a baloon. I was told it had lights moving around the center of a saucer like shape with bright lights in multiple colors. It was not a small object and people were shocked. You were not there so be carefull with pseudo explanations. Size and distance are indeed relative, but they all agreed that it was not from Earth (man made). Now don't give me that it was a classified project or Chinese in origin. The universe is much more than you can ever imagine or comprehend.
@@elliotthebrave7296 You were not there either Sir & your bar for evidence is set very, very low. For example, you believe from a book written years after the 'event', that a tortured & crucified Jewish activist rose from the dead & walked the Earth before ascending into Heaven. You don't know how to assess evidence. In 2010, the worldwide number of camera phones totalled more than a billion devices - that's 1,000,000,000 & yet there's not one convincing real image of a UFO today. Use your brain.
A brilliant scene in a wonderful film. This small scene alone feels so real and believable. Bravo, and thank you for uploading.
Love how the older man has his hand on the controller's shoulder. True comradery and professionalism.
I wonder how many times this has happened all over the world for so many years? I want to believe!!
Another Spielberg staple. He, like Oliver Stone, is always great at believable supporting characters.
Everyone in this scene is an "everyman", who arent well known actors.
The tension building until AE31 says 'Hey, wait a second .... standby one ... ' Suddenly shit becomes real. Wonderful scene, staging and acting.
just a fictional movie omg
One of the best movies ever made. Top 10!! 🙌🏽
I’ve seen this tens of times and I’m always captivated.
The unnerving cross fire dialog at 1:35 catapults me into this scene.
Such excellent realism. Really draws you in.
As a career pilot I can tell you that this is one of the best, most realistic and believable scenes in cinema history. It turns out that this scene was actually shot in the last few days of 1975 for tax reasons before the movie was officially green-lit because Columbia Pictures realized that in order to qualify for certain tax shelters they would need to shoot at least one scene before the new year (1976). This scene, which was supposed to be the last scene of the movie but was moved to beginning. It was shot at the real Palmdale, CA center using local actors. The scene is perfect and the actors are spot on (They even sound like controllers). I like the camera angles too.
A lesser director would have shot scenes in the aircraft cockpits and intercut. I'm in agreement with most here; one of the finest scenes in cinema history.
An absolutely BRILLIANT scene! No quick cuts, a lot of crosstalk which is probably how it really is in a traffic control center. This film pulled you in from the moment the first burst of light hit the screen.
This scene lasts less than 4:00min yet showcases everything about Spielberg within that time. His sense of pacing, camera angles, lighting, blocking, dialogue and editing. Even his signature double reflection shot appears here. Masterful. This is and the "The Indianapolis Story" from 'Jaws' are Spielberg in a nutshell.
And THIS is the opening scene. Incredible.
I'm honestly surprised that, in all the years since 1977, no one writing a script for DOCTOR WHO has ever tried to recreate this scene as a cold open for an episode with the Doctor interrupting the pilots at the end, and saying that he's ever so sorry to have bothered them, but he really needed to talk to a passenger, and it was the most efficient way to get to the passenger.
The way the controller is telling the pilots what to do and the pilots to do it. This scene is gold! Awesome acting. Feels like this isn’t a movie, we are watching real life shit going on. Spielberg Rules!!
Fuck yeah! I totally totally agree. Best scene in history ever.
i have this scene from the script framed on my wall at home... one of my favorite steven spielberg scenes....this and the uss Indianapolis scene from jaws...
"can you say aircraft type"??
"ah negative center.. no distinct outline... ahh... tell you the truth the target is rather brilliant..some of the brightest anti collision lights i think ive even seen.. luminating white to red"... fantastic scene left upto your imagination.
When the pilot reported that the anti-collison lights were "luminating white to red", that was the tipoff that this was no ordinary aircraft. Or not even an airplane at all.
And the "non ballistic motion"...meaning it was zig zagging and not flying 8n a straight line@@deanladue3151