Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) First Time Watching! Movie Reaction!! 

Alien & Aliens trained us to not trust any Alien lol.... What are some great Sci-Fi movie recommendations!? Thanks for the support everyone! Sorry this video came up late today. Changed internet providers and had nothing but problems :(

I appreciate that the movie portrays how even a peaceful, non-threatening alien contact would still be deeply unnerving, anxiety-inducing, or even terrifying at times. Simply because as humans we would have no frame of reference for such an experience, and our survival instincts would go into overdrive.

I saw this in the theater with my dad. I was 10. The Devil Tower reveal gave me chills. And the Mothership put the entire audience into stunned awe.

Douglas Trumbull was a true wizard, helping to create the sci-fi effects for 2001, Close Encounters, and Blade Runner, and not a shred of CGI.

I love Richard Dreyfuss who was in his element mid to late 70s from JAWS to The Goodbye Girl and American Graffiti. His acting ability and onscreen presence comes off completely natural and his comedic timing and quirky smile makes him very likable in whatever role he plays.

I remember watching this in the theater way back in '77. Good year for movies.

Most random Carl Weathers ever :)

There is a little Easter egg in the music too. When you said "It sounds dangerous" at 22:51 it was the composer John Williams quoting a few notes of his own music from the movie Jaws, also directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Richard Dreyfus. :D

One thing I like very much about this film is that there's not one stereotypical villain

Amazing storytelling, the characters are so human and well acted. Spielberg is genius.

A great film and one of Steven Spielberg’s best. The end when Roy turns back to see Jillian always tears me up, helped by John Williams beautiful music.

Zero cg, all practical effects. And it works even 40+ years later.

“Contact” starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. Highly recommended and underrated!

Fun fact about the colonel sanders looking guy close to the end. That was Allan Hynek, head of Project Blue Book in its prime. He initially didn’t think there was anything to the phenomenon, and HE was the one who brought forth the “swamp gas”, “Venus”, etc explanations. At the end of the study, however, he was a firm believer in the subject and actually came out speaking against the govt and military and saying there was indeed a coverup. Really cool little cameo. Also, the French scientist is based off of Jacques Vallee, a real UFO researcher who has contributed an incredible amount to the field. Amazing guys, both of them.

I just wanted to say that I really like this reaction channel. The overall demeanor of the channel is calm, pleasant, and just very relaxing and peaceful. Other reactors I've watched are godawful with their gimmicks of trying to make clever, snide comments, their impatience, and their inability to make some thoughtful commentary about what they're watching. It's either complaining that the movie is too slow, making moronic remarks about something trivial (e.g. when watching "Aliens": oh, the cat! I hope the cat lives! Hey, what about the cat?!), and using their present-day standards to judge a movie. At least on this channel, TBR and Sam are calm, provide insight, and seem to understand plotting, pacing, character, etc. There are no attempts to be funny, and everything here is just...mature. I really appreciate that, and I don't know how you two are so genuine in your reactions (a background in film, maybe?), but you've earned yourselves another subscriber. Please keep up with your genuine and pleasant reactions 👍 And if I may...there are some wonderful other international movies I'd love to suggest that I know both of you will find fascinating. If able, I suggest Jet Li's "Hero" and then, for horror, the original, "The Eye." One day both of you should compare Hollywood fight scenes/movies with that of Asian cinema as well. I'd love to suggest those in the future. Thanks again, you two. Splendid reactors, indeed.

_"We have a translation of their audio signal, taking control of this conversation...NOW."_ That's one of my favorite moments.

I was 11 when I saw this and it thrilled me beyond all measure. The reveal when they climb up the bank and see Devil's Tower with the music is just stunning

One of the most unique and gorgeous sci fi movies ever made. The last 40 minutes are just so transcending. It feels like a real encounter with aliens.

Flight 19 was a real group of military pilots that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle during a training mission. No body has located the planes yet. They have recordings of the last communications they made. A ship, or a plane that was sent to search for them also disappeared.

I was 7 years old when I saw this movie in the cinema ( I had just seen STAR WARS before it) and these 2 movies changed my life and made me fall in love with Sci-fi. They remain 2 of my all time favorite movies till today ( some 43-44 years later?)...that's mind-blowing to me!Thanks for the fun review. Keep smiling🤘☺

Thank you so much for watching this film. It affects me on a deep emotional level. As much as Spielberg shows you he actually shows you nothing, you have to use your imagination at the end for what happens next. Roy leaves his family behind in the name of discovery which is devastating and heartbreaking. My mind can barely handle what the characters must have felt being called and invited to experience the visitors. The film is a slow burn of discovery and imagination. One of Spielberg's many masterpieces. I love this film. Thank you again for reacting to it. Love your channel.

This is one of the best Reaction Channels. Such a great couple. In fact, they inspired me to do the same with me and my wife, but it's always my wife reacting to my drinking and me reacting to her shopping and who wants to watch that

These are some films you may enjoy, Starman (1984) Enemy Mine (1985) The Hidden (1987) The Iron Giant (1999) All good movies.

Great reaction, I live 40 miles from Devils Tower, I watched this movie outside on a projector at the tower when we camped there in the early 2000s. We used to climb up to the bottom of the tower wall but a ranger caught us and told us never to climb up there again. Good times

This is such a nice channel. It has a good balance where it's not people trying to be funny all the time, but also not people who pretend like they know everything about film and are super overanalysing everything. They're just chilling and watching films, I like it here!

This is one of my favorites. I always cry whenever I watch this movie 😢

No one ever mentions "When You Wish Upon A Star" playing over the closing credits any more. Spielberg had to pay Disney a lot to use it.

19:55 Just noticed, they form the shape of the Plough/Big Dipper

1977: I hope we meet aliens one day, so that we know we are not alone in the universe 1979: Scratch that ... bad idea!

My favorite shot is when Barry is going up in the clouds and she runs out and the fields the house and the lights in the clouds was perfect beauty

I love seeing younger people react to a young Richard Dreyfuss. His intelligent, frustrated, funny, passionate characters still seem to connect with people despite generation gaps.

Between Vilmos Zsigmonds' cinematography and Douglas Trumbulls' Special Effects this movie just looks absolutely stunning and hasnt aged a bit.

This is a really great movie and a treat to see in the theaters when it first came out. It also stays with you. You might see it again in a year, but then you know it and you won't want to watch it for a very long time. I don't know how to describe it, but if you watch it too often, it becomes really boring, but if you haven't seen it for 10 or 15 years, it is really great to re-discover it.

This is my #1 favorite movie of all time. It was the most mature and "realistic" film about aliens to date, and it reflected the state of UFO lore at the time. It was also just a really accurate picture of life in the late 70s. (Source: I was a kid in the 70's who was interested in UFOs.) But that's not what makes it great. What makes it great is the craft that went into it, from the writing, to the performances, to the design, the score, the lighting...everyone was at the top of their game here.

I saw this in the theater, I was 7, I’m 50 now. Still one of my favorite movies ever!

One of my favorite movies made by Steven Spielberg! So many memorable moments in this movie! I actually want to erase my memory of seeing this movie just so I can experience it again for the first time! Heheh. Great reaction and discussion to this movie by the way!

So awesome watching a younger generation reacting to classic films from the 70's.

It tells you how much we've changed as a culture that so many people are expecting something terrible to happen in this film, LOL. I completely understand, but that's why this is such a great movie and was so popular, because it was actually a message of hope and a very realistic look at what first contact could be like. Also, of course, when that giant spaceship came on the movie screen or on the drive-in movie screen audiences literally gasped--we'd never seen anything like that before. One of my top 10 films ever, so glad you reacted to it!

Spielberg said that if he could only save one of his films for his kids, this would be it. Glad you made it!

There are so many famous actors in this movie you have a hard time recognizing because they are so young.

"That's creepier than Aliens". The old guy on the pickup truck is whistling 'She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes.'

What a pleasant surprise! Seeing this in 70mm back in '77 was an overpowering experience...it's still pretty powerful just on Yuoutube...so glad you guys enjoyed it. The film's cinematographer, the great Vilmos Zsigmond, rightfully won an Oscar for Close Encounters! I love Teri Garr's performances as well, and she did actually win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 1982's Tootsie, one of the all-time great comedies. Hope you can check it out sometime!

I took a friend to Devil's Tower a few months ago. He walked around the base listening to the CE3K soundtrack. An excellent first contact film. The idea that humankind was introduced to a possible galactic civilization still blows my mind, some 40 years later. Some actors making an appearance are Carl Weathers and Lance Hendrickson.

9:15 its adorable how you both tilted your heads to the side at the same time XD

"God damn it Barry!" Didn't realize i was watching a Flash reaction.

You have been conditioned by run of the mill horror/sci-fi to expect malevolence and violent combat. However, this movie is about pure unadulterated wonder. 😊

2001:A Space Odyssey, and it's sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact...

And remember, all the effects were practical. The crawling clouds, the massive storm effects, the space ships, the aliens look it a bit more, but there was no CGI. Stunning.

Probably the only Alien film where both sides "come in peace" 😃👍

devils tower a real place very cool to visit

One of the best movies, ever!

Watched this at the cinema when it came out i remember when we left after people were just staring up at the night sky , had such an impact on the audience

Wow! Who else is here at 11k views?! So proud of you TBR!

Galaxy Quest (sci-fi comedy) Ladyhawke (fantasy, love story, violence, comedy)

Great reaction agian!!!!!! One of my favorite Stephen Spielberg movie was called (Always). I didn’t think I would like that kind of movie but I loved it.

It's fascinating to think that the thrill of these effects is now completely gone. At the time I don't think we'd seen anything quite like it. And the infamous melody the aliens use to communicate sort of entered public consciousness. As with TV or even pop music, the collective recognition of pop culture has dissipated because there is so much available.

Those were better times, of hope & optimism. Hard to remember today that once there was such a time

It's nice to have a positive alien movie instead of the usual blow everything up BS

This was the first movie about aliens that presented them in a peaceful way. That was one thing that set this story apart. His followed this same thing when he made E.T. Also the cloud effects were a first in this movie. A new technique of using fluids into water were developed for this movie and became common in movies after this.

2:35 -- The french guy right there in this movie, François Truffaut, was a very well-known film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, film critic, and a friend of Steven Spielberg.

I loved how you guys were scolding Barry the whole time!! Lol 😂

Hi TBR Schmitt! I've been waiting weeks for SOMEONE to react to this. I follow a boatload of reactors and you're only the third to watch this epic movie. And you actually left in a lot of pertinent scenes that made it so much fun. I have to say it's a pleasure to watch your faces as you actually absorb the action and react naturally. Your comments are just right, too, instead of, like some reactors, running on and on, trying to impress the viewers with their knowledge or prognostications of the ultimate outcome. You also don't obscure the movie, by tucking yourselves down in the lower-left corner with no box outline!!! Terrific! Note 1: The movie is loosely based on actual occurrences, the blackout written from an outage in the New York area where UFOs were sighted over power stations; and the end-meeting based on a surreptitious meeting between President Eisenhower and the Grays. Note 2: I think this movie is a showpiece and testament to the effect of real models, as opposed to currently proliferating CGI effects. Granted, you can't do some things with models, but, I can't help but greatly respect the brilliant design skills (Ralph McQuarrie designed the mothership) and modelmaking chops (Greg Jein was the head model builder) of these artists who didn't have access to today's software technology. A lot of reactors make irritating comments about how they didn't expect the effects to be that good, being that the movie was made during the Pleistocene Epoch, back before the invention of the wheel. They then marvel, "Gee, it looked really good!" Duh. It sure did, because it's not the method; it's how well you implement it. Doesn't that mothership make your jaw drop right off your face? So thanks, guys, so much. Really enjoy you!!!

@21:34 If you look closely you can see an upside down R2D2 cameo on the underside of the spaceship.

I never realized that was Devils Tower. Then again I was a kid when I saw this.

I am fond of this movie for a couple reasons. In the late 80's, I was in college. My last two years were spent in France studying the French language. I watched this movie for the first time at a theater in Paris. During my time in France, I watched a lot of Nouvelle Vague and contemporary French Cinéma. François Truffaut -gone but not forgotten!!! When my "excursion" was over and I came back to the States, I remember being completely heart broken -absolutely gutted. As an American, I can say that those two years in France are some of the most enriching years of my life thus far. When I am feeling nostalgic, sometimes I watch this movie on Buray with French audio -lol.

16:20 Carl 🔥 Weathers? I watched this film a hundred times but never noticed "Apollo Creed" till now.

I honestly believe Spielberg peaked with this movie. His other work is great, but this is spectacular, in emotion, in scale, in imagination, in wonder, in hope, in life affirmation, in every way you can think! 😁 My guess is, it's going to always be one of the best sci-fi movies ever made! 👽

As you might guess from the number in my username, I was only a year old when this was released so I'd only ever seen it on TV. A couple of years ago my local cinema indulged in a one-off anniversary screening, however, and thus I can now confidently assert that this is an amazing experience on the big screen. ^_~

Special effects wise in 77 this film was mind blowing. It's funny you mention a city skyline. Supposedly Spielberg came up with the idea of some of the aspects of the large mother ship while looking at the lights of LA at night while on his back on the hood of his car from one of the taller points around the city. The Mother Ship model is on display at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

A few commenters have mentioned "Starman." Yes...PLEASE. If you like a frenetic, bloody, special effects-laden epic that will have your head spinning because of the circuitous plot and myriad surprising twists; well...watch something else. Great suggestion...smart commenters on this channel; I had totally forgotten about it, and NO OTHER REACTOR HAS WATCHED IT!

Totally traumatised me as a child. Also Richard Dreyfus has bipolar, so his breakdown in the movie is a really good depiction of mania and psychosis which I myself have experienced.

"Coordinates" Good call. This used to bore me as a kid, but i fell in love with it in high school. ET for grown-ups. If you can, check out the Director's Cut, 3rd version on blu-ray. The rare alternate that could be more effective than the original. A good study in editing. Another great screening, guys. You're hitting on a lot of favorites and refeshing my appreciation.

I’ve probably seen at least 50 times all the way through and it wasn’t until a recent viewing that I spotted the Farrah Fawcett poster on the side of that desk or cabinet when the science guys were figuring out the coordinates with the globe, we all had that poster it was huge when it came out !

Spielberg played on expectations knowing most people expect aliens to be destructive or colonizing. Humanitarian Spielberg wanted people to get out of that mode and think of the possibility that "visitors" were not the enemy. Think about going back to 1956 and watching EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS.

25:10 thats Bishop from Aliens :p

Love that you watched this...one of my faves... Back then you really had to see it in a large screen theater with a banging sound system...the experience was incredible

I saw this in a movie theatre when it first came out. I remember being terrified, actually shaking, in the scene when Barry is kidnapped and the mother trying to stop it. 45 years later and that memory is very fresh still.

Watched it as a kid in early 80s ,and it still looked AMAZING!! And still looked good in the 90s! Great story aswell. MASTERPIECE!!😊👍

Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) are my favorite Sci-Fi movies of the 70's

Funny bit about the "Conversation" between the mother ship and the humans was the last phrase the mother ship did was the theme from "Jaws" a half step higher. John Williams composed the music for both films.

John Williams, the film's composer, was working on the Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope soundtrack when he was called by Steven Spielberg just to create the five notes that represent communication between humans and aliens. After finishing composing the Star Wars soundtrack, Williams returned to finish the score for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Both tracks competed for the Oscar for Best Original Score, but John Williams ended up winning for Star Wars.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! Also fun fact, Spielberg said that if it wasn't for the success of Jaws, then he wouldn't have been able to make this movie. I'm glad he did cause its amazing. Forgot to mention that Flight 19 was real incident, they did go missing over the Bermuda Triangle, no one really knows what happened. The lead pilot was radioing in and the radio went dead. Many theories as to what happened from Aliens to Warm Hole. There was a Government project known as Project Blue Book which you can google for the 10,000 page report that was released due to the freedom of information act.The lead person for Project Blue Book was Dr. J. Allen Hynek who was an American astronomer who has a cameo in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

It was really something to see this on the BIG screen too. The way Spielberg filled it with that expanse of sky. He did the same with filling the screen in 'Jaws' with shots of the ocean. I saw THAT one on opening day in Honolulu......while I was stationed over in Hawaii. I was over there on Oahu for a year.....surrounded by beaches & water.....but never went swimming in the ocean again....LOL

A great movie I've watched numerous times. Get emotional every time.

Hello TBR Schmitt, Wonderful reactions from the both of you! The Special Edition shows the interior of the spacecraft: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SmD-e3QSQ1k.html that is NOT seen the directors cut. I particularly enjoy it despite considered not being essential. There's a lot to unpack with this film but the pyschic connection is the most important detail. That's the reason why Roy was chosen over the astronauts. He; like everyone who had visions, was invited! Anyways, If you didn't catch it; 21:35 - R2D2 is attached to the mothership hull. You both are so young you missed noticing actors like a young Carl Weathers and Lance Henriksen. Thanks again for posting! Speilberg was on fire at this time and blew our minds for many years after. Have a great night to you both!

I still think this is one of the best films ever made. It looks stunning and it's 1977.

John Williams music is integral to so many films, including the Star Wars films and Spielberg’s Jaws.

The French dude was actually world famous director Francois Truffaut -- his appearance in this was a major attention-getter. Fun fact about his accent, when he delivers the line, "they belong here, more than we," it sounded like "zey belong heer, Mozambique." They crew had the phrase put onto t-shirts, and Truffaut reportedly thought it was pretty funny.

When the mothership is coming over the tower if you look closely there's a little R2-D2 model in the surface detail (it's upside down). It's a tip of the hat to his good friend George Lucas!

The eternal question: Is Roy a bad guy for running off and abandoning his family?

9:00, they are humming the film's theme.

The scene where the lights are coming through the blinds is the moment that I knew I wanted to devote my life to lighting.

The first time I saw this film was at an outdoor viewing at Devil's Tower in Wyoming. The tower was right behind the screen. It was sublime.

A masterpiece. Imagine seeing this on opening in 1977

Flight 19 is the cornerstone of the Bermuda Triangle mystery. The five planes disappeared on December 5, 1945 while on a training mission out of Fort Lauderdale Naval Air Station. One of the planes that was sent out on the search also disappeared. The most accepted explanation was that the flight leader became disoriented and the planes ditched at sea one by one as they ran out of fuel. The missing search plane was thought to have exploded in mid-air (the type of plane was known as a 'flying gas tank'). To the best of my knowledge, no wreckage from any of the planes was confirmed as found.

That actor that held up that picture is the one who played the lawyer in the movie Helter Skelter. :)

Such an amazing film. Love that John Williams incorporated ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ from Cinderella into the main theme. Fun Fact: when Barry is abducted, the crew didn’t tell Melinda Dillon that the house etc would go crazy; so her reaction to it is genuine. Also, the creatures were designed by Carlo Rambaldi; who designed ET & who also helped with the mechanics of the Sandworms in Dune & the inner mouth of HR Giger’s Alien in Ridley Scott’s classic.

Would like to second Adam Heskett's suggestion a month ago, “Contact” starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. It's based on Dr. Carl Sagan's sci-fi novel of the same name, one he wrote a few years after doing the 1980 "Cosmos" science series on TV. A very good series BTW if you're interested in astronomy, and other sciences. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson has done two new Cosmos series in recent years.

It's a film purely and simply about the question.... "Are we alone in this universe? And if not, then what?" It presents a story which is hopeful and idealistic, a story not trying to show the realistic and the expected chain of events were this to realistically happen, but a narrative which makes us think deeper about the idea about what it means to "not be alone", for there to be more life, more hope out there in the wider universe, for us to put away our pre-conceived notions of fear - to dare to think bigger and more hopefully. It's a great film in its execution and message, and while it may be very simple for a feature length film, the unique point it makes and how it answers its central question - "Are we alone in this universe?" - is both powerful and hopeful. Great reactions!

10:43, they used something called cloud tanks where they dipped white paint and other chemical mixtures to make that effect.