It's interesting that you say that because I know of a very famous UFO sighting that happened in the mid 80s where that did happen to a Japanese pilot almost 9-10 years after this movie came out. The name of the incident was called *The JAL1628 or The Anchorage incident.* What happened was that a Japanese 747 Jumbo Jet (this plane was carrying cargo) was flying over Alaska, when it was intercepted by three UFOs, one of these objects was so massive that the Jumbo Jet looked like the size of a toy compared to it. This massive object was picked up by two radar stations, one civilian and the other was military. When the plane landed the captain and his crew reported the sighting to the media. Japanese Airlines was so embarrassed by him coming forward that he got busted to a desk job for a number of years before he was reinstated as a captain, he continued to fly with Japanese Airlines before he retired. However on the flip side of that coin, I know of another case called *The 2007 Alderney UFO sighting.* This pilot saw two, one mile sized UFOS flying over the British channel, not only did he see these objects, so did some of his passengers, another pilot on another plane going to England also saw it. These objects were also picked up on radar. But what makes this incident different is that his own airline company encouraged the pilot to report his encounter to the media without any repercussions to his career.
In the theater was SO MUCH MORE impactful. Those giant ships cruising along over your head. 😳😮 Not the same when it's all condensed and contained in a little box (or flat picture screen) in your living room. Even more so on a phone or tablet.
As of three summers before, "Jaws" was my favourite film. Therefore, I was going to see anything any "Jaws" alum was in and that included this one. Me and my Pops went and we sat there for three hours with our mouths hanging open. There was nothing like that first scene with the musical tones. No CGI. No computer programs. Just imagination and talent.
I don't want to sound like an old fogey, but guys, map reading skills are still important. GPS isn't always reliable or available. I have had it lead me astray more than once. Do yourselves a favor and learn to read a map. It won't cause your brain to explode! ;)
Yep. People have literally follwed GPS to their deaths. Stranded into the desert, dead end middle of nowhere, I think even over a cliff?! Reading a map is a crucial life skill. Your GPS device may not always be available.
@@jenniferfoster1692 Not only reading a map, having a compass isn't a bad idea either; and learn how to use it. I used to teach Hunter Safety and "Map & Compass" was a required section. For most of my travel (Maine), I still carry the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer. I also have some old folding maps. In fact, in the State of Maine folding map from 1971, there's several pictures on the backside, used just to fill up space. One of those pictures was taken at the harness racing event at the Windsor Fair. The bald headed guy in the picture was my father, and I'm the little boy sitting next to him.
This is a Spielberg movie, boys. This movie is child-like hope, not underlining horror. I know he did Jaws, but that was more of a one-off. Also, this is an enhanced version, so it's longer than the theatrical version. The music was the legend John Williams, who did the most iconic films scores of all time. That's why the score popped off.
The idea to use brilliantly colored lights was genius. It makes the ships look delicate and inviting rather than frightening or evil. Great design choice.
It's not that parenting was crazy then, but that it got crazy in recent years. What we see in the movie is more "normal" for the past, possibly, thousands of years.
@@Aeroldoth3 Paranoia has increased most everywhere thanks to modern media tormenting everyone 24/7 with all the cherry-picked bad stuff going on. But yeah, things in the USA are usually done worse and bigger than anywhere else!
I saw this when it came out and the reaction at the end was a lot more wholesome from the audience. No one had any comical comments and imagined what that really would have been like instead. We were in the very beginning of the Sci-Fi kind of thinking and all this was new to us. Remember, it was just a decade earlier when we had Westerns dominating the cinema
@@TransoceanicOutreach present, yes, but as a mainstream movie genre it wasn't really around. There had been a burst of sci-fi movies several decades earlier, but they had fallen out of favor. For mainstream audiences, sci-fi movies weren't really much of a thing anymore, and that's what I think they were getting at. You had this and Star Wars come out in the same year, and I think that reinvigorated audience interest.
When I'm with a bunch of people in the elevator, during that awkward silence, I like to just blurt out, "I saw bigfoot once. Sequoia National Forest, 1951! It made a sound that I would not want to hear twice in my life."
Boys, you cannot underestimate the impact of seeing this film on it's original release, on a huge cinema screen with 6 track stereo sound! Absolutely incredible and mindbending. The scientist with the French accent is famed film director Francois Truffaut. And by the way this is not the original version that was released in 1977. This is another subsequent cut that is actually not as good as the original version. Also love the haircut Zay.
@58.30: I don't interpret the kiss as a romantic one so much as an empathetic one; these two people have shared a story that they cannot share with others, and they're both dealing with the grief of having lost families and children (in different ways), and both are totally alone with the exception of the other. Maybe there was some attraction-romance in the kiss, but it definitely wasn't the main motivation, in my opinion.
Barry’s mom is the lady who played Ralphie’s mom in a Christmas Story. The old man saw Bigfoot once is the old man in Home Alone. The lady who plays the wife, the one and only Teri Garr is best known for Young Frankenstein and Mr. Mom.
Since y'all wondered, there are *no* prequels nor sequels to this. THE FOURTH KIND (2009) and THE 5TH KIND (2017) are completely unrelated... and in different ballparks quality-wise.
@@sebswede9005 War of the Worlds? The 1895 book made into a radio show in the early 20th century followed by an excellent 1950's film? That spiritual successor? :P
Despite being a more accomplished director at the time, in a "making of" featurette Spielberg said Truffaut was remarkably humble and magnanimous. When they first discussed the film Truffaut made it clear that Spielberg was the one in charge and he was just there to do what he was told. Apparently Truffaut was a bit insecure about his performance and was worried he was ruining the film, so Spielberg had to keep encouraging him and reassure that he was doing great.
That's correct and the character Claude Lacombe is based on a famous French ufologist. His name is Jacques Vallee. Indecently another famous ufologist does a cameo in this movie, although he isn't in this video. Right after the airmen come out the mothership and introduce themselves, they walk away, there is a scene where a man with a beard and a blue jacket. He then sticks a pipe in his mouth. That man was Dr J.Allen Hynek. He was the scientific consultant for the US air force in creating three projects in investigating UFO cases. The projects were as follows. 1) Project Sign 2) Project Grudge 3) Project Bluebook (This is the longest and the most famous of all) Later on he was founder for one of the oldest UFO groups. It is called CUFOS (Centre for UFO Studies) and also created the "scale" on how UFO sightings are investigated and classified. 1) Nocturnal lights: Lights in the night sky. 2) Daylight Disks: UFOs seen in the daytime, generally having discoidal or oval shapes. 3) Radar-visual: UFO reports that have radar confirmation. 4) Close encounters of the first kind (CE1): Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, seemingly less than 500 feet (150 m) away, that show an appreciable angular extension and considerable detail. 5) Close encounters of the second kind (CE2): A UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace. 6) Close encounters of the third kind (CE3): UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present-these include humanoids, robots, and humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of a UFO. Sadly Dr J.Allen Hynek is no longer with us, he passed away in 1986
The planes at the beginning were a reference to the bombers gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle in 1945 "The Lost Squadron"...Spielberg is throwing in some historical incidents
Yeah, I was going to say they should look up the historical case of Flight 19, plus the rescue/search flight that followed and also disappeared. Fascinating story.
@raymondregis6219 Nope. In the 90's some unidentified debris was found. And a couple other planes have been found. Flight 19, en todo, is still missing.
The aliens did NOT take the rest of the astronauts.... the ones in red who had been trained. They only took Roy because he was the only one who had been "invited" through the vision he received.
Nope. Just Roy. They would've taken all in the helicopter cuz they were all invited. But the government messed it up & Barry's mom just wanted her kid back.
Fun fact, the whole "sunburn" thing is actually a pretty common facet of real UFO experiences. People seem to get mild radiation burns (which a sunburn technically is) in some encounters. The whole movie seems to be very grounded and based heavily on real encounters of previous decades, ar least in the fine details.
It's interesting that you say that because unfortunately there was one case where the witnesses encountered a diamond shaped UFO and suffered very horrific burns and radiation sickness in 1980. The injuries that they had would later on affect them later on in their lives. Sadly two of those witness have passed away, but there was a third witness and he is still alive, partially because the inside of the car protected him. If your interested in this case, I suggest that you google *Betty Cash/Vicki Landrum incident* There is also another famous incident that happened ten years before this movie came out. It's called *The Falcon Lake Incident.* An amateur geologist called Stefan Michalak encountered a disk shaped object. But he was standing next to a vent which emitted heated gas, which hit him in his chest and set fire to his clothing. There is a photo of him with "grid like pattens" on his chest.
Greg Jein made the models for this film. When I was working for him, there was a crate that we were using as a paint base, painting models on it. One day, Greg opened it up, and inside was the Devils Tower miniature used for the model effects shots.
This wasn't the Director's Cut. It had scenes inside the ship with Roy looking around wide eyed! Not very long, but the shoe was so long anyway that they cut it for theater release but added it back in for the DVD release. 😊 BTW - They didn't age on the spaceship due to traveling the speed of light. Part of the space/time continuim according to Einstein.
Yes! I wish more reactors would do Fire in the Sky. It's not perfect (especially the obnoxious musical soundtrack), but the final, disturbing reveal in that film is stark contrast to the benign, somewhat syrupy conclusion of Close Encounters . . .
@@jaysverrisson1536 And whether that stuff actually happened to that person or not...since it's supposed to be a true story, makes you wonder. Regardless good movie.
I’ve had more than one. This one was great. But there are many films that capture the many variations of the experiences we have had. But, I will say, it’s one of the greats
Dude straight up left his wife and kids to be with aliens! 😂 The last time his kids saw him, he was falling off the hood of the car while their mother drove away! This movie is nuts, but I love it so much! It's damn near perfect.
TLDR In my head canon (and I wish Spielberg would have explained it this way instead of his apologetic statements) the aliens may not yet have any way of understanding how our social dynamics work, so when they implant humans with the uncontrollable urge to meet with them they have no idea that they could be breaking up a family. Roy pretty much shows that no matter how hard he tries to “get back to normal” he invariably gets sucked back into the urge to get to the meeting. The aliens may be communal, and not even aware of the concept of a “nuclear family”. In other words I think Roy might not be operating under free will after the implant. As for the kiss, I think at that point Roy’s wife had left, he knew he couldn’t help but leave with aliens or he might go nuts, and he may never see another human again. He was just having one last human interaction with someone who truly understood his dilemma, a kindred spirit, and so he was really trying to have the most meaningful last moment on earth that he could. Roy kinda gets treated like he was a drunk who abandoned his family to join the circus, but I think it was infinitely more complicated than that. Once again, just my head canon.
Pre-CGI, there really was only one way to make these Cloud-effects: Use a Cloud Tank, a container filled with water in which various liquid additives such as colors and other chemicals are poured and then filmed at either lower or higher frame-rates. Other movies prominently using this technique are _Star Trek II, Never Ending Story_ and _Flash Gordon._
There was a Golden Age of sci Fi, for a brief period in late 70s, very early 80s Star Wars , Blade Runner, Alien, and this masterpiece. They all raised the bar, while honoring the past, and have been copied , ever since. Blessed to have seen all of them in a theater, as a child. ❤ Keep up the great reactions .
Growing up on so many Science Fiction films from the 50's and 60's which also had a LARGE share of TV series like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or The Time Tunnel, I can't agree about a 'golden age' although technology helped to make it more exciting.
@@terrylandess6072 I'm not a words smith by any means, however I think you absolutely get where I'm coming from. Example...I think " The creature from the Black Lagoon" is one of the greatest horror, adventure, love story's ever filmed , next to King Kong..🤣✌️♥️
I wouldn't speculate too much on the aliens' intentions. Spielberg was only around 30 years old when he filmed it, but at least had the forethought and wisdom to make it not just a solely "American" film, but saw to include several foreign languages/cultures into the mix.
I ADORED this reaction. Your commentary had me laughing and smiling the whole way through. A tough thing to do for such an overly-serious movie. You had fun watching it AND appreciated all the great cinematic elements about it! You were impressed, liberal with your praise, and gave it an incredibly high score. But people are annoyed you didn’t watch it with the seriousness and reverence they think it demands? Some people are a little too precious with their favourite movies. Two new young guys love the classic movie you love, you don’t get to dictate the mood they need to have while watching.
1977 was a good year for me. I was 6 and my 26 year old kick ass mom took me to the first showing, opening day of Star Wars in May, then took me to Close Encounters later that year opening day as well. That song "So look with care for the shape of a square" has been in my head ever since.
I grew up with this movie. I never saw that kiss as romantic just two people who had been through similar difficult and painful events sharing a moment of affection. When you don't have the words sometimes a touch or a kiss is the best you can do. Also i drove long-haul before gps. We only had maps. Everyone should know how to read a map.
When this movie came out, we watched in awe with our mouths open and a tear in our eye. It made us think and gave us a new way of looking at things. But I'm glad you guys had a good laugh.
@@merkitten953 They're SO performative...for their audience, to get clicks. The reviewers I subscribe to are not 12-year-old boys, they're the ones who watch respectfully, commenting infrequently, not screaming at the screen.
I wonder if you noticed that the score had a brief "Wish Upon a Star" queue during the finale. Not sure if that would mean anything to you, but it was a reminder of that magical time when space wasn't something to be frightened of, that there was magic out there.
Close Encounters of the First Kind: We left you a phone message. Close Encounters of the Second Kind: We mailed you a reminder. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Taxmans Revenge. 😂😂😂
There's a great tonal and thematic followup to this from 2019, "The Vast of Night." More spooky and less starry-eyed, but somehow more effective because of it.
Also consider that when this movie was made, most previous movies showed the aliens as the enemy with evil intentions. This was one of the first ones to show aliens as friendly.
As impressed as you may be, it's nothing compared to sitting in a a theater with 300 people when you get that first scale shot of the mother ship and the mountain. A part of a group that large going from silence to a quiet gasp to expelling " Ohhhh..." simultaneously. No one ever reacts to the film performance of Richard Dreyfuss that won him The Best Actor Academy Award. It's a rom com by Neil Simon one of the prolific and popular play/screenwriters of the late 60s and 70s, titled The Goodbye Girl. It swept The Oscars in 1978, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress ( Marsha Mason who was Neil Simon's wife ), Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song by David Gates, formerly of the Mega Group Bread. I have no idea why it's been so forgotten. I was 19 when it was released. Many years later, my then 15 year old daughter was fooling around on the computer in the same room where I was about to watch The Goodbye Girl, and mentioned it was really good. After a few minutes she drifted over to the sofa and sat down to watch it. When it was over she said, spontaneously, " I'll never doubt your taste in movies again!" and went back to the computer. Watch it guys.
With this film Spielberg started the trend in film of benign aliens. This trend would continue until 1996, when I can remember being absolutely shocked that the aliens started destroying cities in Independence Day. You guys obviously grew up after Independence Day when aliens were hostile again, you can hear it in your presumptions about the aliens' intentions early in the reaction.
Best line: "They asked me if I'd seen any strangers in the neighborhood." One of the interesting things about the movie is that there are (ultimately) no antagonists.
I love the reaction. I haven't seen you guys laugh this much, which actually speaks to the conflicting emotions in trying to process such grandiose events rather than any humor. Killer movie. Still haven't seen an ET film that tops this one.
You guys have such entertaining comments and reactions. So fun, I saw this back in the day as I born in 1973 and was super fascinated with UFOs and aliens as a kid.
Air traffic control scene one of my favorites all time - didn't feel like acting, just people doing complicated work that I am trying to follow, but the camera movement and music- loved it. Also your reaction captures the difference about younger generations feeling toward UFOs vs. those in 70s-80s
Random Trivia: 11:00 To create this effect a replica of the truck's cab was built and placed inside a rotating gimbal. Dryfuss was strapped in (easily done as Roy was wearing his seatbelt). The camera was static as the set rotated. While it's kinda easy to see (even more so when you know how it's done) if you play it on a loop, it's clearly obvious how it was done.
The Aliens abducted people in the 1940s but weren't gone for very long from their perspective. The spaceship was going close to the speed of light so time on Earth went much faster than from inside the ship. (Time Dilation). "They haven't even aged. Einstein was right... Einstein was probably one of them"
...........this movie is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time (that's 50 years for me)! I remember seeing this at a drive-in theater (way back when) - and was mesmerized...I count this movie as the reason why I love sci-fi today. Good movie choice for you guys.
On May 25th, 1977 I was one of the fortunate ones who saw Star Wars A New Hope on opening day! Thankfully we arrived early enough, my father took my sister and I, the crowd was starting to form and when the theater opened the line had gone around the theater a few times. Big day for me, I was 12, my sister 10! As a 12 year old I was so excited when we came out, but we had to wait until 1980 for Empire Strikes Back! In the meantime, Close Encounter's Of The 3rd Kind came out on December 14th 1977. Two great movies; tons of fun and excitement! You may notice Richard Dreyfuss, the main character in Close Encounter's also played Hooper in Jaws 2 years before? Richard Dreyfuss has been in a ton of great movies: American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounter's Of The 3rd Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Stand By Me, What About Bob, and Mr. Holland's Opus. Great actor!
Out of curiosity, where had you heard about Star Wars at that time to be so motivated to see it. Were there a lot of commercials on tv creating a hype about it or articles in magazines, newspapers, etc...? For my part I was nine years old and along with my older brother we both only heard about it, in September-October from other classmates who were all raving about it. But my dad did bring the whole family to see Close Encoun. that summer, so we didn`t miss out on that one at least.
There is an even longer version that shows scenes of Roy at work at the power plant, and shows the inside of the big ship and where the little ones dock inside a large structure in the center, and windows all around the inside with them all looking down at him. The reason the pilots didn’t want to file a UFO report with Indianapolis Center is because reporting a UFO encounter used be a career ending move, with airlines. Now, they’re finally changing the rules so that pilots can report unidentified aerial phenomena without repercussions, and the FAA will pass reports onto The Pentagon. There sure is enough military pilots reporting craft outmaneuvering advanced fighter jets, and moving in a manner as if not affected by gravity, or inertia, by some advanced form of propulsion. The reason everything went crazy when Roy was stopped at the railroad tracks was due to strong electromagnetic, and antigravity, forces coming from the spacecraft. Unshielded electrical systems experience disruption, or erratic activity, antigravity fields cause objects to rise, float, or move in unusual ways, and EM fields affect ferromagnetic metallic objects.
@@ITPalGame that’s fascinating. At least it’s a laser plasma system for talking to people and not burning holes in them, though that will be coming. It sounds like a similar premise to directional speakers using inaudible sound beams that can be focused on an individual who then is the only person who can hear the audio. Now they have laser plasma balls that talk. Why not? We can beam lots of things through lasers, audio data is one. Make a ball of plasma that vibrates the air like a speaker, like an audio modulated Tesla coil, all while powered and audio fed by the same lasers. I figured that wouldn’t be far off from audio mod Tesla coils, and megahertz range plasma flame speakers, that soon an alternative power source would be lasers, and the lasers even act like an audio cord. Interesting read, thanks for mentioning it!
@@FredtheDorfDorfman1985 apparently, although I haven't looked it up, there is a thing about moving a plasma ball using multiple lasers converging so that it can be moved about at high speeds giving the illusion of a physics defying object.
Everything you just explained, I knew as a child while watching this movie. But kids today know nothing. They just laugh at what they don't understand. We failed them.
Your absolutely right that the rules are changing when pilots want to report UFO sighting. But I know of two cases where one captain who reported witnessing a UFO was busted to a desk job for a number of years, before he was reinstated to captain. You might want to check out *The JAL1628 or Anchorage incident.* The second incident was called *The 2007 Alderney UFO sighting.* He was encouraged to report his sighting to the media without an repercussions to his career.
Have you heard of the Bermuda triangle mystery ? the planes at the beginning disappeared in this triangle at sea (near Florida) FOR REAL ! but also ships...that's the reference in this movie. The japanese ship Cotopaxi in 1925, The squadron of TBF Avengers planes (squadron 19) in 1945 ! that's the myth
This is definitely one of the best depictions of “real” alien stuff. The burns, the lights and how they move, obsessive thoughts after an encounter, lost time. It’s all been described by people who’ve supposedly had encounters so it’s neat to see it portrayed with a Hollywood budget.
This film made a huge impact when it came out. One thing that I'll say, and I may be in the minority, but I think for most films, the original theatrical release is actually the best version of a film. Things are cut and trimmed for a reason. More is not necessarily better.
Richard Dreyfuss famously stated that, if he had known what the UFOs looked like, his expression upon seeing them would have been totally different. Spielberg didn't know when they were filming what the UFOs looked like, the designs were finalised very late into the shooting, too late to inform the actors what they were actually looking at.
What a GREAT MOVIE! Wish you guys could have seen this on a big screen at the theater - it was mind-blowing - with all the lights, colors, the sounds…it was freaking awesome! It was literally a “trip!”
There was a parody trailer of this film made in the 1970s called Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind. You can find it on TH-cam. Definitely worth a short reaction.
As an ex-Air Traffic controller I can say it's just a big book of rules and procedures with specifics for the airspace you're responsible for. Follow the rules and it's just another job. Pilots ALWAYS have the final say so a controller is actually an advisor with eyes that see further with information helpful to the intentions of all aircraft within their 'jurisdiction'.
Look up Close Encounters on Wikipedia for the classifications for UFO sightings. It'll help explain some other movie titles as well as this movie's title.
The movie is supposedly based on the true story of the events leading up to project serpo, which took place in the 1960s. This is when the US government had a exchange program with the Aliens, sending humans on a 10 year round trip to the Alien home planet with two suns.
Well, well, well….here we go! Great movie!! This movie is and will always be incredible! Richard Dreyfus is phenomenal in this role; and you should-at some point check out Mr Holland’s Opus. Both gems. 💎 😊
I also picked up on another person I recognized in this movie... during the meeting in this movie there's a guy that says "why don't you guys just admit that the government is doing tests in the foothill area"...this same guy was in Jaws 2...he was the guy complaining to chief Brody that Grace Kinney was dancing wearing a towel in a window teasing with his son...
51:18 I reckon that the aliens chose all those people that came to the Devil's Tower, the ones that the military drove off, and they were excited because one of them was actually there and willing to go with them.
"They should have cut some parts to make it less slow" Well, you're watching the Director's cut. Back in the 80's the one I saw didn't have the council meeting, neither the part where Roy dumped the plants and dirt inside his house.
Devil's Tower was formed from a prehistoric lava chute. Over time, the surrounding ground wore away until the tower is all that's left. Also, the local Indians named the mountain after a bear god. Unfortunately, those who translated it messed up and thought they said Devil, hence, Devil's Tower. There was nothing malicious in their folklore.
Richard Dreyfus’ big break on screen was a cameo in the 60’s classic “The Graduate” with ayoung Dustin Hoffman, an absolute iconic must watch, everything from the 60’s , Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack, He pops out towards the end in an apartment scene asking if he should call the cops. Great movie and scene
This is one of the movies I'd watch all the time as a toddler--one of the reasons I learned how to use a Beta machine at that age. You should watch Cocoon-great alien movie but you'd prob have to buy it on dvd.
I remember my wife being unsure of me teaching our toddler how to use the stereo, but I told her best he learn instead of experimenting. The next morning we were awoken by the blaring of music - he turned it up before turning it on - then quickly turned it down. I said "See?", rolled over and went back to sleep.
This is one of my favorite films. I like to describe it as "man has a close encounter he can't explain, is compelled to destroy himself, his marriage, and his family in his quest for answers"
Nice! This was the very first Steven Spielberg movie I saw on VHS as well as ET: The Extra Terrestrial. The first Spielberg movie I watched in the theater was JURASSIC PARK. I was 3 years old when the film was released It's still my #1 favorite movie of all time.
I was 12 when this movie came out. This was the beginning of Spielberg's rise to his super stardom as a director. It built upon JAWS success. Unlike so many Alien movies Spielberg and many other scientists, and movie makers were hoping if Aliens were out there, that they would be benevolent, and mentoring to us. I prefer this to the enemies type. This movie is an ICONIC film that led the way to other sci-fi movies of the age, etc. LOVE THIS FILM!!! The reason the people they had taken from Earth were still young is that Einstein's theories state that as you get closer to the speed of light, it alters/slows/bends time. So that a journey of an hour for the traveler at light speed would last like years/decades, centuries here on Earth in regular un-altered time. Read up on Einstein, and other space travel books. I would say the reason the aliens took humans first, then came to visit...and took more is for both species to begin to know one another, and begin to share. Barry, His mother, Roy, and Larry and the rest who saw visions of Devil's Tower, and heard the tones were INVITED to go with them to their World (the French scientist, and head of the project said through his assistant/interpreter that they were invited in the film at one point...it was loud at the time...so the interpreter was yelling "THEY WERE INVITED"...then the French scientist said "they belong here more than we", as opposed to the ones we chose to go. THEY took Roy by the hand, and had him walk into the ship alone, because he was the ONLY one they had invited who was there to "catch the ride".
@@richardvinsen2385 edited my comment. I thought this predated star wars...since they both came out in 1977 it would be a difference of months or weeks...
Ok. Here some ANSWERS and TRIVIA. Have a seat…. The form of communication they used is called “Solfage”. I was a music Ed (vocal & instrumental major in college.) It is a sign language for the do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti-do. It is used to teach us to sightread a piece of music that we’ve never seen before. The key doesn’t matter because it’s based on the movable Do. If the music is in the key of C, then the C is Do. In the key of C, a third up would be Me. A fifth up from C would be So… Now if the piece of music is in the key of G, the note G becomes the new Do. So a third up from G would be B Natural, which is now Me. Got it?! Good. Now, you have to go back to “Jaws”. Spielberg wanted the theme to be something in 4/4 that people could remember and whistle while they walk. John Williams said, “umm… I can make that score in 2 notes. TRUST ME.” So he did and now anyone who hears those two notes, especially swimming, a sudden shock of fear comes about you and you are like, get me the HELL out of here! That was released in 1975. For Close Encounters, Spielberg went with Williams again. This time, Williams said he wanted to do something in 4/4 time and Spielberg said, “ umm… I want you make the score with 5 notes.” That would make it in such an odd meter that no one would get, much less whistle while you walk (unless you are a trained musician.) He put the 5 notes in NO meter and just let each note stand alone as a phrase. Spielberg had written Solfège into the book as a means of learning communications between the humans and the aliens. John Williams was nominated for an Oscar for Best Score but lost because, in the same year, there was another space film that came out called “Star Wars”, which won the Oscar for Best Score… John Williams! Ok. Got that out of the way. What you saw was not the Director’s Cut. What happened is Columbia Pictures heard a rumor that Fox was coming out with some sci-fi movie and they told Spielberg to hurry and finish the film because we want to beat Fox in this “space race”. He was already over budget and time but it wasn’t finished the way he wanted it to be. So, Spielberg put this ending on and let the imagination of the audience answer the questions, but he did not like this and did it anyway. So they both came out in 1977 and were both great successes, only Star Wars was a bigger success! Close Encounters won best Cinematography. The answers to your questions of what happens at the end is, not every question has to be answered. You KNOW that the pilots and other returnee’s got debriefed. A lot. So, why answer a question that you already know the answer to? You know that the aliens had been on Earth several times because there were returnee’s from different time periods. So why answer that question when he answered it visually? A guy said it as the aliens were landing, “Einstein was probably one of them.” The returnee’s came back with a lot of information that would enhance the human race, technologically. The New Group that went up will learn more and come back after a long period of time to keep advancing us. As for your theories of the ending ONE and TWO…. The skinny alien that came out first was a guardian. The others were the everyday, normal, garden variety Gray’s that everyone sees. (Spielberg would only use girls as the grays because they move more fluidly, as if they have always lived in a weightless environment. To hurry up the release, he put them in plastic heads with painted on eyes that looked really stupid, so he defused them with strong lights so you really can’t make out their features.) To your ending number TWO… that is called “ALIEN” that came out in 1979! 😊 The Director’s Cut goes farther on the end. You see Roy go inside the huge Mother Ship and look around. Do you remember all of the ships you saw before Big Mama? You see them floating around in there, giving scale to how big the Mother Ship is. THE ABDUCTION OF BARRY… First, the boy deserved it! He would never listen to his mother so BYE!! The child actor that played Barry was a brat in real life, too. He would never do as told and everyone said they would never work with him again. BUT He did listen to Spielberg for this whole sequence. He told him, in private, that a lot of things are going to start moving on their own and I want you to have fun with everything! But they didn’t tell Melinda Dillon about a single thing. So the dishwasher, the stove, the phone, the lights in the windows, the screws, the fireplace, everything, was a jump surprise to her and she was scared as hell! Each reaction you saw from Melinda was real and, Oh yeah! I’m supposed to hold on to Barry! Oops… he went out the doggie door and Melinda played tug of war with the PA’s. All of the scenes in Muncie, Indiana were actually shot in Arkansas. It was hot and muggy but it had flatter land to build the clouds over. It worked really well but the cast and crew were miserable. There was no romantic involvement between the two through the whole show. The kiss at the end was his “goodbye to earth and the last human touch he will feel. Is this enough information? If you need more, let me know!
SlenderMan Alien was a puppet that failed in filming. What you thought was the leg behind it was the mechanical support holding the puppet. The little aliens were preschool children dressed up. The film was supposed to speed up showing the little ones buzzing around fast like insects. Also, some of the little kids were wired up to fly around the stage, it just didn't look good on film. You can find clips of this online.
Am reposting after deleting my previous, perhaps less kind observations. The movie has both fear and wonderment. It also contains desperate hope of knowing the truth. The comments throughout this film seem to come from a generation jaded by decades of crap entertainment. Not even 1/2 way through and I’m checking out.
The project was already in progress when the movie starts. Them finding those planes was not the start of things, it was the latest development. So I think the people in charge already had certain information about what this was all leading up to. When they got the coordinates for the Devil's Tower, that was the final piece. That's why that base was all set up. I think they hoped the aliens would allow us to send some more people with them. This time it would be trained people, people who might be able to figure out some of what they are seeing. Roy gets to go because he was selected by the aliens themselves. All those people who were imprinted were selected but only Roy made it all the way to the ship. Time dilation, time passing slower for you relative to someone else if you are traveling at extremely high speed, is implied since the 1945 pilots haven't aged much. This means those aliens can travel at near light speed if not faster. My guess is that if you could ask one of those pilots how long in his frame of reference he's been gone, and you compared it to how much time has passed on Earth, you could calculate how fast they were traveling.
This was Spielberg’s second hit after “Jaws,” and his third movie overall, including the made-for-TV movie “Duel.” I think that the Mothership miniature still exists. I remember seeing photos of it. The thing is huge. I also heard that it had over 15,000 holes drilled in it for lights. Gen X all learned about Devil’s Tower because of this movie. It’s fun seeing the same thing happening with modern reactors.
Back in the 70's if you were a pilot and reported a UFO, you were done being an airline pilot.
It's interesting that you say that because I know of a very famous UFO sighting that happened in the mid 80s where that did happen to a Japanese pilot almost 9-10 years after this movie came out. The name of the incident was called *The JAL1628 or The Anchorage incident.* What happened was that a Japanese 747 Jumbo Jet (this plane was carrying cargo) was flying over Alaska, when it was intercepted by three UFOs, one of these objects was so massive that the Jumbo Jet looked like the size of a toy compared to it. This massive object was picked up by two radar stations, one civilian and the other was military.
When the plane landed the captain and his crew reported the sighting to the media. Japanese Airlines was so embarrassed by him coming forward that he got busted to a desk job for a number of years before he was reinstated as a captain, he continued to fly with Japanese Airlines before he retired.
However on the flip side of that coin, I know of another case called *The 2007 Alderney UFO sighting.* This pilot saw two, one mile sized UFOS flying over the British channel, not only did he see these objects, so did some of his passengers, another pilot on another plane going to England also saw it. These objects were also picked up on radar. But what makes this incident different is that his own airline company encouraged the pilot to report his encounter to the media without any repercussions to his career.
As an old guy, you cannot imagine what it was like to se this in a theater in 1978.
In the theater was SO MUCH MORE impactful.
Those giant ships cruising along over your head. 😳😮
Not the same when it's all condensed and contained in a little box (or flat picture screen) in your living room. Even more so on a phone or tablet.
@@cindyknudson2715And back then they weren't multiplexes with little screens but we watched it on giant screens.
Amen! ❤
As of three summers before, "Jaws" was my favourite film. Therefore, I was going to see anything any "Jaws" alum was in and that included this one. Me and my Pops went and we sat there for three hours with our mouths hanging open. There was nothing like that first scene with the musical tones. No CGI. No computer programs. Just imagination and talent.
So true! I saw it at Mann's Hasting's Ranch in Pasadena, CA with my brother and sister.
This isn’t a comedy guys. Seriously it’s a moving sci fi movie! Spielberg makes it almost childlike. 😊
I don't want to sound like an old fogey, but guys, map reading skills are still important. GPS isn't always reliable or available. I have had it lead me astray more than once. Do yourselves a favor and learn to read a map. It won't cause your brain to explode! ;)
Yep. People have literally follwed GPS to their deaths. Stranded into the desert, dead end middle of nowhere, I think even over a cliff?! Reading a map is a crucial life skill. Your GPS device may not always be available.
@@jenniferfoster1692 Not only reading a map, having a compass isn't a bad idea either; and learn how to use it. I used to teach Hunter Safety and "Map & Compass" was a required section. For most of my travel (Maine), I still carry the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer. I also have some old folding maps. In fact, in the State of Maine folding map from 1971, there's several pictures on the backside, used just to fill up space. One of those pictures was taken at the harness racing event at the Windsor Fair. The bald headed guy in the picture was my father, and I'm the little boy sitting next to him.
I avoid Google earth because once I open it - I'm there for a long time. Love geography and cartography.
@@terrylandess6072 I've used the street view to revisit all the places I've lived, etc...
@@brt5273Same, or look at places I want to go see.
This is a Spielberg movie, boys. This movie is child-like hope, not underlining horror. I know he did Jaws, but that was more of a one-off. Also, this is an enhanced version, so it's longer than the theatrical version.
The music was the legend John Williams, who did the most iconic films scores of all time. That's why the score popped off.
The idea to use brilliantly colored lights was genius. It makes the ships look delicate and inviting rather than frightening or evil. Great design choice.
Jurasic Park?
@@THEPATRIOT1000 That came long after his "avatar of hope" period. :)
@@THEPATRIOT1000 And War of the Worlds hahaha
"THat's not how my mom would react to finding me outside in the middle of the night!"
Welcome, Cam and Zay, to the world of parenting in the 1970s!
Exactly. I don't think Cam & Zay would survive the 70's. LOL! They're going to freak when they watch Stand By Me. Parenting in the 50's.
It's not that parenting was crazy then, but that it got crazy in recent years. What we see in the movie is more "normal" for the past, possibly, thousands of years.
@@BobS-mv5fl These dudes seem more likley to survive than a lot of people their age I see.
From what I hear parenting is still like this in Europe. It's just here, in the US, where fear and paranoia has ramped up precipitously.
@@Aeroldoth3 Paranoia has increased most everywhere thanks to modern media tormenting everyone 24/7 with all the cherry-picked bad stuff going on. But yeah, things in the USA are usually done worse and bigger than anywhere else!
I saw this when it came out and the reaction at the end was a lot more wholesome from the audience. No one had any comical comments and imagined what that really would have been like instead. We were in the very beginning of the Sci-Fi kind of thinking and all this was new to us. Remember, it was just a decade earlier when we had Westerns dominating the cinema
Er...scifi has been present since the beginning of cinema. From the Earth to the Moon was one of the first movies ever made.
@@TransoceanicOutreach present, yes, but as a mainstream movie genre it wasn't really around. There had been a burst of sci-fi movies several decades earlier, but they had fallen out of favor. For mainstream audiences, sci-fi movies weren't really much of a thing anymore, and that's what I think they were getting at.
You had this and Star Wars come out in the same year, and I think that reinvigorated audience interest.
When I'm with a bunch of people in the elevator, during that awkward silence, I like to just blurt out, "I saw bigfoot once. Sequoia National Forest, 1951! It made a sound that I would not want to hear twice in my life."
Then a random person had to ruined it for you and says: "But weren't you born in the 90's?"
Hahahaha
If a girl on the elevator replies "There's a dead fly in my potatoes", you've found your soulmate.
@@sebswede9005 Late 60s
😂😂 LOL! 🤣
Boys, you cannot underestimate the impact of seeing this film on it's original release, on a huge cinema screen with 6 track stereo sound! Absolutely incredible and mindbending. The scientist with the French accent is famed film director Francois Truffaut. And by the way this is not the original version that was released in 1977. This is another subsequent cut that is actually not as good as the original version. Also love the haircut Zay.
@58.30: I don't interpret the kiss as a romantic one so much as an empathetic one; these two people have shared a story that they cannot share with others, and they're both dealing with the grief of having lost families and children (in different ways), and both are totally alone with the exception of the other. Maybe there was some attraction-romance in the kiss, but it definitely wasn't the main motivation, in my opinion.
I completely agree, and that's why I find both the chaste kiss and their earlier embrace on the train platform to be so moving.
Can you imagine the effect this film had on audiences almost 50 years ago? Before cell phones, before the Internet. It blew my mind.
Barry’s mom is the lady who played Ralphie’s mom in a Christmas Story. The old man saw Bigfoot once is the old man in Home Alone. The lady who plays the wife, the one and only Teri Garr is best known for Young Frankenstein and Mr. Mom.
also the original Oh God, Teri played John Denver's wife as well. Oh God was also released in 1977.
@@ihl8608 she played the perfect distressed wife. Also played Dustin Hoffman’s girlfriend in Tootsie as well.
Roll...roll...roll in ze hay!
@@homebuyercoaches4044 th-cam.com/video/pHCjlO4Mchg/w-d-xo.html
@@iKvetch558 “what knockers”
Since y'all wondered, there are *no* prequels nor sequels to this. THE FOURTH KIND (2009) and THE 5TH KIND (2017) are completely unrelated... and in different ballparks quality-wise.
I mean, E.T. and War of the Worlds might be considered spiritual sequels to Spielberg's Alien trilogy.
@@sebswede9005 They're in the same category, but not "sequels" in the way the boys were asking about.
@@sebswede9005 War of the Worlds? The 1895 book made into a radio show in the early 20th century followed by an excellent 1950's film? That spiritual successor? :P
You guys are my favorite reactors!
💜💜
And you know I can't message you without mentioning how adorable Zay is! 🤭
Fun fact: One of the scientists (Claude Lacombe) is played by famous French film director Francois Truffaut.
Despite being a more accomplished director at the time, in a "making of" featurette Spielberg said Truffaut was remarkably humble and magnanimous. When they first discussed the film Truffaut made it clear that Spielberg was the one in charge and he was just there to do what he was told. Apparently Truffaut was a bit insecure about his performance and was worried he was ruining the film, so Spielberg had to keep encouraging him and reassure that he was doing great.
They belong here Mozambique. 😉
@@rttoonist4275That’s amazing.
That's correct and the character Claude Lacombe is based on a famous French ufologist. His name is Jacques Vallee.
Indecently another famous ufologist does a cameo in this movie, although he isn't in this video. Right after the airmen come out the mothership and introduce themselves, they walk away, there is a scene where a man with a beard and a blue jacket. He then sticks a pipe in his mouth. That man was Dr J.Allen Hynek. He was the scientific consultant for the US air force in creating three projects in investigating UFO cases. The projects were as follows.
1) Project Sign
2) Project Grudge
3) Project Bluebook (This is the longest and the most famous of all)
Later on he was founder for one of the oldest UFO groups. It is called CUFOS (Centre for UFO Studies) and also created the "scale" on how UFO sightings are investigated and classified.
1) Nocturnal lights: Lights in the night sky.
2) Daylight Disks: UFOs seen in the daytime, generally having discoidal or oval shapes.
3) Radar-visual: UFO reports that have radar confirmation.
4) Close encounters of the first kind (CE1): Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, seemingly less than 500 feet (150 m) away, that show an appreciable angular extension and considerable detail.
5) Close encounters of the second kind (CE2): A UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace.
6) Close encounters of the third kind (CE3): UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present-these include humanoids, robots, and humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of a UFO.
Sadly Dr J.Allen Hynek is no longer with us, he passed away in 1986
The cinematography in this entire movie is amazing.
This film won one competitive Oscar, Best Cinematography (it was awarded a special award for Sound Editing and Design).
"These reactions are waaay too calm"
This was the Seventies baby, people were much more chill then
Yes, lol! Not terrified out of their skins, just interested!
The planes at the beginning were a reference to the bombers gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle in 1945 "The Lost Squadron"...Spielberg is throwing in some historical incidents
Yeah, I was going to say they should look up the historical case of Flight 19, plus the rescue/search flight that followed and also disappeared. Fascinating story.
Those 5 plains were actually found off the coast of Florida. They had a navigation issue and ran out of fuel.
@raymondregis6219
Nope. In the 90's some unidentified debris was found. And a couple other planes have been found.
Flight 19, en todo, is still missing.
Plus, the giant Marlin PBY flying boat which was sent out to look for them.
I remember thinking in 1977 that Spielberg did his homework.
The aliens did NOT take the rest of the astronauts.... the ones in red who had been trained. They only took Roy because he was the only one who had been "invited" through the vision he received.
It was implied that they were all taken; they focused on Roy because he was the main character.
Nope. Just Roy. They would've taken all in the helicopter cuz they were all invited. But the government messed it up & Barry's mom just wanted her kid back.
Fun fact, the whole "sunburn" thing is actually a pretty common facet of real UFO experiences. People seem to get mild radiation burns (which a sunburn technically is) in some encounters. The whole movie seems to be very grounded and based heavily on real encounters of previous decades, ar least in the fine details.
It's interesting that you say that because unfortunately there was one case where the witnesses encountered a diamond shaped UFO and suffered very horrific burns and radiation sickness in 1980. The injuries that they had would later on affect them later on in their lives. Sadly two of those witness have passed away, but there was a third witness and he is still alive, partially because the inside of the car protected him.
If your interested in this case, I suggest that you google *Betty Cash/Vicki Landrum incident*
There is also another famous incident that happened ten years before this movie came out. It's called *The Falcon Lake Incident.* An amateur geologist called Stefan Michalak encountered a disk shaped object. But he was standing next to a vent which emitted heated gas, which hit him in his chest and set fire to his clothing.
There is a photo of him with "grid like pattens" on his chest.
Greg Jein made the models for this film. When I was working for him, there was a crate that we were using as a paint base, painting models on it. One day, Greg opened it up, and inside was the Devils Tower miniature used for the model effects shots.
Richard Dreyfuss' character's face is burned because he looked up at the UFO when it was hovering over his car. He even goes "Aaahh!!" in the moment.
I love seeing younger folks watching movies that I grew up with! This was one of my Dad's favorite movies! I saw it many times throughout the 80s!!!
I'd love it a lot more if they weren't so ADHD.
This wasn't the Director's Cut. It had scenes inside the ship with Roy looking around wide eyed! Not very long, but the shoe was so long anyway that they cut it for theater release but added it back in for the DVD release. 😊
BTW - They didn't age on the spaceship due to traveling the speed of light. Part of the space/time continuim according to Einstein.
Another good movie...is Fire in the Sky 1993 - hard to explain you'll have to see it.
Very good movie as well.
Yes! I wish more reactors would do Fire in the Sky. It's not perfect (especially the obnoxious musical soundtrack), but the final, disturbing reveal in that film is stark contrast to the benign, somewhat syrupy conclusion of Close Encounters . . .
@@jaysverrisson1536 And whether that stuff actually happened to that person or not...since it's supposed to be a true story, makes you wonder. Regardless good movie.
@@jeremiahrose4681- Travis Walton and everyone on his crew took lie detector tests and all passed. None of them have ever changed their story.
The case your referring to is *The Travis Walton UFO Abduction incident.*
still the most realistic depiction of real UFO encounters to date
I’ve had more than one. This one was great. But there are many films that capture the many variations of the experiences we have had. But, I will say, it’s one of the greats
Dude straight up left his wife and kids to be with aliens! 😂 The last time his kids saw him, he was falling off the hood of the car while their mother drove away! This movie is nuts, but I love it so much! It's damn near perfect.
I saw this movie when I was 12 back in the 80's. Even at that age I was like: "his wife and kids are anoying. I would gladly go with the aliens" 🤣
@@letmadora28 TBH I hated the way the wife reacted, and dealt with the situation, always bugged me.
TLDR
In my head canon (and I wish Spielberg would have explained it this way instead of his apologetic statements) the aliens may not yet have any way of understanding how our social dynamics work, so when they implant humans with the uncontrollable urge to meet with them they have no idea that they could be breaking up a family. Roy pretty much shows that no matter how hard he tries to “get back to normal” he invariably gets sucked back into the urge to get to the meeting. The aliens may be communal, and not even aware of the concept of a “nuclear family”. In other words I think Roy might not be operating under free will after the implant. As for the kiss, I think at that point Roy’s wife had left, he knew he couldn’t help but leave with aliens or he might go nuts, and he may never see another human again. He was just having one last human interaction with someone who truly understood his dilemma, a kindred spirit, and so he was really trying to have the most meaningful last moment on earth that he could. Roy kinda gets treated like he was a drunk who abandoned his family to join the circus, but I think it was infinitely more complicated than that. Once again, just my head canon.
Those aliens must've watched "Jaws". They recognized Richard Dreyfuss. 😂
@@stevesheroan4131That’s pretty darn good head canon. I like it.
Pre-CGI, there really was only one way to make these Cloud-effects: Use a Cloud Tank, a container filled with water in which various liquid additives such as colors and other chemicals are poured and then filmed at either lower or higher frame-rates. Other movies prominently using this technique are _Star Trek II, Never Ending Story_ and _Flash Gordon._
They really did it up in Flash Gordon.
How did they make the cloud effect? They poured dye into huge tanks of water.
They used the same technique to make the Mutara Nebula in Star Trek II, and the mushroom clouds in The Day After.
Nobody does breakdown of the family, through children's eyes, better than Steven Spielberg. Roy's children (and wife) turning on him still crushes me
There was a Golden Age of sci Fi, for a brief period in late 70s, very early 80s Star Wars , Blade Runner, Alien, and this masterpiece. They all raised the bar, while honoring the past, and have been copied , ever since. Blessed to have seen all of them in a theater, as a child. ❤ Keep up the great reactions .
Growing up on so many Science Fiction films from the 50's and 60's which also had a LARGE share of TV series like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea or The Time Tunnel, I can't agree about a 'golden age' although technology helped to make it more exciting.
@@terrylandess6072 I'm not a words smith by any means, however I think you absolutely get where I'm coming from. Example...I think " The creature from the Black Lagoon" is one of the greatest horror, adventure, love story's ever filmed , next to King Kong..🤣✌️♥️
@@johnathanstruble1064 Ever notice in the Creature film how Spielberg copied the underwater POV shot looking up at the female swimmer in Jaws?
@@terrylandess6072 No, I did not, but now I will! ...that's great🤣✌️
I wouldn't speculate too much on the aliens' intentions. Spielberg was only around 30 years old when he filmed it, but at least had the forethought and wisdom to make it not just a solely "American" film, but saw to include several foreign languages/cultures into the mix.
I ADORED this reaction. Your commentary had me laughing and smiling the whole way through. A tough thing to do for such an overly-serious movie. You had fun watching it AND appreciated all the great cinematic elements about it! You were impressed, liberal with your praise, and gave it an incredibly high score. But people are annoyed you didn’t watch it with the seriousness and reverence they think it demands? Some people are a little too precious with their favourite movies. Two new young guys love the classic movie you love, you don’t get to dictate the mood they need to have while watching.
Exactly. If anything, they made the movie more entertaining for me 😂😂
1977 was a good year for me. I was 6 and my 26 year old kick ass mom took me to the first showing, opening day of Star Wars in May, then took me to Close Encounters later that year opening day as well. That song "So look with care for the shape of a square" has been in my head ever since.
Nice! I was born in 1973, but I don’t think I saw them both until a year or two later. I can’t remember when I first saw Star Wars. I wish I could.
Mine too! My mom took 6 year old me and my 4 year old sister. Scared the crap out of us!
I was 9 and I saw Star Wars and Close Encounters. Became a huge Star Wars fan and love most of Spielbergs films.
The frenchman in this is played by director Francois Truffaut.
Absolument, c`est bien lui.
I grew up with this movie. I never saw that kiss as romantic just two people who had been through similar difficult and painful events sharing a moment of affection. When you don't have the words sometimes a touch or a kiss is the best you can do. Also i drove long-haul before gps. We only had maps. Everyone should know how to read a map.
"Are they... aliens?" No Zay, that's just what people in Indiana look like.
When this movie came out, we watched in awe with our mouths open and a tear in our eye. It made us think and gave us a new way of looking at things. But I'm glad you guys had a good laugh.
My sentiments exactly. Kinda makes me sad. Maybe this generation is just jaded af.
@@merkitten953 They're SO performative...for their audience, to get clicks. The reviewers I subscribe to are not 12-year-old boys, they're the ones who watch respectfully, commenting infrequently, not screaming at the screen.
Pathetic reaction they were an embarrsisment
I wonder if you noticed that the score had a brief "Wish Upon a Star" queue during the finale. Not sure if that would mean anything to you, but it was a reminder of that magical time when space wasn't something to be frightened of, that there was magic out there.
Coccon is another sweet 80's alien classic 💜
Close Encounters of the First Kind: We left you a phone message.
Close Encounters of the Second Kind: We mailed you a reminder.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Taxmans Revenge.
😂😂😂
Fourth Kind is .... Anal! !!!
When I went to Devils Tower there were people drawing pictures of it.
THEY WERE INVITED!
They didn't take the other volunteers into the ship as they weren't invited. Only Roy and the others that were compelled to show up were invited.
Glad you caught the 'Jaws' quotation!
There's a great tonal and thematic followup to this from 2019, "The Vast of Night." More spooky and less starry-eyed, but somehow more effective because of it.
Also consider that when this movie was made, most previous movies showed the aliens as the enemy with evil intentions. This was one of the first ones to show aliens as friendly.
As impressed as you may be, it's nothing compared to sitting in a a theater with 300 people when you get that first scale shot of the mother ship and the mountain. A part of a group that large going from silence to a quiet gasp to expelling " Ohhhh..." simultaneously.
No one ever reacts to the film performance of Richard Dreyfuss that won him The Best Actor Academy Award. It's a rom com by Neil Simon one of the prolific and popular play/screenwriters of the late 60s and 70s, titled The Goodbye Girl. It swept The Oscars in 1978, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress ( Marsha Mason who was Neil Simon's wife ), Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Song by David Gates, formerly of the Mega Group Bread. I have no idea why it's been so forgotten. I was 19 when it was released. Many years later, my then 15 year old daughter was fooling around on the computer in the same room where I was about to watch The Goodbye Girl, and mentioned it was really good. After a few minutes she drifted over to the sofa and sat down to watch it. When it was over she said, spontaneously, " I'll never doubt your taste in movies again!" and went back to the computer.
Watch it guys.
With this film Spielberg started the trend in film of benign aliens. This trend would continue until 1996, when I can remember being absolutely shocked that the aliens started destroying cities in Independence Day. You guys obviously grew up after Independence Day when aliens were hostile again, you can hear it in your presumptions about the aliens' intentions early in the reaction.
what about Predator
what about Alien?
@@THEPATRIOT1000 I said 'trend' mate. Predator and Alien didn't end the trend, Independence Day did. That goes for The Thing also.
Ebb and flow like the tides - in the 50's and 60's Aliens weren't benign. People just got burnt out so the happy alien was 'new'.
Predator only attacked armed people😊@@THEPATRIOT1000
Best line: "They asked me if I'd seen any strangers in the neighborhood."
One of the interesting things about the movie is that there are (ultimately) no antagonists.
Fun Fact: in the 70s, calling someone a turkey was the biggest slur you could throw at any person. EVER!!!
Those were great times 😂
I don’t remember that
LOL, no it wasn't. It was definitely an insult, but the worst ones were the same as now.
The urban version was jive ass turkey
Having lived through them and not appreciated them at the time, I feel I owe an apology to the 1970s.
I never thought I'd ever see anyone throwing shapes to Close Encounters, but yet here we are ... lol 😄
You mean "throwing shade"?
@@Serai3 No "throwing shapes" means dancing. Generally in a flashy, arm-wavy, kind of way.
@@maddwitch There were disco records in the 70s that covered the main music motif, so it's not unreasonable to want to get your groove on.
@@maddwitch Ah, I'd never heard that slang. Thank you. You learn something new every day!
@@maddwitch I learned something today - thx.
Was great seeing this in theater in '77. (67 yr old usa rock and roller)
I love the reaction. I haven't seen you guys laugh this much, which actually speaks to the conflicting emotions in trying to process such grandiose events rather than any humor.
Killer movie. Still haven't seen an ET film that tops this one.
The planes in the beginning were the planes of Flight 19 that disappeared in 1945 over the Bermuda Triangle. They were never found.
That's right and so did the plane that went to find them. It also disappeared as well.
I was home on leave from the USAF when I saw this film. It blew my mind, about the same as 2001.
When he said to his wife it's not a MOON BURN...he was being sarcastic guys.
Masterpiece guys ! in 1977 we were absolutely surprise and huge fun !
You guys have such entertaining comments and reactions. So fun, I saw this back in the day as I born in 1973 and was super fascinated with UFOs and aliens as a kid.
Air traffic control scene one of my favorites all time - didn't feel like acting, just people doing complicated work that I am trying to follow, but the camera movement and music- loved it. Also your reaction captures the difference about younger generations feeling toward UFOs vs. those in 70s-80s
45:25 it was intentional 😊 John Williams scored both films and acknowledged the nod to Jaws
Random Trivia:
11:00 To create this effect a replica of the truck's cab was built and placed inside a rotating gimbal. Dryfuss was strapped in (easily done as Roy was wearing his seatbelt). The camera was static as the set rotated. While it's kinda easy to see (even more so when you know how it's done) if you play it on a loop, it's clearly obvious how it was done.
great/great movie Dreyfuss was amazing. Going from a shark to an Alien....nice.
It somehow hurts when he takes a part as the bad guy - a testament to his acting skill such as in DAVE.
Highly recommend E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (also by Spielberg) and The Abyss
“If they’re touching him like that in public, then what goes on behind closed doors?” Bravo, Zay. Well done.
Clearly they have "close encounters" of the third base kind.
@@Aeroldoth3 Nice
if you ask most people their reactions to ufos is pretty normal. theyre curious. humans are naturally curious over fearful.
This is the best version, with the shower meltdown and no spaceship interior.
The extended version is definitely not always the better version.
The spaceship interior scene is a pure imagination-killer.
The lady on the left looks like she's wearing a ruff (46:45) , she could be from Tudor times.
The Aliens abducted people in the 1940s but weren't gone for very long from their perspective. The spaceship was going close to the speed of light so time on Earth went much faster than from inside the ship. (Time Dilation). "They haven't even aged. Einstein was right... Einstein was probably one of them"
...........this movie is in my top 5 favorite movies of all time (that's 50 years for me)! I remember seeing this at a drive-in theater (way back when) - and was mesmerized...I count this movie as the reason why I love sci-fi today. Good movie choice for you guys.
On May 25th, 1977 I was one of the fortunate ones who saw Star Wars A New Hope on opening day! Thankfully we arrived early enough, my father took my sister and I, the crowd was starting to form and when the theater opened the line had gone around the theater a few times. Big day for me, I was 12, my sister 10! As a 12 year old I was so excited when we came out, but we had to wait until 1980 for Empire Strikes Back! In the meantime, Close Encounter's Of The 3rd Kind came out on December 14th 1977. Two great movies; tons of fun and excitement! You may notice Richard Dreyfuss, the main character in Close Encounter's also played Hooper in Jaws 2 years before? Richard Dreyfuss has been in a ton of great movies: American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounter's Of The 3rd Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Stand By Me, What About Bob, and Mr. Holland's Opus. Great actor!
Out of curiosity, where had you heard about Star Wars at that time to be so motivated to see it. Were there a lot of commercials on tv creating a hype about it or articles in magazines, newspapers, etc...? For my part I was nine years old and along with my older brother we both only heard about it, in September-October from other classmates who were all raving about it. But my dad did bring the whole family to see Close Encoun. that summer, so we didn`t miss out on that one at least.
There is an even longer version that shows scenes of Roy at work at the power plant, and shows the inside of the big ship and where the little ones dock inside a large structure in the center, and windows all around the inside with them all looking down at him.
The reason the pilots didn’t want to file a UFO report with Indianapolis Center is because reporting a UFO encounter used be a career ending move, with airlines. Now, they’re finally changing the rules so that pilots can report unidentified aerial phenomena without repercussions, and the FAA will pass reports onto The Pentagon. There sure is enough military pilots reporting craft outmaneuvering advanced fighter jets, and moving in a manner as if not affected by gravity, or inertia, by some advanced form of propulsion.
The reason everything went crazy when Roy was stopped at the railroad tracks was due to strong electromagnetic, and antigravity, forces coming from the spacecraft. Unshielded electrical systems experience disruption, or erratic activity, antigravity fields cause objects to rise, float, or move in unusual ways, and EM fields affect ferromagnetic metallic objects.
Look up "talking plasma"
@@ITPalGame that’s fascinating. At least it’s a laser plasma system for talking to people and not burning holes in them, though that will be coming. It sounds like a similar premise to directional speakers using inaudible sound beams that can be focused on an individual who then is the only person who can hear the audio. Now they have laser plasma balls that talk. Why not? We can beam lots of things through lasers, audio data is one. Make a ball of plasma that vibrates the air like a speaker, like an audio modulated Tesla coil, all while powered and audio fed by the same lasers. I figured that wouldn’t be far off from audio mod Tesla coils, and megahertz range plasma flame speakers, that soon an alternative power source would be lasers, and the lasers even act like an audio cord. Interesting read, thanks for mentioning it!
@@FredtheDorfDorfman1985 apparently, although I haven't looked it up, there is a thing about moving a plasma ball using multiple lasers converging so that it can be moved about at high speeds giving the illusion of a physics defying object.
Everything you just explained, I knew as a child while watching this movie. But kids today know nothing. They just laugh at what they don't understand. We failed them.
Your absolutely right that the rules are changing when pilots want to report UFO sighting. But I know of two cases where one captain who reported witnessing a UFO was busted to a desk job for a number of years, before he was reinstated to captain. You might want to check out *The JAL1628 or Anchorage incident.*
The second incident was called *The 2007 Alderney UFO sighting.* He was encouraged to report his sighting to the media without an repercussions to his career.
Have you heard of the Bermuda triangle mystery ? the planes at the beginning disappeared in this triangle at sea (near Florida) FOR REAL ! but also ships...that's the reference in this movie. The japanese ship Cotopaxi in 1925, The squadron of TBF Avengers planes (squadron 19) in 1945 ! that's the myth
This is definitely one of the best depictions of “real” alien stuff. The burns, the lights and how they move, obsessive thoughts after an encounter, lost time. It’s all been described by people who’ve supposedly had encounters so it’s neat to see it portrayed with a Hollywood budget.
This film made a huge impact when it came out. One thing that I'll say, and I may be in the minority, but I think for most films, the original theatrical release is actually the best version of a film. Things are cut and trimmed for a reason. More is not necessarily better.
Disco was big in the late 70s. I remember thinking it was a giant disco ball in the sky when I was little.
Richard Dreyfuss famously stated that, if he had known what the UFOs looked like, his expression upon seeing them would have been totally different. Spielberg didn't know when they were filming what the UFOs looked like, the designs were finalised very late into the shooting, too late to inform the actors what they were actually looking at.
I believe the tones mean 'WILL YOU BE MY FRIEND" Each tone for each word.
What a GREAT MOVIE! Wish you guys could have seen this on a big screen at the theater - it was mind-blowing - with all the lights, colors, the sounds…it was freaking awesome! It was literally a “trip!”
There was a parody trailer of this film made in the 1970s called Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind. You can find it on TH-cam. Definitely worth a short reaction.
As an ex-Air Traffic controller I can say it's just a big book of rules and procedures with specifics for the airspace you're responsible for. Follow the rules and it's just another job. Pilots ALWAYS have the final say so a controller is actually an advisor with eyes that see further with information helpful to the intentions of all aircraft within their 'jurisdiction'.
Welcome to Delinquent Tax Encounters of the Cam & Zay Kind 🤣
Look up Close Encounters on Wikipedia for the classifications for UFO sightings. It'll help explain some other movie titles as well as this movie's title.
You all like the Alien Rave at the end ! Also the child looks like the Aliens !
I have a theory that he is.
The movie is supposedly based on the true story of the events leading up to project serpo, which took place in the 1960s. This is when the US government had a exchange program with the Aliens, sending humans on a 10 year round trip to the Alien home planet with two suns.
Well, well, well….here we go! Great movie!! This movie is and will always be incredible! Richard Dreyfus is phenomenal in this role; and you should-at some point check out Mr Holland’s Opus. Both gems. 💎 😊
I also picked up on another person I recognized in this movie... during the meeting in this movie there's a guy that says "why don't you guys just admit that the government is doing tests in the foothill area"...this same guy was in Jaws 2...he was the guy complaining to chief Brody that Grace Kinney was dancing wearing a towel in a window teasing with his son...
51:18 I reckon that the aliens chose all those people that came to the Devil's Tower, the ones that the military drove off, and they were excited because one of them was actually there and willing to go with them.
"They should have cut some parts to make it less slow" Well, you're watching the Director's cut. Back in the 80's the one I saw didn't have the council meeting, neither the part where Roy dumped the plants and dirt inside his house.
Devil's Tower was formed from a prehistoric lava chute. Over time, the surrounding ground wore away until the tower is all that's left. Also, the local Indians named the mountain after a bear god. Unfortunately, those who translated it messed up and thought they said Devil, hence, Devil's Tower. There was nothing malicious in their folklore.
Richard Dreyfus’ big break on screen was a cameo in the 60’s classic
“The Graduate” with ayoung Dustin Hoffman, an absolute iconic must watch, everything from the 60’s , Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack,
He pops out towards the end in an apartment scene asking if he should call the cops.
Great movie and scene
This is one of the movies I'd watch all the time as a toddler--one of the reasons I learned how to use a Beta machine at that age. You should watch Cocoon-great alien movie but you'd prob have to buy it on dvd.
I remember my wife being unsure of me teaching our toddler how to use the stereo, but I told her best he learn instead of experimenting. The next morning we were awoken by the blaring of music - he turned it up before turning it on - then quickly turned it down. I said "See?", rolled over and went back to sleep.
This is one of my favorite films. I like to describe it as "man has a close encounter he can't explain, is compelled to destroy himself, his marriage, and his family in his quest for answers"
Nice!
This was the very first Steven Spielberg movie I saw on VHS as well as ET: The Extra Terrestrial.
The first Spielberg movie I watched in the theater was JURASSIC PARK. I was 3 years old when the film was released
It's still my #1 favorite movie of all time.
I was 12 when this movie came out. This was the beginning of Spielberg's rise to his super stardom as a director. It built upon JAWS success. Unlike so many Alien movies Spielberg and many other scientists, and movie makers were hoping if Aliens were out there, that they would be benevolent, and mentoring to us. I prefer this to the enemies type. This movie is an ICONIC film that led the way to other sci-fi movies of the age, etc. LOVE THIS FILM!!! The reason the people they had taken from Earth were still young is that Einstein's theories state that as you get closer to the speed of light, it alters/slows/bends time. So that a journey of an hour for the traveler at light speed would last like years/decades, centuries here on Earth in regular un-altered time. Read up on Einstein, and other space travel books. I would say the reason the aliens took humans first, then came to visit...and took more is for both species to begin to know one another, and begin to share. Barry, His mother, Roy, and Larry and the rest who saw visions of Devil's Tower, and heard the tones were INVITED to go with them to their World (the French scientist, and head of the project said through his assistant/interpreter that they were invited in the film at one point...it was loud at the time...so the interpreter was yelling "THEY WERE INVITED"...then the French scientist said "they belong here more than we", as opposed to the ones we chose to go. THEY took Roy by the hand, and had him walk into the ship alone, because he was the ONLY one they had invited who was there to "catch the ride".
This film didn’t lead the way to Star Wars. Star Wars was released 6 months before Close Encounters.
@@richardvinsen2385 edited my comment. I thought this predated star wars...since they both came out in 1977 it would be a difference of months or weeks...
@@Lethgar_Smith Star Wars beat Close Encounters to theaters by six months.
Ok. Here some ANSWERS and TRIVIA. Have a seat….
The form of communication they used is called “Solfage”. I was a music Ed (vocal & instrumental major in college.) It is a sign language for the do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti-do. It is used to teach us to sightread a piece of music that we’ve never seen before. The key doesn’t matter because it’s based on the movable Do. If the music is in the key of C, then the C is Do. In the key of C, a third up would be Me. A fifth up from C would be So… Now if the piece of music is in the key of G, the note G becomes the new Do. So a third up from G would be B Natural, which is now Me. Got it?! Good. Now, you have to go back to “Jaws”. Spielberg wanted the theme to be something in 4/4 that people could remember and whistle while they walk. John Williams said, “umm… I can make that score in 2 notes. TRUST ME.” So he did and now anyone who hears those two notes, especially swimming, a sudden shock of fear comes about you and you are like, get me the HELL out of here! That was released in 1975. For Close Encounters, Spielberg went with Williams again. This time, Williams said he wanted to do something in 4/4 time and Spielberg said, “ umm… I want you make the score with 5 notes.” That would make it in such an odd meter that no one would get, much less whistle while you walk (unless you are a trained musician.) He put the 5 notes in NO meter and just let each note stand alone as a phrase. Spielberg had written Solfège into the book as a means of learning communications between the humans and the aliens. John Williams was nominated for an Oscar for Best Score but lost because, in the same year, there was another space film that came out called “Star Wars”, which won the Oscar for Best Score… John Williams! Ok. Got that out of the way.
What you saw was not the Director’s Cut. What happened is Columbia Pictures heard a rumor that Fox was coming out with some sci-fi movie and they told Spielberg to hurry and finish the film because we want to beat Fox in this “space race”. He was already over budget and time but it wasn’t finished the way he wanted it to be. So, Spielberg put this ending on and let the imagination of the audience answer the questions, but he did not like this and did it anyway. So they both came out in 1977 and were both great successes, only Star Wars was a bigger success! Close Encounters won best Cinematography.
The answers to your questions of what happens at the end is, not every question has to be answered. You KNOW that the pilots and other returnee’s got debriefed. A lot. So, why answer a question that you already know the answer to? You know that the aliens had been on Earth several times because there were returnee’s from different time periods. So why answer that question when he answered it visually? A guy said it as the aliens were landing, “Einstein was probably one of them.”
The returnee’s came back with a lot of information that would enhance the human race, technologically. The New Group that went up will learn more and come back after a long period of time to keep advancing us.
As for your theories of the ending ONE and TWO…. The skinny alien that came out first was a guardian. The others were the everyday, normal, garden variety Gray’s that everyone sees. (Spielberg would only use girls as the grays because they move more fluidly, as if they have always lived in a weightless environment. To hurry up the release, he put them in plastic heads with painted on eyes that looked really stupid, so he defused them with strong lights so you really can’t make out their features.) To your ending number TWO… that is called “ALIEN” that came out in 1979! 😊
The Director’s Cut goes farther on the end. You see Roy go inside the huge Mother Ship and look around. Do you remember all of the ships you saw before Big Mama? You see them floating around in there, giving scale to how big the Mother Ship is.
THE ABDUCTION OF BARRY… First, the boy deserved it! He would never listen to his mother so BYE!! The child actor that played Barry was a brat in real life, too. He would never do as told and everyone said they would never work with him again. BUT
He did listen to Spielberg for this whole sequence. He told him, in private, that a lot of things are going to start moving on their own and I want you to have fun with everything! But they didn’t tell Melinda Dillon about a single thing. So the dishwasher, the stove, the phone, the lights in the windows, the screws, the fireplace, everything, was a jump surprise to her and she was scared as hell!
Each reaction you saw from Melinda was real and, Oh yeah! I’m supposed to hold on to Barry! Oops… he went out the doggie door and Melinda played tug of war with the PA’s.
All of the scenes in Muncie, Indiana were actually shot in Arkansas. It was hot and muggy but it had flatter land to build the clouds over. It worked really well but the cast and crew were miserable. There was no romantic involvement between the two through the whole show. The kiss at the end was his “goodbye to earth and the last human touch he will feel.
Is this enough information? If you need more, let me know!
SlenderMan Alien was a puppet that failed in filming. What you thought was the leg behind it was the mechanical support holding the puppet. The little aliens were preschool children dressed up. The film was supposed to speed up showing the little ones buzzing around fast like insects. Also, some of the little kids were wired up to fly around the stage, it just didn't look good on film. You can find clips of this online.
Am reposting after deleting my previous, perhaps less kind observations.
The movie has both fear and wonderment. It also contains desperate hope of knowing the truth.
The comments throughout this film seem to come from a generation jaded by decades of crap entertainment. Not even 1/2 way through and I’m checking out.
This flick is profound. The idea is out of this world. Even the title, without any reference to prequels, at 6 words, is worth remembering.
The project was already in progress when the movie starts. Them finding those planes was not the start of things, it was the latest development. So I think the people in charge already had certain information about what this was all leading up to. When they got the coordinates for the Devil's Tower, that was the final piece. That's why that base was all set up. I think they hoped the aliens would allow us to send some more people with them. This time it would be trained people, people who might be able to figure out some of what they are seeing. Roy gets to go because he was selected by the aliens themselves. All those people who were imprinted were selected but only Roy made it all the way to the ship. Time dilation, time passing slower for you relative to someone else if you are traveling at extremely high speed, is implied since the 1945 pilots haven't aged much. This means those aliens can travel at near light speed if not faster. My guess is that if you could ask one of those pilots how long in his frame of reference he's been gone, and you compared it to how much time has passed on Earth, you could calculate how fast they were traveling.
Saw this in the theater at 12 years old. It was truly spectacular. The film score by: John Williams was unreal!!! Grand reaction,.. Cam & Zay. 🔥🔥🔥✌️
This was Spielberg’s second hit after “Jaws,” and his third movie overall, including the made-for-TV movie “Duel.”
I think that the Mothership miniature still exists. I remember seeing photos of it. The thing is huge. I also heard that it had over 15,000 holes drilled in it for lights. Gen X all learned about Devil’s Tower because of this movie. It’s fun seeing the same thing happening with modern reactors.