Hello again Ryan and first off, yep, I hit the Like button as soon as you started, as I knew this would be terrific, just like your Jaws review. 😁 The “So” counter was hilarious and your black “void” room is brilliant. Best background I have seen in any reaction video on RUclips. 👍 I was a wee girl of 10 when my movie loving Dad took me to see Close Encounters in the theater in 1977 and it absolutely stunned me. So happy to see you reviewing this! (It was on my movie recommendation list I sent you, yay!) Cheers again from Seattle! 😎❤️
In 1977 I was 16 and saw this at the theatre. It was really an amazing experience seeing this at 16 on the big screen with a bunch of other teenagers. I remember being completely blown. We went back and watched it several times. Love the paint job in your room! It looks fantastic.
I feel like things were different in the 70s because I keep seeing reactors upset that he kissed the kid's mom and that he left his family. Back then, I think we were all just happy he was having a spiritual adventure and thought, eh, the wife took off. This movie in the theater was fantastic. The rumbling shook the seats. The colors, the music. It was wonderful.
After watching this back while editing I saw how despondent he seemed with his previous life and how his wife wasn't very supportive so I got it more the second time around 🙌
@@RyanCarrington It is a lot to take in, especially while providing commentary. But I do think that, in general, people nowadays have a harder time letting go and going with a story if some aspect of it conflicts with their sense of morality. It's just a common theme I am seeing. I think it is a cultural shift from the much "freer" 60s and 70s. Not passing any sort of judgment, just an observation.
I think some people who watch this movie miss out on the fact that these people(the ones who were invited) all shared a unique and powerful experience. It seems clear to me that by the time they reached that mountain his previous life was in the past for him. He was following this trail to the end, where ever that might be. That kiss was his last goodbye and it was with her because she was his partner in all this by that point.
Something they don’t do anymore really: a movie that’s not written to be in a particular category but a well rounded movie with many shades and impacts.
You're right. This is a very sweet film. As a musician, I find the concept of communication through music to be fascinating. I can't imagine how this movie could be any better if it were done today. This one should be left alone.
Saw this in the theater when it first came out, at age eight. I ended up seeing it two more times in short succession. To say it blew my mind is an understatement.
I saw this in the theater when it first came out. The moment that the mother ship appeared with the seats rumbling, we, the audience, let out this collective gasp. There had never really been anything like this and it really blew us away to see that huge ship up there on the screen. It really was one of those movie moments to remember.
Modern audiences miss SOOO MUCH by only seeing these are tiny flat-screens instead of massive movie theatre screens with great sound systems rumbling along.
I enjoyed watching you experience a little piece of the total awe I felt watching this movie for the first time at 15 years old on a huge Dallas screen. The other edits of the film are okay, but this is the version that blew my socks in 1977... Up to that point I had never had my breath taken away like I did when that mothership comes from behind the mountain. The first Star Wars came out the same year, and I loved that too, but this is the movie that showed me the power of film.
Richard Dreyfuss is criminally underrated. I mean he's won a Best Lead Oscar, but he's been popularly forgotten. Two of my all time favorite movies (for very different reasons) are one's with him as the lead, Always, a beautiful tear-jerker, and, Let It Ride, a gambling adventure. And, Moon Over Parador, should not be missed, nor should, What About Bob?, Stakeout, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Goodbye Girl, (the movie that cemented his dramatic bona fides with an Oscar), and, Mr. Holland's Opus.
It's a movie you have to rewatch to catch all the little subtle things like the stars moving around in the background and the strange lights. There's so much extremely subtle hints in this movie that still give me chills.
Near the end, when the aliens were choosing him, if you listen to the music you can hear the strains of “when you wish upon a star” from Pinocchio. John Williams was having fun and it was definitely Spielberg’s vision.
John Williams also snuck 2 bars of the Jaws theme song in during the Devil's Tower scene when Richard Dreyfus was watching the mothership play the bass notes towards the end of the music "conversation"
John Williams explained that he created the characteristic sequence of five notes associated with aliens as a result of a request by Spielberg. Who wanted a sort of musical calling card, or pleasant greeting from the aliens. Kind of like a musical doorbell chime.
The "third kind" refers to one of five encounters with extraterrestrials, each varying in how close the encounter was: First kind: Seeing a UFO from a distance of 150 meters or less. Second kind: When the encounter leaves evidence such as scorched ground, indentations, etc. Third kind: When occupants of the UFO are visible/sighted Fourth kind: The witness is taken by the UFO and possibly experimented on Fifth kind: Direct communication between humans and aliens
@@williammatthews693 Most of the 2nd Kind were witnessed by two or fewer people. Barry is the first one in the film to have a Third Kind encounter, as he sees them in the kitchen (though the camera remains on Barry). Everyone at the Devil's Tower stage had a Third Kind encounter.
I've seen this a few times over the years and only noticed watching this that Williams sticks a wee 'Jaws' theme in at the end of the 'music communication' scene (at 35.18)
Loved your reaction. As for his family... given the opportunity to go into space and learn the secrets of the universe kind of trumps whiny kids and a wife who doesn't understand you. (Hey, maybe this is what happens to all "deadbeat dads" who went out for cigs and never came back!) Saw this as a kid long after it's initial run, and it really is amazing on the big screen.
Later after Spielberg had a family of his own, he came to regret this decision. Doesn’t dilute the ending for me,…and maybe this could be the foundation for a sequel!
Spielberg left his own (first) family for Hollywood. He said much later that if he could change this movie, he'd change the dynamic between Roy and his family. In other words, the reaction he wanted at the time was yours.
I was 13ish when this came out. Turned me into a filmmaker and the chief reason I moved to Hollywood . BTW Richard Dreyfus owned a significant piece of the 70s, was Spielberg’s movie avatar in most of his early movies.
Great intro!!!! Great set! 1.) In the early 80s, Spielberg wanted to put back in a couple of scenes he had been forced to delete.....the studio demanded he add a scene where you see Dreyfuss on the mothership. So he did, and that's called "The Special Edition", which got released in the early 80s. It's a corny, needless scene and when he made his "Director's Cut" he removed it (but left all the other restored material in). 2.) I'm embarrassed for anyone who throws in your face " how could you not know who this actor is?" or "how could you never have seen this movie?". That's what we want from a reactor! Someone who hasn't seen these movies! Jeez, those people have turned into the folks they used to make fun of when they were younger, that's all I'm saying. 3.) The special effects are by Douglas Trumball....who did the special effects for Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", the only sci-fi movie more dazzling than this one! For me, the holy trinity of dazzling sci-fi movies are: "Forbidden Planet" (1954), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), and "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. 4) What does the title mean? I think close encounter of the first kind is sighting. Close encounter of the second kind is interaction. And a close encounter of the third kind is when you actually meet 'em! :P
I think the 1st is a visual sighting, the 2nd is some kind evidence left behind by aliens, and the 3rd is interaction/meeting them, though I'm too lazy to Google it right now.
Wow, thank you so much for all of that ☺️ I've never seen A Space Odyssey or Forbidden Planet either so I'll add those to the list. I've always meant to check out 2001 A Space Odyssey!
@@RyanCarrington 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968) is the pinnacle of practical mechanical in-camera special effects with no computers harmed in its making (Star Wars introduced computer motion control of cameras and models). The story it tells, primarily through visuals, sound and music, with very little dialogue, is also cosmic and enigmatic, co-written by your countryman Arthur C. Clarke. I won't go further except to say that it's a much watch if you like first contact stories, and it still packs a punch more than 50 years later.
What's truly remarkable about this film is the sound design. Spielberg's ability to understand how environmental sound effects contribute to the sense of and presence of an Alien spacecraft is remarkable. Even the lightening storm feels like a true natural reaction of a thunderstorm. Where Jaws relies on editing and solid directing, Close Encounters is built around environmental sounds and visual responses that react as pointers in each scene. Having seen Close Encounters on the big screen a long time ago, it was an experience I'll never forget.Seeing the auidences reactions when we came out of the cinema was truly unbelivable. Very few films have that ability. Close Encounters was one.
@@RyanCarrington I remember that same year travelling from New York back to London, the in flight screen on the PAN-AM jumbo had Close Encounters on. Spielberg set the standard, and others have either copied or followed ever since, until E.T. in 1982, that once again showed Spielberg's remarkable visual flair for light and creative storytelling. You'll have to do another video, but this time, consider Terry Gilliam's The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen. Probably one of the most underrated, zany, visually stunning, and incredible films you'll ever see. Well worth the watch
7:14 They were actually pretty strategic in their BTS methods to get the kid to react that way. They got this crew member, who'd interacted with the kid quite a bit, to put on this Halloween costume. I forget exactly what it was, but I think it was like a bunny costume or something really non-threatening like that. They let the kid look at him for a moment (not sure what he was seeing), and then the guy took off the mask and revealed that he was this harmless and familiar guy and the kid smiled at him.
I adore this film ❤️ I have watched it many times but it never gets old or repetitive. I only wish I got to see it at the cinema back then in '77 ☹️ If they re-released it (on the big screen) for some kinda (50th?) anniversary I would def be there 👽🤞
Having been to Devil's Tower, it's eye opening to see how the film implies that a runway could be constructed. A very excellent first contact film. The implication of being introduced to some galactic civilization is awe inspiring.
I was driving cross country and turned off the road to see Devil's Tower. I so wanted to see it! But after thirty minutes and no tower, I had to turn around or be off schedule. I still regret turning around. I did get to see a lot of muke deer, though
00:39 "Wot about Roy's family? Roy's just like ''Ach, fuck my family, I'll get a new one.'" Now you've gone straight to the heart of early Spielberg as an artist, Ryan. The more you study his life story, the more you'll understand.
Really enjoyed your appreciative and slightly stunned take on this classic that’s been one of my all time favorites since it’s theatrical release. And good call on watching the original cut first. I did find the goofy cut-aways (to other material) unnecessary and a bit jarring because I was actually getting caught up in the movie. But irritating cut-aways aside, this was fun. Cheers!
I saw this for the first time when it first came out, as a 17 year old, in the theater, of course. The experience of watching it in a theater was phenomenal. That descent of the mother ship on the huge screen is just unparalleled.
13:50 You're lucky, nothing ever happens on my street except lawn care guys. This summer has been lucky, they installed new electrical stuff in my yard so I got to watch them for a few days.
trivia: Larry, the lady who lost her kid, and the translator for the french guy... were all in a little Paul Newman/Sally Field movie called "Absence of Malice".
Close Encounters was considered one of the first, if not THE first, alien encounter movie where the aliens were _benevolent_ . It started a revolution in sci-fi movies... leading to E. T. The Extra Terrestrial.
I was 22 & living up at South Lake Tahoe when this film was released. I think I've seen it more than any other movie ( in theaters, or on TV.....& my DVDs )......MAYBE with the possible exception of 'The Great Escape'.
@@RyanCarrington I think I must have been a little kid when I first saw it.....from the back seat of the family station wagon at the local drive-n. The soundtrack was awesome....& so many big stars.
Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, Teri Garr, and legendary French New Wave director Francois Truffaut are all brilliant. Between "Jaws" and this Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Neil Simon's truly wonderful romantic comedy, "The Goodbye Girl" 1976. Essential Dreyfuss viewing.
A year later Richard Dreyfuss won the Best Actor Academy Award for "The Goodbye Girl" another great movie. He was the youngest actor at the time to win for BA..he was 30.
I knew this was going to be a great reaction to take in. Loved the whole thing start to finish. You waffle on delightfully, like James Popsys. So enjoyable to listen to you, and how you appreciate the film. Keep them coming!
If you wanna make yourself uncomfortable with the UFO theme, see if you can find "Fire in the Sky," based on a real-life account... There's also "The Fourth Kind," "Dark Skies," and the "Childhood's End" miniseries. All are interesting.
Fascinating how you interpreted the meaning. He kissed her. Yes and there are many more emotions between men and women than sex based. It really made me understand how things have changed. The guy's wife couldn't deal with anything out of the ordinary and just left him. Took care of the kids but no concern for him. That seems odd to me.
During this watch, I don't think I really understood that his wife had properly left him. I don't think I really took it as a permanent thing. Like, surely you fight for your kids and family. Obviously this is a first time watch so I was probably expecting his family to get back together at the end, not for him to meet another woman and hop on an alien ship haha Maybe it's my own single parent upbringing and abandonment issues coming into play 😂 From what I've read since, after becoming a family man, even Spielberg no longer agrees with Roy's decisions. I can kinda see it from different perspectives now having seen it more than once.
26:45 Cattle mutilation is quite common in UFO stories as well as machines stopping working. A Close encounter of the first kind is seeing a UFO within 150m. the second kind when physical evidence, such as burn marks or indentations are left behind, the third kind is when occupants of the UFO (ufonauts) are seen.
In the movie it's actually the government killing cattle because they claim there was a biohazard incident in the area - you see them spray the area with poison from helicopters later to back the claim up.
The airplanes discovered at the beginning were flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy planes that disappeared during a training mission over the Bermuda Triangle in December of 1945. They were never found. The ship that was found in the desert, that you didn't show, was the S.S. Cotopaxi, a cargo ship that disappeared during a storm between Charleston North Carolina and Havana, Cuba in December of 1925. The wreckage was found in the 80s, but wasn't identified until 2020.
The opening scene in the desert where the was 5 perfectly intact American fighters from 1945 really went missing. The 5 planes where over the Bermuda Triangle when suddenly the lead pilot reported that they were lost. The lead pilot said something like " Our instruments are going crazy" and legend has it, the last transmission was " They are going to take us on board" The 5 planes where never seen again. The Bermuda Triangle is a mysterious area in the Caribbean where boats and planes have gone suddenly missing never or rarely seen again.
I had a close encounter of the 1st kind about 25 years ago, while flying in an airplane at night. I saw a craft with odd lights approaching from the direction we were flying towards... it was moving towards us incredibly fast, yet stopped right next to our plane as if inertia weren't even a thing, and paced alongside us for about a minute or two. I would guess that it was less than 100 meters away. I could see it's disc-like shape against the night sky, and watched the odd colored lights rotating around its center line, and could see that there were some vaguely reflective surfaces that could have been dark windows on the top portion of the craft. When it left, it took off suddenly perpendicular to our plane, and disappeared over the horizon in about 3-4 seconds time. Not saying it was aliens, but it was most definitely a flying object which I can not identify. I will never forget what I saw, and remember every second of it like it happened yesterday.
You have to imagine that this and Star Wars were released in the same year and we got to experience them on big screens and be blown away. We really never thought his kiss to Gillian at the end was any sort of romance or cheat. It was two human beings who had a shared life changing event, making it though the government cover up to find the truth. They shared something no one else can and not knowing what is going to happen next they kiss from compassion for one another.
Spielberg addressed the problem with Dreyfus’ character leaving his family. He said he was a young man with no family when he made this film. He said if he had made this film today he never would have had him leave his family.
Jaws was the second movie i saw in the theater. Star Wars was the 3rd. Close Encounters was 4th. All had great impacts. This was beyond magical in the theater. Grand reaction. Love the practical effects, sound design,..lighting and editing. John Williams score was unreal. Subscribed. Thank you!!!!!
There's a Special Edition version that cuts the building-the-mountain-in-the-living-room scene a bit shorter but we get to see what Roy sees when he goes inside the ship. This was added at the request of the studio even though Steven rightfully felt it was not necessary. This is a perfect example of a science fiction movie that is just so well made and has such a compelling story that even people who don't necessarily like science fiction can enjoy it. It was a really great theater experience, as other people have pointed out.
Richard Dreyfuss was in a super funny comedy with Bill Murray called What About Bob. It was so cool because he always played a "serious actor". And What About Bob was a great freakin comedy. Dude i hope u check it out on the channel! Guarantee you'll have fun watching it
I really enjoyed your perceptiveness. This movie isn't for everyone, but you're the sort that it's a great fit. Side note, when you were a little hard on poor Larry’s not handling the climb, I have to say, I had the great fortune on being able to take a vacation to this very site, even spend the night in the KOA cabins that are literally in the same exact spot that the base that Roy is interrogated and escape (they temporarily removed the campgrounds to film the movie), I wanted to take some fun pics on the very rocks they were climbing on (yeah, I'm an obsessive fan of this film), and those rocks are harder than hell to climb. They're like slanted slabs at all sorts of angles and the presence of the mountain jacks with your perception of what's upwards and it gave me a massive, unmanagable case of vertigo. It was frankly terrifying, I had to just get back on the path and forget that idea. Even if it was only a matter of exertion, it was bad enough, but the weirdness of the rubble made everyone feel like poor Larry. Additional sidenote: I was truly blessed with a strange distant electrical storm in the vicinity the night we stayed. The sky in all directions was clear and pretty, but exactly behind the mountain was flashes of lightning, and it totally, and I do mean totally, fucked with my head because it totally looked like the aliens were actually there. Other visitors thought it was beautiful, but only the older ones that were there because of the film were affected like I was by it. I cannot convey how affecting it all was. Anyway, just wanted to share.
What many reactors have failed to notice in the final scenes of this movie, is that Roy was selected by the Greys to come aboard the ship, while the alien that gave the hand signs was the one selected to remain on Earth. This was a sort of "cultural exchange" type of thing.
Richard Dryfus and his wife in this movie, Teri Garr, also play a husband and wife in the movie Let it Ride. It's one of the most realistic portrayals of horse track culture that I've ever seen. It's over the top, but people really do act that way at the track! David Johansen and Jennifer Tilly are also in the movie.
Fun fact, the guy manning the synthesizer at the end was the real guy who installed it. Synthesizers were so new then that the person from the company was the best person to operate it by default.
Nonsense, @Seamus Burke. Proper VCO synthesizers had been out since 1964, and many rock and fusion bands had been touring with synthesizers for years by 1977. Ever heard of Yes, Genesis, or Emerson Lake & Palmer? Gentle Giant? Weather Report? Return to Forever? Dodds did set up the (ancient, by then) ARP 2500, which was included purely because those fully loaded modular rigs were visually impressive and looked "very scientific," and mime playing it for the camera (where those musical are mostly orchestral cues anyway), but also, in a scene before that, in their trailer, Truffaut's playing a Yamaha SY-2, which was Yamaha's knockoff of the ARP Soloist, which had come out in '72. Edgar Winter famously toured with an ARP 2600 with its keyboard strapped on like a guitar since 1973. Emerson had toured with his enormous Moog Synthesizer rig since around the same time. Synths were very familiar by the time this film came out. Mind your "facts."
You're right; Spielberg does really like putting two subjects in focus simultaneously. This is a technique that is relatively unknown in modern digital cinema, as it requires careful setup and special equipment - specifically, a split diopter lens. It was also a favorite technique of Hitchcock, among many others. It allows the director to draw your eye to the composition as a whole, rather than forcing you to look at the foreground or the background in isolation. It's worth looking into if you're curious about that stuff.
....loved this reaction! This movie is on my top 5 favorite movies of all time! The music makes it...and the visual effects too - considering it was 1977.
Saw this movie seven times at the theater, a record that stood until 2004 or so. (Nothing compared to those people who watched Star Wars 90 or 100 times in the same era, though). It was my favorite film for years, mainly for its sheer amazingness and scale. Honestly, I never gave a thought to Neary leaving his family behind until someone pointed that out until decades later. In Let it Ride, a 1989 film about a gambling addict, Dreyfuss plays the gambler and Teri Garr plays his wife again. On a talk show at the time, Dreyfuss said he pretended that this was the same couple from CE3K, that the aliens brought him back and he rejoined his wife. Apparently it still didn't work out.
I don't know if it's been mentioned or not, but the kid that said, "I hate these potatoes, there's a dead fly in my potatoes" wasn't a line in the script, while filming the scene a dead fly wound up in his potatoes and he just blurted it out while they were filming. They thought it was so endearing and true to something a kid would say that they left it in.
Four words. Fire In The Sky. You gotta hafta see it mate. I believe they’re doing a remake as I’m texting right now. Problem was the ending wasn’t true to what actually happened in Travis Waltons account in his book called Travis Walton Experience. But do watch it maaate, and the remake as Travis Walton is having a huge input. Cannot wait for that. Cheers mate. ✌🏼
Many real events. Spielberg has said that most of the encounters came from MUFON reports, and the landing at Devil’s Tower is based on an alleged incident that happened at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, which was filmed by the Air Force.
The scientific advisor to Project Bluebook, a Doctor J. Allen Hynek, created the encounter system for UFOs. 1st is visual sighting, 2nd is one that leaves trace evidence. 3rd is actual alien contact. The term was very well known in the 1970s, UFOs were a huge craze back then akin to the ‘Ghost’ craze of the 2010s. Hynek (spelling?) also has a cameo in this movie. The French character is a fictionalised version of Dr. Jacques Vallee, Silicon Valley investor and UFO investigator for some years.
You asked about the first and second kinds of encounters. The name referes to the Hynek's scale which is arranged by increasing proximity: Close Encounters of the First Kind - Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, less than 500 feet away. Close Encounters of the Second Kind - A UFO event in which a physical effect, such as interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect in the witness, physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - First contact or UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present, which is what we see at the end.
This movie saved Columbia pictures as before they were in serious financial distress. The sound was amazing I saw this in the theater in 1977 with Dolby sound. I was awestruck.
Same here. Saw it in 1977 , when I was 12. (And at the same Dallas theater, the Medallion, where the film was originally previewed!) Changed my life. Even more than Star Wars, which we were still freaking out over, having seen that in the summer. But for some reason, Close Encounters really got to me. Maybe because, unlike Star Wars, this was an adventure that felt as if it could happen to us. Whatever the reason, Close Encounters has always been important to me.
@@trhansen3244 For me, in 1977, that was certainly the case. Don't get me wrong. I loved Star Wars. Saw it many times that summer. But CE3K just rocked my world. What I particularly love about it now is that, when you look closely, CE3K is such a 70s film in a way that Star Wars is not. CE3k has a touch of Cassavetes-type drama and a touch of The Parallax View-type paranoia, but all wrapped up in a beautiful, optimistic package.
The planes at the beginning are Flight 19. A group of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on December 5, 1945. All 14 airmen on the flight were lost, as was the 13 crew of a PBM Mariner flying boat that subsequently launched to search for Flight 19. None of these aircraft have ever been found. People are still searching for them. The ship in the desert is the SS Cotopaxi vanished in the Bermuda Triangle with all 32 crew members on board in 1925. The shipwreck was found in the 1980's 35 miles off St. Augustine, Fla but wasn't identified until 2020.
The French guy is iconic cinema director Francois Truffaut and is made to represent one half of the leaders of the advisory team to US Project Bluebook (which was tasked by the US Air Force to study the UFO phenomenon), Dr. Jacques Vallee. The other half of that lead advisory team is Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who actually appears in this film as the guy with the Van Dyke beard and smoking a pipe when the UFOs come to visit atop Devil's Tower toward the end of the movie. Spielberg is definitely into this lore.
Holy shit, I never noticed this before in this movie... The mother is played by Teri Garr (no big deal) The little boy who turns the tv after the train crash was in another movie, a comedy called "Mr Mom"... his mother was played by... Teri Garr.
Ok. I hope you still have this channel and are receiving this message. Let me tell you a little bit about this film… This film was nominated for 8 Oscars and given a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing. It did win Best Cinematography. This film was not finished at the time of release. Columbia heard through the grapevine that Fox was going to release “some kind of space movie” and wanted this to get out there quick to get a jump on whatever Fox was doing. Spielberg said no, it’s not ready. Columbia said if you ever want to get this film in theaters, you will do this now. So Spielberg put a quick ending on it and it was released. He hated it, but what can you do, right? In 1975, “Jaws” was released. Spielberg had a talk with John Williams about the score. He told Williams that he wanted the score to be in 4/4 time and have a tune that people will walk down the street whistling. John said he had a better idea. He wants to base the score on two (2) notes. Spielberg said it will never work and John said, “Trust me.” He made the iconic Jaws theme and won an Oscar for Best Score, even though Spielberg was not nominated. Then John was hired to do Close Encounters. John said he would do it in 4/4 time and Spielberg said, “No! I want you to do it with five (5) notes. A tune that is not in a normal time signature will make you feel like your walking on the wrong step. It will take the audience’s equilibrium away… which is true. The music was written into the book and also written in the script by Spielberg. **I know you know your scales by singing “Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do.” We musicians had to learn to sight read a piece of music that we’ve never seen or heard before. One way to teach this is by using “Solfage”. There is a different hand signal for each note, just like Sign Language, except you are not learning words, you are learning intervals , sharps and flats, etc. Usually in an Alien film, the go-to primer for communication is math because it is universal. The same could be said about music. So, the Aliens placed those notes in people’s heads, along with the visions of Devil’s Tower. The ones who understand or needs to understand what it means will come to them. The government used this sign language as a way to learn their speech and patterns. That way when they meet, they will have a rudimentary basis of their communication. Then, when the computers got all of the information, it could take over the conversation for them. John Williams was nominated for Best Score for Close Encounters, but lost to some guy named John Williams for a different space film, Star Wars! At the Saturn Awards, John was nominated for Best Score for Close Encounters and TIED with John Williams for Star Wars!!! Never in the history of ANY award ceremony, has a person tied with themselves in the same category!!! Spielberg wanted the lighting of the Encounter to defuse what you can really see. Since they were in such a hurry to release Close Encounters, they costumes were terrible and looked horrible. They put a humanoid shaped head on the actors and painted eyes on them. The back of the necks were cut up the back of the heads so they could easily be taken off so they could breathe. He only wanted little girls to be the grays because little girls move more gracefully (and ethereal) than boys. The scene in the kitchen… Spielberg took the little boy to the side and told him that a lot of things are going to go crazy, so just go with it and have fun with it. Oh, also, don’t tell Melinda! The boy knew what was going to happen, but she had no clue, so EVERYTHING that happened in that set was made to do all of these things, but Spielberg wanted a REAL reaction from Melinda. Well, you saw it. She was terrified!! (Same thing happened to her in “A Christmas Story” when they went to eat duck at the Chinese restaurant! She had no clue they were going to cut the ducks head off. I’ve got way more background information but I’ve written a lot today, so I’m going to give you a break. If you want to know more or have questions, just let me know.
So, I thought I was watching the theatrical release which was my intention, however, apparently I did the 1997 directors cut which includes the scene you mentioned but omits the shots inside the ship. I didn't realise until someone saw this scene you're querying and let me know then explained the differences. Thankfully I didn't watch the 1980 version which people really warned me off watching first (the one where they go inside the ship) Sorry for the confusion!
I had the record of "the shape of a square" when I was a kid. I'm quite old. I had that educational programming. It was less satisfying in my memory than in this movie.
1977 was a great year for Science Fiction. Star Wars came out in May and this came out in November. To see it on the large 70mm screen was awesome. I love this movie. Much more that Star Wars but they are such different films. It is hard for people to understand that before this good - great Science Fiction Films were very rare. 2001 A Space Odyssey, Fantastic Voyage and Forbidden planet were all great one. In 1976 Logan's Run was release and many of us thought it was so great. It did really well and was a fun move but paled in comparison to 1977. The end of Close Encounters was so beautiful I cried the first time I saw it. A great British Science Fiction film is 1967's Quatermass and the pit (Five Million Years to Earth in the US). It has a lower budget wit a few, really bad effects, but the idea and script and, most of the movie, are great.
@@RyanCarrington :) Yes. It was a great year. 20th Century Fox had another "big" Sci-Fi movie in 1977 that they, apparently had much more enthusiasm for over the Star Wars movie. Damnation Alley. No need to watch it unless you want to be amused.
you picked up how good the audio was when I first saw it in 1977 in the cinema DOLBY stereo had not been out long so the low rumbles and the loud response from the mother ship blasted the cinema 360 degrees was awesome it has always been one of my top ten films never gets old watching it a few other things can be seen with repeat watches i.e. the constellations in the background of the tower before the mother ship arrives {:-) PAV UK
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Do you remember when and where you were when you first caught this masterpiece? ✌️
Hello again Ryan and first off, yep, I hit the Like button as soon as you started, as I knew this would be terrific, just like your Jaws review. 😁 The “So” counter was hilarious and your black “void” room is brilliant. Best background I have seen in any reaction video on RUclips. 👍 I was a wee girl of 10 when my movie loving Dad took me to see Close Encounters in the theater in 1977 and it absolutely stunned me. So happy to see you reviewing this! (It was on my movie recommendation list I sent you, yay!) Cheers again from Seattle! 😎❤️
Amazing, sounds like a great memory ☺️ thanks for the lovely words and for this recommendation. I loved it!
In 1977 I was 16 and saw this at the theatre.
It was really an amazing experience seeing this at 16 on the big screen with a bunch of other teenagers.
I remember being completely blown.
We went back and watched it several times.
Love the paint job in your room!
It looks fantastic.
@@MontagZoso
Cheers, neighbor 🍻
@@belinda35_77 Cheers! 😃
I feel like things were different in the 70s because I keep seeing reactors upset that he kissed the kid's mom and that he left his family. Back then, I think we were all just happy he was having a spiritual adventure and thought, eh, the wife took off. This movie in the theater was fantastic. The rumbling shook the seats. The colors, the music. It was wonderful.
After watching this back while editing I saw how despondent he seemed with his previous life and how his wife wasn't very supportive so I got it more the second time around 🙌
@@RyanCarrington It is a lot to take in, especially while providing commentary.
But I do think that, in general, people nowadays have a harder time letting go and going with a story if some aspect of it conflicts with their sense of morality. It's just a common theme I am seeing. I think it is a cultural shift from the much "freer" 60s and 70s. Not passing any sort of judgment, just an observation.
There's the scene where his son makes the decision to let his father go. His family abandoned him.
I think some people who watch this movie miss out on the fact that these people(the ones who were invited) all shared a unique and powerful experience. It seems clear to me that by the time they reached that mountain his previous life was in the past for him. He was following this trail to the end, where ever that might be. That kiss was his last goodbye and it was with her because she was his partner in all this by that point.
@@flibber123 Yes, I agree.
My favorite thing about this movie... they left it alone! The ending was beautiful and they never ruined it by making a sequel!
Is it a scary movie? A happy movie? A sad movie?
Yes.
😂
Something they don’t do anymore really: a movie that’s not written to be in a particular category but a well rounded movie with many shades and impacts.
You're right. This is a very sweet film. As a musician, I find the concept of communication through music to be fascinating. I can't imagine how this movie could be any better if it were done today. This one should be left alone.
Saw this in the theater when it first came out, at age eight. I ended up seeing it two more times in short succession. To say it blew my mind is an understatement.
I saw this in the theater when it first came out. The moment that the mother ship appeared with the seats rumbling, we, the audience, let out this collective gasp. There had never really been anything like this and it really blew us away to see that huge ship up there on the screen. It really was one of those movie moments to remember.
Modern audiences miss SOOO MUCH by only seeing these are tiny flat-screens instead of massive movie theatre screens with great sound systems rumbling along.
I enjoyed watching you experience a little piece of the total awe I felt watching this movie for the first time at 15 years old on a huge Dallas screen.
The other edits of the film are okay, but this is the version that blew my socks in 1977... Up to that point I had never had my breath taken away like I did when that mothership comes from behind the mountain. The first Star Wars came out the same year, and I loved that too, but this is the movie that showed me the power of film.
Thanks so much for watching ☺️
I can only imagine how mind blowing it was back then in the theatres! Such a great movie.
Richard Dreyfuss is criminally underrated. I mean he's won a Best Lead Oscar, but he's been popularly forgotten. Two of my all time favorite movies (for very different reasons) are one's with him as the lead, Always, a beautiful tear-jerker, and, Let It Ride, a gambling adventure. And, Moon Over Parador, should not be missed, nor should, What About Bob?, Stakeout, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Goodbye Girl, (the movie that cemented his dramatic bona fides with an Oscar), and, Mr. Holland's Opus.
He's had an extremely long and busy career. If you look on IMDB, he's got at least one credit from almost every year between 1964 and the present day.
AMERICAN GRAFFITI with Harrison Ford too! Directed by George Lucas.
The often-celebrated Oscar and BAFTA winner Dreyfuss is somehow "criminally underrated" to you? Do you even think before you post words?
It's a movie you have to rewatch to catch all the little subtle things like the stars moving around in the background and the strange lights. There's so much extremely subtle hints in this movie that still give me chills.
Near the end, when the aliens were choosing him, if you listen to the music you can hear the strains of “when you wish upon a star” from Pinocchio. John Williams was having fun and it was definitely Spielberg’s vision.
John Williams also snuck 2 bars of the Jaws theme song in during the Devil's Tower scene when Richard Dreyfus was watching the mothership play the bass notes towards the end of the music "conversation"
Early in the movie didn't the family discuss watching Pinocchio on tv?
☮️✨☮️✨☮️✨☮️✨☮️
John Williams explained that he created the characteristic sequence of five notes associated with aliens as a result of a request by Spielberg. Who wanted a sort of musical calling card, or pleasant greeting from the aliens. Kind of like a musical doorbell chime.
You've got to see Picnic at Hanging Rock. The sound is absolutely incredible.
The "third kind" refers to one of five encounters with extraterrestrials, each varying in how close the encounter was:
First kind: Seeing a UFO from a distance of 150 meters or less.
Second kind: When the encounter leaves evidence such as scorched ground, indentations, etc.
Third kind: When occupants of the UFO are visible/sighted
Fourth kind: The witness is taken by the UFO and possibly experimented on
Fifth kind: Direct communication between humans and aliens
There are also 'unofficial' extensions including 6th and 7th kind, which involve sex/reproduction between humans and aliens.
I wonder why the film wasn't called "Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind" then?
@@williammatthews693 Because the majority of the "encounters" in the film were of the Third Kind.
@@sixstanger00 Except they weren't. Most would fall under the 2nd kind.
@@williammatthews693
Most of the 2nd Kind were witnessed by two or fewer people.
Barry is the first one in the film to have a Third Kind encounter, as he sees them in the kitchen (though the camera remains on Barry).
Everyone at the Devil's Tower stage had a Third Kind encounter.
I've seen this a few times over the years and only noticed watching this that Williams sticks a wee 'Jaws' theme in at the end of the 'music communication' scene (at 35.18)
Loved your reaction. As for his family... given the opportunity to go into space and learn the secrets of the universe kind of trumps whiny kids and a wife who doesn't understand you. (Hey, maybe this is what happens to all "deadbeat dads" who went out for cigs and never came back!) Saw this as a kid long after it's initial run, and it really is amazing on the big screen.
Maybe that's where mine went too 🤔😂
Watching this back for a second time while editing, I really didn't like Ronnie. Team Jillian all the way.
In the conversation, on the phone, Ronnie tells him she and the kids are never coming back, so they really left him.
Later after Spielberg had a family of his own, he came to regret this decision. Doesn’t dilute the ending for me,…and maybe this could be the foundation for a sequel!
Spielberg left his own (first) family for Hollywood. He said much later that if he could change this movie, he'd change the dynamic between Roy and his family. In other words, the reaction he wanted at the time was yours.
>> all "deadbeat dads" who went out for cigs and never came back!
maybe they were all kidnapped by aliens 😀
I was 13ish when this came out. Turned me into a filmmaker and the chief reason I moved to Hollywood . BTW Richard Dreyfus owned a significant piece of the 70s, was Spielberg’s movie avatar in most of his early movies.
I gotta say, if I ever had a chance to go off and see the universe with aliens like these I’d go in a heartbeat, family or not.
Great intro!!!! Great set! 1.) In the early 80s, Spielberg wanted to put back in a couple of scenes he had been forced to delete.....the studio demanded he add a scene where you see Dreyfuss on the mothership. So he did, and that's called "The Special Edition", which got released in the early 80s. It's a corny, needless scene and when he made his "Director's Cut" he removed it (but left all the other restored material in). 2.) I'm embarrassed for anyone who throws in your face " how could you not know who this actor is?" or "how could you never have seen this movie?". That's what we want from a reactor! Someone who hasn't seen these movies! Jeez, those people have turned into the folks they used to make fun of when they were younger, that's all I'm saying. 3.) The special effects are by Douglas Trumball....who did the special effects for Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", the only sci-fi movie more dazzling than this one! For me, the holy trinity of dazzling sci-fi movies are: "Forbidden Planet" (1954), "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), and "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. 4) What does the title mean? I think close encounter of the first kind is sighting. Close encounter of the second kind is interaction. And a close encounter of the third kind is when you actually meet 'em! :P
I think the 1st is a visual sighting, the 2nd is some kind evidence left behind by aliens, and the 3rd is interaction/meeting them, though I'm too lazy to Google it right now.
Wow, thank you so much for all of that ☺️
I've never seen A Space Odyssey or Forbidden Planet either so I'll add those to the list. I've always meant to check out 2001 A Space Odyssey!
@@RyanCarrington 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968) is the pinnacle of practical mechanical in-camera special effects with no computers harmed in its making (Star Wars introduced computer motion control of cameras and models). The story it tells, primarily through visuals, sound and music, with very little dialogue, is also cosmic and enigmatic, co-written by your countryman Arthur C. Clarke. I won't go further except to say that it's a much watch if you like first contact stories, and it still packs a punch more than 50 years later.
@@RyanCarrington + Close Encounters of the 4th kind is Alien Abduction, often with reports of terrible experiments being done on the victims.
What's truly remarkable about this film is the sound design. Spielberg's ability to understand how environmental sound effects contribute to the sense of and presence of an Alien spacecraft is remarkable. Even the lightening storm feels like a true natural reaction of a thunderstorm. Where Jaws relies on editing and solid directing, Close Encounters is built around environmental sounds and visual responses that react as pointers in each scene. Having seen Close Encounters on the big screen a long time ago, it was an experience I'll never forget.Seeing the auidences reactions when we came out of the cinema was truly unbelivable. Very few films have that ability. Close Encounters was one.
The sound design is a work art.
I would've loved to of watched it for the first time in a theatre. I can only imagine how amazing it must've been.
@@RyanCarrington I remember that same year travelling from New York back to London, the in flight screen on the PAN-AM jumbo had Close Encounters on. Spielberg set the standard, and others have either copied or followed ever since, until E.T. in 1982, that once again showed Spielberg's remarkable visual flair for light and creative storytelling. You'll have to do another video, but this time, consider Terry Gilliam's The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen. Probably one of the most underrated, zany, visually stunning, and incredible films you'll ever see. Well worth the watch
7:14 They were actually pretty strategic in their BTS methods to get the kid to react that way. They got this crew member, who'd interacted with the kid quite a bit, to put on this Halloween costume. I forget exactly what it was, but I think it was like a bunny costume or something really non-threatening like that. They let the kid look at him for a moment (not sure what he was seeing), and then the guy took off the mask and revealed that he was this harmless and familiar guy and the kid smiled at him.
Ohhhh, good to know!
@@RyanCarrington Gorilla suit, I think, and they also charmed him with toys to get his eyeline where they wanted it.
This is an amazing film and needs to be seen on a big screen.
If I ever see it playing, I'm going!
I would love it if they upconverted it to IMAX
I adore this film ❤️
I have watched it many times but it never gets old or repetitive.
I only wish I got to see it at the cinema back then in '77 ☹️
If they re-released it (on the big screen) for some kinda (50th?) anniversary I would def be there 👽🤞
Having been to Devil's Tower, it's eye opening to see how the film implies that a runway could be constructed. A very excellent first contact film. The implication of being introduced to some galactic civilization is awe inspiring.
That whole set at devils tower set must've been huge.
I was driving cross country and turned off the road to see Devil's Tower. I so wanted to see it! But after thirty minutes and no tower, I had to turn around or be off schedule. I still regret turning around.
I did get to see a lot of muke deer, though
00:39 "Wot about Roy's family? Roy's just like ''Ach, fuck my family, I'll get a new one.'"
Now you've gone straight to the heart of early Spielberg as an artist, Ryan. The more you study his life story, the more you'll understand.
I saw that movie at the pictures when I was a kid I know what you're feeling and it still makes me feel the same beautiful film 🎥
Really enjoyed your appreciative and slightly stunned take on this classic that’s been one of my all time favorites since it’s theatrical release. And good call on watching the original cut first. I did find the goofy cut-aways (to other material) unnecessary and a bit jarring because I was actually getting caught up in the movie. But irritating cut-aways aside, this was fun. Cheers!
I saw this for the first time when it first came out, as a 17 year old, in the theater, of course. The experience of watching it in a theater was phenomenal. That descent of the mother ship on the huge screen is just unparalleled.
Amazing!
The orchestra is the London Symphony I'm sure you've heard of them. One of the best Orchestras in the world if not the best.
Gotcha! 🤙
"So flat." That part is set in Muncie, Indiana, northeast of Indianapolis, which I lived in straight through the 80s. Flat is an understatement.
Haha! I don't think I've ever been somewhere so flat. We have hills all over in the UK. The gradient changes wherever I walk
@@RyanCarrington Wiltshire but bigger.
The ending is so full of wonder and joy, it's hard to think of other movies that give this same feeling.
Ooh that's one to think about.
I'm appreciating John Williams more and more over the years. He sets the tone perfectly for so many of the scenes.
13:50 You're lucky, nothing ever happens on my street except lawn care guys. This summer has been lucky, they installed new electrical stuff in my yard so I got to watch them for a few days.
Haha ah man! Its the weekend, so I'll probably see some brawls. Last night I saw a drunken break up while I was uploading this!
trivia: Larry, the lady who lost her kid, and the translator for the french guy... were all in a little Paul Newman/Sally Field movie called "Absence of Malice".
Close Encounters was considered one of the first, if not THE first, alien encounter movie where the aliens were _benevolent_ . It started a revolution in sci-fi movies... leading to E. T. The Extra Terrestrial.
One of my childhood faves!
I was 22 & living up at South Lake Tahoe when this film was released. I think I've seen it more than any other movie ( in theaters, or on TV.....& my DVDs )......MAYBE with the possible exception of 'The Great Escape'.
I need to watch The Great Escape!
@@RyanCarrington I think I must have been a little kid when I first saw it.....from the back seat of the family station wagon at the local drive-n. The soundtrack was awesome....& so many big stars.
7:38 I've actually been thinking that same thing a lot recently. I guess because Barry Gibb came up.
17:58 Deadmau5 did a remix of this song for his track "Closer".
Ooh, I'll check it out!
Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, Teri Garr, and legendary French New Wave director Francois Truffaut are all brilliant. Between "Jaws" and this Dreyfuss won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Neil Simon's truly wonderful romantic comedy, "The Goodbye Girl" 1976. Essential Dreyfuss viewing.
A year later Richard Dreyfuss won the Best Actor Academy Award for "The Goodbye Girl" another great movie. He was the youngest actor at the time to win for BA..he was 30.
I knew this was going to be a great reaction to take in. Loved the whole thing start to finish. You waffle on delightfully, like James Popsys. So enjoyable to listen to you, and how you appreciate the film. Keep them coming!
Thanks for appreciating the waffling ☺️
If you wanna make yourself uncomfortable with the UFO theme, see if you can find "Fire in the Sky," based on a real-life account... There's also "The Fourth Kind," "Dark Skies," and the "Childhood's End" miniseries. All are interesting.
Fascinating how you interpreted the meaning. He kissed her. Yes and there are many more emotions between men and women than sex based.
It really made me understand how things have changed. The guy's wife couldn't deal with anything out of the ordinary and just left him. Took care of the kids but no concern for him. That seems odd to me.
During this watch, I don't think I really understood that his wife had properly left him. I don't think I really took it as a permanent thing. Like, surely you fight for your kids and family.
Obviously this is a first time watch so I was probably expecting his family to get back together at the end, not for him to meet another woman and hop on an alien ship haha
Maybe it's my own single parent upbringing and abandonment issues coming into play 😂
From what I've read since, after becoming a family man, even Spielberg no longer agrees with Roy's decisions.
I can kinda see it from different perspectives now having seen it more than once.
I saw it first on my tv. Imagine watching it for The first time in the theater… Mind blowing!
In the 70's kid like Barry were lot bravier and adventurous then grown adults today....that era was another world....
26:45 Cattle mutilation is quite common in UFO stories as well as machines stopping working.
A Close encounter of the first kind is seeing a UFO within 150m. the second kind when physical evidence, such as burn marks or indentations are left behind, the third kind is when occupants of the UFO (ufonauts) are seen.
In the movie it's actually the government killing cattle because they claim there was a biohazard incident in the area - you see them spray the area with poison from helicopters later to back the claim up.
I’m glad the RUclips algorithms brought me to you today. Enjoyed your reaction. Subbed.
Glad my sacrifice to the RUclips gods wasn't in vain 😂
Thank you! 😁🤙
43:05 "I love color!" sits in a black room devoid of any color. lol
Damn it 😂
@@RyanCarrington lol
i think i was to young to remember the ful movie when i saw it. i rememebred little snippets until i watched it again recently and i did enjoy it
“What About Bob” is a hilarious Richard Dreyfus, Bill Murray movie.
Sounds like I need to add this to the list!
The airplanes discovered at the beginning were flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy planes that disappeared during a training mission over the Bermuda Triangle in December of 1945. They were never found. The ship that was found in the desert, that you didn't show, was the S.S. Cotopaxi, a cargo ship that disappeared during a storm between Charleston North Carolina and Havana, Cuba in December of 1925. The wreckage was found in the 80s, but wasn't identified until 2020.
The opening scene in the desert where the was 5 perfectly intact American fighters from 1945 really went missing.
The 5 planes where over the Bermuda Triangle when suddenly the lead pilot reported that they were lost. The lead pilot said something like " Our instruments are going crazy" and legend has it, the last transmission was " They are going to take us on board" The 5 planes where never seen again.
The Bermuda Triangle is a mysterious area in the Caribbean where boats and planes have gone suddenly missing never or rarely seen again.
I had a close encounter of the 1st kind about 25 years ago, while flying in an airplane at night. I saw a craft with odd lights approaching from the direction we were flying towards... it was moving towards us incredibly fast, yet stopped right next to our plane as if inertia weren't even a thing, and paced alongside us for about a minute or two. I would guess that it was less than 100 meters away. I could see it's disc-like shape against the night sky, and watched the odd colored lights rotating around its center line, and could see that there were some vaguely reflective surfaces that could have been dark windows on the top portion of the craft. When it left, it took off suddenly perpendicular to our plane, and disappeared over the horizon in about 3-4 seconds time. Not saying it was aliens, but it was most definitely a flying object which I can not identify. I will never forget what I saw, and remember every second of it like it happened yesterday.
You have to imagine that this and Star Wars were released in the same year and we got to experience them on big screens and be blown away. We really never thought his kiss to Gillian at the end was any sort of romance or cheat. It was two human beings who had a shared life changing event, making it though the government cover up to find the truth. They shared something no one else can and not knowing what is going to happen next they kiss from compassion for one another.
Spielberg addressed the problem with Dreyfus’ character leaving his family. He said he was a young man with no family when he made this film. He said if he had made this film today he never would have had him leave his family.
Ahhh that's so interesting to know. Makes complete sense!
Thankfully he made it when he did then.
I saw this in the theater. When they first showed the alien a little kid screamed and the audience laughed.
Jaws was the second movie i saw in the theater. Star Wars was the 3rd. Close Encounters was 4th. All had great impacts. This was beyond magical in the theater. Grand reaction. Love the practical effects, sound design,..lighting and editing. John Williams score was unreal. Subscribed. Thank you!!!!!
There's a Special Edition version that cuts the building-the-mountain-in-the-living-room scene a bit shorter but we get to see what Roy sees when he goes inside the ship. This was added at the request of the studio even though Steven rightfully felt it was not necessary. This is a perfect example of a science fiction movie that is just so well made and has such a compelling story that even people who don't necessarily like science fiction can enjoy it. It was a really great theater experience, as other people have pointed out.
I saw this in the theater when it came out and everyone left looking up at the night sky in a different way.
Aw nice!
This movie is one of the more realistic Hollywood depictions of what contact is like.
There is a cut of this film where they show Dryfuss' character from the inside the ship at the end.
ROFL at 26:28 ... "Poor cows" as they pass the knocked out horses.
Richard Dreyfuss was in a super funny comedy with Bill Murray called What About Bob. It was so cool because he always played a "serious actor". And What About Bob was a great freakin comedy. Dude i hope u check it out on the channel! Guarantee you'll have fun watching it
I do like Bill Murray!
That last alien at the end who did those hand signals looked so cute.
What a dude.
I really enjoyed your perceptiveness. This movie isn't for everyone, but you're the sort that it's a great fit.
Side note, when you were a little hard on poor Larry’s not handling the climb, I have to say, I had the great fortune on being able to take a vacation to this very site, even spend the night in the KOA cabins that are literally in the same exact spot that the base that Roy is interrogated and escape (they temporarily removed the campgrounds to film the movie), I wanted to take some fun pics on the very rocks they were climbing on (yeah, I'm an obsessive fan of this film), and those rocks are harder than hell to climb. They're like slanted slabs at all sorts of angles and the presence of the mountain jacks with your perception of what's upwards and it gave me a massive, unmanagable case of vertigo. It was frankly terrifying, I had to just get back on the path and forget that idea. Even if it was only a matter of exertion, it was bad enough, but the weirdness of the rubble made everyone feel like poor Larry.
Additional sidenote: I was truly blessed with a strange distant electrical storm in the vicinity the night we stayed. The sky in all directions was clear and pretty, but exactly behind the mountain was flashes of lightning, and it totally, and I do mean totally, fucked with my head because it totally looked like the aliens were actually there. Other visitors thought it was beautiful, but only the older ones that were there because of the film were affected like I was by it. I cannot convey how affecting it all was.
Anyway, just wanted to share.
What many reactors have failed to notice in the final scenes of this movie, is that Roy was selected by the Greys to come aboard the ship, while the alien that gave the hand signs was the one selected to remain on Earth. This was a sort of "cultural exchange" type of thing.
"What about Bob" is a great Richard Dryfus movie
That one is on the list 😊
“I’m a sucker for light beams.”
You and Spielberg are gonna get along juuuuussst fine 👌
😁😁😁
Richard Dryfus and his wife in this movie, Teri Garr, also play a husband and wife in the movie Let it Ride. It's one of the most realistic portrayals of horse track culture that I've ever seen. It's over the top, but people really do act that way at the track! David Johansen and Jennifer Tilly are also in the movie.
Fun fact, the guy manning the synthesizer at the end was the real guy who installed it. Synthesizers were so new then that the person from the company was the best person to operate it by default.
Oh wow, that is a fun fact! Thanks for that!
Nonsense, @Seamus Burke. Proper VCO synthesizers had been out since 1964, and many rock and fusion bands had been touring with synthesizers for years by 1977. Ever heard of Yes, Genesis, or Emerson Lake & Palmer? Gentle Giant? Weather Report? Return to Forever? Dodds did set up the (ancient, by then) ARP 2500, which was included purely because those fully loaded modular rigs were visually impressive and looked "very scientific," and mime playing it for the camera (where those musical are mostly orchestral cues anyway), but also, in a scene before that, in their trailer, Truffaut's playing a Yamaha SY-2, which was Yamaha's knockoff of the ARP Soloist, which had come out in '72. Edgar Winter famously toured with an ARP 2600 with its keyboard strapped on like a guitar since 1973. Emerson had toured with his enormous Moog Synthesizer rig since around the same time. Synths were very familiar by the time this film came out.
Mind your "facts."
@@rollomaughfling380 You must be fun at parties.
18:50 This entire scene actually gave me nightmares for a couple of years, and a good deal of trauma of windows at night.
I remember there were Close Encounters trading cards included with every loaf of Wonder Bread
Mr Hollands Opus and What About Bob are 2 of my fave Dreyfus movies.
You're right; Spielberg does really like putting two subjects in focus simultaneously. This is a technique that is relatively unknown in modern digital cinema, as it requires careful setup and special equipment - specifically, a split diopter lens. It was also a favorite technique of Hitchcock, among many others. It allows the director to draw your eye to the composition as a whole, rather than forcing you to look at the foreground or the background in isolation. It's worth looking into if you're curious about that stuff.
Saw it in the theater the first weekend it was released. Made me think about it for days.
I'd of been the same!
....loved this reaction! This movie is on my top 5 favorite movies of all time! The music makes it...and the visual effects too - considering it was 1977.
Yeah, it's so crazy. I never expected it to look so good
Thanks for watching 🤙
Saw this movie seven times at the theater, a record that stood until 2004 or so. (Nothing compared to those people who watched Star Wars 90 or 100 times in the same era, though). It was my favorite film for years, mainly for its sheer amazingness and scale. Honestly, I never gave a thought to Neary leaving his family behind until someone pointed that out until decades later.
In Let it Ride, a 1989 film about a gambling addict, Dreyfuss plays the gambler and Teri Garr plays his wife again. On a talk show at the time, Dreyfuss said he pretended that this was the same couple from CE3K, that the aliens brought him back and he rejoined his wife. Apparently it still didn't work out.
I don't know if it's been mentioned or not, but the kid that said, "I hate these potatoes, there's a dead fly in my potatoes" wasn't a line in the script, while filming the scene a dead fly wound up in his potatoes and he just blurted it out while they were filming. They thought it was so endearing and true to something a kid would say that they left it in.
Ohhhh, I had no idea.
Love the intro 😂
🖤
Four words. Fire In The Sky. You gotta hafta see it mate. I believe they’re doing a remake as I’m texting right now. Problem was the ending wasn’t true to what actually happened in Travis Waltons account in his book called Travis Walton Experience. But do watch it maaate, and the remake as Travis Walton is having a huge input. Cannot wait for that. Cheers mate. ✌🏼
Love how they used the organ tune in the bond film Moonraker 😂
i dont know if u know about the bermuda triangle but flight 19 were the planes that disappeared.
33:05 You have an edit just before he appeared, but there is a hidden R2D2 in this shot.
Ahhh!
The inspiration for Close Encounters came from a real event.
Many real events. Spielberg has said that most of the encounters came from MUFON reports, and the landing at Devil’s Tower is based on an alleged incident that happened at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, which was filmed by the Air Force.
The scientific advisor to Project Bluebook, a Doctor J. Allen Hynek, created the encounter system for UFOs. 1st is visual sighting, 2nd is one that leaves trace evidence. 3rd is actual alien contact. The term was very well known in the 1970s, UFOs were a huge craze back then akin to the ‘Ghost’ craze of the 2010s. Hynek (spelling?) also has a cameo in this movie. The French character is a fictionalised version of Dr. Jacques Vallee, Silicon Valley investor and UFO investigator for some years.
You asked about the first and second kinds of encounters. The name referes to the Hynek's scale which is arranged by increasing proximity:
Close Encounters of the First Kind - Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, less than 500 feet away.
Close Encounters of the Second Kind - A UFO event in which a physical effect, such as interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect in the witness, physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - First contact or UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present, which is what we see at the end.
Richard Dreyfuss is awesome in Mr. Holland's Opus. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his performance.
I'll check out more of his stuff for sure 😊
This movie saved Columbia pictures as before they were in serious financial distress. The sound was amazing I saw this in the theater in 1977 with Dolby sound. I was awestruck.
Saw this with my Dad when I was 10. Blew my mind.
I bet that was amazing to see as a kid!
Same here. I was 10 too and saw it with my Dad. 👍😁
Same here. Saw it in 1977 , when I was 12. (And at the same Dallas theater, the Medallion, where the film was originally previewed!) Changed my life. Even more than Star Wars, which we were still freaking out over, having seen that in the summer. But for some reason, Close Encounters really got to me. Maybe because, unlike Star Wars, this was an adventure that felt as if it could happen to us. Whatever the reason, Close Encounters has always been important to me.
@@markdodson6453 I would say this is a slightly better film than Star Wars.
@@trhansen3244 For me, in 1977, that was certainly the case. Don't get me wrong. I loved Star Wars. Saw it many times that summer. But CE3K just rocked my world. What I particularly love about it now is that, when you look closely, CE3K is such a 70s film in a way that Star Wars is not. CE3k has a touch of Cassavetes-type drama and a touch of The Parallax View-type paranoia, but all wrapped up in a beautiful, optimistic package.
The planes at the beginning are Flight 19.
A group of five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle on December 5, 1945.
All 14 airmen on the flight were lost, as was the 13 crew of a PBM Mariner flying boat that subsequently launched to search for Flight 19.
None of these aircraft have ever been found.
People are still searching for them.
The ship in the desert is the SS Cotopaxi vanished in the Bermuda Triangle with all 32 crew members on board in 1925.
The shipwreck was found in the 1980's 35 miles off St. Augustine, Fla but wasn't identified until 2020.
Wowzers! I'll look into this further.
33:46 the last one that really had to go was eaten by a T-rex "nod nod" hahaha
😂
Nice to find a first time watching, from my side of the pond.
🤙🤙🤙
The French guy is iconic cinema director Francois Truffaut and is made to represent one half of the leaders of the advisory team to US Project Bluebook (which was tasked by the US Air Force to study the UFO phenomenon), Dr. Jacques Vallee. The other half of that lead advisory team is Dr. J. Allen Hynek, who actually appears in this film as the guy with the Van Dyke beard and smoking a pipe when the UFOs come to visit atop Devil's Tower toward the end of the movie. Spielberg is definitely into this lore.
Oh wow, thanks for that. Love stuff like this.
Holy shit, I never noticed this before in this movie...
The mother is played by Teri Garr (no big deal)
The little boy who turns the tv after the train crash was in another movie, a comedy called "Mr Mom"... his mother was played by... Teri Garr.
Ok.
I hope you still have this channel and are receiving this message. Let me tell you a little bit about this film…
This film was nominated for 8 Oscars and given a Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing. It did win Best Cinematography.
This film was not finished at the time of release. Columbia heard through the grapevine that Fox was going to release “some kind of space movie” and wanted this to get out there quick to get a jump on whatever Fox was doing. Spielberg said no, it’s not ready. Columbia said if you ever want to get this film in theaters, you will do this now. So Spielberg put a quick ending on it and it was released. He hated it, but what can you do, right?
In 1975, “Jaws” was released. Spielberg had a talk with John Williams about the score. He told Williams that he wanted the score to be in 4/4 time and have a tune that people will walk down the street whistling. John said he had a better idea. He wants to base the score on two (2) notes. Spielberg said it will never work and John said, “Trust me.” He made the iconic Jaws theme and won an Oscar for Best Score, even though Spielberg was not nominated.
Then John was hired to do Close Encounters. John said he would do it in 4/4 time and Spielberg said, “No! I want you to do it with five (5) notes. A tune that is not in a normal time signature will make you feel like your walking on the wrong step. It will take the audience’s equilibrium away… which is true. The music was written into the book and also written in the script by Spielberg.
**I know you know your scales by singing “Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti-Do.” We musicians had to learn to sight read a piece of music that we’ve never seen or heard before. One way to teach this is by using “Solfage”. There is a different hand signal for each note, just like Sign Language, except you are not learning words, you are learning intervals , sharps and flats, etc. Usually in an Alien film, the go-to primer for communication is math because it is universal. The same could be said about music. So, the Aliens placed those notes in people’s heads, along with the visions of Devil’s Tower. The ones who understand or needs to understand what it means will come to them. The government used this sign language as a way to learn their speech and patterns. That way when they meet, they will have a rudimentary basis of their communication. Then, when the computers got all of the information, it could take over the conversation for them.
John Williams was nominated for Best Score for Close Encounters, but lost to some guy named John Williams for a different space film, Star Wars! At the Saturn Awards, John was nominated for Best Score for Close Encounters and TIED with John Williams for Star Wars!!! Never in the history of ANY award ceremony, has a person tied with themselves in the same category!!!
Spielberg wanted the lighting of the Encounter to defuse what you can really see. Since they were in such a hurry to release Close Encounters, they costumes were terrible and looked horrible. They put a humanoid shaped head on the actors and painted eyes on them. The back of the necks were cut up the back of the heads so they could easily be taken off so they could breathe.
He only wanted little girls to be the grays because little girls move more gracefully (and ethereal) than boys.
The scene in the kitchen…
Spielberg took the little boy to the side and told him that a lot of things are going to go crazy, so just go with it and have fun with it. Oh, also, don’t tell Melinda! The boy knew what was going to happen, but she had no clue, so EVERYTHING that happened in that set was made to do all of these things, but Spielberg wanted a REAL reaction from Melinda. Well, you saw it. She was terrified!!
(Same thing happened to her in “A Christmas Story” when they went to eat duck at the Chinese restaurant! She had no clue they were going to cut the ducks head off.
I’ve got way more background information but I’ve written a lot today, so I’m going to give you a break. If you want to know more or have questions, just let me know.
On of the few movies that Spielberg not only directed but wrote the story and screenplay.
8:42.
Wait..what?
"You're going to crystal lake.."
So, I thought I was watching the theatrical release which was my intention, however, apparently I did the 1997 directors cut which includes the scene you mentioned but omits the shots inside the ship.
I didn't realise until someone saw this scene you're querying and let me know then explained the differences.
Thankfully I didn't watch the 1980 version which people really warned me off watching first (the one where they go inside the ship)
Sorry for the confusion!
I had the record of "the shape of a square" when I was a kid. I'm quite old. I had that educational programming. It was less satisfying in my memory than in this movie.
1977 was a great year for Science Fiction. Star Wars came out in May and this came out in November. To see it on the large 70mm screen was awesome. I love this movie. Much more that Star Wars but they are such different films. It is hard for people to understand that before this good - great Science Fiction Films were very rare. 2001 A Space Odyssey, Fantastic Voyage and Forbidden planet were all great one. In 1976 Logan's Run was release and many of us thought it was so great. It did really well and was a fun move but paled in comparison to 1977. The end of Close Encounters was so beautiful I cried the first time I saw it. A great British Science Fiction film is 1967's Quatermass and the pit (Five Million Years to Earth in the US). It has a lower budget wit a few, really bad effects, but the idea and script and, most of the movie, are great.
I didn't realise Star Wars was the same year!
2001 Space Odyssey and Forbidden Planet are currently on the list :)
@@RyanCarrington :) Yes. It was a great year. 20th Century Fox had another "big" Sci-Fi movie in 1977 that they, apparently had much more enthusiasm for over the Star Wars movie. Damnation Alley. No need to watch it unless you want to be amused.
you picked up how good the audio was
when I first saw it in 1977 in the cinema DOLBY stereo
had not been out long so the low rumbles and the loud response from the mother ship
blasted the cinema 360 degrees was awesome
it has always been one of my top ten films
never gets old watching it a few other things can be seen with repeat watches
i.e. the constellations in the background of the tower
before the mother ship arrives
{:-) PAV UK