Watching people watch CE3K for the first time ... for the first time
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is my favorite movie. I've seen it in the triple digits, so there's no way of gauging my initial reaction to watching the film unfold, other than the fond remembrances I documented upon seeing it the way I remember experiencing it so many years ago -- on network television.
But there are over a dozen YouTube videos of people sitting down to watch it for the first time. The first one I ran across while doing my customary scouring of YT for CE3K uploads I hadn't previously seen was by Casual Nerd Reactions. I was somewhat transfixed by the concept and thought it would make a great blog. As I'd already seen his and the idea was to watch a couple for my reactions, I decided to forego that one, but I thank him for a subconscious impulse akin to the one that befell Roy Neary.
Upon doing a cursory search for "first time watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind," I ran across 15 more candidates. I've picked two for this edition of the blog, Shree Nation (because she did a two-parter on the subject) and Shan Watches Movies (because his screengrab cracked me up). Unlike Steven Spielberg, I leave the option open of doing a sequel (although many -- including the movie's star Richard Dreyfuss deem E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial to be CE3K's sequel).
Shree, who started documenting her first-time viewing of landmark movies such as Die Hard, Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark about nine months ago, kicks off her upload with a quick glimpses at a couple reactions to the movie. "Let's waste some time together!" she proclaimed, and it felt like a good idea. Turns out she had to split the videos into two parts due to technical difficulties, but it's still one of the more in-depth offerings from first-time viewers.
Shree said she was watching the remastered film, which I hypothesized was the director's cut -- the third of three released CE3K versions. It'll be easy enough to distinguish as it rolls along.
She became as befuddled as the map reader-turned-interpreter upon seeing the 1945 planes in pristine condition in the desert. The air traffic controllers mystified her a bit, but she quickly picked up on the fact that pilots experiencing a UFO flyby didn't want to report it, because they didn't want to be considered crazy people.
Shree said she likes UFO stories, which gave me hope she'd take to this film like myself and many others who consider it the cream of the crop. Shree quickly showed empathy for Barry Guiler as he wandered around his house, looking at the chaos the aliens created by investigating everything in the refrigerator.
I'm shaking just like he was shaking: Shree said Richard Dreyfuss reminded her of Billy Crystal from Analyze This. As Roy Neary experienced his first encounter, she wondered whether she had wandered into a horror movie and feared he would be lifted out of the truck into an alien ship. And she offered some keen insight about the lack of music in that scene and how that made the encounter much scarier.
But Shree was a little confused about the ship that was behind Neary on the road. The first time we see headlights behind Roy's truck, it is another vehicle -- and one of the occupants berates Neary as it goes by. But the second one wasn't actually a car, it was a spaceship that lifted up and then made contact. She did notice that UFOs behave differently than they have in previous movies.
Shree takes review breaks during the course of her film reactions. And during the first one, she mentioned that what immediately sold her on the movie was the design -- from the atmosphere to the sound. Also she felt this was a more personal Spielberg story and less of a spectacle like tales about dinosaurs or sharks. She appreciated that the UFO encounters are secondary to the characters' emotions.
Back to the action, and the realization that the spaceship's lights were so bright that they burned Roy -- and the old man in Mexico at the beginning of the movie. After Teri Garr reminded Shree of comedian Nikki Glaser, the action transitioned to the Cotopaxi scene -- yep, the remastered version was indeed the director's cut originally released in 1998.
They are real: Shree noted how Roy was getting increasingly obsessed to the dismay of his disbelieving wife. As the scene changed to India, it was apparent she knows a lot about the history and the culture. And she was right on target when everyone is asked where the sounds come from and they all point to the sky. "Dude, you don't need a better translator than up," she proclaimed.
The five notes have started to embed themselves in Shree's consciousness. She felt like she too had heard them before. And as Roy, Barry and Jillian shaped a mound of dirt, Shree realized that something has been imprinted in their minds. She was also quick to notice that incoming aircraft were helicopters and not the UFOs everyone was aching to see -- what she rightfully deemed "the ultimate Get Off My Lawn."
Shree started picking up plot points right before they happened -- the map reading that pointed out Devils Tower, the imprint also might be about Wyoming and the child was mesmerized by his contact while the rest of the world struggled to make sense of what's going on.
Guess who's not sleeping tonight: As the aliens came for Barry, the story reminded Shree of the 2002 M. Night Shyamalan film Signs. She got increasingly afraid as the aliens made their way into the Guiler house. "We get it, we get it ... you're here! Stop freaking out this poor lady!" she cried. Shree expected the scene to end badly, but even then, she admitted she wasn't ready for Barry's abduction.
After a brief recap of the first portion, the second part kicked off with Shree showing empathy for Jillian, and none for the media, before the community's official press conference. She picked up on the connection between Roy's sculptures and the ultimate destination. "The kids are like, 'Dad is on crack,'" she said during the mashed potato scene. Shree knew the coordinates were in his brain and he just couldn't make sense of them.
Even though she didn't take Roy's wife's side, Shree was as befuddled as Ronnie when Roy started pulling up plants to make the huge mountain in his living room. She got embarrassed for the family as the neighbors stopped to gawk at his actions. And Shree rightfully pointed out that if this had happened today, every neighbor would have a cell phone aimed in his direction.
Look at it, look at it, you're missing it! It's one of my favorite scenes when Neary's on the phone with his wife as a report on television shows Devils Tower in the background. And Shree had the same reaction I still do. We just wanted Roy to see what he's been obsessed with so much. Shree added that if she ever came home to a mountain in her living room, she would admire the work ... and then kick the artist out of the house.
As the scene shifted to Wyoming, the mass evacuation and precautions inevitably reminded Shree of the COVID pandemic. She didn't quite have a handle on the animals lying in the road or how the birds used to watch air quality were put out of commission, but that surely can be forgiven since it was all part of the government ruse.
Is there going to be a giant alien rave? Shree admitted she would be one of those people in the helicopter who decided not to take their masks off and flee when Roy, Jillian and Larry head for the mountain. She thought her uncle, an artist, could have found himself on the same wavelength as the obsessed Neary in similar circumstances. But I thought she did miss the part in which it was stated that the gas being sprayed in the area was just a sleep aerosol used for riot control and not killing animals or people.
As the aliens approached, Shree's earlier concerns somewhat subsided. She was mesmerized by the ships buzzing the landing strip, but remained a little fearful when the crew on the ground started playing the five tones. She enjoyed the communication between the ship and the humans, but was worried when the cloud started to envelop the tower and Neary left Jillian to get a closer look.
It's bigger than the whole mountain: I'd say this is where years of seeing movies with attacking aliens had an effect on Shree. (She brought up Mars Attacks about 10 minutes after I typed that line.) She still expected the worst, even after the initial communication segment, but was fascinated by the interaction through music.
With the landing came the realization that the pilots from the '40s hadn't aged. After Barry's return, she admitted they might be good aliens, but the one that looked like fictional supernatural character Slender Man made Shree scared and curious at the same time.
I was particularly thrilled to hear a different take on Roy's departure. Shree said since Neary's lost his family already and the whole community thinks he's nuts, he might as well go! She admitted she had the same starry-eyed look as the people on the ground at the end because she had preconceived notions of what would happen when the aliens came to Earth.
"All this time I was scared, and now I feel like a fool," she said. "Steven Spielberg, you did it again!"
As a self-professed avid Spielberg fan, Shan must have had a lot of expectations coming into Close Encounters. He's been doing initial movie watch reactions on YouTube for about 10 months, and since then, he's folded in television shows to a mix of seemingly every film genre.
Shan didn't know anything about CE3K coming into the movie beyond the connotation of the title, not even the actors. He recognized Richard Dreyfuss' name in the credits immediately from his role in Spielberg's previous movie in Jaws.
Between the planes found in the desert and the air traffic controllers' crisis, Shan quickly became invested in the story. And he recognized Muncie, Indiana from its use in the series Parks and Recreation. He quickly took to Barry with the youngster's wide-eyed looks of wonder.
What am I watching? Shan recognized the difficulty inherent in the filmmakers' pulling off those kinds of practical effects back in the mid-70s, even on something that would seem as innocuous as the power outage in Indiana. And eagle-eyed Shan also noticed as a ship in the sky tracking Neary's truck. His eyes widened as Roy's encounter began: "It's not letting me concentrate," he said.
Shan pointed out the effective the use of light during Neary's first experience with the aliens. So you could imagine how his mind was blown when the three spaceships came barreling down the road soon after. And he also expressed his admiration for wide shots, particularly when the Cotopaxi reappears in the Gobi Desert, and pointed out how the story isn't just about Americans -- the incidents were happening worldwide.
All these little details really add up: He quickly made connections between the musical notes, the visions that caused the leads to create mountain images and the coordinates utilized by the team led by Lacombe. And Shan feared Barry doesn't know what's at stake because he was too young.
The framing of the shot in Lacombe's questioning of Roy intrigued Shan, as did the realization that there really wasn't anything wrong with the air and it was all a government ruse. As Neary struggled to beat the gas-emitting helicopter to the other side of the tower, Shan implored him to hurry because he'd already lost so much during the quest.
He was intrigued by the cloud that surrounded Devils Tower and how they were able to shoot that. Those kind of special effects couldn't have been seen before 1977, he supposed. Following the scout ship communication, Shan was so ready for the close encounter of the third kind that he had goosebumps. "There he is ... Barry's OK!" he exclaimed.
How come I've never ever seen this before? Shan noticed there were different types of aliens on the ship and they didn't all have to look alike. You know that innocence we take note of in Barry? Well, Shan seemed to have it himself while watching the young aliens gravitate to Roy and bring him onto the ship, and then again when the alien exchanged the Kodaly hand signs with Lacombe. And Shan also saw how E.T. will come into play later for Spielberg, the seeds for that story were sown here.
It wasn't until the credits that Shan realized John Williams did the music. Beyond that, he really appreciated that the loose ends were not tied up in the story -- and I think that's one of the essential ingredients when it comes to people who consider this a favorite film. Shan lost me a little bit later by saying one of the drawbacks was in losing the Neary family for the third act, but I suppose if you're searching for flaws while filming these reactions, you have to come up with something.
Shan particularly praised the cinematography (by Oscar-winning Vilmos Zsigmond), from the desert landscape shots to the night shots of the mothership, and the editing -- how reaction shots were often chosen over what people were witnessing. Shan gave much credit, of course, to Spielberg for making "a masterpiece" at such a young age. He admitted he loved this more than Jaws because of the ideas conveyed to the audience and the scope of the movie. And Shan showed great insight by noting the link between the whistling of "She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain" during the first encounters and the eventual landing at Devils Tower.
"I'm in awe of what I've just seen," he said. "This, in my opinion, is the most underrated Steven Spielberg film ever and one of the best science-fiction films ever made. ... I'm going to have to watch it over and over again."
It was so interesting to see my favorite film through other people's eyes. Times are different, and no doubt, the reviewers have seem many iterations of alien movies and television shows. They shouldn't be expected to view the film the same way those of us who saw it in the original era did. But it's heartening to find they can still encounter all the highs and lows of the adventure and appreciate it in the end.
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