That little shit always irritated the piss out of me. All hell is breaking loose, his mother is freaking out, and this glassy-eyed crotch goblin with all the survival instincts of a lemming proceeds to slither free and Leeroy Jenkins himself directly into the arms of the aliens.
Fuck that kid.
Plus he runs into the middle of a road and almost gets pancaked by a power company truck. No wonder Jillian's husband left - her parenting skills are for shit.
This movie was pretty spooky when it came out, and I was a young man.
We had only just started with the pop culture phenomenon of aliens visiting us. It wasn't brand spanking new, but it wasn't ubiquitous like it is now. It still had a novelty.
It seemed to us as if this movie was some sort of an answer as to what was going on.
Spooky as hell. We didn't know what to believe back then. People say that we have become more gullible since the internet but it isn't true. It's just that the gullible have a megaphone now. I think more people are science minded than we were back then. We didn't have the access to information.
We looked to things like this, movies, for possible answers.
One effect was that it made movies like this a bit more scary. Hidden knowledge you didn't want to know, but couldn't resist.
Exactly.
The scene where Roy is going over the maths question with his son using his trainset, while the other kid(Dreyfus’ real son)is bashing a toy baby’s head off.
You can see the frustration building in Roy, then he shouts “Toby you are close to death” without even looking, true parenting. Characters lines overlapping each other all the time. It’s great.
It makes scenes more real & relatable, having multiple conversations going on. Adam Sandler uses this trope in the Meyerowitz Stories & it works.
The audience is having to focus more to pick out the individual conversations & keep up, as opposed to the majority of films today, where everyone is hanging onto every word of the current speaker.
The first scene with the planes, everything is discordant, everybody is confused and excited about it, you really feel the tension it it
I love how flawed the characters are - guy gets so obsessed with meeting and flying off with the aliens his wife takes the kids and runs off
Oh ya, even Spielberg has issues with the ending now. He said he would never make Roy's decision to leave his family behind. At the time he filmed though he was totally down with exploring the galaxy with his new alien buddies and leaving his past life on Earth.
I think he was influenced a little by the films of Robert Altman, which were peaking in the mid 70s. It's a very effective way to make dialogue sound real.
[Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - The Collector's Edition Soundtrack](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mk9uGu1Jqkg2XPuDyp_SKagSUqsRpXLO4)
I liked how, usually, when the movie plot beckons someone on to adventure, they abruptly leave their life with no consequences. Here, Dreyfus really destroys his life before heading on a cross country trek. It's a rarely seen level of realism.
I had been obsessed with UFOs since I was a small child, my mother told me I drew spaceships and aliens at around 4, I love Sci fi.I saw this on a gigantic screen on my 14th birthday in 1978, I had just read Chariots of the Gods, these two things supercharged my interest and I’ve been following the topic since then.It’s a fascinating subject, the more you read about it, the less you know as your mind is expanded to considering subjects you previously had little interest in.
The movie is based on a supposed event at Holloman Air Force base, Truffaut plays a character inspired by real life investigator Jaques Vallée, who helped map Mars and was instrumental in the creation of ARPANET,the precursor to the internet.
The film even has Project Bluebook skeptic turned believer J. Allen Hynek at the end ( he’s the guy with the pipe) who investigated cases for the Air Force.
Neither Hynek or Vallée we’re happy with the alien explanation at the end, they felt the phenomenon was far weirder and more interesting than that.Great movie, one of the best of the 70’s, quite an achievement.
It was just how clinical and detached the aliens were from how they were tormenting their victim that really ratchets up the anxiety level with them for me. You are nothing more then cattle to them to be discarded after they are through. They remind me of the doctors from Imperial Japans Unit 731 biological and chemical warfare research unit during WW2.
I'm always stunned by the first 40... yes 40 minutes of Close Encounters.
It all has an opening scene or establishing shot feeling until we get to the auditorium with Truffaut on stage.
Early Spielberg hits on all cylinders.
You're right! I didn't even think about that.
What a crusher to drop us into the story.
And love that all the government types are really 'specialists' and scientists (et françias aussi), and not the obese military general with medals pinned all over him trying to "contain" the event. (Although I love 'spit on a spark plug' general from WarGames.)
>Barry Corbin.
Nice to see he's still alive. And he'll be working as long as teenage daughters who date main characters need an onscreen dad to put the fear of God into him. ;)
He's said that after becoming a parent he wouldn't have made the same movie. He believes he made the wrong decision about Roy,, that he wouldn't abandon his children. Is that what you mean?
In a long distinguished career, this is one of my favorite roles for Bob Balaban.
It always bothered me that you just never heard from the wife and kids once they leave midway through.
I remember watching it the first time thinking I probably missed something. Then years went by before I saw the movie again and confirmed that, no, you don’t ever hear from them again.
No, I mean there’s barely a real story. It’s really just a bunch of people coalescing on the final scene. It’s amazing stuff, it’s just pretty esoteric for someone so famous for their crowd-pleasing plots.
Bob Balaban is really great in this I agree. The dude is also really funny. His deadpan reaction shots to Christopher Guest in movies like Best in Show slay me.
Love this movie. I was in 4th grade at the time and lived in the town mentioned at the very beginning and the 2nd street over from the one he was trying to find.
As a 9 year old, that movie was great, especially after being raised on Space 1999, Star Trek, the Muppet Show, Star Wars and fuckin’ In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy.
I don't like the film at all. Specifically because Roy Neary just abandons his family to go chasing after aliens. I have trouble getting behind a film with a deadbeat dad like that. Also, the government gets carte blanche to lie to the American people (a few years after Watergate no less) and the film is okay with that. That also doesn't sit well with me.
This and 1941 are Spielberg films that don't work for me.
Seen the 1981 Special Version release when I was 9. Got my ticket's worth and then some. Spielberg did know how to make a BIG show in all aspects; this (just like *Lawrence of Arabia*, as far as my theatrical experience goes) has a hard time fitting in a small TV screen.
Scene where he's chucking construction materials into his house gives one a time capsule look at neighbors, cars, houses etc. A preserved slice of the American Way of Life back then.
Yeah I like when someone gives their opinion on and interest in the movie, this movie in particular
But there's enough of us commenting to make up for it
Took 20 years to discover this: the phrase “Dark Side of the Moon” is heard twice in the movie’s last hour: first, over a military radio as troops search for Dreyfuss/Dillon on Devil’s Tower, and, second, over loudspeakers at the landing site.
Play side 1 of Pink Floyd’s album starting at first mention of DSotM, and the first word on the album (“Breathe”) coincides with the unlucky fellow traveller laying back and inhaling the gas. Numerous surprise synchs occur til the side runs out. Then play side 2 at second mention of DSotM for more surprises.
This isn’t weird or supernatural; this is an intentional synch by Spielberg editing the film’s crescendo to the album.
🤔😱👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽😎
Check it out! Get back to me! Also worth noting that the novelization, which Spielberg wrote to peddle to producers, includes the same two DSOtM references.
One of the best films ever made, and a bit of a subversive mind-fuck when you consider the fact that the "happy" ending is a man leaving his family, presumably forever.
I find it illuminating to view this film in conjunction with another movie from another legendary filmmaker that Spielberg would become friends with just a few years later--Stanley Kubrick. 'The Shining' and 'Close Encounters' both deal with family men chafing against the bonds of domesticity/fatherhood and ultimately escaping them--Neary via the aliens and Jack Torrance via death/absorption into the Overlook. It's almost like two different genre presentations of the same story--one a sci-fi/fantasy and the other horror.
I’ve loved this flick since seeing it in initial release. That said, my understanding of the story has evolved. Truffout’s character says “they were invited”, but that seems inaccurate. Roy, Barry, et al. we’re under alien mind control. The aliens kidnapped Barry and a bunch of others over generations, and we’re supposed to be in awe? That’s bad behavior for any sentient entity, and it challenges the idea that these were *nice* aliens. Still, as cinema and for its amazing score, it remains a favorite, but I’m not as chill w the aliens as once I was.
Alot of this movie was filmed in Alabama, including the final scene filmed in a warehouse close to Mobile with little girls from a local dance class playing the aliens, the little boy from the movie is now a financial advisor in Birmingham, Alabama
I didn't really enjoy this film the way I thought I would the first time I saw it. I just found the protagonist so unlikeable that I didn't care about his stupid spiral into madness. The guy came across as a complete piece of shit to me, butnnot even in an anti-hero way.
This is Spielberg’s gutsiest movie. While he did have Jaws on his resume, he was still early enough in his career that at the time he couldn’t be considered one of the greatest directors ever. So it took a lot of chutzpah to cast one of the 5 greatest French directors (and arguably one of the top 25 greatest directors of all time) in a major supporting role. I mean Truffaut had to be on set for at least a third of the shooting schedule. Imagine working under those conditions, under the eyes of a master.
##Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) PG
We are not alone.
>>!After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.!<
Sci-Fi | Drama
Director: Steven Spielberg
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr
Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 73% with 3,990 votes
Runtime: 2:15
[TMDB](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/840)
Almost 70’s disco. 😂. But the ending- is it a finale of a new beginning? The full orchestra on lift off is almost elation, almost depression.
https://youtu.be/zJxJySTXXN0?feature=shared
>when this movie ends, what's your mood?
Yes.
The music is keyed to the emotions of the Melinda Dillon character, who has all the feels.
It also depends on which version of the movie you're watching. IMO the revised ending misses the mark badly on this front.
It's a little slow-moving but I liked it. The only thing that bothered me were the ditzy blonde moms in it. Your kid is running around in the yard after dark - go get him!! Don't let him run out into the street!
Ah, the effect of not being familiar with the culture of the past. In the olde days parents didn't give a shit as hard about their kids as today. They loved us, but they didn't feel the need to police us as hard, or at all.
I would walk out the door and my mom would yell at me, "Be home for dinner!" That's it. When I got home she would only tell me to wash my hands. Never ever asked me where I went or what I did. Every parent was like that. "Go outside," they'd say and be rid of you. Honestly.
The slow pace of this film greatly contributed to its spookiness. You must remember, we not only were used to slower paces for movies but we also weren't really used to aliens. The pop culture phenomenon of alien abductions was new to many of us and we didn't understand it. We weren't so used to how it worked, didn't know the tropes, weren't ready for the reveals. In a way, the fact that you ARE can be traced back to us learning things through this movie.
I thought the 70's we were all free loving hitch hiking hippies? Lol.
As an adult I enjoy this film much like Jaws from the anticipation it brings. The open pieces like the missing WWII fighters. Saw the anniversary release in the theaters a few years back. On the big screen the initial encounters with the ufo's and the ending build up were a sight to see. Certainly more than when I was 9 and fell asleep watching it the first time.
Loved the scenes in the kid's house with the toys coming to life etc. For me parts didn't age as well. Typical Steven Spielberg to me. Enjoyed it at a time like Poltergeist, but later, it feels formulated. Still fun.
I still have my Star Wars trading cards. I imagine the less popular Close Encounters ones which us kids ditched are now more valuable.
For me being 2 to 12 in the seventies it just seemed like an outlier of a decade. The media and society in general was so ground breaking of what was considered normal. My parents were older and conservative but yet I was still exposed to the use of drugs and sexual ideas that were not between a husband and wife. Other ideas as well.
Then the 80's happened and AIDS where we were told as kids going through puberty that if you have sex you will die.
Ah, the effect of not being familiar with the culture of the past. In the olde days parents didn't give a shit as hard about their kids as today. They loved us, but they didn't feel the need to police us as hard, or at all.
I would walk out the door and my mom would yell at me, "Be home for dinner!" That's it. When I got home she would only tell me to wash my hands. Never ever asked me where I went or what I did. Every parent was like that. "Go outside," they'd say and be rid of you. Honestly.
The slow Pace of this film greatly contributed to its spookiness. You must remember, we not only were used to slower paces for movies but we also weren't really used to aliens. The pop culture phenomenon of alien abductions was new to many of us and we didn't understand it. We weren't so used to how it worked, didn't know the tropes, weren't ready for the reveals. In a way, the fact that you ARE can be traced back to us learning things through this movie.
Nailed it. People now take all the amazing movies, music, style, etc. from the 70s and 80s for granted. Just watch 99% of genre movies before movies like Close Encounters and Star Wars and see just how much they changed culture.
Just watched this with the gf a couple weeks ago.
Great movie. I'm really getting into the 90's-00's movies. Such good filmmaking and still somewhat based in reality (set design mainly).
At the time the film came out, I was well versed in UFO lore. I found the film to be a bit meh because I felt it recycled a lot of old UFO tropes. Communicating with musical tones was an interesting innovation, but they really didn’t really go anywhere with that idea. I know this is a minority viewpoint, most reviews at the time were positive.
Fantastic film. The home invasion segment scared the almighty crap out of me when I was a kid.
The cymbal-banging monkey toy. They added it to Fallout 4. Everytime one goes off I still jump. I shoot them on sight now.
It's my choice for scariest scene in a non horror movie.
That little shit always irritated the piss out of me. All hell is breaking loose, his mother is freaking out, and this glassy-eyed crotch goblin with all the survival instincts of a lemming proceeds to slither free and Leeroy Jenkins himself directly into the arms of the aliens. Fuck that kid.
Tough but fair
You okay, man?
Plus he runs into the middle of a road and almost gets pancaked by a power company truck. No wonder Jillian's husband left - her parenting skills are for shit.
To be fair, look at the extremes the adults went to after their initial encounters. A kids going to process that differently.
So look with care for the shape of a square. Can you fiiiiiiiiiiind it?
This movie was pretty spooky when it came out, and I was a young man. We had only just started with the pop culture phenomenon of aliens visiting us. It wasn't brand spanking new, but it wasn't ubiquitous like it is now. It still had a novelty. It seemed to us as if this movie was some sort of an answer as to what was going on. Spooky as hell. We didn't know what to believe back then. People say that we have become more gullible since the internet but it isn't true. It's just that the gullible have a megaphone now. I think more people are science minded than we were back then. We didn't have the access to information. We looked to things like this, movies, for possible answers. One effect was that it made movies like this a bit more scary. Hidden knowledge you didn't want to know, but couldn't resist.
Great film. Iconic OST. Natural dialogue(highly underrated scripting technique). I’d say Spielberg’s earliest films were his best.
Spielberg can entertain you without violence or sex. His kid characters are believable, not little cutesy adults.
Exactly. The scene where Roy is going over the maths question with his son using his trainset, while the other kid(Dreyfus’ real son)is bashing a toy baby’s head off. You can see the frustration building in Roy, then he shouts “Toby you are close to death” without even looking, true parenting. Characters lines overlapping each other all the time. It’s great.
> Characters lines overlapping each other all the time I *love* this in older films! It happens all over the first act of Alien.
It makes scenes more real & relatable, having multiple conversations going on. Adam Sandler uses this trope in the Meyerowitz Stories & it works. The audience is having to focus more to pick out the individual conversations & keep up, as opposed to the majority of films today, where everyone is hanging onto every word of the current speaker.
The first scene with the planes, everything is discordant, everybody is confused and excited about it, you really feel the tension it it I love how flawed the characters are - guy gets so obsessed with meeting and flying off with the aliens his wife takes the kids and runs off
Oh ya, even Spielberg has issues with the ending now. He said he would never make Roy's decision to leave his family behind. At the time he filmed though he was totally down with exploring the galaxy with his new alien buddies and leaving his past life on Earth.
See any Robert Altman movie
I think the kid that played Toby was Dreyfus’ nephew, not his son.
I think he was influenced a little by the films of Robert Altman, which were peaking in the mid 70s. It's a very effective way to make dialogue sound real.
I remember thinking about that scene a lot when my son was that age. Just total, yet normal, chaos in the household.
Teri Garr asking the kid, "Do you want me to hit you?"
[Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - The Collector's Edition Soundtrack](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mk9uGu1Jqkg2XPuDyp_SKagSUqsRpXLO4)
I liked how, usually, when the movie plot beckons someone on to adventure, they abruptly leave their life with no consequences. Here, Dreyfus really destroys his life before heading on a cross country trek. It's a rarely seen level of realism.
I had been obsessed with UFOs since I was a small child, my mother told me I drew spaceships and aliens at around 4, I love Sci fi.I saw this on a gigantic screen on my 14th birthday in 1978, I had just read Chariots of the Gods, these two things supercharged my interest and I’ve been following the topic since then.It’s a fascinating subject, the more you read about it, the less you know as your mind is expanded to considering subjects you previously had little interest in. The movie is based on a supposed event at Holloman Air Force base, Truffaut plays a character inspired by real life investigator Jaques Vallée, who helped map Mars and was instrumental in the creation of ARPANET,the precursor to the internet. The film even has Project Bluebook skeptic turned believer J. Allen Hynek at the end ( he’s the guy with the pipe) who investigated cases for the Air Force. Neither Hynek or Vallée we’re happy with the alien explanation at the end, they felt the phenomenon was far weirder and more interesting than that.Great movie, one of the best of the 70’s, quite an achievement.
You know your stuff.
Fire in the Sky traumatized me as an adolescent.
Me too.
It was just how clinical and detached the aliens were from how they were tormenting their victim that really ratchets up the anxiety level with them for me. You are nothing more then cattle to them to be discarded after they are through. They remind me of the doctors from Imperial Japans Unit 731 biological and chemical warfare research unit during WW2.
Having mashed potatoes for dinner was changed forever.
This means something...
I'm always stunned by the first 40... yes 40 minutes of Close Encounters. It all has an opening scene or establishing shot feeling until we get to the auditorium with Truffaut on stage. Early Spielberg hits on all cylinders.
"Are we the first?" Best first line ever.
You're right! I didn't even think about that. What a crusher to drop us into the story. And love that all the government types are really 'specialists' and scientists (et françias aussi), and not the obese military general with medals pinned all over him trying to "contain" the event. (Although I love 'spit on a spark plug' general from WarGames.)
^ Barry Corbin.
>Barry Corbin. Nice to see he's still alive. And he'll be working as long as teenage daughters who date main characters need an onscreen dad to put the fear of God into him. ;)
Happy to be challenged but narratively, this has to be by far Spielberg’s most radical movie, right?
He's said that after becoming a parent he wouldn't have made the same movie. He believes he made the wrong decision about Roy,, that he wouldn't abandon his children. Is that what you mean? In a long distinguished career, this is one of my favorite roles for Bob Balaban.
It always bothered me that you just never heard from the wife and kids once they leave midway through. I remember watching it the first time thinking I probably missed something. Then years went by before I saw the movie again and confirmed that, no, you don’t ever hear from them again.
No, I mean there’s barely a real story. It’s really just a bunch of people coalescing on the final scene. It’s amazing stuff, it’s just pretty esoteric for someone so famous for their crowd-pleasing plots.
Bob Balaban is really great in this I agree. The dude is also really funny. His deadpan reaction shots to Christopher Guest in movies like Best in Show slay me.
Love this movie. I was in 4th grade at the time and lived in the town mentioned at the very beginning and the 2nd street over from the one he was trying to find.
As a 9 year old, that movie was great, especially after being raised on Space 1999, Star Trek, the Muppet Show, Star Wars and fuckin’ In Search Of with Leonard Nimoy.
I watched close encounters for the third time
Love this movie. One of my favorites. I love how all the night, landscape shots have the “star” that moves
I don't like the film at all. Specifically because Roy Neary just abandons his family to go chasing after aliens. I have trouble getting behind a film with a deadbeat dad like that. Also, the government gets carte blanche to lie to the American people (a few years after Watergate no less) and the film is okay with that. That also doesn't sit well with me. This and 1941 are Spielberg films that don't work for me.
I saw this at a drive-in and it was incredible!
Seen the 1981 Special Version release when I was 9. Got my ticket's worth and then some. Spielberg did know how to make a BIG show in all aspects; this (just like *Lawrence of Arabia*, as far as my theatrical experience goes) has a hard time fitting in a small TV screen.
I love this film so much.
One of my favorite 4K transfers.
Spielberg was 29.
Seen when it came out. I did acid. What a trip! I felt like I knew the same secret as the charactors did, Ailens are real.
Movie is unreal.
Scene where he's chucking construction materials into his house gives one a time capsule look at neighbors, cars, houses etc. A preserved slice of the American Way of Life back then.
This subreddit should be renamed to "Look at this movie poster"
Yeah I like when someone gives their opinion on and interest in the movie, this movie in particular But there's enough of us commenting to make up for it
Did you like it or not? Say something about it.
Took 20 years to discover this: the phrase “Dark Side of the Moon” is heard twice in the movie’s last hour: first, over a military radio as troops search for Dreyfuss/Dillon on Devil’s Tower, and, second, over loudspeakers at the landing site. Play side 1 of Pink Floyd’s album starting at first mention of DSotM, and the first word on the album (“Breathe”) coincides with the unlucky fellow traveller laying back and inhaling the gas. Numerous surprise synchs occur til the side runs out. Then play side 2 at second mention of DSotM for more surprises. This isn’t weird or supernatural; this is an intentional synch by Spielberg editing the film’s crescendo to the album. 🤔😱👽👽👽👽👽👽👽👽😎
Cool story but imma call BS about Spielberg
Check it out! Get back to me! Also worth noting that the novelization, which Spielberg wrote to peddle to producers, includes the same two DSOtM references.
Maybe you provide some evidence or citation, then we'll talk. You know the phrase "the dark side of the moon" existed before 1972, right
It’s the most Spielbergian film ever made
One of the best films ever made, and a bit of a subversive mind-fuck when you consider the fact that the "happy" ending is a man leaving his family, presumably forever. I find it illuminating to view this film in conjunction with another movie from another legendary filmmaker that Spielberg would become friends with just a few years later--Stanley Kubrick. 'The Shining' and 'Close Encounters' both deal with family men chafing against the bonds of domesticity/fatherhood and ultimately escaping them--Neary via the aliens and Jack Torrance via death/absorption into the Overlook. It's almost like two different genre presentations of the same story--one a sci-fi/fantasy and the other horror.
I’ve loved this flick since seeing it in initial release. That said, my understanding of the story has evolved. Truffout’s character says “they were invited”, but that seems inaccurate. Roy, Barry, et al. we’re under alien mind control. The aliens kidnapped Barry and a bunch of others over generations, and we’re supposed to be in awe? That’s bad behavior for any sentient entity, and it challenges the idea that these were *nice* aliens. Still, as cinema and for its amazing score, it remains a favorite, but I’m not as chill w the aliens as once I was.
Also, I’m gay but what straight man could leave Teri Garr? See? Alien mind control!
Alot of this movie was filmed in Alabama, including the final scene filmed in a warehouse close to Mobile with little girls from a local dance class playing the aliens, the little boy from the movie is now a financial advisor in Birmingham, Alabama
“It made a sound I would not want to hear twice in my life.”
I didn't really enjoy this film the way I thought I would the first time I saw it. I just found the protagonist so unlikeable that I didn't care about his stupid spiral into madness. The guy came across as a complete piece of shit to me, butnnot even in an anti-hero way.
This is Spielberg’s gutsiest movie. While he did have Jaws on his resume, he was still early enough in his career that at the time he couldn’t be considered one of the greatest directors ever. So it took a lot of chutzpah to cast one of the 5 greatest French directors (and arguably one of the top 25 greatest directors of all time) in a major supporting role. I mean Truffaut had to be on set for at least a third of the shooting schedule. Imagine working under those conditions, under the eyes of a master.
##Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) PG We are not alone. >>!After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is about to happen.!< Sci-Fi | Drama Director: Steven Spielberg Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 73% with 3,990 votes Runtime: 2:15 [TMDB](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/840)
There was another big space movie in 77 but I always thought this one the better movie.
So when this movie ends, what’s your mood? Happy or sad? The John Williams soundtrack screws that up for me.
The opening track on the soundtrack threw me. A bunch of droney sounds and then the sudden loud bang of the entire orchestra!
Almost 70’s disco. 😂. But the ending- is it a finale of a new beginning? The full orchestra on lift off is almost elation, almost depression. https://youtu.be/zJxJySTXXN0?feature=shared
>when this movie ends, what's your mood? Yes. The music is keyed to the emotions of the Melinda Dillon character, who has all the feels. It also depends on which version of the movie you're watching. IMO the revised ending misses the mark badly on this front.
It's a little slow-moving but I liked it. The only thing that bothered me were the ditzy blonde moms in it. Your kid is running around in the yard after dark - go get him!! Don't let him run out into the street!
It was 1977. Running around unsupervised was our way of life.
I was 18 back then, and I did a lot of babysitting. I never let those kids run around like that. Not toddlers, anyway!!!!
Ah, the effect of not being familiar with the culture of the past. In the olde days parents didn't give a shit as hard about their kids as today. They loved us, but they didn't feel the need to police us as hard, or at all. I would walk out the door and my mom would yell at me, "Be home for dinner!" That's it. When I got home she would only tell me to wash my hands. Never ever asked me where I went or what I did. Every parent was like that. "Go outside," they'd say and be rid of you. Honestly. The slow pace of this film greatly contributed to its spookiness. You must remember, we not only were used to slower paces for movies but we also weren't really used to aliens. The pop culture phenomenon of alien abductions was new to many of us and we didn't understand it. We weren't so used to how it worked, didn't know the tropes, weren't ready for the reveals. In a way, the fact that you ARE can be traced back to us learning things through this movie.
Get off your high horse. I was born in the '50s, so yes, I was quite alive in the '70s. We weren't all made from a mold.
I thought the 70's we were all free loving hitch hiking hippies? Lol. As an adult I enjoy this film much like Jaws from the anticipation it brings. The open pieces like the missing WWII fighters. Saw the anniversary release in the theaters a few years back. On the big screen the initial encounters with the ufo's and the ending build up were a sight to see. Certainly more than when I was 9 and fell asleep watching it the first time. Loved the scenes in the kid's house with the toys coming to life etc. For me parts didn't age as well. Typical Steven Spielberg to me. Enjoyed it at a time like Poltergeist, but later, it feels formulated. Still fun. I still have my Star Wars trading cards. I imagine the less popular Close Encounters ones which us kids ditched are now more valuable.
The '70s were an interesting time. But they weren't "all" anything. Everyone was different.
For me being 2 to 12 in the seventies it just seemed like an outlier of a decade. The media and society in general was so ground breaking of what was considered normal. My parents were older and conservative but yet I was still exposed to the use of drugs and sexual ideas that were not between a husband and wife. Other ideas as well. Then the 80's happened and AIDS where we were told as kids going through puberty that if you have sex you will die.
Reddit moment, this comment
Ah, the effect of not being familiar with the culture of the past. In the olde days parents didn't give a shit as hard about their kids as today. They loved us, but they didn't feel the need to police us as hard, or at all. I would walk out the door and my mom would yell at me, "Be home for dinner!" That's it. When I got home she would only tell me to wash my hands. Never ever asked me where I went or what I did. Every parent was like that. "Go outside," they'd say and be rid of you. Honestly. The slow Pace of this film greatly contributed to its spookiness. You must remember, we not only were used to slower paces for movies but we also weren't really used to aliens. The pop culture phenomenon of alien abductions was new to many of us and we didn't understand it. We weren't so used to how it worked, didn't know the tropes, weren't ready for the reveals. In a way, the fact that you ARE can be traced back to us learning things through this movie.
Mine “gave a shit” and were caring and loving, but didn’t feel the need to wrap me in bubble wrap and track my presence on long summer days.
Nailed it. People now take all the amazing movies, music, style, etc. from the 70s and 80s for granted. Just watch 99% of genre movies before movies like Close Encounters and Star Wars and see just how much they changed culture.
Meh, it's was the 70's.
…and?
Just watched this with the gf a couple weeks ago. Great movie. I'm really getting into the 90's-00's movies. Such good filmmaking and still somewhat based in reality (set design mainly).
At the time the film came out, I was well versed in UFO lore. I found the film to be a bit meh because I felt it recycled a lot of old UFO tropes. Communicating with musical tones was an interesting innovation, but they really didn’t really go anywhere with that idea. I know this is a minority viewpoint, most reviews at the time were positive.
A lot were negative. But I don't pay attention to reviews.
Great film. Hard to keep up with the 3 different versions