HELP THE CHANNEL GROW: www.patreon.com/rowanjcoleman P.S: People should realise bad movies can still be directed well. Just because you may dislike a film doesn't automatically mean all aspects of that movie are bad. I say this because I'm seeing a lot of, "What about _ movie directed by Spielberg which sucked?" Not every film directed by Spielberg is great, but every Spielberg film has great direction.
21:31 I think the reason for that is because the ETs wish to impart Esoteric Knowledge upon those individuals. They had gone about these "Abductions" of their own accord, until they were actually able to make a contact with actual secret divisions within the US Govt. The idea seems to be how does such a seriously Advanced Race of Intelligent "Alien" beings make full on "contact" with a technologically inferior race? Just look at how Humans who have entered places like the Amazon Jungle have tried to make contact with Ancient Tribes-people who have not changed for like hundreds of years. They see the group, with their flying machines in the sky, and some come down to greet them on other side of a river, and it's gone very badly for both sides.
So i think the ETs in this Film, are so far beyond Humans, both spiritually and technologically, that they cant just show up at the UN, or the White House. No average person can show up at the White House and seek a audience with the President, without first being thoroughly checked, and just deemed a threat to national security first. Now think of that scenario, only with Alien beings from another planet out in space, who are highly advanced. In such a scenario, the US Govt, Military are powerful in comparison, but America always want to "Shoot first and ask questions later". So i think this is where this whole idea of a top secret "meeting" between the two is established. The ETs psychically communicate with those specific Individuals because they have invited them, for life-changing reasons. I think in the case of the child, it's that missunderstanding, that they are indeed "Alien". They're simply not going to just land their Saucer Craft out on the Field, get out and walk upto that Mother's house, knock on the door and ask - "can we borrow your child for a short time please, we have very important knowledge to impart to him that will help change his life when he gets older, where he will help move the culture forward." lol And so those ETs communicate with the child telepathically, and Spielberg does a masterful job here, of specifically showing us that the child himself does not deem the ETs as a threat; while it's shown to us that the ETs are depicted to appear as threatening in some way. This is the idea i always got from the ETs in this amazing film. They're intentions are Benevolent as they appear to be trying to help Humanity, by selecting certain individuals to come with them, and experience and have a higher knowledge imparted unto them. Then they return them, unharmed, sometimes at much later period of time. It's like, try going to some jungle in another part of the world, living with some tribespeople and then trying to teach them things like Economics, Computer Science or something. It's going to be quite overwhelming for them. And so the ETs in Close Encounters have to handle Humans with kid-gloves so to speak. It would be very interesting in Steven Spielberg followed his classic up with a Sequel all these decades later, where Roy Neary is actually returned to earth, and he hasn't aged a day; but the whole secret ET exchange program from the Govt has long since been declassified and shut down. Maybe the movie could even be quite dark, and show how Neary tries to get in touch with his Family, and his sons, daughter, none of them recognize or want to believe it's him. They just think it's a imposter.
I agree not every Spielberg movie is a great film. You mentioned “1941” as a great example of this. But you really missed the mark in saying CE3K is a flawed film. It really isn't, and holds up much better than other iconic films by Spielberg, such as E.T. which is an inferior film in my opinion, and does not hold up compared to CE3k.
@@lestatdelc I completely agree, infact i find Spielberg's later stuff in recent years really has been some of his worst. He really needs to jump back into proper hardcore, thinking person's sci fi. Spielberg should try doing a sequel to CE3K, but make it more personal, like where Roy Neary get's brought back, dropped off at Devil's Tower in our present day, and he doesn't look a day older; make it dark, where he tries to find his Family, his kids who are all grown up and reconcile with them, but they reject him, thinking he's an impostor. It could be a very different, psychological sequel, where though the Roy Neary he's questioning himself whether it was all in his head, thinking he's gone crazy; but we the audience know the truth. And then the film could slowly build up and reveal what's happened with the Alien/ETs and that whole, secret Operation from the first film. I believe Steven Spielberg still has it in him to make such a Film.
It's hard to express the impact Close Encounters had on popular culture in 1977. Everyone was still overwhelmed by Star Wars and the Apple ][ computer had just begun to revolutionize the concept of home computing. At that point, there were only about 10 million cable TV subscribers in the USA, and VHS videorecorders had just launched the year before. In short, there was nothing outside of movie theaters to compare with the spectacular light shows and wide-eyed wonderment created by Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Star Wars was a rolicking adventure, but it was set in a completely alien galaxy with little connection to the 1970's. Close Encounters brought high-tech fantasy down to earth in a compellingly personal manner, mixing the mundane aspects of suburban life with the most profound extra-terrestrial experience imaginable. Everyone had heard of numerous UFO reports and we had all seen astronauts walk on the moon, and in that context, the dazzling display of earth-shaking technology showcased in Close Encounters seemed like it might be lurking just around the next bend in the road.
An absolutely brilliant comment. That’s exactly what I felt, I wasn’t too impressed with Star Wars, it was good but Close Encounters was the best. ‘I want to believe’ but I think it’s probably unlikely.
@@stephenbarrette610 WHY is it probably unlikely? The *Truth* could be much deeper and darker than you realize. What if certain World Leaders had been taken to actually meet with Extra-terrestrial Beings? What if they had been warned that Man's messing around with the "splitting of the atom" was dangerous and such ETs had not intended for such esoteric knowledge to be deciphered and used in such a way? What if there was a governing body, a "organization" that acted of it's own accord, above any "President", and could not be prosecuted by the law?
That is exactly why, as a seven-year-old, I loved the adventure of Star Wars, but Close Encounters scared the crap out of me. I wanted to hang out with Jedi and hot princesses, not get taken from my family by all-too-plausible aliens!
The dark storyline you refer to is basically about divorce. Specifically Spielberg's own experience of a family break up...he was writing from personal experience and, speaking as someone from a broken family myself, I can say he nailed it. This makes David Lifton's question about the director's parent's communicating particularly pertinent. The emotional confusion portrayed gives the film some real grounding. I saw Close Encounters in the theatre on its first release and I love it now as much as I did then.
Hollywood science fiction is so either obsessed with making everything and everyone a cartoonish, comic book character come to life or trying to plumb the depths of the human soul through misery and betrayal...it's so rare to see a movie that's just grounded, authentic, made with a keen observational eye about ordinary people. Hollywood stopped making movies about regular folks a long time ago and, in some ways, I feel like it's made audiences forget how to read ordinary people characters in grand scale films like this.
Having seen CE3K at in theaters in 1977 when I was still a high school freshman, I can tell you it was a profound film, full of pure awe and wonder, at time when that was in very short supply. Close Encounters had a bigger impact on me than Star Wars did, which itself was huge.
I was in my mid teens when this was released and was completely enthralled. I perceived no disjointed plot structure, being instead taken on an engrossing journey which pulled me in entirely.
I was born a few years after the film was released. I've seen it countless times though, including once in the theatre. I don't see how it's disjointed either.
Me too. I was 17. I had just been wowed by Star Wars. This movie wowed me all the same. I didn't find the movie boring or disjointed. It made perfect sense to me and it sort of answered all of the UFO curiosities we had back then. I gues you had to have been there when it first came out.
Its not disjointed. Its stuff that happens. Not everything needs a perfect answer. Some of those questions could be answered by the aliens playing all their cards for the best possible outcome.
Agree. It ties together well. Neary is given a vision which is so overpowering it takes over his life. This is similar to how people who are into stuff like UFOs can become, totally obsessed and single-minded about something. It is never boring, I'm not sure which bit he was bored by!
I still have my cinema theatre booklet I bought when the film was released in London. I remember reading that Brand X did a concert in New York at the time and used the scale theme during their set. The buzz from this film was enormous.
I saw this when I was eleven years old. and loved it so much I saw it three times in the theatre. This was second only to Star Wars which I saw seven times that same year. It was for a long time my second favorite film and still remains in my top ten. The one-two punch of these two sci-fi films made the late seventies a golden age of science film. Superman, Battlestar Galactica, Alien, Moonraker, and Star Trek the motion picture would soon follow.
I saw it the first showing of opening day - amazingly the theater wasn't very crowded because word of mouth hadn't gotten out yet and the marketing campaign was very mysterious without really showing any of the actual film. Anyway, I went with a good friend (we actually skipped our college classes that morning to see it) and when it was over we walked out of the theater, back to my car and got in without saying a word to each other, we were just speechless at what we just saw - after a minute or two of just sitting in the car I just said "wow....." to him and it was enough. A few weeks later I saw it again with some other friends - there was a rainstorm the evening and during the scene where the lights start to go out across the city, the power ACTUALLY WENT OUT in theater as well! Suffice to say people were a little freaked out, the theater manager had to make a announcement for everyone to please stay calm - the power was restored a few minutes later and the film continued - but it was a deja vu moment of fantasy becoming reality for a few minutes!
Certain films and TV shows when done right can come off as being a story that started being told midway through and ends just as it started. Hints of its past that leads up to what we're watching on screen and then leaves with hints of the future story left to interpretation. Recent shows that have been canceled after one season come to mind. The show Humans that came out on the BBC a few years ago always come to mind.
Three movies changed my life, starting with "Star Wars" (now, episode 4; there was only one back then), followed by Close Encounters, and then Raiders. I was in fourth grade when Star Wars came out. My young mind was opened and to this very day people tell me I come up with some "out there" ideas. I still have fond memories of when I was a young lad and having my mind as a whole other seemingly infinite universe of possibilities where anything could happen to play in. Today I am stuck in bed a lot due to some ongoing medical issues. I don't know what I would do without that gateway of imagination that Lucas and Spielberg opened up for me... 😃☮
This is my favorite movie ever, and it has never lost its place over the years. I was born in 1980, so my first memory of Encounters was on TV when I was around 5. My father watched it and I just came down from my room where I was supposed to be asleep. I ran bhind the couch just to witness the arrival and the very unhuman gentle yet frightening face of the alien. I was amazed and terrified at the same time. Over the time, I finally watched the whole movie and I remember it was one my first bluray disc later on. I still watch it with the same fascination as when I was a child. It's peak cinema for me, an absolute masterpiece.
The fact that CE3K is nearly plotleas is not a flaw. It's one of the things that makes it great. It's a self-contained world where you can get lost for a couple of hours.
“Name another director…..genres” easy! Robert Wise! He did everything. Horror, spy thrillers, science fiction, musicals, romances, you name it he did it. Spielberg even remade one of his films. Which is not meant as disrespect for Spielberg, who has blown pretty much everyone away with pretty much everything…..but I don’t think Wise should be forgotten.
William Wyler. Coppola. This author doesn't know enough about past Hollywood. Like most of today's people, he only knows about what he's lived through.
@@jgrab1 Well first off, William Goldman died in November 2018, if you are referring to him. And he won two Academy Awards for his scripts and had been involved in the movie industry since the 1950s. And William Wyler and Francis Ford Coppola are / were great directors. Personally Kubrick is my favourite.
I saw the original version twice when it was first released and then once again when the special edition came out , every time is blew me away , one of the defining films of my life
How big was its impact? I remember seeing the rock band KISS and Ace Frehley aka The Spaceman played that 5 note piece from the movie in the middle of his guitar solo to the absolute delight of the screaming audience. It gave me goosebumps.
I can’t even imagine how beautiful this movie would have looked in theaters, especially the giant space ship at the end. My jaw dropped when I saw it on TV for the first time imagine seeing it on a ginormous screen in the dark 😳
That shot where the camera cranes up and the lights come on in blocks in the cityscape… That made such an impression on me when I first saw it in a theater. Could not figure out as a kid how they did that. The whole road-constructed-on-stage looked great but it had that little bit of unrealism that made it slightly spooky.
The (academy award winning) night time cinematograhy throughout close encounters of the third kind is sublime and haunting and beautiful to behold and experience.
I saw this the week it came out--and then saw it several times that week, taking my parents and everyone I knew to see it. CETK is still my favorite Spielberg movie because it so well portrays how a child approaches the unknown. Spielberg's later movies leave me cold because I feel manipulated in ways that don't feel earned, but CETK is the exception. When Spielberg later says he couldn't make the film as a father because Roy leaves his family, I realize why his later films seem so lacking. Something extraordinary, terrifying, beautiful, and true compels a loving father to leave his family. Imagine this power. As written, when Roy leaves his family it's absurd because he becomes a baby man, but imagine the effect on his children driven out that night to that promontory and watching their father go mad. Imagine Roy doing everything he can to raise his children out of mature love in spite of the power of that vision. Then after they're grown, imagine him returning to the vision. Could Spielberg make such a film? I don't see it. I don't see him getting his heart around it. What's always disappointed me in his work is that while he can portray how a child approaches the unknown, he doesn't do a good job in showing how a mature adult does. I don't see him comprehending the life of such a person. But if he could, he probably wouldn't have been able to make such popular blockbusters.
It was born in 1970, never watched the entire movie from start to finish, just pieces here and there. Saw it today at a theatre, 2024. I enjoyed it very much. Especially the throwbacks to that era. The music was great. I even remember the 5 note theme song part, kids would play that when we were young, I had know idea what it was from, but it all makes sense now.
I just saw a re-release of Close Encounters in the D.C. area (July 2024). This might be my favorite movie of all time! I personally LOVE Richard Dreyfus in this movie and all of the characters. Francois Truffaut was especially endearing.❤ The space ships are incredible. It just carries me away. John Williams' music is incredible. I hardly noticed the issues that the reviewer described. Inspite of the family break-up, this movie gives us something we are in great need of now--INNOCENCE and HOPE!
I always found the disjointed and flimsiness of the plot added to the authenticity as much of the life of an adventurous person who does legitimately choose to take large risks in the name of the journey is really disjointed and to the perception of those around them flimsy or even insane. I really believed that Dryfus's character felt compelled and his drive while not reasonable stemmed from the magnitude of the experience and as such did not need to really make sense to me, only the understanding of the compulsion did
I was 11 and hopelessly addicted to Star Wars when this film came out. Nonetheless, unlike most of my friends at the time, Close Encounters instantly became my favorite movie and I spent the next year obsessively watching the skies. I probably saw it 5 times in the theater. The director's cut vastly improved the flow and accentuated some of the darker, Pinnochio-adjacent themes that I suspect Spielberg wasn't quite in touch with when he was ideating the script (He's said so himself.) Of course, like a lot of his work, his subconscience seems to find its way into things despite that. It's one of the marks of truly great artists. Williams' soundtrack is hands down my favorite thing he ever wrote. It's both mysterious and grand - almost impressionistic at times - and the main theme is literally a major plot point, which is just astounding.
Super review. :) Wonderful film, saw it in cinema as a kid, it inspired me far more than Star Wars did. I have to say that from my personal viewing of it, the gap you feel between the plot threads and the lack of resolution is the major part of why I like it... that it's left to the viewer to connect them, rather than be directed to connect them; as everyone that sees the alien ships has a different perspective on _why_ they're happening. Same with the multiple message formats; why would aliens "know" what language to use unless the director told them to just use one language? So the aliens use all languages; light, radio, sound, and evidently psychic, to make sure that they're heard; as we would if we were trying to do the same thing the other way. As for a hateful protagonist, I never got that either; I think he was coded more as "a person who had totally lost all sense of what was happening due to aliens taking over his head"
(20:10) I love how the spotlights on this vehicle converge to point forward. Definitely one of my favorite sequences of the film, among many others, of course. 😉
Fantastic!! One of 4 movies I went to see as a young kid/young teen that i remember: Star Wars (family) Jaws (family) Close encounters (family) & Risky Business (first date movie) Close encounters was the most unique and complex to understand of the 3
Two things I rember as a kid . Not takeing a bath only showers and staying away from pools becouse of jaws . And being so captivated by close encounters
I was 10 when this movie came out. Saw it a couple times in Canada, and the next year in England. UFOs were big at the time, and I was really into it. Read a bunch of books on the subject. I loved the ideas and concepts explored. And the visuals were fantastic. Star Wars was space fantasy, this was a lot more sci-fi.
The reason why close encounters was so good was because we all thought it fictional when it was actually a documentary. Man recieved a secret classified roll of film with documents and he simply reshot everything with actors.
I was a teen when this came out and it was magic and wonderful. It was more real than star wars and stuck with me as if at any time some night, UFOs might be seen in the night sky.
Best single part of this movie? When the guy that escapes with Roy and Gillian to climb the mountain waves at the helicopter about to gas him and shouts “Los Angeles!!!”
I'd definitely have to say that this film lucked out in getting pushed back for release, else it would have been almost directly up against Star Wars which likely would have crushed this fabulous movie. And overly sentimental as it may be, Speilberg has always managed to have a sense of wonder that really got to shine through with this one (and later, again, with E.T.), but also that...realism of "this is how people really are" that a lot of Hollywood doesn't always succeed in portraying well. :) Thank you, Rowan, for covering this; it is one of my favourites from my childhood.
Thank God, Steven, made this movie in the 70’s I love that Richard (Roy) Dreyfus leaves his family: It’s dark and careless and irresponsible… Love it! 😊
A theater played this a few years ago and I got to go see it on the big scteen for the first time. One of if not my favorite movie going experiences ever.
CE3K is my favorite Spielberg by far. I think the most interesting note is how odd Roy's story is as a protagonist (in a family film) who essentially abandons his family. I've come to read this movie as a modern take on the spiritual quest where Roy (King) hears sacred voices from the sky calling to him to go on a quest to a holy mountain, which he must climb despite fear and the risk of death to meet with the "Gods" or at least achieve some sort of spiritual enlightenment. In buddhism they have the concept of 'leaving home' to seek spiritual salvation. I also really enjoyed the theme of translation in the movie: we have scenes where English/Spanish/French are being shouted at each other, scenes of air traffic controllers talking jargon over each other, the obvious imagery of translating sounds from the sky into the Kodaly sign language and the computer tones in the finale.
I never had a problem with Roy's choice. Stay in a fairly mundane marriage where you will both eventually expire or get the chance to see a totally different planet and race of people and when you come back to earth you will have barely aged. Some people need to think bigger
I remember watching this movie as a kid, I believe on opening week at the movie theater. The movie poster intrigued me, an dark road leading to bright light at the end of the road. I remember being scared and relieved.
My favorite version is still the original theatrical telling. Also, at an art museum in Cincinnati the mother ship, the Millennium Falcon and the puppet who waved bye to his Earth friends were on exhibit. The mother ship and the Falcon are beyond description; I could have stood all day just looking at them.
Close Encounters is a fabulous movie - when I first saw it in the late 70’s it was incredible. When the mothership appeared the audience just let out an audible gasp. An excellent video on the movie but I would disagree with a couple of your comments about the story lines not quite tying up and you didn’t mention, what I think is the main thrust of the movie which is wish fulfilment. Pursuing a dream which is what Roy does. The soundtrack even has when you wish upon a star in the extended version. But an excellent review that has me getting out my collectors edition box set to watch all three versions again! Thanks for posting this. ET is equally a genius film. Star Wars - it was ok. Never a huge fan.
I loved watching this film when it came to tv for the first time when I was a kid I was really amazed and inspired Yes I do view it differently now but I've never forgotten that wonder and excitement Now in middle age I just thought ,how many cook books on that Alien ship 😂
I always thought it funny when they found the lost WW2 squadron flight 19 in the Mexican desert. The American government official reaches out to the old Mexican peasant and said: "viejo (old man) cuenteme (tell me...)" As a Spanish speaker one would never address an extranger in the manner (regardless of age)... One would use "señor!"
The things mentioned here as problems do not seem problematical to me at all. They seem realistic. And having un-answered questions is also just fine, as long as the conclusion is satisfying as a whole. I also like that there isn't too much dialogue. That's a real plus, in my view. Right now, the only exception I can think of is a tiny one, so brief as to probably not be noticed by many. Someone quips that Einstein was right, and the instant reply is that Einstein was "probably one of them." The rapid quip-counterquip, and the exchange itself, sound contrived and even cringeworthy. I'd have rather left that out entirely.
I saw an interview with Spielberg talking about Raiders, and how he approached Lucas to ask him to help him stay on time and on budget to improve his reputation. It worked.
John Carpenter, his range is so expansive, he makes a lot of his own scores and not afraid to experiment. I can go onwith all the awards and accolades and what not but let's just leave it at that. I love this movie tho.
17:00 When the special edition was requested by the studio I think Spielberg should have done these outtakes and put them in and have the ending a little bit different. With neary floating up into the craft 👽🛸
I love Taken! So glad to see you include it in this video. I would love to see a full retrospective for it, although I’m sure it’s too obscure to be practical. 😊
I have to disagree with a few points you make. First off Dreyfus’s character is an every man, in every possible way. He’s the definition of average. He’s dealing with job, family and life stresses then has an alien message that he’s not equipped for implanted in his head. As an every man he’s neither completely the protagonist nor the antagonist. He’s a mix and that’s what makes the character so believable. The fact that he and the mother don’t really click at first though they are going to the same goal is also believable. If you met some rando while on a quest and they proclaimed to be on the same basic quest you wouldn’t immediately “team up”. Once again, believable. From the alien’s point of view, as much as we can discern motivations, they’ve been engaged in studying both government/military and average people for a while. Given that, it might actually make sense to invite the government, recognizing the authority of them, and individuals. They were seemingly interested in both aspects. As to the special effects. Most were amazing for the day and still are. The end of the movie was slightly ruined by the horridly bad aliens and now you’ve sort of explained that. Thanks for the thoughtful and informative piece.
I remember watching this when it came out, it was a wonderful experience and I came to watch it many times since. I do wonder, is it a cultural thing perhaps? That it's seen as "problematic" when a main character has unsympathetic traits? I have no problem with a grotty protagonist, or a flawed hero - it makes everything more real and exciting. I didn't have any problems with the disjointed narratives - everything aligns at the end. Thanks for a solid retrospective, entertaining and interesting as always.
I was too young to appreciate this movie but I do remember vividly being overwhelmed by the ending and that was on a little TV. Probably some 28" TV with a VHS rental. I'd probably dig the 4K release now through more adult eyes but I've gone all my life really avoiding it.
The one thing I hate about the third cut of the film is it goes back to the original score at the end, when I preferred the musical homages to “When You Wish Upon a Star” used in the special edition.
I've seen this film many times, and I own a DVD copy of the "Collector's Edition." Yet, to this day, I still haven't watched "E.T." which was released when I was still a kid. I don't think I've ever been interested in it.
It wasn’t until the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind that Star Trek producers felt confident that audiences could handle smart science fiction, and turned the Phase II tv series into the Motion Picture, so in a weird way, this movie is some what responsible for helping make everything Star Trek post 1979 happen
Fun story my nanny near got fired for taking my two year old self to opening day of Star Wars (we are a very intensely Trek family) and this film😂 I became obsessed with space, aliens and darth Vader (he terrified and fascinated me). I remember how loud the music was when the aliens repeat the 5 notes with the big horn at the end. For years i had no idea where that tune came from. As "where my heart is" is my favourite song I just assumed it was from Trek 😅oups. Didn't get it right until ~86 maybe and I saw this on tv. The french scenes are odd to watch with the french dub from back then because it's just Truffaut talking and another guy repeating what he just said for no reason to someone who is also speaking french. Think they changed it in the 90s when the dvds first came out...and Dawson's Creek became a thing 😂
I think I'm the only one who sees the film as a legitimate horror film. Everything the aliens do seems so callous and manipulative, and the "feel good" ending feels like...I don't know...like we took some kind of lure. I'm sorry the aliens moving like flies couldn't work. I think that it would have been crystal clear, then. The movie feels like a long spooky awe-inspiring bad dream.
The mentioned weaknesses are actually the strengths of this movie, making it interesting for repeated viewings. It horrifies me to think that a film like this couldn't be made today, especially the father's decisions. Nowadays, films rely heavily on preaching to the public, and only caricatures are possible, while complex characters are almost forbidden in high-budget productions.
Strong disagree with your take on the structure of the film. Perhaps you aren't old enough to recall life in the 1970's, but this was an era when people were very frustrated with the government (in America, at least; I can't speak for outside the US). For example, Watergate had just concluded which caused many people to lose faith in the presidency, as well as the pulling out from Vietnam which was an unpopular war that the government had tried to sell the US population on for over a decade, but which the media had exposed as a debacle. Thus, mistrust of authority was at an all time high (for the time; it's probably even higher now) and Close Encounters captures the mood of the times extremely well. Dreyfuss' character is very much an "every-man" from that time: blue collar worker who'd bought into the traditional American way of life only to discover that his government was lying to him (about the existence of UFO's in this case) but as he looks into the conspiracy deeper and as he looks for the "truth", it tears his family apart. And so when you say the film's threads seem unconnected, I very much disagree with you because each thread is dealing with the larger cultural issue of society cracking. Two of the threads deal with immediate family - one in which a mother tries to keep her family together and another in which a man loses his - and a third thread which deals with an authority figure (the government) losing it's grip on these people just like the mother loses grip of her child, or which Dreyfuss loses grip on his own family. Also, the reason why these random people are aware of where the aliens will be is because they "know" something is going on and that the government is lying to them. This was a common feeling at the time, just as it is now in which people feel that they've been lied to by the government and the media. And since it's true they were lied to about Vietnam and that Nixon lied to the American people, then it's not as if regular people were wrong to distrust authority. The tricky part was actually proving they were right and the the government was lying. So to sum up, Close Encounters captures the paranoia of the era, it captures the fragmentation of society, the collapse of the traditional American family (if it ever existed in the first place), and it foreshadows the future in which regular people would finally lose faith in government / authority. Each thread explores how people felt at the time. However, what makes the film so enduring, and why it still holds up today, is that it's not a cynical film. Unlike a film like Easy Rider which is deeply cynical (especially the ending), Close Encounters is optimistic about the future. Close Encounters' thesis is that while things may look bad right now, our problems can be solved if we remain skeptical but not become cynical. The film is, ultimately, a warning against cynicism because cynicism divides us rather than brings us together. That's why three threads of the story are closely connected.
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P.S: People should realise bad movies can still be directed well. Just because you may dislike a film doesn't automatically mean all aspects of that movie are bad. I say this because I'm seeing a lot of, "What about _ movie directed by Spielberg which sucked?" Not every film directed by Spielberg is great, but every Spielberg film has great direction.
21:31 I think the reason for that is because the ETs wish to impart Esoteric Knowledge upon those individuals. They had gone about these "Abductions" of their own accord, until they were actually able to make a contact with actual secret divisions within the US Govt.
The idea seems to be how does such a seriously Advanced Race of Intelligent "Alien" beings make full on "contact" with a technologically inferior race? Just look at how Humans who have entered places like the Amazon Jungle have tried to make contact with Ancient Tribes-people who have not changed for like hundreds of years. They see the group, with their flying machines in the sky, and some come down to greet them on other side of a river, and it's gone very badly for both sides.
So i think the ETs in this Film, are so far beyond Humans, both spiritually and technologically, that they cant just show up at the UN, or the White House. No average person can show up at the White House and seek a audience with the President, without first being thoroughly checked, and just deemed a threat to national security first. Now think of that scenario, only with Alien beings from another planet out in space, who are highly advanced. In such a scenario, the US Govt, Military are powerful in comparison, but America always want to "Shoot first and ask questions later".
So i think this is where this whole idea of a top secret "meeting" between the two is established. The ETs psychically communicate with those specific Individuals because they have invited them, for life-changing reasons.
I think in the case of the child, it's that missunderstanding, that they are indeed "Alien". They're simply not going to just land their Saucer Craft out on the Field, get out and walk upto that Mother's house, knock on the door and ask - "can we borrow your child for a short time please, we have very important knowledge to impart to him that will help change his life when he gets older, where he will help move the culture forward." lol
And so those ETs communicate with the child telepathically, and Spielberg does a masterful job here, of specifically showing us that the child himself does not deem the ETs as a threat; while it's shown to us that the ETs are depicted to appear as threatening in some way. This is the idea i always got from the ETs in this amazing film. They're intentions are Benevolent as they appear to be trying to help Humanity, by selecting certain individuals to come with them, and experience and have a higher knowledge imparted unto them. Then they return them, unharmed, sometimes at much later period of time.
It's like, try going to some jungle in another part of the world, living with some tribespeople and then trying to teach them things like Economics, Computer Science or something. It's going to be quite overwhelming for them. And so the ETs in Close Encounters have to handle Humans with kid-gloves so to speak.
It would be very interesting in Steven Spielberg followed his classic up with a Sequel all these decades later, where Roy Neary is actually returned to earth, and he hasn't aged a day; but the whole secret ET exchange program from the Govt has long since been declassified and shut down. Maybe the movie could even be quite dark, and show how Neary tries to get in touch with his Family, and his sons, daughter, none of them recognize or want to believe it's him. They just think it's a imposter.
close encounters is an amazing movie. what a stupid takee
I agree not every Spielberg movie is a great film. You mentioned “1941” as a great example of this. But you really missed the mark in saying CE3K is a flawed film. It really isn't, and holds up much better than other iconic films by Spielberg, such as E.T. which is an inferior film in my opinion, and does not hold up compared to CE3k.
@@lestatdelc I completely agree, infact i find Spielberg's later stuff in recent years really has been some of his worst. He really needs to jump back into proper hardcore, thinking person's sci fi. Spielberg should try doing a sequel to CE3K, but make it more personal, like where Roy Neary get's brought back, dropped off at Devil's Tower in our present day, and he doesn't look a day older; make it dark, where he tries to find his Family, his kids who are all grown up and reconcile with them, but they reject him, thinking he's an impostor.
It could be a very different, psychological sequel, where though the Roy Neary he's questioning himself whether it was all in his head, thinking he's gone crazy; but we the audience know the truth. And then the film could slowly build up and reveal what's happened with the Alien/ETs and that whole, secret Operation from the first film.
I believe Steven Spielberg still has it in him to make such a Film.
Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull is a BADLY directed film. Spielberg clearly was on autopilot doing that movie and wasn’t interested in the story at all
You gotta give McQueen credit he knew his limits as an actor and passed on the project as to not bring it down.
McQueen was a serious tough guy. Playing Neary would be really be out of his comfort zone. And no one does manic as well as Dreyfuss.
Dreyfus portrayed the 'everyman' character perfectly. Fair play to Steve McQueen for realising that he wasn't right for it.
It's hard to express the impact Close Encounters had on popular culture in 1977. Everyone was still overwhelmed by Star Wars and the Apple ][ computer had just begun to revolutionize the concept of home computing. At that point, there were only about 10 million cable TV subscribers in the USA, and VHS videorecorders had just launched the year before. In short, there was nothing outside of movie theaters to compare with the spectacular light shows and wide-eyed wonderment created by Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Star Wars was a rolicking adventure, but it was set in a completely alien galaxy with little connection to the 1970's. Close Encounters brought high-tech fantasy down to earth in a compellingly personal manner, mixing the mundane aspects of suburban life with the most profound extra-terrestrial experience imaginable. Everyone had heard of numerous UFO reports and we had all seen astronauts walk on the moon, and in that context, the dazzling display of earth-shaking technology showcased in Close Encounters seemed like it might be lurking just around the next bend in the road.
An absolutely brilliant comment. That’s exactly what I felt, I wasn’t too impressed with Star Wars, it was good but Close Encounters was the best. ‘I want to believe’ but I think it’s probably unlikely.
@@stephenbarrette610 WHY is it probably unlikely? The *Truth* could be much deeper and darker than you realize. What if certain World Leaders had been taken to actually meet with Extra-terrestrial Beings? What if they had been warned that Man's messing around with the "splitting of the atom" was dangerous and such ETs had not intended for such esoteric knowledge to be deciphered and used in such a way?
What if there was a governing body, a "organization" that acted of it's own accord, above any "President", and could not be prosecuted by the law?
That is exactly why, as a seven-year-old, I loved the adventure of Star Wars, but Close Encounters scared the crap out of me. I wanted to hang out with Jedi and hot princesses, not get taken from my family by all-too-plausible aliens!
That was well articulated, good on ya
I miss my Close Encounters 70’s lunchbox.
The dark storyline you refer to is basically about divorce. Specifically Spielberg's own experience of a family break up...he was writing from personal experience and, speaking as someone from a broken family myself, I can say he nailed it. This makes David Lifton's question about the director's parent's communicating particularly pertinent. The emotional confusion portrayed gives the film some real grounding. I saw Close Encounters in the theatre on its first release and I love it now as much as I did then.
❤ ❤
Hollywood science fiction is so either obsessed with making everything and everyone a cartoonish, comic book character come to life or trying to plumb the depths of the human soul through misery and betrayal...it's so rare to see a movie that's just grounded, authentic, made with a keen observational eye about ordinary people. Hollywood stopped making movies about regular folks a long time ago and, in some ways, I feel like it's made audiences forget how to read ordinary people characters in grand scale films like this.
@@SPVFilmsLtd Well put, I concur.
Having seen CE3K at in theaters in 1977 when I was still a high school freshman, I can tell you it was a profound film, full of pure awe and wonder, at time when that was in very short supply. Close Encounters had a bigger impact on me than Star Wars did, which itself was huge.
I just find it amazing that 2 such historically groundbreaking sci-fi blockbusters came out on the same year. What a year it was!
Let me summarize what 1977 audiences experienced watching this film: it wasn't just a movie...it was an EVENT.
I was in my mid teens when this was released and was completely enthralled. I perceived no disjointed plot structure, being instead taken on an engrossing journey which pulled me in entirely.
I was born a few years after the film was released. I've seen it countless times though, including once in the theatre. I don't see how it's disjointed either.
Me too. I was 17. I had just been wowed by Star Wars. This movie wowed me all the same. I didn't find the movie boring or disjointed. It made perfect sense to me and it sort of answered all of the UFO curiosities we had back then. I gues you had to have been there when it first came out.
Its not disjointed. Its stuff that happens. Not everything needs a perfect answer. Some of those questions could be answered by the aliens playing all their cards for the best possible outcome.
Agree. It ties together well. Neary is given a vision which is so overpowering it takes over his life. This is similar to how people who are into stuff like UFOs can become, totally obsessed and single-minded about something. It is never boring, I'm not sure which bit he was bored by!
Man,you're old as dirt. You're older than the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park
I still have my cinema theatre booklet I bought when the film was released in London. I remember reading that Brand X did a concert in New York at the time and used the scale theme during their set. The buzz from this film was enormous.
Dude! That sounds so cool!
I saw this when I was eleven years old. and loved it so much I saw it three times in the theatre. This was second only to Star Wars which I saw seven times that same year.
It was for a long time my second favorite film and still remains in my top ten.
The one-two punch of these two sci-fi films made the late seventies a golden age of science film. Superman, Battlestar Galactica, Alien, Moonraker, and Star Trek the motion picture would soon follow.
I saw it the first showing of opening day - amazingly the theater wasn't very crowded because word of mouth hadn't gotten out yet and the marketing campaign was very mysterious without really showing any of the actual film. Anyway, I went with a good friend (we actually skipped our college classes that morning to see it) and when it was over we walked out of the theater, back to my car and got in without saying a word to each other, we were just speechless at what we just saw - after a minute or two of just sitting in the car I just said "wow....." to him and it was enough. A few weeks later I saw it again with some other friends - there was a rainstorm the evening and during the scene where the lights start to go out across the city, the power ACTUALLY WENT OUT in theater as well! Suffice to say people were a little freaked out, the theater manager had to make a announcement for everyone to please stay calm - the power was restored a few minutes later and the film continued - but it was a deja vu moment of fantasy becoming reality for a few minutes!
Not everthing needs to be resolved. Absolute classic. Year of my birth and a favourite for my dad.
Certain films and TV shows when done right can come off as being a story that started being told midway through and ends just as it started. Hints of its past that leads up to what we're watching on screen and then leaves with hints of the future story left to interpretation. Recent shows that have been canceled after one season come to mind. The show Humans that came out on the BBC a few years ago always come to mind.
Three movies changed my life, starting with "Star Wars" (now, episode 4; there was only one back then), followed by Close Encounters, and then Raiders. I was in fourth grade when Star Wars came out. My young mind was opened and to this very day people tell me I come up with some "out there" ideas. I still have fond memories of when I was a young lad and having my mind as a whole other seemingly infinite universe of possibilities where anything could happen to play in. Today I am stuck in bed a lot due to some ongoing medical issues. I don't know what I would do without that gateway of imagination that Lucas and Spielberg opened up for me... 😃☮
This is my favorite movie ever, and it has never lost its place over the years. I was born in 1980, so my first memory of Encounters was on TV when I was around 5. My father watched it and I just came down from my room where I was supposed to be asleep. I ran bhind the couch just to witness the arrival and the very unhuman gentle yet frightening face of the alien. I was amazed and terrified at the same time.
Over the time, I finally watched the whole movie and I remember it was one my first bluray disc later on. I still watch it with the same fascination as when I was a child. It's peak cinema for me, an absolute masterpiece.
The fact that CE3K is nearly plotleas is not a flaw. It's one of the things that makes it great. It's a self-contained world where you can get lost for a couple of hours.
Exactly. There can be no real plot because we have no definite answers about UFO's. As I said below I find it odd he has no grasp of the film.
Is that a complaint that people have? I wonder how they would react to 2001: A Space Odyssey?
“Name another director…..genres” easy! Robert Wise! He did everything. Horror, spy thrillers, science fiction, musicals, romances, you name it he did it. Spielberg even remade one of his films. Which is not meant as disrespect for Spielberg, who has blown pretty much everyone away with pretty much everything…..but I don’t think Wise should be forgotten.
Totally agree, a brilliant director like Spielberg.
William Wyler. Coppola. This author doesn't know enough about past Hollywood. Like most of today's people, he only knows about what he's lived through.
@@jgrab1 Well first off, William Goldman died in November 2018, if you are referring to him. And he won two Academy Awards for his scripts and had been involved in the movie industry since the 1950s. And William Wyler and Francis Ford Coppola are / were great directors. Personally Kubrick is my favourite.
Robert Wise was a great storyteller. Spielberg is a great filmmaker and storyteller.
@@Stonecutter334 I totally agree.
My mum took me to see it at the cinema (ABC, Paisley). It’s the only film I’ve gone back to see for a second time within a week.
I saw the original version twice when it was first released and then once again when the special edition came out , every time is blew me away , one of the defining films of my life
How big was its impact? I remember seeing the rock band KISS and Ace Frehley aka The Spaceman played that 5 note piece from the movie in the middle of his guitar solo to the absolute delight of the screaming audience. It gave me goosebumps.
“Half your millions should go to John Williams”
I can’t even imagine how beautiful this movie would have looked in theaters, especially the giant space ship at the end. My jaw dropped when I saw it on TV for the first time imagine seeing it on a ginormous screen in the dark 😳
That shot where the camera cranes up and the lights come on in blocks in the cityscape… That made such an impression on me when I first saw it in a theater. Could not figure out as a kid how they did that. The whole road-constructed-on-stage looked great but it had that little bit of unrealism that made it slightly spooky.
The (academy award winning) night time cinematograhy throughout close encounters of the third kind is sublime and haunting and beautiful to behold and experience.
All of the night skies in Close Encounters are paintings.
Probably my favorite Spielberg film. A masterpiece and masterclass in so many ways.
I saw this the week it came out--and then saw it several times that week, taking my parents and everyone I knew to see it. CETK is still my favorite Spielberg movie because it so well portrays how a child approaches the unknown. Spielberg's later movies leave me cold because I feel manipulated in ways that don't feel earned, but CETK is the exception.
When Spielberg later says he couldn't make the film as a father because Roy leaves his family, I realize why his later films seem so lacking. Something extraordinary, terrifying, beautiful, and true compels a loving father to leave his family. Imagine this power. As written, when Roy leaves his family it's absurd because he becomes a baby man, but imagine the effect on his children driven out that night to that promontory and watching their father go mad. Imagine Roy doing everything he can to raise his children out of mature love in spite of the power of that vision. Then after they're grown, imagine him returning to the vision.
Could Spielberg make such a film? I don't see it. I don't see him getting his heart around it. What's always disappointed me in his work is that while he can portray how a child approaches the unknown, he doesn't do a good job in showing how a mature adult does. I don't see him comprehending the life of such a person. But if he could, he probably wouldn't have been able to make such popular blockbusters.
The director of Godzilla Minus One said this movie was his first inspiration to be a director.
Personal favourite of his work is 1941, an underrated film.
Went out if my way to get 1941 on DVD, one of my favs.
Close Encounters is one of my all-time top of every list favorites! It's perfect!
I was a kid when this came out and it blew my little mind.
It was born in 1970, never watched the entire movie from start to finish, just pieces here and there. Saw it today at a theatre, 2024. I enjoyed it very much. Especially the throwbacks to that era. The music was great. I even remember the 5 note theme song part, kids would play that when we were young, I had know idea what it was from, but it all makes sense now.
I just saw a re-release of Close Encounters in the D.C. area (July 2024). This might be my favorite movie of all time! I personally LOVE Richard Dreyfus in this movie and all of the characters. Francois Truffaut was especially endearing.❤
The space ships are incredible. It just carries me away. John Williams' music is incredible.
I hardly noticed the issues that the reviewer described.
Inspite of the family break-up, this movie gives us something we are in great need of now--INNOCENCE and HOPE!
One of my favorite movies ever. I was the same age as Barry during the movies release. ❤
I never get tired of CEOTTK, i watch it at least twice a year
My favourite alien movie, an absolute masterpiece.
While making saving private ryan made the making of close encounters
I always found the disjointed and flimsiness of the plot added to the authenticity as much of the life of an adventurous person who does legitimately choose to take large risks in the name of the journey is really disjointed and to the perception of those around them flimsy or even insane. I really believed that Dryfus's character felt compelled and his drive while not reasonable stemmed from the magnitude of the experience and as such did not need to really make sense to me, only the understanding of the compulsion did
I prefer Senior Spielbergo.
Es moy Bueno!
I was 11 and hopelessly addicted to Star Wars when this film came out. Nonetheless, unlike most of my friends at the time, Close Encounters instantly became my favorite movie and I spent the next year obsessively watching the skies. I probably saw it 5 times in the theater. The director's cut vastly improved the flow and accentuated some of the darker, Pinnochio-adjacent themes that I suspect Spielberg wasn't quite in touch with when he was ideating the script (He's said so himself.) Of course, like a lot of his work, his subconscience seems to find its way into things despite that. It's one of the marks of truly great artists. Williams' soundtrack is hands down my favorite thing he ever wrote. It's both mysterious and grand - almost impressionistic at times - and the main theme is literally a major plot point, which is just astounding.
Super review. :) Wonderful film, saw it in cinema as a kid, it inspired me far more than Star Wars did.
I have to say that from my personal viewing of it, the gap you feel between the plot threads and the lack of resolution is the major part of why I like it... that it's left to the viewer to connect them, rather than be directed to connect them; as everyone that sees the alien ships has a different perspective on _why_ they're happening. Same with the multiple message formats; why would aliens "know" what language to use unless the director told them to just use one language? So the aliens use all languages; light, radio, sound, and evidently psychic, to make sure that they're heard; as we would if we were trying to do the same thing the other way.
As for a hateful protagonist, I never got that either; I think he was coded more as "a person who had totally lost all sense of what was happening due to aliens taking over his head"
(20:10) I love how the spotlights on this vehicle converge to point forward. Definitely one of my favorite sequences of the film, among many others, of course. 😉
Thanks for that. It brought back a lot of good memories and I learnt things I didn't know. Your format is easy to digest too.
Fantastic!! One of 4 movies I went to see as a young kid/young teen that i remember:
Star Wars (family)
Jaws (family)
Close encounters (family)
&
Risky Business (first date movie)
Close encounters was the most unique and complex to understand of the 3
Two things I rember as a kid . Not takeing a bath only showers and staying away from pools becouse of jaws . And being so captivated by close encounters
I was 10 when this movie came out. Saw it a couple times in Canada, and the next year in England. UFOs were big at the time, and I was really into it. Read a bunch of books on the subject. I loved the ideas and concepts explored. And the visuals were fantastic. Star Wars was space fantasy, this was a lot more sci-fi.
Fantastic movie.
Fantastic review as per normal.
"Good Bye" is the part that made me cry and still cry to this day.
The reason why close encounters was so good was because we all thought it fictional when it was actually a documentary.
Man recieved a secret classified roll of film with documents and he simply reshot everything with actors.
Thanks! I really enjoy your review / retrospectives.
Its why Arrival is so great. It wasn't the alien comes to blow us up. Great sci-fi
I was a teen when this came out and it was magic and wonderful. It was more real than star wars and stuck with me as if at any time some night, UFOs might be seen in the night sky.
I simply can't get enough of little SFX tidbits and injokes!
Best single part of this movie? When the guy that escapes with Roy and Gillian to climb the mountain waves at the helicopter about to gas him and shouts “Los Angeles!!!”
I had never seen this movie before, & I've been looking for it online for MONTHS; it FINALLY appeared this week on Amazon Prime!
I'd definitely have to say that this film lucked out in getting pushed back for release, else it would have been almost directly up against Star Wars which likely would have crushed this fabulous movie. And overly sentimental as it may be, Speilberg has always managed to have a sense of wonder that really got to shine through with this one (and later, again, with E.T.), but also that...realism of "this is how people really are" that a lot of Hollywood doesn't always succeed in portraying well. :) Thank you, Rowan, for covering this; it is one of my favourites from my childhood.
Thank God, Steven, made this movie in the 70’s
I love that Richard (Roy) Dreyfus leaves his family:
It’s dark and careless and irresponsible…
Love it! 😊
A theater played this a few years ago and I got to go see it on the big scteen for the first time. One of if not my favorite movie going experiences ever.
CE3K is my favorite Spielberg by far. I think the most interesting note is how odd Roy's story is as a protagonist (in a family film) who essentially abandons his family. I've come to read this movie as a modern take on the spiritual quest where Roy (King) hears sacred voices from the sky calling to him to go on a quest to a holy mountain, which he must climb despite fear and the risk of death to meet with the "Gods" or at least achieve some sort of spiritual enlightenment. In buddhism they have the concept of 'leaving home' to seek spiritual salvation. I also really enjoyed the theme of translation in the movie: we have scenes where English/Spanish/French are being shouted at each other, scenes of air traffic controllers talking jargon over each other, the obvious imagery of translating sounds from the sky into the Kodaly sign language and the computer tones in the finale.
I never had a problem with Roy's choice. Stay in a fairly mundane marriage where you will both eventually expire or get the chance to see a totally different planet and race of people and when you come back to earth you will have barely aged.
Some people need to think bigger
It did start Spielberg 's fascination with using the mechanic of "children in peril" (you might say "Jaws" was the first)
This is such an amazing movie to see in the theater at the age of 10
I remember watching this movie as a kid, I believe on opening week at the movie theater.
The movie poster intrigued me, an dark road leading to bright light at the end of the road. I remember being scared and relieved.
Bob Balaban's had a heck of a career.
My favorite version is still the original theatrical telling. Also, at an art museum in Cincinnati the mother ship, the Millennium Falcon and the puppet who waved bye to his Earth friends were on exhibit. The mother ship and the Falcon are beyond description; I could have stood all day just looking at them.
He did his research on how ufos are described, more accurate than any film since .
"Sir Steven Spielberg, the *_grooviest_* film maker in the history of cinema..."
Im 54. I saw Close Encounters, Star Wars trilogy, Raiders, the Indiana Jones trilogy, Aliens and Predator is the cinema when they came out.
Close Encounters is a fabulous movie - when I first saw it in the late 70’s it was incredible. When the mothership appeared the audience just let out an audible gasp. An excellent video on the movie but I would disagree with a couple of your comments about the story lines not quite tying up and you didn’t mention, what I think is the main thrust of the movie which is wish fulfilment. Pursuing a dream which is what Roy does. The soundtrack even has when you wish upon a star in the extended version. But an excellent review that has me getting out my collectors edition box set to watch all three versions again! Thanks for posting this.
ET is equally a genius film.
Star Wars - it was ok. Never a huge fan.
I loved watching this film when it came to tv for the first time when I was a kid
I was really amazed and inspired
Yes I do view it differently now but I've never forgotten that wonder and excitement
Now in middle age I just thought ,how many cook books on that Alien ship 😂
Fantastic OP! Brilliant piece of work! New sub for sure 👌🏽
“Name another director that has made the highest grossing film of all time 3 times.” Jim Cameron would like to have a word!
I always thought it funny when they found the lost WW2 squadron flight 19 in the Mexican desert. The American government official reaches out to the old Mexican peasant and said: "viejo (old man) cuenteme (tell me...)"
As a Spanish speaker one would never address an extranger in the manner (regardless of age)... One would use "señor!"
Another movie of the 70's that turned B-movies into A-movies was The Exorcist for horror movies.
Many really well written comments on here.
Well done all. 👍
The things mentioned here as problems do not seem problematical to me at all. They seem realistic. And having un-answered questions is also just fine, as long as the conclusion is satisfying as a whole. I also like that there isn't too much dialogue. That's a real plus, in my view. Right now, the only exception I can think of is a tiny one, so brief as to probably not be noticed by many. Someone quips that Einstein was right, and the instant reply is that Einstein was "probably one of them." The rapid quip-counterquip, and the exchange itself, sound contrived and even cringeworthy. I'd have rather left that out entirely.
"Fallen out of step with the current Zeitgeist"??
If so, I say "Thank God!"
I saw an interview with Spielberg talking about Raiders, and how he approached Lucas to ask him to help him stay on time and on budget to improve his reputation. It worked.
John Carpenter, his range is so expansive, he makes a lot of his own scores and not afraid to experiment. I can go onwith all the awards and accolades and what not but let's just leave it at that. I love this movie tho.
17:00
When the special edition was requested by the studio I think Spielberg should have done these outtakes and put them in and have the ending a little bit different. With neary floating up into the craft 👽🛸
Still a all time favorite of mine and maybe the first real "Disclosure" movie to reach the masses. 👽
Thanks. I didn’t know how Lucas affected Spielberg before.
Funny how most "real" aliens are now described almost universally as something akin to the aliens in this.
I love Taken! So glad to see you include it in this video. I would love to see a full retrospective for it, although I’m sure it’s too obscure to be practical. 😊
It’s the lens flares that make it Spielberg for me
Commenting for support. Thanks for making these! Started with your star trek series.
I have to disagree with a few points you make. First off Dreyfus’s character is an every man, in every possible way. He’s the definition of average. He’s dealing with job, family and life stresses then has an alien message that he’s not equipped for implanted in his head. As an every man he’s neither completely the protagonist nor the antagonist. He’s a mix and that’s what makes the character so believable. The fact that he and the mother don’t really click at first though they are going to the same goal is also believable. If you met some rando while on a quest and they proclaimed to be on the same basic quest you wouldn’t immediately “team up”. Once again, believable. From the alien’s point of view, as much as we can discern motivations, they’ve been engaged in studying both government/military and average people for a while. Given that, it might actually make sense to invite the government, recognizing the authority of them, and individuals. They were seemingly interested in both aspects.
As to the special effects. Most were amazing for the day and still are. The end of the movie was slightly ruined by the horridly bad aliens and now you’ve sort of explained that. Thanks for the thoughtful and informative piece.
Great video. It would be fantastic to see a filmography of certain directors
would love a Jaws retrospective !
I remember watching this when it came out, it was a wonderful experience and I came to watch it many times since.
I do wonder, is it a cultural thing perhaps? That it's seen as "problematic" when a main character has unsympathetic traits? I have no problem with a grotty protagonist, or a flawed hero - it makes everything more real and exciting.
I didn't have any problems with the disjointed narratives - everything aligns at the end.
Thanks for a solid retrospective, entertaining and interesting as always.
I was too young to appreciate this movie but I do remember vividly being overwhelmed by the ending and that was on a little TV. Probably some 28" TV with a VHS rental. I'd probably dig the 4K release now through more adult eyes but I've gone all my life really avoiding it.
The one thing I hate about the third cut of the film is it goes back to the original score at the end, when I preferred the musical homages to “When You Wish Upon a Star” used in the special edition.
I’d love it if you did Jurassic Park retrospectives, even if it’s just the first one. And it is technically scifi 😌
I've seen this film many times, and I own a DVD copy of the "Collector's Edition." Yet, to this day, I still haven't watched "E.T." which was released when I was still a kid. I don't think I've ever been interested in it.
It wasn’t until the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind that Star Trek producers felt confident that audiences could handle smart science fiction, and turned the Phase II tv series into the Motion Picture, so in a weird way, this movie is some what responsible for helping make everything Star Trek post 1979 happen
Fun story my nanny near got fired for taking my two year old self to opening day of Star Wars (we are a very intensely Trek family) and this film😂 I became obsessed with space, aliens and darth Vader (he terrified and fascinated me). I remember how loud the music was when the aliens repeat the 5 notes with the big horn at the end. For years i had no idea where that tune came from. As "where my heart is" is my favourite song I just assumed it was from Trek 😅oups. Didn't get it right until ~86 maybe and I saw this on tv. The french scenes are odd to watch with the french dub from back then because it's just Truffaut talking and another guy repeating what he just said for no reason to someone who is also speaking french. Think they changed it in the 90s when the dvds first came out...and Dawson's Creek became a thing 😂
I think I'm the only one who sees the film as a legitimate horror film. Everything the aliens do seems so callous and manipulative, and the "feel good" ending feels like...I don't know...like we took some kind of lure. I'm sorry the aliens moving like flies couldn't work. I think that it would have been crystal clear, then.
The movie feels like a long spooky awe-inspiring bad dream.
James Cameron
The mentioned weaknesses are actually the strengths of this movie, making it interesting for repeated viewings. It horrifies me to think that a film like this couldn't be made today, especially the father's decisions. Nowadays, films rely heavily on preaching to the public, and only caricatures are possible, while complex characters are almost forbidden in high-budget productions.
Strong disagree with your take on the structure of the film. Perhaps you aren't old enough to recall life in the 1970's, but this was an era when people were very frustrated with the government (in America, at least; I can't speak for outside the US). For example, Watergate had just concluded which caused many people to lose faith in the presidency, as well as the pulling out from Vietnam which was an unpopular war that the government had tried to sell the US population on for over a decade, but which the media had exposed as a debacle.
Thus, mistrust of authority was at an all time high (for the time; it's probably even higher now) and Close Encounters captures the mood of the times extremely well. Dreyfuss' character is very much an "every-man" from that time: blue collar worker who'd bought into the traditional American way of life only to discover that his government was lying to him (about the existence of UFO's in this case) but as he looks into the conspiracy deeper and as he looks for the "truth", it tears his family apart.
And so when you say the film's threads seem unconnected, I very much disagree with you because each thread is dealing with the larger cultural issue of society cracking. Two of the threads deal with immediate family - one in which a mother tries to keep her family together and another in which a man loses his - and a third thread which deals with an authority figure (the government) losing it's grip on these people just like the mother loses grip of her child, or which Dreyfuss loses grip on his own family.
Also, the reason why these random people are aware of where the aliens will be is because they "know" something is going on and that the government is lying to them. This was a common feeling at the time, just as it is now in which people feel that they've been lied to by the government and the media. And since it's true they were lied to about Vietnam and that Nixon lied to the American people, then it's not as if regular people were wrong to distrust authority. The tricky part was actually proving they were right and the the government was lying.
So to sum up, Close Encounters captures the paranoia of the era, it captures the fragmentation of society, the collapse of the traditional American family (if it ever existed in the first place), and it foreshadows the future in which regular people would finally lose faith in government / authority. Each thread explores how people felt at the time.
However, what makes the film so enduring, and why it still holds up today, is that it's not a cynical film. Unlike a film like Easy Rider which is deeply cynical (especially the ending), Close Encounters is optimistic about the future. Close Encounters' thesis is that while things may look bad right now, our problems can be solved if we remain skeptical but not become cynical.
The film is, ultimately, a warning against cynicism because cynicism divides us rather than brings us together. That's why three threads of the story are closely connected.
Well done retrospective.
I'm guessing RJC didn't see this movie when it was in theaters at the tail end of the 70's.