I am retired from a busy and blessed studio singing career of 60 years during which time it was my honor to be part of the chorus for John Williams scoring of this wonderful movie. Little did I know when recording it that day what a treat I was in for at the theater. Cried my eyes out
I was 9 when I saw this film in '78 (at Leicester Square Odeon) and it's been my favourite film ever since for how it made me feel. Casting, music, special effects - just perfect.
So I heard your voice at age 12. You were there and others like you. Your voice is now in the Great Library of Congress. May it be remembered for millennia to come.
I was at the very first time this movie was shown here in Rio de Janeiro, at Roxy cinema (a large rounded hall that remembers the interior of the mothership) and remember till today the audience applauding for more than 5 minutes during the end music. Spielberg made history. I've never seen a movie being applauded so enthusiastically. Greetings from Brasil
Wow. I had forgotten what an impressive accomplishment this movie was. It was a very big deal when it arrived in theaters in 1977. So many years have passed and yet this film still stands up. Thank you Mister Spielberg.
I love old school sci-fi. Specially the 70s as well old RPG/box games. The hand drawn non-computery art of aliens and spacecraft just feels so much more real. Stuff today doesn’t hit the same.
The magic is the secret this is the greatest production about Ufo Spielberg gave form to ancestral fears 😊but also an hope when that day will come maybe we will know the truth
this was my first ever experience at a cinema,we were a fairly poor family, but our parents took my brother and I, our dad really wanted to see this , so this was a real treat! I was 13 my brother 15 and we had never been to a cinema,we still had a black and white TV at home so this experience,..the sound -deafening! and this huge screen the colour !,I will never forget it , thanks Mum and Dad
For me, this is real life and what's being kept hidden before our very eyes the Roswell Greys civilization located in the Zeta Reticuli star system which is possible there's a few Planets which might bring back positive feedback for life. Whether or not they live in the Zeta Reticuli star system is only a Legend but these species actually exist and I know for a fact they do sometimes they will manifest them selves to me almost like they're just watching.
@@futuristicentity2417 Roswell was just a story without any evidence. The people of the Roswell news paper took a story and just exaggerated some folklore. To sell news papers with a lie. It was nothing but a stupid balloon experiment. For the cold war. But you want to believe in a fairy tale. I can see you don't do real research behind the hoax. To see if there was anything real.
Keep your eyes firmly fixed the left hand side of the screen. Did anyone notice the refined lady walking out of the space ship dressed in what seems to be an early 18th century Georgian style dress? Holding what seems to be a bonnet in her hands. Very subtle. Most people don’t notice it. Imagine being away from earth and returning after over 100 years later the same age you left. Food for thought.
And the grandma in a petticoat, a man with his dog, the thin girl with braids... The more you think of this the more horrific the aliens are. Why did they abduct innocent people? To perform experiments on them. It's how they learned to brainwash the protagonists to Devils Mountain.
@@Arizonalain Maybe the aliens got what they needed. They were returning them because they had enough information on how people functioned and didn't need them anymore. Its how the returned folk behave which upsets me. I mean the folk all look dazed , sad, and confused, if they were coming out talking with each other and smiling, that has a more positive connotation. Like They had an amazing experience and were glad to be home. But they come out like sleep walkers or shock victims. And they are like strangers with each other. Were they kept in solitary confinement? Some have been detained for years and years! All their families are gone, all their hopes and dreams were stolen from them. It's a plot point I really dislike from the movie. The aliens were playful and powerful but also callous. They could have bought them home after even a year or two but for some abductees it was decades!
Me too. I fucked off to my room when the little kid got sucked out the doggie door. My mom tried to get me to come back for the end, "see, the aliens were nice!" And I was like "the hell they were!"
@@chrisdewey3559 The Alien Harvester's (that's their true name of their species) in the 1996 film "Independence Day" are PURE Evil. But not all aliens in many alien invasion movies and TV Shows are all bad guys. We do actually get to meet the Sphere: hero.fandom.com/wiki/Sphere the last surviving member of a very friendly and mysterious alien species, who are in fact the ancient and sworn enemy of the unsympathetic Harvester's in the 2016 sequel "Independence Day: Resurgence", who fought in a nearly forgotten war that lasted for thousands of years. At some point, their remaining forces were unfortunately overwhelmed and their peaceful home planet was conquered by a hostile alien race called the Harvester's that harvested its core. The Sphere was the sole survivor of its kind and carries the combined intelligence of its entire species. It then traveled across space in the only surviving spaceship of her species and encountered other refugee alien races that were also defeated by the Harvesters, and helping them find refuge on a planet and establishing a major resistance against the Harvesters. The actual name and their true actual organic appearance of the Sphere's specie's remains to this day unknown.
I certainly do wish movies nowadays were written like this. What an epic movie. If you get a chance to see it on the big screen like they occasionally do, don't miss it!!!
Yep, and not just the big scenes. The insight and care devoted to every shot is incredible. Vilmos Zsigmond was as much a visionary as Spielberg, same with John Williams and it really took a collaboration to pull the whole thing off at the level they achieved.
I fully agree. IMHO it’s the most realistic first Contact movie ever made. You can debate about the liberties taken by the director on the third and final act with the communication tool chosen for the dialogue between humans and aliens (colours and sounds) but the rest of the movie and the phenomena were heavily based straight out of the hundreds of testimonies and cases from Dr. J. Allen Hynek’s (also seen here smoking his pipe) Project Blue Book. Those events and cases may be questioned, maybe partially fake or fully fabricated but it’s all we got to rely on as a source material for alien contact and behaviour and Spielberg is the only director that implemented it perfectly in Close Encounters. Arrival is another great first contact movie which I also love but Close Encounters will always remain the best in my book.
In the book they were all the same but they were able to stretch and elongate themselves, and I believe that their skin was semitransparent, enough so that colorful illuminations were visible within their bodies. That's what I remember at least. Read it almost the same time the film came out, so it's been a lot of years.
As scared as we are of aliens (illustrated by so many other movies of encounters), consider the "danger" this alien might have felt in stepping out to meet the humans. Its mind is more advanced, or at least its technology is, but its body is smaller and relatively frail--and I can just imagine their internal staff meeting where it says to the others--what if these humans just surge forward and rip me apart limb from limb? This story depicts bravery and risk on both sides.
You might be scared of them. I choose to not be. Not that i dare to presume I'd be the one making 1st contact. But someone has to hold the guts and self-discipline to face one of the ultimate unknowns; another intelligent society. It's my ultimate caution-to-the-wind dream to see the human race make 1st contact. Even if only on a television screen or otherwise from a distance. Because that will guarantee at least some of us will become an interstellar society. ❤
Still the most realistic and verisimiltudinous alien encounter ever depicted on screen. Also, what an extraordinary year for sci-fi movies. Star Wars came out the same year.
Spielberg was worried that John Williams would be too worn out from composing Star Wars to come up with something special for Close Encounters. No problem.
@JohannRosario1 - After Williams finished composing the theme to Jaws, he invited Spielberg to come listen to it. Spielberg's reaction: "That's it?" William's response: "That's all you need." Williams won the Oscar for best movie musical score for Jaws. So yes, sometimes less is more. Williams lost the award for Close Encounters to himself for the theme from Star Wars. Tough break.
c est l'un des plus beau film de science fiction que j ai vue sur grand écran dans un ciné parc ...le ciel était clair et étoilé derrière l'écran et quand le vaisseau spatial a atterrie ca donnait l'impression d un film en 3 D car le vaisseau se fondait dans le décor ...on croyait que le vaisseau était réel devant nous j'avais l'impression d etre dans le film et je dis un grand bravo a Spielberg de m'avoir fait rêver il y a 40 ans passé
1:12 Allen Hynek the scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive projects: Project Sign (1947-1949), Project Grudge (1949-1952), and Project Blue Book (1952-1969) also consultant for the making of this movie.
I saw Close Encounters at the cinema on its original release and again a few years later when it was released as a special edition. I have it on Blu-ray now, but nothing compares to seeing it on the big screen back in the day.
The first Alien that appeared from the mothership always scared the hell out of me when i was a kid . Kinda looked like a walking Skeleton. There others were ok.
I thought it was amazing until I looked up Roswell greys and how even more amazing how this might be on a frequency or something. These Extraterrestrials practically do exist and I am hoping they AREN'T the bad guys and just hiding from us because we're afraid of them for no reason. Some people picture Extraterrestrials as little green people but in most cases this is wrong they're actually Grey little people the media should correct them selves if they read my post. I know more things out there and yes I do think we have telepathic communication because some of them mess with my hair to let me know they're listening but don't be alarmed they're not bad they're just telepathic that way letting you know they're real.
Mystical, breathtaking and a little spooky at the same time. One of cinemas great moments. I still find the thin lanky alien mesmerising to this day. Fun fact: Speilberg used little girls rather than boys for the small but large-headed aliens who guide Roy and the others into the mothership as he prefered the more natural way they moved and walked.
It’s so funny…I saw this movie probably 100 times and never really had an emotional response. After I became a father, the scene when that little one comes out and his mother runs to him…well, I started chopping onions 😂
The way he does that little jump off of the platform and shuffles his way toward the camera! I can just visualize my grandson doing the same thing. Onions again!
Does anyone else think it's weird that the aliens built a ship that requires one of the crew to bend down to exit it? Like, they can travel at the speed of light, but never thought to instal a larger door?
@@rngsilvercraft3995 The clothing part could make sense. The climate inside the ship would be "perfect" for them, their skin may be resistant to the sort of minor wear and tear clothing protects us from, and they may have no concept of modesty as we know it.
@@navrroboy If you disagree with me give me a reason why then. If intelligent life was so common then we surely would have spotted it by now right? Say a species could not achieve FTL but maybe 99% of the speed of light. It would only take them a few hundred thousand years to colonize the entire Milky Way Galaxy by now. Our galaxy is over 13 billion years old. So it should be so over populated by now with so called intelligent life. But we have no signs of anything intelligent out there. As I said, there very well could be other forms of intelligent life but I think it is super rare. They could be galaxies away from us and we would never know. Now common life, as in animals, is probably in our own solar system. Intelligent life is very complex and the Universe is bigger than any of us could imagine. So we being the only intelligent life in our galaxy isn't that far fetched. But when it all comes down to it, none of us know for sure.
The movie CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND was made without the intervention of computer graphics. All scenes were made in set by Cutouts . So that movie got a SOUL that which is still be able to thrill the viewer
I was the age of that mother's child when I saw this at the cinema, what a fantastic film for a child, eyes wonder with excitement. It needed a sequel and a prequel to be honest but what a film.
Good depiction of an alien. You can imagine on a planet with low gravity they would look exactly like that. Also planets with low gravity may be the most likely to explore space as easier to get into orbit.
They are not from planets. They are from different vibrational frequencies which are actually very, very close, if not completely overlaid. But then you’re not on a planet either.
I really liked how J.Allen Hynek, who developed the Close Encounter classification system makes a cameo in this scene (the gentleman in the blue suit jacket, beard and glasses).
I’m 30 but I barely saw this for the first time a few days ago and can’t stop thinking about it. 4:56 is where I became a kid again and said “WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKK” and got terrified
This final scene was filmed in the lighter than air, navy blimp hanger in Tustin California. It was the only place large enough to accommodate the scope of this amazing scene. Please note is has been destroyed in a massive fire today! It was visible from My house when I lived there! A magic place, now gone forever! A historic landmark, for many reasons!
I can't describe how much i love this Masterpiece, whenever i sit and watch it i just marvel at the audacity Spielberg had to pull it off, And that Mothership is beautiful, The sound the visuals when it all come together like this with the story it tells then there's nothing better, It especially helps if your interested in Alien life form, I heard some people described this as Boring but i suppose they like Deadpool and Marvel movies, I only wish I could of been around to watch this in Empire Leicester Square back in the day 😢
The mothership is great but for me it's those first three ships that arrive on the scene and begin to interact and respond to the musical tones...gets me teared up every time🥲
5:37 is such a striking image, along with that soundtrack, fucking hell. The background almost looks like a planet with the light from the Sun bending around the curve of the planet at the bottom
Those are the semi-harmonic, semi-dissonant sounds of violins and flutes emulating the physical pain you feel in your eyes when looking into extremely bright lights like the sun. Where did John Willians learn this?
Dr. Haynek described aliens as exactly as they should be looking like in this movie. This whole thing actually occurred in different way. They even have the video of this event. So, Dr. Haynek helped to make this movie as realistic as possible for people to be ready for an event like this. I loved it ;)
Actually the doctors name is spelled Hynek. Here is a bio in Wiki that mentions his work: Extract: In later years he conducted his own independent UFO research, developing the "Close Encounter" classification system en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Allen_Hynek
To me, this scene always reminded me of the Mobile Aerospace Engineering hanger at the old Brookley AFB where I worked for a few years. Because it is that hanger.
I love those old film cameras she was using at the end. We used to have the ones with the giant flash bulbs that would go off and burn out. There's a magic in not knowing how any of your images are going to turn out that has been lost with digital.
surf practicing: he coudn't wait to disembark from the mothership and take a vacation on the west coast. It has been a long duty shift travelling to earth.
I know it’s just a movie and all but imagine what these people who were taken must have seen... the journey they went on to comeback home and realize there’s more ........ so much more
@@SilentKnight43 Look up project Serpo.. Not only that but the NASA hacker Gary McKinnon also saw some files talking about something very similar to project Serpo.
@@happymess3219 Every abduction storie is a hoax you don't do the research or do the math because it's always about money. In most cases. Even Travis Walton was found to be a fraud.
And Roy fulfills his destiny. I'd love to know what happens next. God bless you, Roy. My father was a linesman here in Michigan and I saw this movie for the first time when I was 8 so I really identify with it.
I think that's supposed to be it that does the sign language later in the scene after it retracts its limbs or something. But then if it can do that why didnt it retract them to make getting out of the ship easier? Unless it was just like "Watch this yall Ima scare these humans.".
Apparently the larger alien was a marionette, and was difficult to film without its strings being visible. So they just salvaged the few shots that looked right.
Steven Spielberg and John Williams, a marriage made in heaven! Williams brilliantly included an interpolated When You Wish Upon a Star as the little aliens surround Richard Dreyfuss and to the end when he boards the ship
Maravillosa película!La vi en ESTRENO en Montevideo (URUGUAY),en Julio de 1978,cuando yo era estudiante de la Facultad de Derecho. Inolvidable y ansioso momento de ver ese PRIMER encuentro entre el Hombre y seres extraterrestres!!
Sometimes long-burn or slow burn movies DO achieve what they want, they show ordinary stuff to begin with, and then maybe 2% to 5%, they start showing you incredible, but understated incredible, and you just keep wanting more and they eventually deliver, no regrets about Close Encounters. Good start, good middle, good end.
I imagine when the people first started walking off the craft, the scientists were like "wow, star trek was actually right. There really are humanoid aliens out there."
I know the aliens are benevolent but there is something cruel in being away from your families for 35 years without them knowing what happened to you. Parents die, spouses might die and children are older than you upon return. You miss everything. Why Dreyfuss leaving with a wife and kids always bothered me
They couldn't help it. It's the nature of space travel. But when you finally get back home, things are different from when you left... unless it's the Shire. That never changes.
Apparently the child wasn't gone 35 yrs. I have heard from SSP people say they can bring you back within 5 mins of when they took you but you have been gone 30 yrs like you were never gone space and time travel. Sounds surreal!
If this actually happens it will be completely different and unlike anything we can imagine. Anyone who thinks we are the only life in the universe is kidding themselves. It is only time and space that separates us.
Prepare yourself. The religions of the world are going to have a tough time when they fully realize man is NOT the only intelligence within this vast universe.
Better than anything put out in the past 15 years, and with far more relatable special effects…. About 50 years too early, given the revelations of the past 5 years. Disclosure is coming.
I am retired from a busy and blessed studio singing career of 60 years during which time it was my honor to be part of the chorus for John Williams scoring of this wonderful movie. Little did I know when recording it that day what a treat I was in for at the theater. Cried my eyes out
Lovely story ❤
I was 9 when I saw this film in '78 (at Leicester Square Odeon) and it's been my favourite film ever since for how it made me feel. Casting, music, special effects - just perfect.
Just a great film. It had everything 👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you, for your contribution to this masterpiece, Diana Lee. Whenever I see this film, I'll be thinking of you...o
So I heard your voice at age 12. You were there and others like you. Your voice is now in the Great Library of Congress. May it be remembered for millennia to come.
This film was light years ahead of it's time...
Agree
genius
Certainly less than 12 parsecs.
Spielberg was LY ahead yes...
No b doubt it
Spielberg was truly ahead of his time.....what a movie!
No he wasn't. He was given the idea of the movie from an "official" considering the movie was based on a true story.
I was at the very first time this movie was shown here in Rio de Janeiro, at Roxy cinema (a large rounded hall that remembers the interior of the mothership) and remember till today the audience applauding for more than 5 minutes during the end music. Spielberg made history. I've never seen a movie being applauded so enthusiastically.
Greetings from Brasil
I watched this in the movie theater and loved every minute of it. Spielberg is a genius at telling amazing stories. This scene was beyond fantastic
Wow. I had forgotten what an impressive accomplishment this movie was. It was a very big deal when it arrived in theaters in 1977. So many years have passed and yet this film still stands up. Thank you Mister Spielberg.
I love old school sci-fi. Specially the 70s as well old RPG/box games. The hand drawn non-computery art of aliens and spacecraft just feels so much more real. Stuff today doesn’t hit the same.
The magic is the secret this is the greatest production about Ufo Spielberg gave form to ancestral fears 😊but also an hope when that day will come maybe we will know the truth
this was my first ever experience at a cinema,we were a fairly poor family, but our parents took my brother and I, our dad really wanted to see this , so this was a real treat! I was 13 my brother 15 and we had never been to a cinema,we still had a black and white TV at home so this experience,..the sound -deafening! and this huge screen the colour !,I will never forget it , thanks Mum and Dad
For me, this is the greatest sci fi of all time. It's a masterpiece, that gets better with age
For me, this is real life and what's being kept hidden before our very eyes the Roswell Greys civilization located in the Zeta Reticuli star system which is possible there's a few Planets which might bring back positive feedback for life. Whether or not they live in the Zeta Reticuli star system is only a Legend but these species actually exist and I know for a fact they do sometimes they will manifest them selves to me almost like they're just watching.
@@futuristicentity2417 Roswell was just a story without any evidence. The people of the Roswell news paper took a story and just exaggerated some folklore.
To sell news papers with a lie.
It was nothing but a stupid balloon experiment. For the cold war. But you want to believe in a fairy tale. I can see you don't do real research behind the hoax. To see if there was anything real.
I believe you. 😔
One of my favorites along with Day the Earth Stood Still, Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.
God it was tedious
Keep your eyes firmly fixed the left hand side of the screen. Did anyone notice the refined lady walking out of the space ship dressed in what seems to be an early 18th century Georgian style dress? Holding what seems to be a bonnet in her hands. Very subtle. Most people don’t notice it. Imagine being away from earth and returning after over 100 years later the same age you left. Food for thought.
Love that thought! And do you think some of these humans that returned on this ship died earlier or were they only abducted?
And the grandma in a petticoat, a man with his dog, the thin girl with braids...
The more you think of this the more horrific the aliens are.
Why did they abduct innocent people?
To perform experiments on them.
It's how they learned to brainwash the protagonists to Devils Mountain.
@@graphite2786 but they returned them?
@@Arizonalain Maybe the aliens got what they needed. They were returning them because they had enough information on how people functioned and didn't need them anymore.
Its how the returned folk behave which upsets me.
I mean the folk all look dazed , sad, and confused, if they were coming out talking with each other and smiling, that has a more positive connotation. Like They had an amazing experience and were glad to be home.
But they come out like sleep walkers or shock victims. And they are like strangers with each other. Were they kept in solitary confinement?
Some have been detained for years and years!
All their families are gone, all their hopes and dreams were stolen from them. It's a plot point I really dislike from the movie. The aliens were playful and powerful but also callous.
They could have bought them home after even a year or two but for some abductees it was decades!
@@graphite2786 the little boy runs up to greet his mom. Full of joy!
I was so completely terrified of this movie as a child.
Stephen Smith
1 week ago Same here too.
Me too. I fucked off to my room when the little kid got sucked out the doggie door. My mom tried to get me to come back for the end, "see, the aliens were nice!" And I was like "the hell they were!"
@@chrisdewey3559 The Alien Harvester's (that's their true name of their species) in the 1996 film "Independence Day" are PURE Evil. But not all aliens in many alien invasion movies and TV Shows are all bad guys. We do actually get to meet the Sphere: hero.fandom.com/wiki/Sphere the last surviving member of a very friendly and mysterious alien species, who are in fact the ancient and sworn enemy of the unsympathetic Harvester's in the 2016 sequel "Independence Day: Resurgence", who fought in a nearly forgotten war that lasted for thousands of years. At some point, their remaining forces were unfortunately overwhelmed and their peaceful home planet was conquered by a hostile alien race called the Harvester's that harvested its core. The Sphere was the sole survivor of its kind and carries the combined intelligence of its entire species. It then traveled across space in the only surviving spaceship of her species and encountered other refugee alien races that were also defeated by the Harvesters, and helping them find refuge on a planet and establishing a major resistance against the Harvesters. The actual name and their true actual organic appearance of the Sphere's specie's remains to this day unknown.
The music!!! When it shows the alien coming out of the ship was terrifying to me as a kid
@@jase4010 Same here too.
One of my favorite scenes in the whole movie! "Einstein was right...Einstein was probably one of them". I always remember those lines!
Says it all.
Speechless 😶
This scene brought a tear to my eye. What a wonderful event.
@@tinkletink1403 LOL
Truth
Cruel, though, to take people and then plonk them back in a different time when their family would be very old it dead.
The aliens are NOT benign in the book.
You're not alone....
man, movies were so good back in the day
this film, and the finale in particular, is just incredible. fucking incredible.
I certainly do wish movies nowadays were written like this. What an epic movie. If you get a chance to see it on the big screen like they occasionally do, don't miss it!!!
Lance Henriksen is standing amongst the crowd, silent intensity, looking like a badass. 😊
Geez, Louise! There's a DAMN good reason, why this won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Cinematography!
Yep, and not just the big scenes. The insight and care devoted to every shot is incredible. Vilmos Zsigmond was as much a visionary as Spielberg, same with John Williams and it really took a collaboration to pull the whole thing off at the level they achieved.
Not that it matters...
In my opinion this is the greatest UFO/Alien/Sci-Fi movie ever made.
I fully agree. IMHO it’s the most realistic first Contact movie ever made. You can debate about the liberties taken by the director on the third and final act with the communication tool chosen for the dialogue between humans and aliens (colours and sounds) but the rest of the movie and the phenomena were heavily based straight out of the hundreds of testimonies and cases from Dr. J. Allen Hynek’s (also seen here smoking his pipe) Project Blue Book. Those events and cases may be questioned, maybe partially fake or fully fabricated but it’s all we got to rely on as a source material for alien contact and behaviour and Spielberg is the only director that implemented it perfectly in Close Encounters. Arrival is another great first contact movie which I also love but Close Encounters will always remain the best in my book.
Weren't the 70's just the best decade of film blooming ever? The moment where the first spider like alien comes out. Sheeeeesh!
Anyone notice J Allen Hynek in that scene? What a great cameo!
I love how the first alien down the ramp gestures to the crowd with big open arms
In the book they were all the same but they were able to stretch and elongate themselves, and I believe that their skin was semitransparent, enough so that colorful illuminations were visible within their bodies. That's what I remember at least. Read it almost the same time the film came out, so it's been a lot of years.
@@brt5273 Nice!
@InhumanCondition interesting thanks
But they couldn't give him a door way tall enough , as an advanced civilizations, that he doesn't have to duck and crawl under to get out.
@@whispermason8052 Tell me you didn’t seriously say that
Certainly one of the most spectacular moments in cinematic history
As scared as we are of aliens (illustrated by so many other movies of encounters), consider the "danger" this alien might have felt in stepping out to meet the humans. Its mind is more advanced, or at least its technology is, but its body is smaller and relatively frail--and I can just imagine their internal staff meeting where it says to the others--what if these humans just surge forward and rip me apart limb from limb? This story depicts bravery and risk on both sides.
You might be scared of them.
I choose to not be.
Not that i dare to presume I'd be the one making 1st contact.
But someone has to hold the guts and self-discipline to face one of the ultimate unknowns; another intelligent society.
It's my ultimate caution-to-the-wind dream to see the human race make 1st contact. Even if only on a television screen or otherwise from a distance. Because that will guarantee at least some of us will become an interstellar society. ❤
Beautiful and a little scary at the same time
Still the most realistic and verisimiltudinous alien encounter ever depicted on screen.
Also, what an extraordinary year for sci-fi movies. Star Wars came out the same year.
Spielberg was worried that John Williams would be too worn out from composing Star Wars to come up with something special for Close Encounters.
No problem.
Because LESS is MORE.
And here we are after yesterday’s hearing, about to acknowledge we’ve been visited.
Fascinating
@@hcliiiThis is how I hope, if there is intelligent life out there, the encounter takes place. Such a great outlook into what could be.
@JohannRosario1 - After Williams finished composing the theme to Jaws, he invited Spielberg to come listen to it.
Spielberg's reaction: "That's it?"
William's response: "That's all you need."
Williams won the Oscar for best movie musical score for Jaws.
So yes, sometimes less is more.
Williams lost the award for Close Encounters to himself for the theme from Star Wars.
Tough break.
c est l'un des plus beau film de science fiction que j ai vue sur grand écran dans un ciné parc ...le ciel était clair et étoilé derrière l'écran et quand le vaisseau spatial a atterrie ca donnait l'impression d un film en 3 D car le vaisseau se fondait dans le décor ...on croyait que le vaisseau était réel devant nous j'avais l'impression d etre dans le film et je dis un grand bravo a Spielberg de m'avoir fait rêver il y a 40 ans passé
1:12 Allen Hynek the scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three consecutive projects: Project Sign (1947-1949), Project Grudge (1949-1952), and Project Blue Book (1952-1969) also consultant for the making of this movie.
Exactly! At first glance I thought it was Cel. Sanders (maybe KFC sauce is from other world?), but then I remembered Mr. Hynek. Excellent observation.
I saw Close Encounters at the cinema on its original release and again a few years later when it was released as a special edition. I have it on Blu-ray now, but nothing compares to seeing it on the big screen back in the day.
And you were probably 12 to 15.
Some movies just HAVE to be watched on the big screen.
Yeah, I lost it when the flight 19 crew came through! Goosebumps and a Hell yeah!!❤🎉😂
The first Alien that appeared from the mothership always scared the hell out of me when i was a kid . Kinda looked like a walking Skeleton. There others were ok.
😶
that's what they actually look like. the tall greys. creepy as hell.
like something that shouldn't be real, but somehow...
is.
I thought it was amazing until I looked up Roswell greys and how even more amazing how this might be on a frequency or something. These Extraterrestrials practically do exist and I am hoping they AREN'T the bad guys and just hiding from us because we're afraid of them for no reason. Some people picture Extraterrestrials as little green people but in most cases this is wrong they're actually Grey little people the media should correct them selves if they read my post. I know more things out there and yes I do think we have telepathic communication because some of them mess with my hair to let me know they're listening but don't be alarmed they're not bad they're just telepathic that way letting you know they're real.
Don’t look up it’s concept art. Creepy
@@Woahahaha3 now I have to
@@Woahahaha3 ok yeah you're right, and when you actually see what the puppet actually looks like it's really unsettling
Amazing what they could do back then without cgi graphics. A lost art for sure.
Mystical, breathtaking and a little spooky at the same time. One of cinemas great moments. I still find the thin lanky alien mesmerising to this day. Fun fact: Speilberg used little girls rather than boys for the small but large-headed aliens who guide Roy and the others into the mothership as he prefered the more natural way they moved and walked.
If this true cool fact, thanks. 😊
John Williams and Spielberg. Nothing else to say.
Roman Polanski does too, but he's not allowed in our yard any more.
It’s so funny…I saw this movie probably 100 times and never really had an emotional response. After I became a father, the scene when that little one comes out and his mother runs to him…well, I started chopping onions 😂
Oh IKR?!?! And the scene where Gillian loses him and runs helplessly screaming toward the direction of the ship, drives me into an anxiety fit!
The way he does that little jump off of the platform and shuffles his way toward the camera! I can just visualize my grandson doing the same thing. Onions again!
Does anyone else think it's weird that the aliens built a ship that requires one of the crew to bend down to exit it? Like, they can travel at the speed of light, but never thought to instal a larger door?
lol I was thinking the exact same thing when I watched this
They also don't wear any sort of clothes
its a stupid movie
@@rngsilvercraft3995 The clothing part could make sense. The climate inside the ship would be "perfect" for them, their skin may be resistant to the sort of minor wear and tear clothing protects us from, and they may have no concept of modesty as we know it.
to me its seemed like the alien was eager to see the humans it didnt wait for the door to fully open
These days I would welcome this, and i wouldn't surprised at all, just saying. We are not alone. We have NEVER been alone!
I'm sure life is pretty common in the universe but intelligent life not so much. We could truly be the only intelligent life in our galaxy.
@@StinkyGreenBud SMH
Venus
Troma interterrestrial races/beings on planets with inhabitable surfaces
@@navrroboy If you disagree with me give me a reason why then. If intelligent life was so common then we surely would have spotted it by now right? Say a species could not achieve FTL but maybe 99% of the speed of light. It would only take them a few hundred thousand years to colonize the entire Milky Way Galaxy by now. Our galaxy is over 13 billion years old. So it should be so over populated by now with so called intelligent life. But we have no signs of anything intelligent out there. As I said, there very well could be other forms of intelligent life but I think it is super rare. They could be galaxies away from us and we would never know. Now common life, as in animals, is probably in our own solar system. Intelligent life is very complex and the Universe is bigger than any of us could imagine. So we being the only intelligent life in our galaxy isn't that far fetched. But when it all comes down to it, none of us know for sure.
Imagine how warped those ww2 guys were
The movie CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND was made without the intervention of computer graphics.
All scenes were made in set by Cutouts .
So that movie got a SOUL that which is still be able to thrill the viewer
I was the age of that mother's child when I saw this at the cinema, what a fantastic film for a child, eyes wonder with excitement. It needed a sequel and a prequel to be honest but what a film.
Good depiction of an alien. You can imagine on a planet with low gravity they would look exactly like that. Also planets with low gravity may be the most likely to explore space as easier to get into orbit.
They are not from planets. They are from different vibrational frequencies which are actually very, very close, if not completely overlaid. But then you’re not on a planet either.
What an absolute masterpiece of a movie. Compare it with what we get today in 2023.
Can't remember a recent movie anywhere near as moving in so many ways as this one.
You’re living in the past, old timer.
@@Hotdogwateryum Because the past is a million times better than the woke trash we get today, new timer.
@@carlosalbert7667 a close-minded old timer at that!
The good old times when a film was made out of celluloid and had a screenplay.
I really liked how J.Allen Hynek, who developed the Close Encounter classification system makes a cameo in this scene (the gentleman in the blue suit jacket, beard and glasses).
That rules. Thanks.
I’m 30 but I barely saw this for the first time a few days ago and can’t stop thinking about it. 4:56 is where I became a kid again and said “WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKK” and got terrified
Imagine seeing it in the cinema when it first came out at the tender age of ten. Yes I know exactly the feeling you had.
🤣😂🤣
I love this movie. I love this scene. Nobody has aged. Spielberg was a huge admirer of Truffaut!
What a tribute to include François Truffaut, a master in his own right
Truffaut was wonderful. At the time I had no idea who he even was until layer when I developed an interest in French film.
Look at that wonderful blue glow.
This whole movie used to be on UA-cam for a long time butt then it was discovered and removed by the UA-cam police...sad day.
Bring back lots of memories. Thanks for uploading. I went all the way to the devil mountain because of this movie. With Love from Indonesia
Aww you had to be in the movie theatre to get the full effect. I’ve never seen anything like it since!!🤩
This final scene was filmed in the lighter than air, navy blimp hanger in Tustin California. It was the only place large enough to accommodate the scope of this amazing scene. Please note is has been destroyed in a massive fire today!
It was visible from
My house when I lived there! A magic place, now gone forever! A historic landmark, for many reasons!
I can't describe how much i love this Masterpiece, whenever i sit and watch it i just marvel at the audacity Spielberg had to pull it off, And that Mothership is beautiful, The sound the visuals when it all come together like this with the story it tells then there's nothing better, It especially helps if your interested in Alien life form, I heard some people described this as Boring but i suppose they like Deadpool and Marvel movies, I only wish I could of been around to watch this in Empire Leicester Square back in the day 😢
The mothership is great but for me it's those first three ships that arrive on the scene and begin to interact and respond to the musical tones...gets me teared up every time🥲
A truly classic and outstanding science fiction movie.
5:37 is such a striking image, along with that soundtrack, fucking hell. The background almost looks like a planet with the light from the Sun bending around the curve of the planet at the bottom
Those are the semi-harmonic, semi-dissonant sounds of violins and flutes emulating the physical pain you feel in your eyes when looking into extremely bright lights like the sun. Where did John Willians learn this?
@@JohannRosario1 John Williams is God as far as I'm concerned
This event will happen in real life soon, hopefully we are ready by then.
One thing I never noticed until watching this clip on UA-cam. A dog slides down that ramp too
Having an appearance by J. Alan Hynek was a nice touch.
Dr. Haynek described aliens as exactly as they should be looking like in this movie. This whole thing actually occurred in different way. They even have the video of this event. So, Dr. Haynek helped to make this movie as realistic as possible for people to be ready for an event like this. I loved it ;)
He makes a cameo in the film at 1:10
Who is this Dr. and what event are you speaking of?
Actually the doctors name is spelled Hynek. Here is a bio in Wiki that mentions his work:
Extract: In later years he conducted his own independent UFO research, developing the "Close Encounter" classification system
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Allen_Hynek
Lol horseshit.
@@nugsymalone1247 - Look up "J. Allen Hynek" in Wikipedia. It was his UFO classifications that gave this movie its name.
Imagine if Spielberg would make an officlai sequel to this.
Watching this as a kid I always loved the doggy at 2:20!
I like the scene when they are trying light and sound communication with that giant Starship .. It was awesome!!!
To me, this scene always reminded me of the Mobile Aerospace Engineering hanger at the old Brookley AFB where I worked for a few years.
Because it is that hanger.
I love those old film cameras she was using at the end. We used to have the ones with the giant flash bulbs that would go off and burn out. There's a magic in not knowing how any of your images are going to turn out that has been lost with digital.
6:12 an alien just slide LOL
😂 i think it was running...
you funny tho. 👍👍👍
surf practicing: he coudn't wait to disembark from the mothership and take a vacation on the west coast. It has been a long duty shift travelling to earth.
As a child this film really scared me, as an adult it still scares me
I know it’s just a movie and all but imagine what these people who were taken must have seen... the journey they went on to comeback home and realize there’s more ........ so much more
This happen for real.
😶
most abductees don't remember anything at all.
unless they go through hypnotic regression.
@@havu2236 You say that as if you have irrefutal proof beyond the anecdotal.
@@SilentKnight43 Look up project Serpo.. Not only that but the NASA hacker Gary McKinnon also saw some files talking about something very similar to project Serpo.
@@happymess3219 Every abduction storie is a hoax you don't do the research or do the math because it's always about money. In most cases. Even Travis Walton was found to be a fraud.
For me the best film forever!👽🤗👍👋
The little aliens are so cute, like they're on a school field trip.
And Roy fulfills his destiny. I'd love to know what happens next. God bless you, Roy. My father was a linesman here in Michigan and I saw this movie for the first time when I was 8 so I really identify with it.
The most valuable photographs in history, Jillian!
1.12 guy in blue Suit with pipe, is literally Josef Allen Hynek. That's awesome!
What I really like about movies from the 70s , is the sounds people’s shoes make when they walk around!
Something I was always confused on in this movie. Where the hell does the tall alien go after it does the Jesus “hands to the sky” thing?
I think that's supposed to be it that does the sign language later in the scene after it retracts its limbs or something. But then if it can do that why didnt it retract them to make getting out of the ship easier? Unless it was just like "Watch this yall Ima scare these humans.".
the bathroom, it had to go pee after that long trip 😆
He got beamed up.
Apparently the larger alien was a marionette, and was difficult to film without its strings being visible. So they just salvaged the few shots that looked right.
@@williamlydon2554 thankkkk youuuuu for the sufficient response!
Steven Spielberg and John Williams, a marriage made in heaven! Williams brilliantly included an interpolated When You Wish Upon a Star as the little aliens surround Richard Dreyfuss and to the end when he boards the ship
The three legs of the stool of Perfection. They allowed us to stand on it and see farther than we ever thought possible.
@@JohannRosario1 I love how you worded that
thanks for subtitles..the soundtrack reminds me on Impressionists like Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel...just beautiful.
This is the year 2021 I still love watching this movie I am from Kansas.
We'll all pray for you as Kansas (the flattest state I have ever seen) is a great state to be from!
Maravillosa película!La vi en ESTRENO en Montevideo (URUGUAY),en Julio de 1978,cuando yo era estudiante de la Facultad de Derecho.
Inolvidable y ansioso momento de ver ese PRIMER encuentro entre el Hombre y seres extraterrestres!!
The tall alien : That damn door aint my size dammit...
The small greys: lol
Two kinds of aliens. For what purpose?
The small greys make fun of him.
I'VE GOT THIS MOVIE ON DVD AND it's A GREAT SCIENCE FICTION ONE 😁
a film so far ahead of it's majestic message...reach out in peace and kindness...
The best movie when it comes to atmosphere! ❤
Not long after the release of this movie … seeing it in the theatre, I seen my first of three UFOS as a 9 year old.
They need to make a part 2 of this flim , " close encounters " 2023 .
6:03 The aliens just sliding down 👽😅
To think an advanced race that can fly through the stars like they do, hasn't figured out a flat surface on an angle downwards you don't slide down
Spielberg, only becoming a father many years following the movie, said that he would have never let Neary dump his family…
Though technically his family left him.
This is based on the 1962 white sands AFB in hollowman NM experience
The music,...SO GOOD!! Praise John Williams
Most people don't realise, this is probably based on a true story.
Mum finding back her kid is too cute
It always brings a tear to my eyes
Sometimes long-burn or slow burn movies DO achieve what they want, they show ordinary stuff to begin with, and then maybe 2% to 5%, they start showing you incredible, but understated incredible, and you just keep wanting more and they eventually deliver, no regrets about Close Encounters. Good start, good middle, good end.
I guess John Williams was listening to a lot of Messiaen's "Turangalila Symphony" about this time...
I imagine when the people first started walking off the craft, the scientists were like "wow, star trek was actually right. There really are humanoid aliens out there."
I know the aliens are benevolent but there is something cruel in being away from your families for 35 years without them knowing what happened to you.
Parents die, spouses might die and children are older than you upon return. You miss everything. Why Dreyfuss leaving with a wife and kids always bothered me
Well what can we do? Sue them? Bring them to justice? Beings light years in advance could do anything they want to us really
They couldn't help it. It's the nature of space travel. But when you finally get back home, things are different from when you left... unless it's the Shire. That never changes.
Apparently the child wasn't gone 35 yrs. I have heard from SSP people say they can bring you back within 5 mins of when they took you but you have been gone 30 yrs like you were never gone space and time travel. Sounds surreal!
Thank You for sharing! Very sad to hear though!😢❤
If this actually happens it will be completely different and unlike anything we can imagine. Anyone who thinks we are the only life in the universe is kidding themselves. It is only time and space that separates us.
4:58 They sent their top super model as an emissary. “Hey you guys, do I look fat?”
Some of the movies shown in theaters over the years had some sort of prophetic realizations, I wouldnt doubt if this is about to happen soon.
Prepare yourself. The religions of the world are going to have a tough time when they fully realize man is NOT the only intelligence within this vast universe.
Great work on this Kristian !!
Incredible practical effects w forced perspective
Better than anything put out in the past 15 years, and with far more relatable special effects…. About 50 years too early, given the revelations of the past 5 years. Disclosure is coming.
RICHARD DRYFACE IS IN THIS MOVIE AND I'VE GOT THIS MOVIE ON DVD AND it's A GREAT SCIENCE FICTION ONE 😁
Such a wonderful movie!!