*CLOSE ENCOUNTERS* blew my mind! MOVIE REACTION FIRST TIME WATCHING! 

When my daughter was in the third grade she was learning clarinet and one Saturday afternoon, we watched this movie together. The next thing I realized, she is standing out in the yard and playing the five tones of the "contact" on her clarinet! I yelled to her, "There better not be aliens in my yard tonight!" We shared a good laugh at that one...

I was in high school when this movie came out. My friends and I were totally obsessed. When my family planned a road trip from Illinois to Seattle in the summer of '78, I made the case for a quick detour to see Devil's Tower. Amazingly, my dad agreed and I was forever grateful. The whole experience was magical to me.

And we must all acknowledge the greatness of the music maestro, John Williams, who did some of his best work on this movie. Just outstanding. He was truly on fire around this time, no doubt.

The sight and sound of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in big movie theaters in 1977 was mind blowing.

To see this in a theater in 1977 was freaking AWEsome!! All the early parts of the movie "announcing" the presence of something Not-Of-This-World sent shivers down your spine and made your heart race like Mad !!! Speilberg was doing it AGAIN !!!! Soooo exciting!!

The ending was even more stunning in 1977 - in a wide screen movie theater.

BTW @27:21 the gentleman with the glasses and pointy beard is the real life J. Allen Hynek, scientific advisor for Project Blue Book. Went from skeptic to believer after his investigations.

I suggest "*batteries not included" from 1987! You will like it, I promise!

That "abduction" scene scared the absolute shit out of me as a kid. Still makes me super anxious watching it now.

If there's a "bad guy" in this movie, it's our own imaginations and the fear we have about the unknown. My other fave alien encounter movie is the 1951 classic The Day The Earth Stood Still. It has a similar vibe of human fear and stupidity contrasted with curiosity and benevolence.

There was a stigma tied to pilots reporting UFOs, being labeled crazy or non professional, being teased so pilots were hesitant to report sightings, having that on their record. I thought it was a good touch for them to include that hesitancy in the beginning tower/pilots conversation.

One of the best movies, ever made. In a class and category by itself. So good, it probably couldn't be remade.

Luis Elizondo (former director of AATIP) was saying in an interview a week or two back that he's not really one for sci-fi movies, but his wife recently made him sit down and watch Close Encounters. He said he was blown away by how accurately the behaviour of UFOs is depicted in the movie - especially where they zip along and then suddenly stop or reverse course, and where they split into three and fly off in different directions.

“Music or math it’s all related “ very true , no coincidence Spielberg’s mother was a concert pianist his father an electrical engineer 😀 great reaction

I saw this when it first came out. The only time I've been in cinema where the audience broke into spontaneous applause at the end of the movie.

Near the end just before Roy enters the ship, John Williams gives us a little musical treat. The short cuts kind of disguise it, but in the music you can hear the tune “when you wish upon a star.”

J. Allen Hynek, a big figure in UFO research, had been a consultant on this movie. He coined the term that’s used as the movie title. The disappearance of the planes in 1945 was a real event. I believe it’s the director’s cut which nicely divides the types of close encounters (1st, 2nd and 3rd) into the three acts. The French character questioning Roy is an homage to Jacques Vallee, another figure in UFO research.

My parents and I camped at Devil's Tower for an evening during our Yellowstone/Mt Rushmore vacation fourteen years ago. We stayed at a KOA at the exact spot where the "decontamination camp" was located in the film and hiked around the mountain twice. Besides it being thrilling to visit the site of one of our favorite films, the landmark and surrounding landscape is beautiful. Definitely worth a side trip if you love the movie and are ever out that way.

Welcome to "E.T: The Prequel." You can see Spielberg's optimistic take on the idea of extra-terrestrial intelligent life in this movie. Of course, he went on to expand on that theme (along with the idea of the innate curiosity and positivity of children) in E.T., which came out a few years later. This idea that aliens would be friendly (and why not?) flipped the script on science fiction at that time. Also, this came out about the same time as Star Wars, helping to catapult sci-fi into blockbuster status. What a great time to be a kid!

Just catching up on some of the movies I missed. I was 13 when this came out. Still an amazing movie. For me the funniest moment in the reaction was when Richard Dreyfus was first losing it. Right after the intense scenes where his family is falling apart, Roy is shaping the mountain out of clay. Jen’s: “That is a dysfunctional family” casually followed immediately by: “that looks like a pile of crap.” made me laugh out loud! 🤣

Jen, can you imagine seeing this for the very first time in a large movie theater having never seen any type of film like this? It truly baffles the mind that this came from the same director who made us afraid to go on the water after seeing "Jaws". I have no words to describe the music by John Williams. It's utterly amazing! Ten to the power of 1 million! This is a film that has to be seen on a large 4D HD screen at its highest quality possible. One of my favorite films of all time! I'm very glad that you got to experience it!

Favorite fun fact about this movie - At the time Spielberg was making this movie he was going through a divorce. He has said in interviews that because of this, subconsciously, that is probably the reason why he had Roy leaving with the aliens. If he was making the movie a few years later when he was remarried and in a good relationship, he may have made a different choice for Roy. It may have made a completely different meaning to the ending of the movie.

Love this movie. Takes me back to my childhood and the 70s, when the world seemed a much less complicated place. I've asked myself if that was me, would I go off in a spaceship leaving my kids behind? Hell yeah!

This came out at the same time as Star Wars. My brother and I saw both as a double feature. The most mind-blowing evening of my teens.

Of all the films Steven Spielberg has directed, this one is my personal favorite. Tears of joy...

This film remains rent free in my head, one reason is due to my mother's XTREME fascination/enthusiasm concerning the subject matter and second due to being the film that (unknown-to-me-at-the-time) introduced me to Lance Henrikson - very young and with an absolutely dreadful haircut, I never would have guessed his generic appearance at the end of the film would lead to his becoming one of my ALL-TIME favorite character actors (not bad for a human.)

I saw this and Star Wars theatrically when I was 10 years old. Star Wars is one of my favorite movies ever, but this one blew my mind, I didn’t understand everything, but it made me believe.

in the scene 27:21 you can see a guy with glasses stroking his beard. He is Dr J.Alan Hynek, (god rest his soul) he was the scientific consultant for Project Bluebook and then later on was the founder for CUFOS. (Center for UFO Studies) I believe it was right for him to play a cameo in this movie, so kudos for Steven Spielberg for casting him in this movie. He also created a system for how UFO encounters are split into categories: 1) Close Encounter of the first kind, where a person simply observes a UFO but doesn't leave any evidence. 2) Close Encounter of the second kind, the UFO leaves physical traces behind like burns on the ground or broken branches of trees. 3) Close Encounter of the third kind, A person makes contact with the occupants of the UFO. I personally have studied this subject and other paranormal subjects for many years. Welcome to the people within the UFO Community, I'm one of them.

The aircraft that disappeared in 1945 is known as Flight 19. They went off radar off of Florida & were never traced. The subsequent rescue flight also disappeared never to be recovered.

I met richard dreyfuss at work and helped him to print off some papers. He was genuinely nice guy

I have loved this film since seeing it the very first time back in 1980. It's just a beautiful experience. You're absolutely right with your first impression. There is no "worst" in this film. It's 100% positive masterful story telling. Visually it stands up to the passage of time. I watched it in theater about two years ago in a limited IMAX release and I wept. I've seen it maybe 50 times in my 50 years on earth and I feel the exact same joy as the first time as the mothership takes to the skies. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Xoxo

During the filming of this, Spielberg had a notion: what if one of the aliens became left behind. Thus came ET: The Extra Terrestrial.

I loved this movie as a kid. I ran around everywhere singing that alien greeting song and making those hand gestures Lol. I bet my parents wished the ship took ME instead Lol🤣🤣

This was another one of those mind blowing movies back when it came out. Great seeing it effect you as well. As far as the name, not sure if it still applies but they use to classify UFO encounters as; the first level is a sighting, the second level is physical evidence (photos, landing proof and such), and the third is physical contact.

Extra MVP points to the kid who, according to the book from the guy who played the interpreter, that was all HE needed. That's how well he knew what was was needed for a scene. :) Great reaction to a fantastic film. Another thing to note about this film and how mind-blowing it was for the time, was that there hadn't really been a lot of "friendly alien" films up to this point. Most stuff tended to take a War of the Worlds sort of approach, but this didn't and that was something refreshing and new. So, yeah. :)

Great reaction to one of Spielberg's best movies. The planes found in the desert at the beginning was flight 19, five US Navy planes that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle during a training exercise in December of 1945 The ship in the desert was the SS Cotopaxi, which disappeared in a tropical storm on it's way from Charleston NC to Havana Cuba in December of 1925. It's wreckage was located off the coast of Florida in the 80s, but not identified as the Cotopaxi until 2020.

I saw that movie when I was 13. I love it immediately. Spielberg had created a milestone, for sure. He had played on light and sound, melody creared something of magic hits you deeply in your soul. I saw that movie 50 times. It's like a drug.

The (non-puppet) aliens at the end were portrayed by kids in rubber suits. According to Bob Balaban's (who played David the interpreter) on-set journal, Spielberg and the crew had trouble getting them to stop disco dancing during takes 🤣

Phoebe's mom on Friends was played by the same actress: Teri Garr. She also starred in Young Frankenstein.

Funny thing, I had mashed potatoes for dinner while watching this, but not enough to make a mountain! The little red orb trailing behind the other ships was a nod to Tinkerbell. Great reaction. I figured it would hit you especially well when the cartographer figured out that the numbers were map coordinates. It always gives me a shiver.

I had a crush on Melinda Dillon and Teri Garr back in the day. Great movie, love it.

There are a lot of things in this movie that I think Spielberg was experimenting with: John Williams' sound score, horror elements that would appear later in "Poltergeist", the first prototype of "ET"... plus a lot of references to "Pinocchio" in the script and the music.

Ever since I saw this movie back in 1977 ( I was 6 years old), I remembered thinking "how did they do that long scene with the little boy in the kitchen without cutting?" I mean it was a long take just of this very young kid's face and his different expressions! I finally learned how it was done by watching the featurettes; a testament of Spielberg's creativity in getting the shots he wanted. I wonder how many of you notice this when watching the film.

3:07 "people talking over each other" I love that about Spielberg, when those scenes feel more like eavesdropping than listening to "dialogue" in a "movie". Feels real instead of written, and I have no idea how you go from a script to that.

The only word that came to my mind to describe your reaction throughout is "spellbound"; and justifiably so. I was 14 when I saw this in the theaters. As I recall, Star Wars had just been released a month or so earlier and, despite it being about "aliens", the story and pace was so different, yet VERY appealing to my young mind. Through the years I have come to believe the art of tension building that Spielberg began with Duel, that he then ramped up by a factor of 11 in Jaws, he MASTERED in CEOT3K. Great reaction.

The sound design in this movie is “dynamic.” It covers all the points in the range of volume, from very soft to very loud, like in real life. Spielberg and other “New Hollywood” directors were experimenting with new forms of realism, and this kind of dynamic sound is less “canned,” more open and intense than old-time foley work, and more realistic. The terrific irony is the gritty everydayness and rawness of a movie about space aliens! It’s a sublime mess that few today would have the courage to make.

One of those rare alien films where they don't come to earth seeking to destroy it.

So much fun watching these movies with you, I don't know about everyone else, but my friends have no reactions to movies , they pause the movie for trip to the bathroom, phone calls, smoking, then at the end of the movie, it's all about something other than the movie, yeah I need better friends lol thanks for having a good since of humor and fun personality 🤗

I remember standing in line for over an hour to see this when it first came out. So worth it. The entire audience gasped when the mothership appeared on the big screen.

I read that when they were filming, it was so hot and humid inside the studio that it actually rained INSIDE.

"Is that Phoebe's mom?" Yes, Teri Garr It was also Phoebe's dad - Bob Balaban

Whenever I see this movie, I think of two things: 1) how wonderful, creepy, and exciting this movie was seeing it in theaters for the first time in '77 and 2) how totally dysfunctional Roy's family was (they're terrible!).

If I must confess, my favorite Spielberg movie is “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Classic movie.

Thanks, Ms. Jen. That's my cousin, Carey Guffey, as the little boy. 🙂

I' ve watched this many times, and I cry every time....just magical.

Spielberg did an amazing job of leaving everything in this movie up to the imagination of the viewers, up until the big revel. This movie still terrifies me I love it but it still gives me chills every time

The ending always gets me teary eyed. This movie NAILS the alien/UFO phenomenon and remains the GOAT. The 70's were HUGE for ufo sightings and alien encounters and this movie captures it 100%. Most modern alien movies are much more cynical in their approach but this one really captures the magical high strangeness of it all. Its also funny that you mention that the toys coming alive at the beginning reminds you of ghost activities instead of aliens. In more recent years there's been a growing theory that aliens, UFOs, poltergeists, faeries and even bigfoot are all apart of the same phenomenon that somehow presents itself to us in different ways as society changes throughout time. One big believer in this theory is Jacques Vallee, a French scientist who was actually the inspiration for the french scientist in this movie. If any of what I just said interests you in any way check out is seminal work, Passport To Magonia. It's a great and Highly Strange read!!

Amazing a movie almost 50 years old still stands up so well, so you can imagine what is was like to see it on the big screen back then when there had been nothing like it before. People queued round the block to get in.

I've seen this movie dozens of times and it just dawned on me that the aliens responded because music is math!! Great reaction. It's awesome that you like the classics.

At 27:20 of your video is a famous cameo - the older man with the graying gotee, covering his mouth is J. Allen Hynek, the American astronomer, professor, and ufologist. He acted as scientific advisor to UFO studies undertaken by the U.S. Air Force under three projects: Project Sign (1947-1949), Project Grudge (1949-1951) and Project Blue Book (1952-1969). He came up with the classification system for Close Encounters in his 1972 book. He worked with Speilburg on the movie and the Director included him in this scene, of first contact with an UFO. Or a Close Encounter of the Third Kind.

Ever since I saw this as a kid in, this is the first thing I think of when I see Richard Dreyfus. :D This kind of amazed me, and freaked me out seeing it as a kid.

I was a kid when this came out and I have grown up absolutely loving this experience. The images and the music are just so unique.

Jen You correct about blonde woman. Her name is Teri Garr. She did play Phoebe's mom on Friends. Teri forced to retire from acting in 2011 because of her health issues.

Well. That was an effortless 33 minutes ... The plot: "Friendly aliens visit Earth. The end." How they turned that into a tear-jerking masterpiece - I don't know. One thing's absolutely for sure - John Williams is not of this Earth. I think he's trying to communicate with us, using major 7 chords in 2nd inversion. (the interior of the chord is a horrible-sounding semitone clash - but surrounded by the other notes, it becomes a triumphant thing of beauty!) Try it yourself! Press the two white notes B and C on a piano together - it sounds awful! But now press the same two notes, but also with G below, and E above. THAT's the John Williams chord! It's utterly beautiful! - a horrible semitone clash, transformed into goosebumps!

"She just leaves this kid wherever, huh?" Yes, every day of our lives. -Sincerely, Gen X

I saw this in NY's Ziegfeld Theatre and it was an event. Long lines to get inside, waiting in the gorgeous lobby until the previous show let out and the glorious, deafening sound of the mothership passing overhead going into the finale. I saw a different cut than what is considered the director's cut but still, it was a great time at the cinema. I'm so glad you got the opportunity to react to it.

I've just given this a rewatch for the benefit of your channel, Jen, I loved your reaction once again. 🙂

When this movie came out I was in college in NYC and I was taking a course called "Intelligent Life in the Universe". The professor assigned seeing the movie and doing a writeup on it as part of the class. I saw it at a matinee at the old Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan, just a quick ride uptown on the subway.

Magical experience in the theater for a 7 year old me. Thanks for your reaction!

I love how your reactions are so full of awe and surprise. I was a tad surprised that you didn't react to the most famous "5 notes" in movies! Sad but true, but in order to get Barry to cry, Spielberg would take away a dog they had on set. In the scene where Roy is bathed in blinding white light, you see Roy slightly twitch. That is when the aliens implant the vision of the "Devil's Tooth" that drives Roy and others nuts! Now imagine watching this in a theater with 30'X65' screens, Dolby surround sound etc! The opening is amazing as you are plunged into complete darkness, with that ominous music building up to a sudden blast of the white light of the Mexican desert! It was amazing! There is an extended version where you go inside with Roy, but it is too brief. But overall an mind blowing movie experience!

This movie is my childhood, watched it often with my father. :) Looking forward to your reaction!

Even better than a theater viewing, was my 1st time seeing this at our local drive-in in May of 1978 (Still in operation, glad to say) . Under the blanket of stars it was quite mesmerizing to look from the huge screen to the heavens above to see if there were any strange lights headed our way. An experience i will never forget!

I camped near the base of the mountain a few years ago. It was beautiful with the tower in the background. I made friends with my camping neighbors and we watched this movie that night. We projected it on the side of the RV. It was awesome.

I read a lot of UFO books in the 70s and Spielberg really captured the creepy weirdness of UFO sightings. Some of the details (based on witnesses' descriptions, such as it is) were done quite well though there were a few embellishments.

The end scene with the mother ship sails into deep space is beautifully companioned with John Williams’ score. It blew me away and sang into my heart, first seeing it in the theater.

The guy playing the keyboards was a contractor hired to set them up for the movie and leave. Spielberg noticed he had a pleasant demeanor and friendly so he hired him to play that part.

I LOVE this movie, 77 was a very good year for movies for me, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind... man i'm so thankful i was a kid in the 70's...

This movie was released during my Senior year in High School. I distinctly remember that, after the movie had been out for awhile, I would see folks stopped along rural Texas roads, binoculars in hand, gazing toward the Heavens, on the off-hand chance that they might spot a UFO of their own!

Close Encounters is rare example of High Concept SF, just like 2001 before and Arrival after. Exceptional movie 💙

*Watching the Jen's reactions tells me that Spielberg's ability to instill his films with wonder may be timeless.*

Best reaction you've done yet, imo. I got chills watching you get chills - from beginning to end. Wow. Dazzling movie, right? Even at 8 years old, I can tell you, it was amazing. The whole audience was EXACTLY like you at the end. We were all in a daze. I saw it three times in the movie. NEVER had a movie theater experience like that. Sequel? He split the sequel into two movies: "E.T." and "Poltergeist". "Poltergeist" mutated into a (great) horror movie, instead of sci-fi. (Would love to see you do "Poltergeist"). The guy who did the effects for this did "2001: A Space Odyssey". I'd LOVE to see you do that one too! That's insanely dazzling and profound as well. I put "Close Encounters" right underneath that as greatest all-time profound, space-related sci-fi. ("Forbidden Planet" (1954) being the third. I'd put the original "Planet Of The Apes" up there too!) LOVED THIS REACTION. Your reaction was my reaction, then and now! I wish I could smash the Like button fifty times.

Teri Garr (plays the wife) was in many movies during the 70s and 80s. She was in Young Frankenstein, Tootsie, Oh, God, and Mr. Mom to name a few (all were very successful films). but Close Encounters is a film that has held up really well over the years. The theatrical release of this film (before Speilberg added new scenes in the extended edition and restored it years later) ended with Dreyfuss entering the ship, but you never see what is inside. The added scenes included images of what Dreyfuss saw inside the ship--it's like a futuristic city.

The greatest Science Fiction film ever , never gets boring , had those shivers again just watching this

I watched this movie as a kid in the 80s and it was the special edition with the inside of the mothership. This is, by far, my favourite movie ever. It beats time because the story is about a normal guy who goes through an extraordinary life changing event, so everyone can relate.

Spielberg's E.T. was ALMOST a sequel to this film. He said in interviews that originally, the plan was for the film to follow Roy's family - specifically his youngest son - as they make contact with a stranded Extra-Terrestrial being, and help said being find his way home. When the alien mothership comes to pick up the straggler, Roy was going to emerge from the ship and be reunited with his family. But in the end, they couldn't quite justify it, as they were recasting the children (who had all grown into young adults by then), and recasting the mother with another actress - and felt that it would simply prove too mind-boggling for audiences to understand if Dreyfus suddenly showed up at the last second. So with some regret, they just made it a stand-alone adventure about the child of a single mom who meets an alien, and kept Roy out of it. But watch E.T. with a spoonful of imagination and you can see that E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial IS (or was) the sequel to Close Encounters... minus Roy actually returning to his family at the end. At least in Spielberg's mind, Roy DID eventually return to his wife and family, and his wife FINALLY learned to believe that the men in her life weren't crazy. So there you go. Hope that helps, and thanks for another great reaction/review!

Nominated for 8 Oscars: Best Director Best Supporting Actress, Melinda Dillon Best Original Score Best Sound Best Production Design Best Cinematography Best Visual Effects Best Sound Editing It won Best Cinematography.

as a symphony musician (tuba & trombone).. the thing that still blows me away is that the mothership conversation isn't electronics... is was instruments in the studio orchestra playing parts.. the high notes were oboe and flute playing together.. lows were tuba and contrabassoon. Jim Self was the tubist and the part was ridiculously difficult jumping intervals and fast note runs mashed together... not something tubas usually are required to play.

I remember coming out of the cinema in '77 and noticing how many people were looking up at the night sky, including me. An amazing film to see on the big screen then and now.

In Germany, three children's books were released after this movie, continuing the story in space. "Close Encounters of the Fourth / Fifth / Sixth Kind". I loved them as a child! Still have the books. ^^

Spielberg got his first Academy Award nod for best Director with this film. John Williams score belted this cinematic experience. The French character was played by Francois Truffaut, the great french director.

I remember seeing this in cinema back then and took it as one of the visual, sensational, emotional roller-coaster movies that came out of Steven Spielberg's childhood (he's the older boy in Roy and Ronnie's family home, the one who watches everything and cries). It's effectively the big brother to his more recent film 'Super 8' and a test for 'E.T.' . This both shows the confusion that a world can feel when confronted with difficult questions like 'what's it all for?' and also shows how we create a fable of greater powers to appeal to. In the 1970s this was aliens in flying saucers. It's a way of dealing with a meaningless life and a cold universe, by populating it with friendly, powerful gods / aliens. It also answers his own question; 'where did my father go?' with a fantasy typical of childhood. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a different take on this, filtered through the 1960s 'man in the grey flannel suit' problem, where corporations demanded that it's members act like robots, subsuming themselves in a machine that pretended to protect and care for them. It suggests that we exist due to interference of aliens who acted like gods and 'raised us up' from being animals (and neatly explained our murderous nature). The present time populates the world with super-heroes and super-beings, while also treating them as disposeable soldiers. We are supposed to think of ourselves as heroes (or realise we never can be), while also offering ourselves up to the powerful as disposeable work units. Your mileage may vary, of course.

I am a filmmaker today because of this very film… my all time favorite!

When I saw this film for the first time as a young man at the cinema I came out mentally staggered and was changed forever. I can't explain it. If you want more there's the making of close encounters located on the blu ray disc. It's excellent.

I was fortunate enough to see this film at a cinema in the U.K. upon its original release, with my parents and older sister.( I was 6). It was one of the most memorable nights of my life and the wonder it generated has never left me. I don’t consider myself a lucky person but I was extremely fortunate to have had this experience. A wonderful movie.

omg, from 1977, my first year in university.....ok that settles it, I am friggin old!

Nobody can direct children like Spielberg. Carey Guffey’s reaction was done by having a member of the crew that was his friend jump out in a gorilla mask. (The look if shock) then he takes off the mask and shows his face (the smile). Amazing.

Loved your reaction to this! I saw this movie as a kid and have seen it so many times since, I don't remember how I reacted to it other than I fell in love with it. One of the best musical scenes of any movie I've ever watched, and it was a conversation! :) Never thought I'd see another alien movie that made me feel how this one made me feel until I watched Arrival almost 40 years later. If you've never seen it, please put Arrival on your to watch list and treat yourself! :)

I saw this in the theatre in '77. It blew my tiny seven-year-old mind!

I'm slightly surprised at your reaction, Ms. M. Pretty subdued. Could be that, as I noted in first post, that when this came out, the movie was truly an experience! You were completely gob-smacked and left the theater in a fog... jaw dropped. It was WONderful !! I guess the passing time and 8 skillion movies with way fancier special effects (now CG effects) might have something to do with it, but the feeling of being awestruck comes back every time I see this. Good acting, Superb music and SFX, made this one hell of a blockbuster that year!!!

My family visited Devil’s Tower during a road trip vacation after seeing this movie. Is was right before dusk, I and my little brother were scared as hell, but my parents made it fun. Something I’ll never forget.