Close Encounters of the Third Kind - First conversation with the ETs

A clip of the first playing of the musical sequence to communicate with the ETs, and their initial response.

[@dlc1119]

All these years later this still holds up well in the thrill-my-soul dept.

[@lenpup0]

So true

[@nahtesalinas1917]

This movie is a work of art. Pure cinematic magic. ✨

[@JohannRosario1]

*This wasn’t “ahead of its time”. This film is timeless perfection of historic proportions.*

[@jgrab1]

Congrats! You've created the meaningless phrase of the year. It's a phrase of timeless perfection of historic proportions.

[@roquefortfiles]

The shot at 0:40 where Truffaut walks out to the ships and the camera pans to follow and reveal the ships was the very first time this kind of tracking shot was done. Today it is simple to do. Back in 1976 it was nearly impossible. The camera was connected to a computer which recorded all the pan tilt and dolly movement then this information was played back on the FX stage while shooting the miniature UFO'S. The shot movement was scaled down to 1/20th scale. The UFO's were all shot separately with the exact same camera movement used on the live action. When composited together it looks like everything is being shot at the same time.

[@hugoverdeguer6891]

not to mention the up to 7 passes for each ufo model

[@roquefortfiles]

@@hugoverdeguer6891 For sure. To me they are the most original mysterious intriguing UFOS ever done. A completely original approach. You see them but you never quite entirely see them. They remain enigmatic

[@Alex-jn3cc]

allons-y, allons-y, let's go!

[@georgepierson4920]

Notice that the shadows do not change.

[@jgrab1]

Not the shot before when the UFOs fly over the mountain and the camera pans with it?

[@GeminiWoods]

When the ships start talking is one of the greatest moments in cinema for me. It sends chills up my spine to this day.

[@TheMokeleMbembe]

Mine too - and reading the comments here, it's interesting how so many people seem to have exactly this reaction at exactly that moment

[@stevelampard]

It's a very emotional cinematic moment for me but I don't even know why. This is my number one film of all time.

[@Lisa-kg8po]

Me too my friend

[@DantieuS]

A magnificent film, so far ahead of it's time. For me, Spielbergs masterpiece! 0:54 is absolutely wonderful when the small craft reply the tones. The harmonising sounds they create are so pleasing to the ear! Love it!

[@happyhammer1]

I totally agree. This is my favorite Spielberg movie, and one of my favorite sci fi movies period. And the scene when they finally reply is one of my favorites. Gives me goose bumps.

[@jgrab1]

It's the same "harmonising tones" the synthesizer player is making to them, no different. A tone, up a step, down two steps, down an octave, up a perfect fifth to resolve, because perfect fifths so often resolve phrases in Western music.

[@MVR326]

Agreed... still gives me chills

[@jgrab1]

Yup.

[@stevegordon5689]

Spielbergs best in my opinion!

[@biodot88]

Coolest spaceships ever. Whoever concepted them had incredible vision. Use of light and sound - such a great movie.

[@bloofromfostershouse5179]

this concept come from actual descriptions of people who have seen them. Starting from the 1960s, Anyone who reads descriptions of meetings from the end of the twentieth century will recognize these archetypes. Ships often have's shapes like, disks, cygaros, platonian solids xd

[@97shane]

biodot88 based on truth encounter with president Eisenhower and Nasa in the 1940s But a tape was given Steven Spielberg of the real encounter. This is a recreation to drip feed the public of the alien encounters.

[@platiniathens8066]

shane read I ve heard the myth with the president Eisenhower....but NASA was started on July 29,1958. So just how?????

[@97shane]

Platini Athens was it that’s what you think nasa was started more like 1945 after 2nd world war and the recruitment of nazi officers from Germany. Operation paper clip ect

[@MrAvenger1975]

@@platiniathens8066 It was NACA before that time.

[@mohanicus]

still even in 2022 the visual effects of these ufo's and the lens flares and light shafts from them are so realistic looking

[@MGR1900]

In 1977, it was 24/7 Star Wars. However this movie to me was more meaningful and spiritual. Although I enjoyed Star Wars, this movie made a far bigger impression on me.

[@MVR326]

Thank you, very well said. Not to mention, very original idea, of powerful but benevolent aliens who only take a shine to certain people, and I think its brilliant how we never really know how or why they zero on these people. It's complimentary to the viewer that we can speculate.

[@andreasbaag7516]

Because that movie was intelligent.

[@markuskoetzle2083]

MGR1900 was a kindergarten flick, compared to this one

[@MGR1900]

@@markuskoetzle2083 It was far grander in its vision.

[@sukakozel734]

star wars was for kids

[@DetroitLove4U]

Definitely must have been spectacular to see this film and this scene in a theatre in 1977!!!!

[@nel1962]

Absolutely was! One of the landmark cinema experiences of my life.

[@ps_nyisgone]

it was great because back then they didn't yet have multiplexes and I saw this, and the original Star Wars, on one huge screen in the theater that only showed one movie at a time. They had lots of seats huge space, huge screen, and balcony. One I went to was like a palace very beautiful. I miss that, but will never forget seeing these movies with a large group of my friends when I was a teenager.

[@kevchambers1970]

I did, born 1970 ! I don't remember if if it was my first time in the cinema - but certainly it has been on my mind ever since.

[@kevchambers1970]

If we ever make contact with intelligent life outside this solar system - I hope they play this back at us - plus the Cosmos tv series by the late great Carl Sagan.

[@jgrab1]

I did and it was.

[@ReactiveHarpy24]

I love the middle craft at 1:09 doing a roll, they all seem so happy someone is talking to them in their language!

[@person-ie4px]

xd when you visit mexico and speak to them in spanish :v

[@lagousi]

I remember the cinema audience breathless waiting for the aliens to answer.... wow that was an intense moment !

[@ihavefallenandicantreachmy2113]

Sounds just like the audiences reaction i remember, during Blazing Saddles' Baked Bean Scene. Small World.

[@lenpup0]

This makes me want to arrange a public showing at my local theater!

[@superpan218]

For 1977, this movie was ahead of it's time.

[@small_ed]

+Aaron Velez So was Star Wars, Demon Seed, The Spy Who Loved Me...it's a matter of perception, and Hollywood has plenty of technology at its disposal, far beyond what's available to the public at a given time. No movie in its time however has impressed me as much as The Andromeda Strain.

[@Betwazzled]

War of the worlds was written in the 19th century. Let that sink in. Sci-fi will always be ahead of its time ;D

[@McLarenMercedes]

small ed. The Spy Who Loved Me wasn't Hollywood. It's a British production (Eon Productions) and largely shot at Pinewood Studios UK and was in fact the first production at the then newly-built 007 Stage. The man responsible for the special effects and all the models + the underwater Lotus Esprit, was Derek Meddings a Briton. It was distributed worldwide by United Artists, but that was the only connection to "Hollywood" it had. The man responsible for building the 007 Stage was another Briton, set designer Ken Adam. Lewis Gilbert who directed it is British too. As for Star Wars. Hollywood did *not* have the special effects people and certainly not the technology George Lucas needed for Star Wars so he started his own team of special effects wizards who had to develop new ideas and be creative with the limited means they had. They were for all intents and purposes guerrilla film makers who improvised a lot and used old things in novel ways. At first what they produced was bad and Lucas was worried he might not even have a finished movie, so he spliced in footage of WW2 aerial combat to have something to present while his team frantically tried to push the envelope of what was possible back in 1976-1977. George Lucas was shunned by most big studios so he had start his own production company. He was anti-Hollywood and a rogue film maker back in those days. Sci fi was a stone dead genre, at least commercially. Last of all Hollywood didn't pay much attention to special effects back in the 60's and early to mid 70's because people saw dramas, musicals and political thrillers. There was no need for any technological marvels at the time and save for Stanley Kubrick few film makers developed any groundbreaking new technology with which to shoot films. Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion model animation worked the same way for 35 years. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were special-effect revolutions at the time and they opened up the door for the new special-effects era. The notion that Hollywood "always had technology at its disposal" is anachronistic and certainly not what the old studios and their rigid system worked around. The original Andromeda Strain was well-produced indeed.

[@voight-kampfftester9218]

A+

[@serzhan222]

ALIENS . masterpiece

[@randykern1842]

Anyone who has ever studied music can appreciate the language of music bringing two species of being together. What an incredible concept for a film

[@ulfingvar1]

Most people who have given this serious thought dismiss the idea of music as a tool for communication. Not saying it is impossible, but I dare say a language based on mathematics, and absolute value (value of Pi, for example) would be a more likely way. Cool idea though,

[@ValiantKnight7983]

This entire scene was absolutely magical.

[@grimson]

The saturation of the spacecraft lights throughout this movie is just incredible.

[@maskutchitamagotchiworld1911]

This beautiful scene has took my breath away. This reminds me of the Electric Light Orchestra spaceship. Steven Spielberg is one hell of a guy creating this wonderful masterpiece. Richard Dreyfuss's performance is just incredible and nailed to the ground. Imagine if Jeff Lynne and the gang from ELO were there. It would have been really magical.

[@AHHHHHHHHHHHHl]

A movie where aliens actually come in peace, greatest sci-fi film IMO

[@Lulustucru2393]

+Akaaraq Hansen And humans as well... Almost no military, just scientists and curious people ! I actually whish to witness such an event !

[@KandiKlover]

thejoosty1 never gonna happen.

[@Lulustucru2393]

***** I guess you're right but I love being an utopist. Life isn"t always as dark and desperate as it seems

[@MrBooone]

+Akaaraq Hansen The Day The Earth Stood Still technically came in peace, they were just having some quality bantz threatening annihilation, because we were being cunts creating atomic weapons

[@JONNOG88]

Go see Arrival. Which is basically this films Grandchild :)

[@BlotRorschach]

0:55 takes my breath away. Every. Single. Time.

[@ghostlight1]

Totally. One of my favourite few seconds of any movie.

[@MrMoorkey]

The aliens sounds are absolutely perfect! Like no familiar instrument, but also sounding like they're slightly distant on a warm evening. Like a distant fog horn would. Eerie and ethereal.

[@DarthCipient]

Masterpiece of a film. The genius idea of communicating with aliens using light, colour and sound.

[@lenpup0]

Sensory forms of math, a universal language

[@madamvaudelune3298]

Weirdly enough, its how octopus communicate. They flash colors at each other. Wild, right? I dont think they can make noise.

[@RUSH2112RUSH]

0:55 What a beautiful moment, it always sends shivers down my spine.

[@michigantrains1721]

Great movie. I love the special effects! It looks real, no CGI needed.

[@mapesdhs597]

Modern effects look so clean and crisp, to my eyes they look fake. If you've not seen it, another suitably impressive movie is Silent Running (somewhat older than Close Encounters), and also Outland. The Quiet Earth has a closing scene which is awesome. Top of the list though is Carpenter's, "The Thing", from 1984.

[@AORInfinity90]

Music: Universal Language

[@caronstout354]

Mad respect for Phil Dodds, the synthesizer technician who came to install but got a role in the film!

[@billfsmusic]

I worked with Phil in the early 80s. He told me that the oil smoke they used on set destroyed their synthesizer, an Arp 2500 if I recall correctly.

[@stevesullivan8963]

Saw this in Hollywood Ca, as young child with mom and dad. Both are gone. Mom this summer. Used to cry at this one just for its basic tonal beauty... different now, but still beautiful.

[@shawnrichardson9344]

sorry for your losses. i'm in the same boat. it seems surreal sometimes...

[@TuongNguyen-te8zy]

+Steve Sullivan jahtruth.net/closeenc.htm

[@TuongNguyen-te8zy]

+Shawn Richardson jahtruth.net/closeenc.htm

[@raywoodvine4958]

God bless your mum and dad

[@happyhammer1]

This movie captured my imagination as a child. It was the first movie, that I remember, where there is peaceful contact with aliens. The fact that music was the olive branch was so cool.

[@drezy5337]

Love the way the alien spacecraft respond, so beautiful sounding yet ominous at the same time.

[@gordonpingenot1731]

This is one of my all time favorite scenes ever. John Williams and Steven Speilberg really nailed this.......

[@DaleMoore]

How lovely; to be talking with aliens. There are so many questions to ask.

[@bd048]

I agree. Even when I have the DVD in the player I will often skip to this scene first. To me this is the pivotal sequence in the film.

[@Helios601]

Dale E. Moore There will never be open contact with humanity, we are insane as a species.

[@DaleMoore]

*****; my son says "if you don't think someone's crazy... you don't know them well enough." But, you being insane; doesn't deter me from chatting with you.

[@benkata]

I think you have to add François Truffaut to make a trio, as to why this scene works.

[@jerrydiberris8154]

I get choked up when the middle ship starts playfully rotating during the loop of tones. All we want to know is that we are not alone.

[@lenpup0]

I think this is one of the surest things that we don't actually know for sure yet. How could we be the only ones?

[@carl_anderson9315]

For some people, that scene might be dumb, but I think the idea of music as a universal language always seemed pretty clever.

[@jeffreychatman4376]

Always thought these particular UFOs looked like big smiling faces.

[@roquefortfiles]

@Moon glow That's because they shot the UFO's had a higher resolution than the live action photography. 65mm as opposed to 35mm for the live action. So every time a visual effect shows up the quality of the images actually goes UP. And yes they shot the UFO's in a smoked environment. Much like the way your car looks like in fog.

[@perrin6]

@Moon glow I think it was not only made with more artistic creativity but more love for the emotional impact than effects in most sci-fi movies.

[@WhoWantsToKnow81]

Take me to your DJ

[@randomamerican5065]

From 0:56 to when the little ships fly away is when I smiled during this movie. These couple seconds just made me happy that they actually communicated and got threw to the aliens. They understood us.

[@Muswell]

We all know what's to follow. But, when I first saw this in 1978, every minute of that final 20 minutes were filled with wonder. When those 3 ships fly off - we had no idea of what we were about to see.

[@JoeYeshua]

last scene the extraterrestrial close the scientist makes me cry

[@ricardoog3655]

I so love this! My favorite movie of all time.

[@ultra6466]

THE 1970S WERE FUCKING AMAZING!

[@positivityforever]

This film is UTTER GENUIS!

[@keithandrewbounds967]

Rest In Peace Francois Trauffaut!!! 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷

[@cambowles6499]

You know why this is the greatest alien movie of all time. These aliens are peaceful and intelligent. In every other space movie the aliens are warring and barbaric. We need new movies with this theme.

[@Ekvitarius]

What about ET?

[@tietie007]

I saw this movie, in room, in Marseille, in France, on March 11th, 1978.

[@chapter7thomas]

I just saw this movie today 7/7/24 for the first time since 1977...47 years ago...boy does this bring back the memories, including the hand signals.

[@Freeze-DriedWater]

SHOW ME WHAT YOU'VE GOT

[@ETX53]

+Midnight Fire LOL

[@jerryperry1788]

Get Schwifty

[@hudmaughan]

Freeze-Dried Water there is one planet every season

[@aarongreenfield9038]

@Freeze. DISQUALIFIED!

[@lonewolf9390]

*I LIKE WHAT YOU GOT!*

[@CarnorJast1138]

To this day, there is no other "alien contact" movie that even comes close to this masterpiece! Steven Spielberg made quite possibly his greatest movie with Close Encounters! Many may argue that Jaws, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, or even E.T. were his best, but honestly, none of those films have Steven's heart so solidly done as Close Encounters! This is truly one of the greatest movies ever made! This sequence alone is better than all the other "contact" movies ever! (Note: I am not comparing Carl Sagan's 'Contact' with this, since it deals with communication with another extraterrestrial race, not physical contact). Too many alien contact movies have the aliens as being aggressive, or war-like, or simply wanting to wipe out humanity. Close Encounters has a hopeful, positive vision of alien contact, and no other film comes close to its majesty! Bravo Mr. Spielberg!

[@Muswell]

Exactly. Everything you have said. A wondrous masterpiece.

[@stevegordon5689]

These aliens were shown to have evolved past their fight or flight instincts.

[@tonyv8925]

Spielberg's attention to even the smallest details is pure genius. The following scene when the Mother ship comes forward and hovers in front of them and that one technician runs to the porta potty makes the point. lol

[@annehaight9963]

And the meaning of it is enigmatic. Is the guy running to hide? Or does he need to poop really bad and is trying to do it fast so he doesn't miss anything??

[@christianbourne8880]

First time I saw this my mouth dropped!

[@TuongNguyen-te8zy]

+CHRISTIAN Bourne jahtruth.net/closeenc.htm

[@kilroy987]

When I first saw this on TV, it felt like more than a movie. I knew it wasn't real, but I wanted it to be.

[@97shane]

kilroy987 it was based on a true event that’s why

[@kilroy987]

Yeah. ok.

[@tokyoblood7662]

Every time I see those UFO's and hear those notes, it is non-stop goosebumps for me. I love this movie.

[@andys8483]

The playfully spinning UFO looks like it has a grinning face 😁 I love this film & have watched it many times ❤️ My only regret is that it bypassed me in the cinema back in 1977 ☹️ Hoping they will re-release it for a possible 50th anniversary 🤞

[@mariaortizjimenez9645]

In fact, it reminds me the Cheshire Cat. First step to Wonderland.

[@1234breakdancer]

revolutionary special effects for its day..this movie and star wars...no one had really seen anything like this..

[@fredvegerano9607]

Best music ever for a film!CE3K was awesome and is still awesome!!!

[@jarablue]

What a good director to show kids in that age wonder and imagination. Some of us survived seeing that passion!

[@johnhewitt564]

The scout ships are still the best discription of how u.f.o's looked like from thousands of eyewitnesses from the past 70 years or so.

[@saxoncola23]

One of my favorite scenes, thank you for the upload :D

[@translucent_nick]

Rest In Peace Mr. Dodds! Phil Dodds is the man playing the tones to the aliens, and in fact, he worked in the company who made this actual and real synthesizer that he is showing playing here, the ARP 2500 modular.

[@Trigormike]

IIRC, in the novelisation it's Stevie Wonder's Moog and he has to teach them how to play it.

[@michaelbauers8800]

And a beautiful looking synth it is. Not sure how easy it is to work with those pin matrix patch bays, but it's one of my favorite modular synths based on looks alone. It's probably tied with the Synthi 100 ( or the Synthi has a slight edge in coolness due to it's Nixie tube number displays.)

[@nigelft]

Legend has it that when Mr. Dodds turned up to deliver the organ on set, Steven Spielberg immediately thought of him as the guy to actually play it in the scene ...

[@lenpup0]

Thanks for this info! RIP.

[@Skraboing649]

@@michaelbauers8800 The ARP 2500 didn't have pin matrix patch bays, it used a switch matrix system. But I agree that it's one my fave modulars too based on looks :)

[@matiaspereira9382]

The movie grossed $288 million worldwide in its initial release, which made it at the time the 5th highest-grossing movie in the world (behind Star Wars 1, Jaws, Gone with the Wind and The Exorcist). It's now the 494th highest-grossing movie in the world (it would be the 542nd if Spirited Away, The Polar Express and it had never been re-released)

[@KoOkiEzRoCkz]

I remember watching this the first time, I had so much chills it wasnt even funny

[@GERMANFANPRODUCTIONS]

I love how the ships spin

[@jpcodnia9133]

my favourite bit in the whole movie, the part when the small UFO passes overhead and the technicians see up close that the spaceship is propelled by magnetic field, like it uses gravity instead of fuel. so cool. all the metal objects clinging to the bottom of that UFO! I couldn't find it in any of the short v clips, all show the rest of the meeting

[@jonathanbradley4896]

I love how they were all applauding and very satisfied with their communication with the 3 smalls ships only to have the gigantic mothership mow up. 😂

[@Cahos_Rahne_Veloza]

You know if those five tones were the aliens' counterparts for words, those human scientists playing 'em over and over would have been the first men to troll these visitors. For example, let's say those notes meant "Hello, how are you" in their language. The scientists just spammed Hello in their faces :(

[@lunaticz0r]

HELLO! HELLO? HELLO!? HELLO!!! HELLO!!!??! HELLO! HELLO! HELLO! WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU?WHO ARE YOU?WHO ARE YOU?WHO ARE YOU?WHO ARE YOU??

[@tomf3150]

That's why the last two notes played by the mothership shattered almost all glass panes. It was geting increasingly boring, thus the "shut up already" of the last two notes.

[@lenpup0]

@@tomf3150 YES. WE. SAID. HEL-LO.

[@emirlsanchos6302]

@@lunaticz0r "Plus vite!" (Faster) "HELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOWHOAREYOUWHOAREYOUWHOAREYOUWHOAREYOUWHOAREYOU" Aliens: Oookay, we'll be back after you've cooled down. (Wait 'till Mother gets a load of this). *Ships Leave*

[@pspboy7]

I love this movie. One of my all time favorites!

[@TuongNguyen-te8zy]

+pspboy7 jahtruth.net/closeenc.htm

[@spenstrangward5126]

Every piece of this film is perfection..

[@BrutusHiatus]

Makes you cry to quasi-experience another civilization saying hello. I always imagine this is the universal "Hello. How are you?", Like hel (first time) lo (second time), how (third tone) are (fourth tone) you (fifth tone).

[@collegeman1988]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is my favorite Steven Spielberg movie. It was the most intense movie I remember seeing as a kid.

[@GWE4]

This movie changed me at an early age. I'm so grateful I was only 8 when this came out. Holloman Air Force Base. It happened. I totally understood this movie at age 8. My grandma took me...she knew something...she also took me to Alien. This was not a fluke. She also took me to the local planetarium at the Denver Natural History Museum for the shows there, and once for "Laser-Rock, featuring RUSH" yeah.....very cool. I think I get it now, she knew something. Dad had an experience in Breckenridge, Tx. I think now she was aware of that. Honestly, I just put all these pieces together tonight. Wish Nana and Dad were still here...I have so many new questions.

[@annehaight9963]

I was 7 when this came out, and same. I was so deeply moved by this film. I had the soundtrack and listened to it over and over. I have no doubt that one day we will have a peaceful contact like this with aliens.

[@Killstrike6660]

This is my very favorite movie ever! I have it memorized and can say the lines with the actors. Saw this movie well over 1000 times.

[@mr.z9609]

I didn't catch it when I was a kid, but at 0:15 he uses solfege hand signs to represent the tones. re mi do do, so,

[@ksol1460tv]

There's a whole scene where he teaches those signs to the project committee. They were developed by Zoltan Kodaly to teach music to hearing impaired children.

[@criskity]

It's the Kodaly Method.

[@GERMANFANPRODUCTIONS]

Hell o Ho w do yo u d o

[@SuperBustyEva]

This is one of the greatest finales of any movie created.

[@rustyshackleford1114]

Imagine the awe of walking up to one of these things, trying to goad it into a reaction, and then succeeding.

[@DarthDimadome]

0:52 Oh boy, chills.

[@kenhoneycutt8819]

Just saw this on Amazon tonight. Definitely one of my all time greatest Spielberg movies!

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

If it weren't for Star Wars, I think this would have won best VFX awards in 1977.

[@roquefortfiles]

A lot of people didn't even know they were looking at visual effects in this film. Not so much the UFO's but the roadways and landscapes and matte paintings. All very subtle stuff.

[@roquefortfiles]

The UFO's are fucking COOL!! Totally original. The shot 0:34 where he walks out and the camera pans to follow him revealing the UFO's hovering was the very first time this shot was done. Today its an easy shot. In 1976 it was EXTREMELY difficult to do. They had to put digital encoders on all the camera axis of movement and then scale that down to repeat the same move on the 1/20th scale ufo models shot on the FX stage. Very complicated. But so perfectly executed that you would swear the UFO's are right there with Truffaut. They are not.

[@justinscrivner5457]

These scout ships have character. They have faces with a weird grin . Like two eyes and a row of teeth.

[@England....]

0:16 that is the same music played in the James bond film Monnraker when Bond goes to the lab door

[@Looking1231]

And that happens, he kind of looks at the camera with almost an Are You Kidding kind of look on his face,

[@deanladue3151]

A truly stunning moment when the UFOs replied in unision. This E.T. species had been around for decades, maybe centuries on Earth. And they were the first to make contact with them. Wow.

[@kyzendelaguia1063]

When the aliens started to hear the notes form their language, that’s when they realized that humans are finally smart enough to come in contact with

[@sindobrandnew]

I bet this tune will never leave my head.

[@MagpieSue]

This movie is one of my all time favourites. With all the technology we have now, a remake would be absolutely amazing.

[@mapesdhs597]

Nope, a remake would be stuffed full of SJW politics, leftist crap and feminist/communist propaganda, just like they did with The Last Jedi. Leave the past alone, it's a good movie and should be left as it is. Close Encounters is a reflection of its time. A movie with such a positive tone couldn't be made by Hollywood today, it has too much self-hatred of the west, etc. Endless terrible remakes, often exploiting the nostalgia of those in their 40s to 60s, is why most modern movies suck.

[@ksol1460tv]

I don't hold with anything incel boy has said but I wouldn't advise a remake either. CGI has become tiresome. It would be like, "so what?"

[@mrmaniac3]

MagpieSue I think it’s best to leave it the way it is. It was decided in December 2007 by the Library of Congress that it should be preserved. This film is worth more than a remake.

[@George040270]

There is a problem with this scene. If those ships were physically there, the shadows from all of those people standing there would have been significantly different.

[@johnschewerer1313]

It’s just a movie, but can’t imagine what it was like to see this in theaters in 1977. This movie was way ahead of it time!

[@art.howard]

My understanding is they had trouble getting real UFO's for this scene so they had to use special effects.

[@timchorzempa6637]

Good thing the scientists didn't respond using a Moog :P

[@mosa7338]

He is a saint of moving films to me!

[@JediPhoenix1976]

The moment those three ships respond, you can see it in Lacombe's body language - shit just got real.

[@jmm4405]

The greatest movie of all time!!

[@andrewrojas1356]

I'm absolutely sure that this tone and color panel scene is like we (humans) are saying "we are ready" " we are ready", and the UFOs say "prove it"

[@williamradford9631]

Spielberg's Awesome Cinematic achievement. One of the greatest SIFI movies. Lets have the Arena lights down 60 percent. Play the five tones.

[@Vejur9000]

One of the greatest scenes in movie history, is the abduction of Barry, in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When a child opens the door, as the universe comes knocking, there are no words for the power of this scene.

[@Phineas1626]

Wholly agree. Watching it as a kid fostered more than a little tension.

[@Alex-ft1df]

I now have the song in my head now again lol xd. I have been playing this song on the piano for quite awhile now and finally got to get outta my head and now its in it again after the video was over.

[@thomasw2096]

0:37 He don't say "Repeat". He say "Plus vite" = Faster

[@gordonm.7387]

Faster faster!

[@lenpup0]

Nice, thanks

[@roquefortfiles]

He says repeat. You can hear it.

[@VonRoust]

No no, he speaks french and says '' plus vite ''.

[@lenpup0]

@@roquefortfiles Thank you, and man does it sound like that, but in hindsight I think mostly he indeed says 'plus vite' in his native french.

[@835g]

God I was obsessed with this movie. Saw it at the theater. Then anytime it came on HBO I would watch it.Now I have the colecters edition

[@maskutchitamagotchiworld1911]

I bet this sent a shiver down someone's spine. The special effects is just out of this world and the sound effects has such an emotional feeling to it.

[@mariaortizjimenez9645]

If you stop at 1:32, the UFO in the middle shows a smile like that of the Chesire Cat.

[@lenpup0]

Yes! That must be why I love it so much.

[@hugodunsany5576]

Is...is that a young Agent Coulter at the keyboard?...

[@MrAvenger1975]

Lol close! 😅 The guy's name was Phil Dodds and he was really the technician that delivered the keyboard. Spielberg liked his look so much that he cast him to play it.

[@markloveless1001]

Heh heh. "Kick that mule". Always figured he was a native Texan - accent is too perfect. Sure enough he is, and I did not know that until today.

[@eliasmanuelroblesramos9969]

Monsieur LACOMBE dice: "repetir, repetir". Ya todo está listo para el encuentro. Es una perfecta sinfonía sincrónica. Los movimientos de su mano dicen la magistral sintonía con las 5 NOTAS según el método universal de ZOLTAN KODALI.

[@jarregelis]

Monsieur Lacombe no dice "repetir", él dice PLUS VITE "mas rápido" en francés

[@jarraojarrao]

...AND THE "TRANCE" WAS BORN!!!

[@MrAvenger1975]

E, F#, D, (drop an octave) D, A I used to play this endlessly on the piano at home (and on the piano at school), and at that speed... but certainly not nearly as fast as in the next scene after this! lol

[@highwindsclarke2685]

0:20 The notes are re mi do do so. This is my favourite sequence in the film

[@angelrogo]

0:52 "Qu'est-ce qui se passe? Allez allez! Allons-y!" -> "What's up with you? Come on, come on! Let's go!"

[@RachelTScott]

Someone just played this loudly overtop of our Legislature...in BC Canada. afraid to look outside 😅

[@charliekennedy2849]

i found it interesting how the aliens responded

[@George040270]

I have noticed something interesting about this video clip. How is it that the lights emanating from those three ships are not creating contrasting shadows around the people standing there? None of those shadows moved when those ships were leaving. The movement of the ships must have been added in post production.

[@Gabriella-xr5xf]

Imagine play Never Gonna Give You Up in this scene

[@bismuth7398]

Most of this movie was a dud IMO, but everything from this moment onward was incredible.