Close encounters of the first kind: Sighting of a UFO. Close encounters of the second kind: Physical evidence. Close encounters of the third kind: Contact.
J. Allen Hynek, who was famously hired by the US government to debunk UFO sightings and actually concluded that many sightings were phenomena that couldn't be explained, came up with the categories for UFO sightings while working on Project Blue Book. Close encounter of the first kind: sighting of a UFO. Close encounter of the second kind: a sighting where a physical effect is reported. Close encounter of the third kind: a sighting that also involves sighting of or communication with UFO occupants. Close encounter of the fourth kind (not by Hynek actually, but added later): involves abduction. Hynek actually cameos in the last scene of the film, which gave the film a little more credence in the UFO community. As though it needed that - most of the events of the first act are based on actual UFO reports.
Please note: the French official was played by the internationally-acclaimed François Truffaut. He was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic (he passed away about 7 years after this film's release). He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. To quote Roy over his sculpted mashed potatoes, "This means something; this is important" that Truffaut was a part of this film. It strikes me as Truffaut seeing Spielberg as a fellow auteur.
I think Roy is more than just obsessed. Both he and Jillian are propelled to make multiple images of the mountain shape, and, once they discover that it is Devil’s Tower, they experience an urgent need to go there. So, although they are obsessed, they are driven to it by the aliens. In other words, they are called to participate in the encounter.
Indeed, it isn't an obsession, it's a calling. Roy and Jillian had no choice in the matter, and they are compelled beyond all human reasoning. They had to be there. The visitors don't really understand us so they've no idea of the trauma they are causing by implanting their message.
This film every bit as much as Star Wars built the structure for media sci fi. As a kid of the 70s, I remember the birth of special effects, how this film and Star Wars blew my freakin' MIND. In fact, my parents, who were STEM nerds, went and saw Star Wars and told me later that they looked at each other like 10 minutes in and said, "we have to bring the kids!" I was 7 and my brother, 4. I still remember him standing stock still the entire film, pressed into the seat in front of him, openmouthed in wonder. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind still invoke that sense of wonder. Also, practical effects, people. Practical. Effects. Oh, and the music, Roy's descent into madness, and yes, the kidnapping scene.
One of my favorite movies of all time. The truck scene is so iconic, not to mention brilliant practical effects (you can see from the way he moves in the seat that he is on some kind of rig that is lifting and flipping that truck cabin).
In answer to your questions... 1: The movie was the next movie after Jaws. It came out in 1977 right after Star Wars. There was a time when the movies were shown at the same time in the theaters. 2: In UFO lore, there are three stages of "Close Encounters". The first kind is spotting the UFO. The second is when they leave evidence behind. Third is when you actually make contact. 3: The cloud going around the mountain was created using a "Cloud Tank". You fill a tank half full with salt water and the layer fresh water over it and then inject paint or dye in the upper layer. Your reaction to the mothership was priceless. Now imagine seeing it in a theater with a huge screen. A funny story was relayed by Dryfuss when he was working on Jaws. He knew that Spielberg was working on his next film and was thinking of hiring different actors for the role of Roy. Richard really wanted that role so he would keep on walking past Steven's door bad mouthing the other actors.
This movie was quite a cultural event the year it was released - it was referenced everywhere, tee shirts & merchandise everywhere, lots of people absolutely crazy about it. But since it didn't have endless sequels the cultural phenomenon seems to have sort of faded from memory.
Definitely. I remember seeing it at the cinema and really loving it. It got a lot of attention for a short time. But it was 1977 and although we didn't know it we were about to be treated to the first Star Wars film. I think that followed too closely, appealing to a lot of the same audience and overshadowing Close Encounters forever.
Actually, that's backwards (I'm old and I lived through 1977) Star Wars came out in the summer, and then CE3K came out at Christmas. Most everybody thought both of them were terrific (I personally way prefer CE3K), but the exciting war aspects of Star Wars, and its universe-building and even New Age religion-building with the Force and Jedis and all that, was an unstoppable juggernaut.
@@mrkelso You're right! It goes to show how inaccurate old memories can be. In my mind I saw Close Encounters first but in reality it must have been the other way around. I saw them both in the UK with later cinema release dates than in the US but it would have still been in the same order. In any case the two films will always be linked for me with a time when science fiction films broke into the mainstream.
This came out in 1977. So this is early Spielberg. I loved Richard Dreyfus so I love older Spielberg. You will get a bunch of references after seeing this. I was 3 when this came out and I Was not scared of the aliens. We saw it at a drive in.
I went to see this in the theatre with my mother when it first came out and I was in my mid-twenties and I had won the tickets in a radio contest. I remember coming out of the theatre and half expecting to see the huge UFO above us in the sky. I had a huge crush on Richard Dreyfus after this movie (and don't tell my husband but honestly, I still do.)
The cloud effects were done in a large water tank, with a tube injecting paint into the water. Besides the already mentioned R2-D2 on the mothership, there is also a U.S. Postal Service mailbox, a crashed Japanese Zero diorama, and many other items added to create busy detail. The final scenes of the base and the mothership were filmed inside a blimp hangar in Mobile, Alabama, because there were no sound stages at the time large enough.
Fun fact about Barry (the kid) in the scene where the house goes crazy, they told him beforehand what was going to happen so he wouldn't get scared. And he said when he was older in interviews, because he knew what was going to happen, he thought his mom's freaking out acting was funny, and he actually considered whispering to her what was going on so she wouldn't be scared 😂 (he was 3 years old at the time of filming)
The sunburn and the things that happen in the truck scene are also examples of an encounter of the 2nd kind. I believe it is the math/physics behind the sound & light show being used to attempt communication.
The song between the giant spaceship and the computer is actually a tuba versus a piccolo, my personal name for it is "Dueling Spaceships". Yes, I grew up camping frequently in Arizona, and I did see unexplained Lights in the night sky.
Wasn't sure which version you were watching until the bathtub scene here 11:44, which is the so-called Director's Cut. This scene wasn't in the original 1977 theatrical release and this version the more somber tone you mentioned earlier. Not a fan of this version, but love the original which has a more family/positive oriented tone you mentioned at the beginning. The dc version came out several years in 1980 as the "Special Edition" with scenes several added, a couple of humorous bits removed, and a major scene at the end added but not included this dc version here. If you watch Close Encounters again someday be sure to do the original 1977 release as it doesn't have that family violence scene but has a more humorous and positive vibe. And it did much better at the box office than directors cut or special edition. @ 29:50 The older man with the pipe here is Dr. J. Allen Hynek playing himself in this cameo. Research him a bit to see why he was here at this point in the movie. A thing to note on the topic of UFOs is very recently Congress held an open hearing on the subject and is kinda historic because they haven't had one in 50 years. There was a very different tone and acceptance in this hour and a half hearing than the government has ever taken before. One word they emphasized during it was "de-stigmatize" meaning they want more reporting from professionals and the public, and not ridicule as before. Look for it if interested as they had two high level government witnesses the committee was questioning. Very interesting! There's been rumors and a writing of Close Encounters is somewhat based on an actual event in the 60s or early 70s. ✌😎
Ya, Roy, Jillian, Barry, Larry, all those transported in helicopter, and all who didn’t make it, but had the same effect upon them, were given implanted messages. They couldn’t honestly help their behavior. That’s quite an intense invite. This film is in my top 20 of all time. In 2017, my husband, son, and I traveled up to Devil’s Tower in WY for the 40th anniversary of CEOTTK, where we watched the film at the base of DT, in a field next to the KOA campsite. Can’t tell you how much we love this film. If there’s a 50th anniversary film viewing at Devils Tower, we’re going!
Surprised by the big jump at the beginning. Always liked the scene where Dreyfus motions the truck to go around and the lights behind him rise instead of moving to the side. I was wondering if this was the special edition. Spielberg said one of the things he wanted to make clear that Roy was the only one taken at the end. The special edition includes Roy going in and seeing the inside. It also has a scene with a missing ship being found in the desert. It's interesting that Gillian was more interested in finding Barry. But Roy willingly abandoned his wife and kids. Spielberg said that after having his own kids, he could never imagine writing a scene of a man abandoning his family. Spielberg planned a follow up called Night Skies about a rural family being besieged by hostile aliens. He was producing and concept artist Ron Cobb was to direct. Spielberg decided to cancel that film in favor of ET: The Extra Terrestrial. Though some of Rick Baker's alien designs inspired the alien in ET.
CE3K is Spielberg's master work. It is massively acclaimed for a reason. It's simply a wonderful film. Inspiring, intelligent, emotionally moving. And using music to communicate with the aliens - music is a universal language like numbers and a logical way for humanity to try and communicate with a benign alien civilisation that is infinitely more advanced. I saw the film when I was in my teens and on the big screen it is an unforgettable experience of light, sound and sheer beauty.
I heard that Beethoven was deaf and that he conveyed music with numbers and that was how he made music, I feel that the music was to convey a conversation that is universal...... or so I understand.
@Blue Orb - Your comment sums up my thoughts about this entirely, though I've not yet had the honour of seeing this on the big screen yet, but I remain hopeful!
John Williams had 2 big films in '77 - Star Wars and Close Encounters. Both were nominated for best original score in the 1978 Academy Awards and Star Wars won.
CE-1:Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, seemingly less than 500 feet (150 m) away, that show an appreciable angular extension and considerable detail CE-2: A UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace CE-3: UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present-these include humanoids, robots, and humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of a UFO CE-4: A Close Encounter of the Fourth Kind is a UFO event in which a human is abducted by a UFO or its occupants. This type was not included in Hynek's original close encounters scale CE-5: A Close Encounter of the Fifth Kind is a UFO event claiming direct communication between aliens and humans.
@rhudoc3745 A CE-5 can also be where a witness encounters UFOs on a regular basis. This is where the term "Repeater Witness" comes from. But you've got the description of the other CEs correct. Also, you've made a very good point with regard to the CE-4 that this wasn't on Hynek original scale. In fact, the person who added CE-4 and CE-5 was Jacque Vallee. Sadly, Hynek passed away in 1986, when those scales were added to his original scale.
You should look at the miniatures that were built for this film on youtube. You can actually see the size of the mothership and people working on it. It looks awesome.
Devil's Tower was not a well known attraction yet when this came out I don't think. I certainly didn't know of it, and because of this movie it's always had an air of mysticism to me. I finally visited it a few years ago and was not disappointed. It's very weird and impressive. The site of the military encampment is now a campsite.
Encounters of the first kind would be a ufo sighting within a certain distance Second kind would be more like a landing that caused vegetation to die, maybe crop circles too? Third kind is actual contact with the alien
The late J. Allen Hynek created a classification system for close encounters. The First Kind: Sighting of one or more UFOs at a distance of 500 feet lor less. The Second Kind: Sighting of a UFO with associated physical effects (e.g. heat, electrical interference, etc). The Third Kind: Sighting of an animated being
In the mid-1970's , my wife and I were visiting a friend who lived in a house-trailer on a farm FAR out in the country-side ... as we were leaving , after midnight , we saw a bright light rise straight up out of the pasture next to the trailer ... after it reached about 100 feet altitude , it began moving toward us at about 10 or 20 MPH ... as it passed directly over us , I noticed (and said) "There's no noise !" ... a second or two later , there was the LOUD noise of a helicopter blaring at us ... the noise followed the light as it passed out of sight .... since that night , I have KNOWN that visitors are here , and that sometimes they forget what to do to disguise themselves !!!!
In all honesty, this movie was shot for a big cinema screen and that should be the only way it's being watched. The cinematography got an Oscar back then, for crying out loud.
you just reminded me..i had a dream last night i was at my grandparents house doing somthing, but in the distance i saw a storm cloud...it started to .light up...soon the whole cloud was a ball of lightning coming super fast, then a ship emerged from the cloud damaged and crashed...chased by another ship that just took off after ...coolest dream ive had in a while...lol
You ought to watch Joyeux Noel, it's a collaboration between French, Scottish, and German actors who wanted to portray the Christmas truce in World War One. I don't spoil it, but it's a historically authentic movie. That and Master and Commander if you havn't seen that yet.
If you want another Steven Spielberg. Richard Dreyfuss film watch 'Always' made in 1989. I suggest you watch it with one of your female friends though :)
Lens are protected with dust-repealing filters, these ones usually made by Zeiss, because they are the ones that making filming lens(it is just common to use same brand, or they may simply have proprietary mount mechanism).
This was an awesome movie... you can go see that ship at the Air and Space Museum ... I forget exactly where it is but I went there about 5 years ago when I went to Virginia... near DC. Was pretty cool!... not gonna lie.
Math is a concept that any alien that has found its way here must certainly understand, making it our best bet to establish communication. Lights and sounds have something in common: They have frequencies and thus can represent numbers. Then we must agree on a 'vocabulary' of numbers (if you ask me, we will just need 1 and 0 and the boolean algebra). That could be done by first sending simple encoded sequences (like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) and assuming that the aliens will respond in a similar manner. This may go back and forth for a time until we have agreed on a way to encode numbers. From there on we can try more complicated things, like trying to send two dimensional arrays of numbers, in hopes that the aliens have any concept of a images in this form. If you don't know their language, you can always send them a comic.
My entire family saw a spinning triangle with a light on each point. We were driving out to get food one night, then when we were coming back, we saw it, a black tringle, with alternating red and white lights on each point, it couldn't have been more than a couple hundred feet up, and it moved slowly. We all stared at it until it moved away off across the fields and the four of us all had to confirm to each other that we had seen that. We assumed it was something the military was messing with, we weren't far from an Air base.
One night my sister and I were walking and we saw something flying in the air with lights and such and we pulled out a camera to take a picture and it sped off and ruined the picture of it we took it was so scary!
Jaws - 1975 Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 1977 Raiders of the Lost Ark - 1981 E.T. The Extraterrestrial - 1982 Temple of Doom - 1984 Last Crusade - 1989 Hook - 1991 Schindler's List - 1993 Jurassic Park - 1993 The Lost World: Jurassic Park - 1997 Saving Private Ryan - 1998 Minority Report - 2002 War of the Worlds - 2005 Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 2008 Ready Player One - 2018 There are others not listed here, but these are probably his best/most famous.
My parents saw this in theaters on their first date. My mom mentions that everytime this movie is mentioned. 3 dates and then he proposed. 3 months and they got married. They were together for 42 years before my father passed.
I highly recommend Speilburg's first commercial film called "Duel" starring Dennis Weaver. It was made for TV on a shoestring but is a thriller about a big rig driver terrorizing a man on an isolated drive. It convinced Hollywood to give him a shot at film directing. Great reaction!
Near the end of CE3K, with the people in the helicopter wearing gas masks-- there is an old couple who smiles at Roy as he climbs aboard. The old man and woman were driving a car that Dennis Weaver waves down near the climax of DUEL; the woman grabs her husband's arm and yells "JEE-IM!" as the semi- starts backing toward them. Always made me think that Spielberg's films are set in the same universe. So . . . Is Marcus Brody (the Dean of Indiana Jones' college) the father of Chief Brody from JAWS?
Saw this at the theater. The French scientist was a tribute to the original scientist who came up with swamp gas. He later regretted that concept. Watch Cowboys and Aliens with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.
I was a counselor on some inner city kids programs when this first came out. As a charity, we could get free tickets for Saturday matinees. Try to visualize being in a darkened theater filled with kids seeing that mother ship arrive?
In "ufology", a close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses an unidentified flying object. Close Encounters of the First Kind = Visual sightings of an unidentified flying object, seemingly less than 500 feet (150 m) away, that show an appreciable angular extension and considerable detail Close Encounters of the Second Kind = A UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace Close Encounters of the Third Kind = UFO encounters in which an animated entity is present-these include humanoids, robots, and humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of a UFO
@@davidhabert When I saw this as a kid I wanted to know more because I didn't understand the meaning of the title. Spielberg also led me to my childhood heroes Eugenie Clark & Jacques Cousteau.
Yes, the "kind" has been coined by ufologists, and whether it's the first, second, third or fourth kind depends on to what extent you had an interaction with aliens or an alien craft, from just an observation of a craft at day or night, all the way to abduction (being taken on board of the craft, usually with unpleasant or downright horrendous medical experiments being involved). The definitions of "kinds" have changed over time, and the fourth kind was introduced later. The funny (or not so funny) thing about this movie is that while obviously, a large part of it is fictional/fictitious, certain ideas or scenes are based on the actual eyewitness accounts.
I was just looking at comments to see if I was the only one thinking it was weird! He cut some crucial scenes and showed some I have no recollection of. The railroad track scene especially!!
Yes, I have seen mysterious objects in the sky. Not saying they were alien craft, they were probably something ordinary but I was unable to Identify them at the time.
The entire John Williams score is "based" on When You Wish Upon A Star. But when you hearThe 5 notes of When You Wish Upon a Star @ 39.44> Just wow! My heart swells and Mr. Williams in genius!
This is one of my all time favourites that gets me and my mum philosophically talking, the comprehension of another state of mind and other beings within that state of mind. ooof the many hours spent and long after the film has finished the conversation go's on. I was saving this video for just the right time as I thoroughly enjoy your reaction from a fresh and un-byast point of view.
This was one of the last blockbusters that played in giant old movie theaters before they started to carve them all up into multiplexes in the early 1980s. What’s really interesting watching reactions for this movie is how cynical we are now. And that’s no surprise given what we’ve all been through in the past few decades. Waiting for something horrible to happen. But this movie really is one gigantic wonderful fairytale. And it still connects all these years later.
Oh wow, that's a movie I forgot ! I remember watching it so many times when I was a kid though ! Now "watching it" again with your review, I wonder how I was not just scared as a child !
I first saw this in the early 80s as a kid and it has remained one of my favorite stories ever told in any medium to this day. I’m a little jealous sometimes of all the younger generations that get to experience this for the first time.
During the truck experience, you can hear the five tones, obviously the aliens implanting a message into the subconscious. I like to think this is the first introduction of humankind into a galactic civilization of some sort.
10:47 I can't tell you how many times the mashed potatoes scene was satirized in shows like SNL. I'm pretty sure there are still memes out there about it.
If you want to see a Great Early Spielberg Movie Duel is it. Amazing Made for TV Movie that was so good they actually had Theatrical Release after it Aired
George Lucas who created the original star wars trilogy, actually invented the idea of indiana jones, and he and Spielberg developed it and wrote the stories together. Lucas was also heavily involved in their making.
Not true. Not at all on ET and Indy. Though he conceived ET and chipped in ideas for Indy, he didn't write either. He wrote the stories for Gremlins and Goonies, but then gave them to other writers to flesh out and turn into screenplays. He did do the final screenplay rewrite on A.I. but based on other people's stories. He co-wrote Poltergeist. Close Encounters is the only one of his movies that he completely wrote himself.
@@mrkelso A script is different from a story. A story might be 0.5 to 1 page or up to 30 pages. Story, "alien comes to earth, and gets left behind and befriends a little boy. The boy helps the alien call his people to go home" + more details. A script would be 120 pages for a 120 minute film, and is the final product the actors and directors all work with, that they follow in the shoot. Spielberg wrote ET and helped Lucas write Indiana Jones. They then hired other people to turn the stories into scripts.
Close Encounters was "older" Steven Spielberg, released in December of 1977. It was only his 3rd major theatrical film and his immediate follow-up to the classic Jaws 2½ years earlier. CEOTTK was also the 3rd team-up of Spielberg with composer John Williams.
One of my absolute fav movies. A true masterwork. It gets a bit slow in the middle, but all worth it for that amazing ending that STILL holds up today!
By the way, there are three versions of this film: the original theatrical version, the re-release where Spielberg added some shots, add the special edition where we actually see the inside of the mothership. What I recommend is that you read the special edition, and then switch yes, right, where they’re climbing the mountain and watch the one where they’re going inside the mothership.
It’s one of my favorite Spielberg films. My aunt says it was a big hit when it came out. Everyone knew the hand movement and the 5 tones that went with it. It’s one of the few movies that the aliens weren’t evil.
The whole "third kind" thing comes from old classification. First kind would be observing. Second kind is communicating. Third kind is physically meeting
Two or three years after this movie came out, that same kid played a sweet alien child stranded on Earth who meets and is helped by a sheriff, waiting for his alien parents to come pick him up. It was an Italian sci-fi/action/comedy called Uno Sceriffo Extraterrestre ("The Sheriff and the Satellite Kid"). 🌍
If I remember correctly... Encounters of the First Kind were seeing a UFO in flight or landed. The Second Kind was seeing physicial evidence such as landing marks, tracks, etc. The Third Kind was actually seeing aliens, possibly interacting with them. The Fourth Kind (some debate if there was one) was what we'd call abduction and all that that entails. Bear in mind that it has been a fee decades since I've thought about this system. That man at the landing site wasn't running for cover. He was running to a porta potty. Literally had the stuff scared out of him. Some of the outdoor scenes, like the aliens at his truck and the farmhouse were locations in south Alabama. Some others were sets inside an old airship hanger at a military base either in south Alabama or Florida panhandle. See the replies for a story like you asked for.
Second try. Back in the 90s, a friend's grandfather had a farm and a house there. He didn't live in it and the family visited now and then. I had been invited on some of those visits. When we were about 18, friend and I were allowed to go on our own. We'd been there a night or two. We were also sleeping in the den because the house was usually shut up and the beds were musty. Since we knew that might happen, we took pillows and blankets. I was sleeping in a recliner and my friend on the sofa. I woke up in the night and felt something was wrong. When I rolled over to look at the room, I saw a figure in thw doorway backlight by the hall light. It wasn't very tall and seemed all one color with no features, meaning it didn't have discernable clothes, hair, or facial features. Could only see it from mid torso up because it was more or less behind the chair at the other end of the sofa. When I rolled back over to get my glasses there was kind of a vertigo moment or little blackout, but nothing else changed in what I was doing. By the time I had my glasses on and looked back, it was gone. Now my vision wasn't great but not so bad and I could recognize people at greater distance than this without my glasses on. I woke up my friend and told him there was someone in the house. He got up and we checked the house. Nothing, and all doors and windows still locked. We went back to the den and he said he was glad that I woke him up because he was dreaming the aliens had him on their ship and were doing experiments on him. I told him that it had looked like a Grey standing in the doorway but I didn't tell him that because he wouldn't believe it as he did not believe in aliens. We then got our rifles and went outside to check. We didn't find anything, but it was around 1 am and not very bright. We did find the farm dog, however. He was moderately friendly but normally didn't stay around the house. It was shaking like it was freezing even though it was a comfortable night. It went behind some bushes against the house like it was hiding and would not move when we called it. And no, it wasn't scared of the guns. It knew what those were and followed us around at other times when we had them, but lost interest when we only shot targets instead of actually hunting. So we went back inside and locked up, intending to stay up the rest of the night. We turned on the tv to an independent station that played mostly heavy metal and hard rock videos. One of the commercials was a beer commercial of some people partying in a field when a ufo landed and some glowing blue aliens got out and partied with them. We joked we did not need to see something about aliens just then. We stayed up until dawn then went out for another look around. Didn't find anything near the house or in the fields, not even the dog. So far as I know he was never seen again. We went to sleep for a bit and decided to leave late in the afternoon rather than stay the next couple of nights.
A close encounter is an event in which a person witnesses an unidentified flying object. The "close encounter" terminology uses a system of classification of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd kinds: A "Close Encounter of the First Kind" is a visual sighting of an unidentified flying object. A "Close Encounter of the Second Kind" is a UFO event in which a physical effect is alleged; this can be interference in the functioning of a vehicle or electronic device, animals reacting, a physiological effect such as paralysis or heat and discomfort in the witness, or some physical trace like impressions in the ground, scorched or otherwise affected vegetation, or a chemical trace. A "Close Encounter of the Third Kind" is a UFO encounter in which an entity is present-these include aliens, robots, or humans who seem to be occupants or pilots of the UFO
what you need to remember that travelling at the speed of light time runs slower so to the people taken away it might be only a few weeks passed before they came back, but for time here many years had passed , that why the pilots had not really aged much.
I saw this in the theater when it first came out. The place was packed, so we got stuck sitting in the front row, which is normally a bad place to be. Until that space ship landed right on our heads. Still one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
This a guess by me but I think "..of the Third Kind" means face to face. A first kind might be written, a second could be verbal. The universe is made up of light and its spectrums as well as math so the mixing of the two for communication between two species makes perfect sense, a beginning...I think it was brilliant thinking on the writers, which was lead by Spielberg of course
I'm fairly new to your channel, but loving the reactions. I grew up with the vhs to this film and loved it. Many have already explained parts to this that you questioned. SO I can only say that, like many of Spielberg's films, it was definitely before its time and made a mark on film history. For a 70's film to still have such an effect people want to watch it again is amazing. My mother loved it and a kid willing to watch with their parents a while "adult" movie it goes to show it captures the imagination so well. I wish there was a follow up, but only if Spielberg writes it.
1. I was in High School and working at three different movie theaters, including a drive-in. So I got to watch this on the big screen. Talk about AWESOME😱 2. Terri Garr played Helga in Young Frankenstein. 3. $2,500 globe in 1977. How much would that sucker be today? 4. Imagine how scary it would be to have that thing over your house and they take your baby. 5. "We're gonna need a bigger mountain"😒😲 6. When Spidey raises his arms: "Sup Bitches"!😁 7. Since Roy's marriage is now over it's too bad he didn't get a chance with Jillian/Barry's mom😎 8. I went with my family when I was a kid and got to visit the Devils Tower before this was filmed.. 9. Love it. One of the top 10 movies to watch before you die.
a close encounter of the first type is when you "see an unidentified object" a close encounter of the second type is when you have some type of communication with the unidentified object and the third close encounter is when you see the aliens
If you listen to the dialogue during the musical communication scene you will hear them say that they don’t know what they are saying to each other either and that they hoped someone was writing everything down. And my best guess is that they were communicating the release of the people they took with them.
One time while I was at college in Phoenix, AZ there was a massive thunder and lightning storm outside so me and my roommates and some of our other friends went up on top of a parking structure and we watched the lightning and listened to the thunder. In a random chance I turned around and was watching behind us when I saw crazy amounts of lightning lighting up the sky and above it, in the clouds, flashes of blue, red and green lights from these little circles. The flashes were perfectly timed with the lightning and they flashed about three times really quick and then were gone. Next to me I heard my roommate say, "What the f*ck was that?" and I turned and saw he was facing the same way as me. I said "You saw that too?" and he just kept looking in that spot and said "yeah, what was that?" and I just said I don't know. We were the only ones to see it and I still don't know what it was we saw but it reminded me of this movie.
Music & math are inexorably-intertwined. Pythagoras (of Pythagorean Theorem fame) is a well-known ancient Greek philosopher who established math as a way to define music. Considering music is sound and sound is based on vibration (wavelength) of matter (conveyed by air molecules transferring vibrations), math is at the heart of sound and music. To step out further, math is a very concise way to transmit information. A lot of information/explanation is encapsulated in mathematical expressions. To step back to the Pythagorean Theorem, a^2 + b^2 = c^2 conveys a lot about right triangles, and it provides a means to quantify anything you can break down to right triangles. Step out much further from algebraic expressions to calculus, and the mathematical expressions become supercharged. There is mind-blowing elegance in calculus expressions; there are whole universes described in them. The most well-known expression (to the average individual) is E = MC^2; a lot of power delineated in that simple string of characters, but it's the math that does the heavy lifting. Math is what enables us to describe, reproduce, and manipulate our physical environment. Without math we could not have left the planet and gone into space. Without math we can't return from space. Without math we can't explore; even in our technological infancy humans relied on math to go to sea and return. So the popular idea is that math is something any species capable of space travel would understand and use. And sound is the best medium of communicating math, getting us past unintelligible words or written symbolism. First contact attempts usually start with prime numbers: One beep, 3 beeps, 5 beeps, 7 beeps, 11 beeps, and so on... It establishes a mathematical conversation, a likely common ground, to start from. (In the 1997 film Contact (adapted from Carl Sagan's novel by the same name), Ellie Arroway and her team of radio telescope ET hunters pick up a repeating signal from the nearby star Vega (around 25 light years away). Tuning in they quickly realise the message contains the sequence of early prime numbers 2, 3, 5, 7, 11.) So in this film, early on, the 5-tone presentation is introduced as the aliens' calling card, their way of saying 'hi'. And when we set up to meet them at Devil's Tower, we begin our encounter using their introductory 'hi!'
Loved this reaction. I find it fascinating that newer viewers of this film (my all time favorite film) always seem to get very hung up on the fact that Roy decided to sacrifice his family life for his unprecedented opportunity to become the first Human ambassador to Aliens in history. Yes, its a big sacrifice, but through History, men and women have sacrificed family/friends/lifestyle to explore, to discover, and to acheive great things for humanity. Is Roy neary all that different from Astronauts who went/go into space? Their job is highly dangerous, they may never get to see their families again, yet they still do it. Great acheivements require sacrifice. I see Roy as a Hero.
In the early seventies there was a story that was floating around in the UFO circles. That there was an exchange of technology and people with aliens. That's what this movie was supposedly inspired from.
26:25 Pool half filled with normal and salt water. A barrier is created at the border of two layers. With the help of paints, you can simulate "cloud effect". We played like that in kindergarten. Old trick 😉
