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Close Encounters of the Third Kind Reaction! (Patreon)

Published:
2025-05-11 16:13:51
Imported:
2026-06
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Files

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Full Reaction You can either stream the Full reaction below using the embedded video player, otherwise you can click the 'Download' button which will take you directly to Google Drive, enabling you to save the video to your computer instead. You must provide your own footage to watch alongside the full reactions.

Comments

Joe Crammond

love watching you react to films, really hope we see you doing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Pan's Labyrinth and Orphan in the future plus m3gan 2.0. when it comes out

Ryan

It's pretty impossible for anyone like me who wasn't around at the time to properly imagine all the eyes that were on this movie. Spielberg had gotten a smidge of attention with his TV work and The Sugarland Express, but then Jaws completely blew the industry away on a level never seen before that made them invent a whole new word to describe it. So everyone was wondering how he would follow it up, and he did it with what would end up being a pretty rare case of a story he came up with himself. And he ended up proving that he wasn't a one trick pony as the audience happily followed him to this more heady material, followed by Raiders and ET showing just how much he was here to stay (with 1941 smack in the middle of that otherwise spectacular four film run, though I think it's not nearly as bad as its reputation and still made money, just not nearly as much as all the others from the period). The movie makes a big statement right off the bat with the appearance of legendary French New Wave director Francois Truffaut as the leader of the alien search team. And it's really something to consider that Spielberg has directed performances from both him and David Lynch. I first saw this movie at probably way too young an age just because I loved the spaceships on the cover, and all these scenes bored the hell out of me at the time, but watching it now I can really appreciate how they build up the tension of what's going on in between the more relatable stuff with Roy and Jillian that I always got a big kick out of. And the whole slapstick bit with the globe always got a rise out of me. It's no surprise that Spielberg would immediately want to work with Richard Dreyfus again after Jaws, and he's clearly reveling in getting to be the lead this time, giving an essential inherent likeability to a guy who it's sometimes challenging to follow along with. Makes you wonder if he only later became such a miserable sexist asshole or he was just really good at hiding it. Although my one real complaint about the movie is the short shrift it gives to Ronnie. Teri Garr had been hoping to play Jillian, and it's very clear why she'd prefer that to a character who, to put it bluntly, feels way too much like the product of a guy who once caught his mother cheating with Seth Rogen. Spielberg has also admitted this character arc was very informed by how he didn't yet have any kids, and he'd never have a movie's hero happily leave them behind now. Much more immediately engaging is Jillian's story, at times feeling like a preview of War of the Worlds as I kind of suspect the movie's overall tone and ending wasn't quite set when these scenes were made. This is also where Spielberg first got his reputation for finding creative ways to coax performances out of children, with Cary Guffey being presented with someone he knew dressed as a gorilla who then took the mask off to create that look of confused fear which then became a smile, and his overjoyed "Toys!" is because he was actually shown a bunch of toys. Barry is easily one of the least annoying child characters ever in this kind of story, always one of the biggest pitfalls, and it's all down to how natural he comes off because these are real emotions we're seeing. Your getting so concerned about him was the big highlight of this one for me. Special mention also has to of course go to the effects here, which are still incredibly impressive and must have been mind-blowing back then. The effects team led by the legendary Douglas Trumbull was given a budget that he joked could have made a whole other film, and it definitely would have gotten an Oscar if not for the bad luck of being up against a little movie called Star Wars. And the final piece of the puzzle was John Williams. In last year's Disney+ documentary, he displays several sheets of different five note sequences he came up with for that iconic riff (though he refused to play any of them so if you can't read music you're out of luck there), and names the ending as the most challenging job of his entire career. And it was all worth it, because the whole sequence is an astounding multimedia storytelling act, most of all the aliens clearly getting fed up at our refusal to say anything else and finishing the line so loudly that it blows out a window. These days it seems like the film has been vastly overshadowed by ET, but it has a ton of virtues all its own that it's wonderful to see people are still getting so much out of. Spielberg is currently tied with his idol William Wyler at thirteen Best Picture nominations (though he's only won a single one to Wyler's three) and I'd love to see him take the full record in the time he has left. It would be the perfect wrap on one of the greatest careers in Hollywood history, that I'm so grateful I got to see so much of firsthand.

Geordie Joe

Great reaction, Jess. It was nice rewatching Close Encounters again with you. Been several years since I last seen it. Steven Spielberg directing and John Williams providing the music. Always a great combination.

Dave Hampton

I knew you would not love that Roy got on the ship and essentially left his family behind. I think I remember, and I see Ryan has already commented which makes me think I remember correctly that Spielberg said after being a father he would not have gone that direction with the film. Maybe they can manipulate time like the TARDIS so he won't be gone long but it seems unlikely as the people taken 30 years prior are just coming home (unaged due to relativity, but their families aged of course). I did not see this in theaters but remember seeing it on TV as a young kid and some of the scenes were quite scary at that age. As an adult I am FASCINATED by the subject of UFO's (now called UAP's). I have never seen one, but I used to investigate sightings for MUFON as a volunteer. I have researched the subject a lot and currently follow all the hearings going on in congress of witnesses and whistleblowers. What I see on the news (even some "mainstream" news) and in those hearings it astounds me that this does not get more attention today. I know (99% sure) that you are not very interested in the topic, but it was fun to see your reaction to this film. It touches on some interesting things that seem to be true, but it seems if the phenomenon is real (and to me it seems to be as real as anything I have not personally experienced), it is actually much more complicated and interesting. Spielberg is making a new movie that I heard has been retitled "DISCLOSURE" (not confirmed I believe) from what he was calling it. I think it is about the stuff I mentioned in the last paragraph. It would be fun to see you reaction to that when it comes out. Thanks for watching and reacting to this one Jess. A link to the wiki on the new Spielberg film I mentioned. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untitled_Steven_Spielberg_film

Thomas Corp

Rather like that you went into this one relatively blind, Jess. Hope you received favorable word about the surgery that you mentioned. Now to the movie. Like Rocky last month, this one doesn’t quite make my top ten of the year, though it is close to it. Steven Spielberg sure is a man who knows how to make a very impressive film. Particularly when it comes to suspense, which I like how you greatly appreciated that. He did the damn thing, as you tipped your hat to him. This not quite being what was expected is a shared experience. I think this is perhaps the first major alien movie that ends with the aliens being confirmed(?) to not be threatening. It’s nicely ambiguous in that respect and it could have gone either way. The tone aimed for is hopeful, and like yourself, I have reservations on that, and I like it better thinking of it being deliberately vague. Our primary viewpoint character is Roy. Richard Dreyfuss brings his skill and likeability (This being years before he tanked his reputation.) to the role. We had the assessment regarding him going loopy. You were kinder to him than I was. Helping the somewhat lack of kindness is that Ronnie is played by Teri Garr. Still reeling from her death back in October. I was saddened to hear about that. Though she doesn’t have the strongest, or at least most nuanced role, Teri still shines very brightly in this as she always did. Love how you gave her the shout out of bringing up therapy. Our patience reaches the limit with the dirt throwing scene. You looked like you’d have committed murder at that one, frankly, I’d endorse your stance on that. Clearly the neighborhood reaches the consensus view that Roy’s cheese has slid off his cracker more than that time when he tried to put Bob through Death Therapy. (It’s a guaranteed cure.) Ronnie can only take so much, and it reaches a point she gets her own clear vision, which reads, “S-said, said a give. Give him a sedagive!” Alas, she seems to be short on those, though she gets the kids in the car and leaves. Good for her. We raise a glass to her in solidarity. And she has a bright future ahead of her, particularly when she’s responsible for creating the very successful commercial for Schooner Tuna, the tuna with a heart! (Cue the Patton theme.) Sort of figured you’d be on Ronnie’s side on this one, or at least, like you said, you don’t blame her not one bit for just taking the kids and vamoosing. You do have the great empathy for Roy in that yeah, he is something of a victim himself, but when he’s that far gone, Ronnie’s easily got every right to do what she did. And her call ended up being dead on the money, more on that in a second. Jillian, your heart goes out to her. Melinda Dillon does so well. Loved your concern throughout the whole plotline with her. Nice that she and Barry are reunited. Barry doth cause the stress levels to rise when staring out the window with the enraptured look on his face. Could have used far more of the underrated Bob Balaban and the legendary François Truffaut. You clocked the visions that Roy and Jillian were getting. You kept asking was the image going to come into play or just drive people cuckoo for cocoa puffs, and I kept saying, “...Yes?” I felt bad during the period of the film where it looked like all the animals were killed. They do, as you saw, clarify that the animals were simply knocked out, so that was good to see that ended up being a mild relief to you. All the praise in the world to Douglas Trumbull for the visuals. Bringing us to John Williams. He has a rather sparse score for this being one of Spielberg’s blockbusters/crowd pleasers. It’s still John though, and those five notes have entered into legend. Love his use of the dies iræ as he often favors that motif, here well used in some of the tenser scenes in this. The score is popular in John’s concerts as evidenced by its inclusion in the Boston Pops albums, and he had a great arrangement with his magisterial concert with the Vienna Philharmonic five years ago. The score was nominated for the Oscar. And he lost. To himself. The only time he’s ever lost to himself, and he lost for this because there was another little sci-fi film that year called Star Wars, and, well, I mean, the win speaks for itself. Still a mild shame that he didn’t win for this, nor was he nominated for the underrated and underseen film Black Sunday which also came out in 1977. But the victory of Star Wars, again, can’t argue that one, at all. And combined with his win for Jaws two years prior, it REALLY launched John’s career to the heights that it’s reached. You dancing to John’s music in the big light show was great. It was serving sound from Fantasia vibes, like you said. See you caught the little Jaws snippet in all that. The whole sequence is terrific. LOVE the low brass. Now concerning your read on the ending. You spoke of not thinking yourself a pessimist. I consider you a cautious realist, Jess. I hear what you were saying, and yes, the ending could have been Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, and maybe it was. Again, the vagueness of it, lack of concrete information in certain respects, that kind of improves the film if you question the supposedly happy ending. One thing for sure, the ending makes it impossible to like Roy anymore. Yes, I do believe Roy more or less just said, “Fuck my wife and kids.” at the end, and left with the aliens. Oh, what an inspiring happy ending that is! Yeah, the assessment made today is that in doing that, it saps Roy of what was left of audience sympathy. Spielberg himself agrees with this anymore, as I see that Ryan and Dave have made note of as well. Spielberg attributes Roy’s storyline ending as it did to the fact that this is before he became a father himself as this was years before he had his son with Amy Irving, and before he had his kids with Kate Capshaw. He’s gone on record saying that were he a dad back then, he never would have ended Roy’s story as he did back then. Or I would argue that if it was going to end that way, you’d be more overtly critical of the character of Roy. I loved all your thoughts on the ending, and this reaction was terrific. Other highlights: You asked about the sunburns. Honestly, fair question of how Roy’s sunburned face doesn’t hurt like hell. As someone who’s bald on top, that gets sunburned like how Roy’s face was, your scalp feels like it’s made of leather. And it was rather sweet how you were advocating caution with taking kids to see Pinocchio as you say it’s traumatizing and scarring as SHIT. Which, of course, it is. Then again, I was like the only kid in preschool who wasn’t horribly traumatized by Large Marge in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, plus the scarier and traumatizing parts of Disney films never quite disturbed me much, so, you know, I’m not one to talk. The Disney Villain deaths did traumatize some; those were the parts that made the biggest impressions on the psyche. The one in Tarzan standing out the most where you outright ask, “What the HELL, movie!?” Again, a great reaction, Jess, thank you.

Ryan
>>173750971

Really, you'd think Ronnie would be a bit more into this after all her very interesting adventures with Gary Seven. I'm currently filling all the gaps in the Best Pictures I've seen, and because of the way my autism works, I decided to chart out who did the scores for each one and came to the shocking discovery that Williams only has one, Schindler's List. Meanwhile, the record is a three way tie between Max Steiner, Hans Zimmer, and Howard Shore with four each. It seems nuts that a movie so much about music could lose it (I'm fully expecting Ludwig Goransson to take it for Sinners next year for this reason) but everything about Star Wars is just that good. Unless you're a romantic comedy by a sex monster, I guess. There really was a rerelease of Pinocchio at this time, which even got Siskel and Ebert to do a review of it, and it's pretty neat to see them take their style to something that old. Though for proper context, the Disney animated film that's currently the same age is Oliver and Company. As a child of the '80s, I've always just laughed when people get worried about these movies being too much for kids to handle. We had Littlefoot's mom!