View source for Close Encounters of the Third Kind

{{short description|1977 science fiction film by Steven Spielberg}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Close Encounters<br />of the Third Kind
| image          = Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) theatrical poster.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Steven Spielberg]]
| producer       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Julia Phillips]]
* [[Michael Phillips (producer)|Michael Phillips]]
}}
| writer         = Steven Spielberg
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Richard Dreyfuss]]
* [[Teri Garr]]
* [[Melinda Dillon]]
* [[François Truffaut]]
}}
| music          = [[John Williams]]
| cinematography = [[Vilmos Zsigmond]]
| editing        = [[Michael Kahn (film editor)|Michael Kahn]]
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Columbia Pictures]]<ref name="AFI"/>
* [[EMI Films]]<ref name="AFI"/>
}}
| distributor    = Columbia Pictures<ref name="AFI">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67160-CLOSE-ENCOUNTERSOFTHETHIRDKIND|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind|work=[[American Film Institute]]|access-date=November 16, 2022}}</ref>
| released       = {{Film date|1977|11|16}}
| runtime        = 135 minutes (Theatrical version)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/close-encounters-third-kind-70mm | title=''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (A) | work=[[British Board of Film Classification]] | date=December 16, 1977 | access-date=September 16, 2016 | archive-date=August 21, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821125215/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/close-encounters-third-kind-70mm | url-status=dead }}</ref> <br> 132 minutes (''Special Edition'') <br> 137 minutes (''Director's Cut'')
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $19.4 million{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}}
| gross          = $306.9 million<ref name=BOM>{{cite web|url= https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0075860/ |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)|access-date=September 5, 2017|archive-date=September 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901012714/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=closeencountersofthethirdkind.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

'''''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''''' is a 1977 American [[science fiction film|science fiction]] [[drama film]] written and directed by [[Steven Spielberg]], starring [[Richard Dreyfuss]], [[Melinda Dillon]], [[Teri Garr]], [[Bob Balaban]], [[Cary Guffey]], and [[François Truffaut]]. The film depicts the story of Roy Neary, an [[Everyman|everyday]] [[blue-collar worker]] in [[Indiana]], whose life changes after an encounter with an [[unidentified flying object]] (UFO), and Jillian Guiler, a single mother whose three-year-old son Barry is abducted during the same UFO manifestation.

''Close Encounters'' was a long-cherished project for Spielberg. In late 1973, he developed a deal with [[Columbia Pictures]] for a science-fiction film. Though Spielberg received sole credit for the script, he was assisted by [[Paul Schrader]], [[John Hill (screenwriter)|John Hill]], [[David Giler]], [[Hal Barwood]], [[Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)|Matthew Robbins]], and [[Jerry Belson]], all of whom contributed to the screenplay in varying degrees{{source?|date=October 2025}}. The title is derived from astronomer and [[Ufology|Ufologist]] [[J. Allen Hynek]]'s classification of [[close encounter]]s with [[extraterrestrials]], in which the third kind denotes human observations of extraterrestrials or "animate beings". [[Douglas Trumbull]] served as the [[visual effects supervisor]], while [[Carlo Rambaldi]] designed the aliens.

Made on a production budget of {{US$|19.4 million}}, ''Close Encounters'' was released in a limited number of cities on November 16{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=204}} and 23, 1977,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morton|first1=Ray|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg's Classic Film|date=2007|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|isbn=978-1-55783-710-3|page=298}}<!--|access-date=September 3, 2015--></ref> and expanded into wide release the following month. It was a critical and financial success, eventually grossing over {{US$|300 million|long=no}} worldwide and becoming the third highest-grossing film of 1977 behind only ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' and ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]''. It received numerous awards and nominations at the [[50th Academy Awards]], [[32nd British Academy Film Awards]], the [[35th Golden Globe Awards]] and the [[5th Saturn Awards]], and has been widely acclaimed by the [[American Film Institute]].

In December 2007, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States [[Library of Congress]] and selected for preservation in the [[National Film Registry]].<ref name="loc-nfl">{{cite press release | title = Librarian of Congress Announces National Film Registry Selections for 2007 | publisher = [[Library of Congress]] | date = December 27, 2007 | url = https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-254.html | access-date = December 29, 2017 | archive-date = July 22, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140722103847/http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-254.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-06-02|website=Library of Congress|archive-date=October 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004011540/https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|url-status=live}}</ref> A ''Special Edition'' was released theatrically in 1980. Spielberg agreed to create this edition to add more scenes that they had been unable to include in the original release, with the studio demanding a controversial scene depicting the interior of the extraterrestrial mothership.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saporito |first1=Jeff |title=Was the original theatrical ending of "Close Encounters" different than later cuts |url=http://screenprism.com/insights/article/was-the-original-theatrical-ending-of-close-encounters-different-than-the-e |website=ScreenPrism |date=June 3, 2015 |access-date=January 23, 2019 |archive-date=January 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123121405/http://screenprism.com/insights/article/was-the-original-theatrical-ending-of-close-encounters-different-than-the-e |url-status=live }}</ref> Spielberg's dissatisfaction with the altered ending scene led to a third version, the ''Director's Cut'' on VHS and [[LaserDisc]] in 1998 (and later [[DVD]] and [[Blu-ray]]). It is the longest version, combining Spielberg's favorite elements from both previous editions but removing the scenes inside the mothership.<ref name="ifc.com">{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Matt |title=Match Cuts: "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" |url=https://www.ifc.com/2011/06/match-cuts-close-encounters |website=[[IFC (American TV channel)|IFC]] |publisher=AMC Networks Inc. |date=June 10, 2011 |access-date=January 23, 2019 |archive-date=January 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123074323/https://www.ifc.com/2011/06/match-cuts-close-encounters |url-status=live }}</ref> The film was later [[remaster]]ed in [[4K resolution|4K]] and was then re-released in theaters on September 1, 2017, by [[Sony Pictures Releasing]] for its 40th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Timothy J. Seppala|title='Close Encounters' returns to theaters with a 4K remaster September 1st|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apos-close-encounters-apos-returns-020800885.html|website=[[Yahoo!|finance.yahoo.com]]|date=July 26, 2017|access-date=July 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803095213/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apos-close-encounters-apos-returns-020800885.html|archive-date=August 3, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Plot==
In 1977, French scientist Claude Lacombe, along with interpreter and cartographer David Laughlin, examine [[Flight 19]]—a group of [[United States Navy]] aircraft that vanished over the [[Bermuda Triangle]] in 1945—now found immaculate and abandoned in the [[Sonoran Desert]]. They later learn that the {{ship|SS|Cotopaxi}} has similarly been found abandoned in the middle of the [[Gobi Desert]]. Meanwhile, near [[Indianapolis]], two airplanes narrowly avoid a mid-air collision with an [[unidentified flying object]] (UFO).

At a rural home outside [[Muncie, Indiana]], three-year-old Barry Guiler wakes to find his toys operating on their own and the fridge ransacked. He follows a trail outside before his mother, Jillian, catches him. Widespread power outages occur throughout the area, forcing electric utility lineman Roy Neary to investigate. En route, Roy experiences a close encounter with a UFO, and when it flies over his truck, it lightly burns the side of his face with its lights. The UFO takes off with three others in the sky, as Roy and police officers unsuccessfully pursue them by road.

Roy becomes fascinated with the UFOs and obsessed with a subliminal image of a mountainous shape, repeatedly making models of it. His increasingly erratic and eccentric behavior worries his wife Ronnie and their three children, and his friends and neighbors ostracize him. Ronnie eventually leaves with the children after Roy brings dirt, bricks, and other debris into their home to sculpt a large scale replica of the mountain. Jillian also begins compulsively sketching the same mountain. Soon after, she is terrorized in her home by a UFO which descends from the clouds. She fights off aggressive attempts by unseen beings to enter the home, but in the chaos, Barry is abducted.

Lacombe, Laughlin, and a group of [[United Nations]] experts continue to investigate increasing UFO activity and strange, related occurrences. Witnesses in [[Dharamsala]], [[Northern India]] report that the UFOs make distinctive sounds: a five-tone musical phrase. Scientists broadcast the phrase to outer space, but receive only a seemingly meaningless repeating series of numbers in response. Laughlin eventually recognizes it as a set of geographical coordinates, which point to [[Devils Tower]] near [[Moorcroft, Wyoming]].

The US Army evacuates the area around Devils Tower, planting false reports in the media that a train wreck has spilled a toxic nerve gas, while actually preparing a secret landing site for the UFOs. Seeing the mountain on the news, Roy and Jillian recognize it as the one they have been visualizing. Despite the evacuation order, they, along with others who have been experiencing the visions, set out for Devils Tower, but are intercepted by the Army. Lacombe interviews Roy, who is unable to explain his compulsion to reach the mountain beyond seeking answers. While the others are escorted away, Roy and Jillian escape and eventually reach the mountain site just as UFOs appear in the night sky.

The specialists there begin to communicate with the UFOs—which gradually appear by the dozens—by using light and sound on a large electrical billboard. An enormous mothership eventually arrives and seemingly conveys to the researchers a tonal means of communication before landing. A hatch opens, from which various humans and animals are released, having not aged since they were taken, including World War II pilots, ''Cotopaxi'' sailors, and Barry, who reunites with Jillian. Seeing Roy, Lacombe suggests preparing him for inclusion in the government's select group of potential visitors to the mothership.

The [[Grey alien|extraterrestrials]] finally emerge from the mothership and select Roy to join their travels. As Roy enters the mothership, one of the extraterrestrials pauses for a few moments with the humans. Lacombe uses [[Kodály method#Hand signs|Curwen hand signs]] that correspond to the five-note tonal phrase. The extraterrestrial responds in kind, smiles, and returns to its ship, which takes to the sky.

==Cast==
{{multiple image
| total_width = 450
| direction = horizontal
| align = right
| footer = (Left to right) [[Richard Dreyfuss]] (pictured in 1996), [[Melinda Dillon]] (1976), and [[François Truffaut]] (1979)
| image1 = Peter Denz – Richard Dreyfuss – Academy Awards 1996 (1).jpg
| alt1 = A photograph of Richard Dreyfuss
| image2 = Melinda Dillon, 1976.jpg
| alt2 = A photograph of Melinda Dillon
| image3 = François Truffaut 1979, Luxembourg.jpg
| alt3 = A photograph of François Truffaut
}}
* [[Richard Dreyfuss]] as Roy Neary, an [[lineman (technician)|electrical lineman]] in [[Indiana]] who encounters and forms an obsession with [[unidentified flying object]]s. [[Steve McQueen]] was Spielberg's first choice. Although McQueen was impressed with the script, he said that he was not right for the role as he was unable to cry on cue. [[James Caan]], [[Dustin Hoffman]], [[Al Pacino]], and [[Gene Hackman]] also turned down the part.<ref name=making>{{cite AV media | title=The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind | date=1997 | publisher=[[Columbia Pictures]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-ERraCGxkYC&q=%22caan%22&pg=PA130|title = Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg's Classic Film|isbn = 9781557837103|last1 = Morton|first1 = Ray|year = 2007| publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation }}</ref> [[Robert De Niro]] was also considered.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/extended-interview-richard-dreyfuss-on-american-graffiti-jaws-and-civics-classes/ | title=Extended interview: Richard Dreyfuss on "American Graffiti," "Jaws," and civics classes - CBS News | website=[[CBS News]] | date=February 23, 2020 }}</ref> [[Jack Nicholson]] declined because of scheduling conflicts. Spielberg explained that when filming ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'', "Dreyfuss talked me into casting him. He listened to about 155 days' worth of ''Close Encounters''. He even contributed ideas."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} Dreyfuss reflected, "I launched myself into a campaign to get the part. I would walk by Steve's office and say stuff like 'Al Pacino has no sense of humor' or 'Jack Nicholson is too crazy'. I eventually convinced him to cast me."<ref name=making/>
* [[François Truffaut]] as Claude Lacombe, a French government scientist in charge of UFO-related activities in the United States. The UFO expert [[Jacques Vallée]] served as the real-life model for Lacombe.<ref>[[Jacques Vallée]], ''Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact'' (1988), p. 269</ref> [[Gérard Depardieu]], [[Philippe Noiret]], [[Jean-Louis Trintignant]], and [[Lino Ventura]] were considered for the role. Internationally renowned as a film director, this is Truffaut's only acting role in a film he did not direct, and his only role in an English-language film. During filming, Truffaut used his free time to write the script for ''[[The Man Who Loved Women (1977 film)|The Man Who Loved Women]]''. He also worked on the novel ''The Actor'', which he abandoned.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=280–289}}
* [[Teri Garr]] as Ronnie Neary, Roy's wife. [[Meryl Streep]] and [[Amy Irving]] also auditioned for the role.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=290–294}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-ERraCGxkYC&q=close+encounters+of+the+third+kind+meryl+streep&pg=PA132|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg's Classic Film|isbn=9781557837103|last1=Morton|first1=Ray|year=2007|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation }}</ref>
* [[Melinda Dillon]] as Jillian Guiler. Garr wanted to portray Jillian, but was cast as Ronnie. [[Hal Ashby]], who worked with Dillon on ''[[Bound for Glory (1976 film)|Bound for Glory]]'' (1976), suggested her for the part to Spielberg. Dillon was cast three days before filming began.<ref name=making/>
* [[Bob Balaban]] as David Laughlin, Lacombe's assistant and English-French interpreter
* J. Patrick McNamara as Project Leader
* Warren Kemmerling as Major "Wild Bill" Walsh
* [[Roberts Blossom]] as Farmer
* [[Phil Dodds|Philip Dodds]] as Jean Claude
* [[Cary Guffey]] as Barry Guiler, Jillian's son. Spielberg conducted a series of [[method acting]] techniques to help Guffey, who was cast when he was three years old.<ref name=making/>
* [[Lance Henriksen]] as Robert
* Merrill Connally as Team Leader
* [[George DiCenzo]] as Major Benchley
* [[Gene Dynarski]] as Ike
* [[Josef Sommer]] as Larry Butler
* [[Carl Weathers]] as Military Police
* [[David Abraham Cheulkar]] as English-Hindi interpreter

==Production==
===Development===
The film's inspiration arose in director [[Steven Spielberg]]'s childhood, when he and [[Arnold Spielberg|his father]] watched a [[meteor shower]] in [[New Jersey]].<ref name=making/> At age 18, Spielberg completed the full-length science fiction film ''[[Firelight (1964 film)|Firelight]]''. Many scenes from ''Firelight'' were incorporated in ''Close Encounters'' on a [[shot-for-shot]] basis.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=14–68}} In 1970, he wrote the [[short story]] "Experiences" about a [[lovers' lane]] in a [[Midwest]]ern farming community and the "light show" a group of teenagers see in the night sky.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=227–229}} In late 1973, after completing work on ''[[The Sugarland Express]]'', Spielberg developed a deal with [[Columbia Pictures]] for a science-fiction film. [[20th Century Fox]] had previously turned down the offer.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=227–229}} [[Julia Phillips|Julia]] and [[Michael Phillips (producer)|Michael Phillips]] signed on as producers.<ref>{{cite news | author = David Helpern | title = At Sea with Steven Spielberg | work = [[Take One (Canadian magazine)|Take One]] | pages=47–53 | date = March 1974 }}</ref>

Spielberg first considered doing a documentary or [[Low budget film|low-budget feature film]] about people who believed in [[Unidentified flying object|UFOs]]. He decided "a film that depended on [[state-of-the-art]] technology couldn't be made for $2.5&nbsp;million."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=227–229}} Borrowing a phrase from the ending of ''[[The Thing from Another World]]'', he retitled the film ''Watch the Skies'', rewriting the premise concerning [[Project Blue Book]] and [[Pitch (filmmaking)|pitching]] the concept to [[Willard Huyck]] and [[Gloria Katz]]. Katz remembered, "It had flying saucers from outer space landing on [[Robertson Boulevard]] [in [[West Hollywood, California]]]. I go, 'Steve, that's the worst idea I ever heard.'"{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=227–229}} Spielberg brought [[Paul Schrader]] to write the script in December 1973 with [[principal photography]] to begin in late 1974. To discuss the script, Spielberg visited the home where Schrader lived with his brother Leonard.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Biskind |first1=Peter |title=[[Easy Riders, Raging Bulls]] |year=1998 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |page=262}}</ref> However, Spielberg started work on ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' in 1974, delaying ''Watch the Skies''.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=227–229}}

With the financial and critical success of ''Jaws'', Spielberg was able to negotiate a high degree of creative control from Columbia, including the right to make the film any way he wanted.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}} Schrader submitted his script, which Spielberg called "one of the most embarrassing screenplays ever professionally turned in to a major film studio or director" and "a terribly guilt-ridden story not about UFOs at all".{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} Titled ''Kingdom Come'', the script's [[protagonist]] was a 45-year-old [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] officer named Paul Van Owen who worked with Project Blue Book. "[His] job for the government is to ridicule and debunk flying saucers." Schrader continued: "One day he has an encounter. He goes to the government, threatening to blow the lid off to the public. Instead, he and the government spend 15 years trying to make contact."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}}

Spielberg and Schrader experienced creative differences, hiring [[John Hill (screenwriter)|John Hill]] to rewrite.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} At one point, the main character was a [[police officer]].<ref name=making/> Spielberg "[found] it hard to identify with men in uniform. I wanted to have [[Everyman|Mr. Everyday Regular Fella]]." Spielberg rejected the Schrader/Hill script during [[post-production]] on ''Jaws'',{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} reflecting that "they wanted to make it like a [[James Bond]] adventure".<ref name=mind/>

[[David Giler]] performed a rewrite; [[Hal Barwood]] and [[Matthew Robbins (screenwriter)|Matthew Robbins]],<ref name=making/> friends of Spielberg, suggested the [[plot device]] of a [[kidnapping|kidnapped child]]. Spielberg then began to write the script. The song "[[When You Wish upon a Star]]" from ''[[Pinocchio (1940 film)|Pinocchio]]'' influenced Spielberg's writing style. "I hung my story on the mood the song created, the way it affected me personally."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} During [[pre-production]], the title was changed from ''Kingdom Come'' to ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}}

[[J. Allen Hynek]], who worked with the [[United States Air Force]] on [[Project Blue Book]], was hired as a scientific consultant. Hynek said that "even though the film is fiction, it's based for the most part on the known facts of the UFO mystery, and it certainly catches the flavor of the phenomenon. Spielberg was under enormous pressure to make another [[blockbuster (entertainment)|blockbuster]] after ''Jaws'', but he decided to make a UFO film. He put his career on the line."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} USAF and [[NASA]] declined to cooperate on the film.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}} NASA reportedly sent a twenty-page letter to Spielberg, telling him that releasing the film was dangerous.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?t=29317&p=354491 |title=Rigorousintuition.ca • View topic – Spielberg: 'I knew something must be happening' |access-date=December 9, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062937/http://www.rigorousintuition.ca/board2/viewtopic.php?t=29317&p=354491 |url-status=live }}</ref> In an interview, he said: "I really found my faith when I heard that the Government was opposed to the film. If NASA took the time to write me a 20-page letter, then I knew there must be something happening."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.presidentialufo.com/old_site/carter_spielberg.htm |title=Carter_Spielberg |access-date=December 9, 2015 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304185708/http://www.presidentialufo.com/old_site/carter_spielberg.htm |url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Early in pre-production, Spielberg hired [[film title design]]er [[Dan Perri]] to design a [[logo]]type. Perri, who had previously worked on ''[[The Exorcist (film)|The Exorcist]]'' (1973) and ''[[Taxi Driver]]'' (1976), produced a logotype in [[Handel Gothic]] typeface, with only a script to work from. Delighted with the result, Spielberg applied the logo to all production stationery and crew shirts. Unusual in filmmaking, Spielberg carried enough influence to maintain creative control over the film's entire branding and asked Perri to design the [[advertising campaign]] and [[title sequence]] based on his logo.<ref name="woodward">{{cite web|last1=Woodward|first1=Adam|title=Meet the designer behind your favourite movie title sequences|url=http://lwlies.com/articles/dan-perri-movie-title-sequences-star-wars/|website=Little White Lies|access-date=August 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812131200/http://lwlies.com/articles/dan-perri-movie-title-sequences-star-wars/|archive-date=August 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Perri later designed titles for many other major Hollywood pictures, including ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977), ''[[Raging Bull]]'' (1980), and ''[[Airplane!]]'' (1980).<ref name="perkins">{{cite web|last1=Perkins|first1=Will|title=Dan Perri: A Career Retrospective|url=http://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/dan-perri-a-career-retrospective/|website=[[Art of the Title]]|access-date=August 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811100417/http://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/dan-perri-a-career-retrospective/|archive-date=August 11, 2017|language=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Filming===
[[File:"This means something. This is important" (19967592275).jpg|thumb|[[Devils Tower]] in [[Wyoming]] was a filming location.]]
[[Principal photography]] began on May 16, 1976, though an [[Associated Press]] report in August 1975 had suggested filming would start in late 1975.<ref>{{cite news|author= [[Associated Press]]<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title= Science Fiction Thriller Slated|url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WtZgAAAAIBAJ&pg=6564%2C841126|newspaper= [[Saskatoon Star-Phoenix]]|location= [[Saskatoon, Saskatchewan]]|date= Aug 20, 1975|access-date= September 3, 2014|archive-date= May 2, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210502191040/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WtZgAAAAIBAJ&pg=6564%2C841126|url-status= live}}</ref> Spielberg did not want to do any [[location shooting]] because of his negative experience on ''Jaws'' and wanted to shoot ''Close Encounters'' entirely on [[sound stage]]s, but eventually dropped the idea.<ref name=morton/>

Filming took place in [[Burbank, California]]; [[Devils Tower National Monument]] in [[Wyoming]]; two abandoned World War II [[airship hangar]]s at the former [[Brookley Air Force Base]] in [[Mobile, Alabama]]; and the [[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] depot in [[Bay Minette, Alabama]]. The home where Barry is abducted is located outside the town of [[Fairhope, Alabama]]. Roy Neary's home is on Carlisle Drive East in Mobile. The UFOs fly through the former [[Toll house|toll booth]] at the [[Vincent Thomas Bridge]], [[San Pedro, Los Angeles, California|San Pedro]], California. The [[Sonora Desert]] sequence was photographed at the [[Dumont Dunes]], California, and the [[Dharmsala|Dharmsala-India]] exteriors were filmed at the small village of Hal near [[Khalapur]], {{convert|35|km}} outside [[Mumbai]], India.<ref name=morton>{{cite book | title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg's Classic Film | first=Ray | last=Morton | date=2007 | publisher=Applause Books}}</ref> The hangars in Alabama were six times larger than the biggest sound stage in the world.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}}<ref name=pro/> Various technical and budgetary problems occurred during filming. Spielberg called the production of ''Close Encounters'' "twice as bad and twice as expensive [as ''Jaws'']".{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}}
[[File:Roy Neary 1st UFO Encounter Train Crossing Location, Mobile Alabama.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Roy Neary 1st UFO encounter train crossing location at Padgett Switch Road and Highway 90, Mobile, Alabama]]

Matters worsened when Columbia Pictures experienced financial difficulties. In his original 1973 pitch to Columbia, Spielberg claimed production would cost $2.7&nbsp;million, although he revealed to producer Julia Phillips that he knew the budget would have to be much higher; the final budget came to $19.4&nbsp;million.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}} Columbia studio executive John Veich remembered, "If we knew it was going to cost that much, we wouldn't have [[greenlight]]ed it because we didn't have the money."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}} Spielberg hired [[Joe Alves]], his collaborator on ''Jaws'', as [[production designer]].{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=280–289}} In addition, the [[1976 Atlantic hurricane season]] brought tropical storms to Alabama. A large portion of the sound stage in Alabama was damaged because of a [[lightning strike]].<ref name=making/> Columbia raised $7 million from three sources: [[Time Inc.]], [[EMI]], and German tax shelters.<ref>McClintick, David (1982, 2002). ''Indecent Exposure'', p. 162. New York: [[HarperCollins]].</ref><ref name="dee">{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-michael-deeley-and-barry-spikings/|date=19 October 2025|access-date=19 October 2025|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Michael Deeley and Barry Spikings}}</ref>

[[Cinematographer]] [[Vilmos Zsigmond]] said that, during shooting, Spielberg got more ideas by watching films every night, which in turn extended the production schedule because he was continually adding new scenes.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} Zsigmond previously turned down the chance to work on ''Jaws''. In her 1991 book ''[[You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again]]'', producer [[Julia Phillips]] wrote highly profane remarks about Spielberg, Zsigmond, and Truffaut, because she was fired during post-production due to a [[cocaine addiction]]. Phillips blamed it on Spielberg being a [[Perfectionist (personality type)|perfectionist]].{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}}

===Visual effects===
[[File:Mother Ship Model - Close Encounters of the Third Kind.jpg|thumb|This visual effects miniature model is on display at the [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]]'s [[National Air and Space Museum]].]]
[[Douglas Trumbull]] was the [[visual effects supervisor]], and [[Carlo Rambaldi]] designed the extraterrestrials. Trumbull joked that the visual effects budget of $3.3&nbsp;million could have been used to produce an additional film. His work helped lead to advances in [[motion control photography]]. The mothership was designed by [[Ralph McQuarrie]] and built by [[Greg Jein]]. The look of the ship was inspired by an [[oil refinery]] Spielberg saw at night in India.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}} Instead of the metallic hardware look of ''Star Wars'', the emphasis was on luminescence of the UFOs. One of the UFO models was an oxygen mask with lights attached to it, used because of its irregular shape. 
[[File:R2-D2 figure on Close Encounters mothership.png|left|thumb|120x120px|R2-D2 figure on the mothership model]]
As a subtle in-joke, [[Dennis Muren]] (who had just finished working on ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'') put a small [[R2-D2]] model onto the underside of the mothership and a pea-sized [[TIE fighter]] to the end of one of the structures extending from the mothership.  Model makers also included a mailbox, great-white shark, Volkswagen bus, and a small graveyard. The model also included alien figures moving in the windows of the miniature, though were not very visible in the final film. The mothership model is on permanent display steps away from the [[Space Shuttle orbiter|space shuttle orbiter]] [[Space Shuttle Discovery|Discovery]] in the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Annex at [[Dulles International Airport|Washington Dulles Airport]] in [[Chantilly, Virginia]].<ref name="making" /><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0i4Ankgk |title=Adam Savage Examines the Mother Ship Model from Close Encounters of the Third Kind! |date=2019-08-28 |last=Adam Savage’s Tested |access-date=2024-07-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeB5WXtWvEM |title=CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of the THIRD KIND miniature effects |date=2020-12-17 |last=piercefilm productions |access-date=2024-07-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

''Close Encounters'' was filmed [[anamorphic format|anamorphically]] and the visual effects sequences were shot on [[70 mm film]], which has greater resolution than the [[35 mm movie film|35 mm film]] used for the rest of the production, so that when the miniature effects were combined with full-sized elements through an [[optical printer]], the effects footage would still appear clear and sharp though having lost one generation's worth of visual fidelity. A test reel using [[computer-generated imagery]] was created for the UFOs, but Spielberg found it would be too expensive and ineffective because CGI was in its infancy in the mid-1970s.<ref name=making/>

The small extraterrestrials in the final scenes were played by fifty local six-year-old girls in [[Mobile, Alabama]]. That decision was requested by Spielberg because "girls move more gracefully than boys".<ref name=making/> [[Puppetry]] was attempted for the extraterrestrials, but the idea failed. However, Rambaldi successfully used puppetry to depict two of the extraterrestrials, starting with a [[marionette]] (for the tall extraterrestrial that is the first emerging from the mothership in what was originally a test shot) and an articulated puppet for the extraterrestrial that communicates via hand signals near the end of the film.<ref name=making/>

===Post-production===
''Close Encounters'' is the first collaboration between film editor [[Michael Kahn (film editor)|Michael Kahn]] and Spielberg. Their working relationship has continued for the rest of Spielberg's films. Spielberg said that no film he has ever made since has been as hard to edit as the last 25 minutes of ''Close Encounters'' and that he and Kahn went through thousands of feet of film to find the right shots for the end sequence. When Kahn and Spielberg completed the first cut of the film, Spielberg was dissatisfied because "there wasn't enough wow-ness".<ref name=making/> [[Pick-up (filmmaking)|Pick-ups]] were commissioned but cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond could not participate due to other commitments.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}} [[John A. Alonzo]], [[László Kovács (cinematographer)|László Kovács]], and [[Douglas Slocombe]] worked on the pick-ups.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=270–279}} Lacombe was originally intended to find [[Flight 19]] hidden in the [[Amazon rainforest]], but the idea was changed to the [[Sonoran Desert]]. Spielberg also took 7.5 minutes out from the preview.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=280–289}}

==Music==
{{main|Close Encounters of the Third Kind (soundtrack)}}
{{Image frame|width=300|content=<score>{bes' c'' aes' aes ees'2}</score>|caption=Five-note tonal phrase featured in the story[[File:Recontres du troisième type.ogg]]}}
The [[film score]] was composed, conducted, and produced by [[John Williams]], who had previously worked on Spielberg's ''Jaws'', and performed by the [[Hollywood Studio Symphony]]. Williams included the ominous two note phrase of the ''Jaws'' theme delivered by the mothership.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZj7gUIO-2k |title=Steven Spielberg - Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977 - Play The Five Tones |date=2016-02-08 |last=Vincent V.C. |access-date=2024-07-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

Williams wrote more than 300 examples of the iconic five-tone [[motif (music)|motif]], to be used by scientists to communicate with the visiting spaceship as a [[mathematics as a language|mathematical language]], before Spielberg chose the one incorporated into the film's signature theme. Williams decided on five notes because "it has to be somewhere between a fragment ... which is four notes, and a song ... which is seven notes, so he decided, mathematically, it would be five notes."<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind (30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition) |last=Spielberg |first=Steven |type=DVD |language=English |year=2018 |at=Special Features disc - "Steven Spielberg - 30 Years of Close Encounters" |asin=B07VFN6ZHP}}</ref>

Spielberg called Williams's work "'[[When You Wish Upon a Star]]' meets science fiction".<ref name="making" /> Incidentally, Williams briefly included the signature melody into the score at Spielberg's behest, just before Roy Neary turns to board the mothership. The synthesizer playing the five notes is an [[ARP 2500]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/aug96/arp2500.html|title=ARP 2500|work=Sound On Sound|date=August 1996|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206235210/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1996_articles/aug96/arp2500.html|archive-date=February 6, 2015}}</ref> Vice President of Engineering at [[ARP Instruments]], [[Phil Dodds|Phillip Dodds]], was sent to install the unit on the film set and was subsequently cast as Jean Claude, the musician who plays the sequence on the huge synthesizer in an attempt to communicate with the extraterrestrial mothership.<ref name="Vail">{{cite book|last = Vail| first = Mark| title = Vintage Synthesizers: Pioneering Designers, Groundbreaking Instruments, Collecting Tips, Mutants of Technology | publisher = Miller Freeman Books| year = 2000| isbn =0-87930-603-3 | page =56}}</ref>

Spielberg initially included [[Cliff Edwards]]'s original "When You Wish upon a Star" from ''Pinocchio'' in the [[closing credits]], but after a [[Dallas]] preview where several members of the audience audibly snickered at the inclusion, the song was dropped and replaced with Williams's orchestral version.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/the-sky-is-full-of-questions-19780126|title=Science Fiction in Steven Spielberg's Suburbia|last=Hodenfield|first=Chris|date=January 26, 1978|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=August 2, 2017|archive-date=August 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803085903/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/features/the-sky-is-full-of-questions-19780126|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/467316|title=Trivia & Fun Facts About ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''|last=Nixon|first=Rob|publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies]]|access-date=August 2, 2017|archive-date=August 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803090237/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?id=463395%7C467316|url-status=live}}</ref> Phrases from "When You Wish Upon a Star" are included in the final sequence in the director's cut and  in the special edition of the end titles on the [[Close Encounters of the Third Kind (soundtrack)##1998 Collector's Edition|1998 ''Collector's Edition'']] of the soundtrack.<ref>{{Album citation|Album name=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Collector's Edition Soundtrack|Album code=john-williams/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-11/|site=RYM}}
</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=The Visitors / Bye / End Titles: The Special Edition|year=1977|url=https://open.spotify.com/track/2AXPdHyeJFqEh8OyR2JImr|language=en|asin=B00000636B|access-date=2020-06-02|archive-date=May 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531185618/https://open.spotify.com/track/2AXPdHyeJFqEh8OyR2JImr|url-status=live}}</ref>

The score was recorded at [[Warner Bros.|Warner Bros. Studios]] in [[Burbank, California]]. Williams was nominated for two Academy Awards in 1978, one for his score to ''Star Wars'' and one for his score to ''Close Encounters''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The 50th Academy Awards {{!}} 1978 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978 |access-date=2022-07-24 |website=Oscars |date=October 5, 2014 |language=en}}</ref> He won for ''Star Wars'', though he later won two [[Grammy Awards]] in 1979 for his ''Close Encounters'' score (one for Best Original Film Score and one for Best Instrumental Composition for "[[Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind|Theme from Close Encounters]]").<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1978&genre=All |title=Grammy Award Winners 1979 |access-date=November 26, 2011 |archive-date=June 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616220552/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&title=&year=1978&genre=All |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Themes==
Film critic Charlene Engel observed:<blockquote>''Close Encounters'' suggests that humankind has reached the point where it is ready to enter the community of the cosmos. While it is a computer which makes the final musical conversation with the extraterrestrial guests possible, the characteristics bringing Neary to make his way to Devils Tower have little to do with technical expertise or computer literacy. These are virtues taught in schools that will be evolved in the 21st century.<ref name="Barry">{{cite book | author= Charlene Engel | title = The Films of Steven Spielberg | year = 2002 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | chapter = Close Encounters of the Third Kind | pages = 45–56 | isbn = 0-8108-4182-7}}</ref> </blockquote>The film also evokes typical [[science fiction]] [[archetype]]s and motifs. The film portrays new technologies as a natural and expected outcome of human development and indication of health and growth.<ref name="Barry" />

Other critics found a variety of Judeo-Christian analogies. Devils Tower parallels [[Mount Sinai]], the extraterrestrials as God, and Roy Neary as [[Moses]]. [[Cecil B. DeMille]]'s ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'' is on television at the Neary household. Some found close relations between [[Elijah]] and Roy; Elijah was taken into a "chariot of fire", akin to Roy boarding the UFO. Climbing Devils Tower behind the faltering Jillian, Roy exhorts Jillian to keep moving and not to look back, a contrast to [[Lot's wife]], who looked back at [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]] and turned into a pillar of salt.<ref name=Barry/> Spielberg explained, "I wanted to make ''Close Encounters'' a very accessible story about the everyday individual who has a sighting that overturns his life, and throws it into complete upheaval as he starts to become more and more obsessed with this experience."<ref name=pro/>

Roy's wife Ronnie attempts to hide the sunburn caused by Roy's exposure to the UFOs and wants him to forget his encounter with them. She is embarrassed and bewildered by what has happened to him and desperately wants her ordinary life back. The expression of his lost life is seen when he is sculpting a huge model of Devils Tower in his living room, with his family deserting him.<ref name=Barry/> Roy's obsession with an idea implanted by an extraterrestrial intelligence, his construction of the model, and his gradual loss of contact with his wife, mimic the events in the short story "[[Dulcie and Decorum]]" (1955) by [[Damon Knight]].{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

''Close Encounters'' studies the form of "youth spiritual yearning". Barry Guiler, the unfearing child who refers to the UFOs and their paraphernalia as "toys" (although that was unscripted, with the child being drawn to smile by being shown toys offstage), serves as a motif for childlike innocence and openness in the face of the unknown.<ref name=Barry/> Spielberg also compared the theme of communication as highlighting that of tolerance: "If we can talk to extraterrestrials in ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', why not with the [[Communism|Reds]] in the [[Cold War]]?"<ref>{{cite video | people = [[Richard Schickel]] (interviewer) | title = Spielberg on Spielberg | publisher = [[Turner Classic Movies]] |date = July 9, 2007}}</ref> Sleeping is the final obstacle to overcome in the ascent of Devils Tower. Roy, Jillian, and a third invitee, Larry Butler, climb the mountain pursued by government helicopters spraying sleeping gas. Larry stops to rest, is gassed, and falls into a deep sleep.<ref name=Barry/>

In his interview with Spielberg on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]'', [[James Lipton]] suggested ''Close Encounters'' has another, more personal theme for Spielberg: "Your father was a computer engineer; your mother was a concert pianist, and when the spaceship lands, they make music together on the computer", suggesting that Roy Neary's boarding the spaceship represents Spielberg's wish to be reunited with his parents. The director had not consciously intended this aspect. In a 2005 interview, Spielberg stated that he made ''Close Encounters'' when he did not have children, and if he were making it today, he would never have had Roy leave his family and board the mothership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0506281 |title=Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg on "War of the Worlds" |publisher=Cinema Confidential |date=June 28, 2005 |access-date=January 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206185633/http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0506281 |archive-date=February 6, 2008 }}</ref>

Communication and language issues constitute additional themes as noted by [[Andrew Johnston (critic)|Andrew Johnston]] in ''[[Time Out New York]]'': "Throughout the film, there are many scenes that anticipate themes Spielberg would explore in subsequent projects, but his execution of these ideas here is usually more interesting and subtle. In ''[[Amistad (film)|Amistad]]'', for example, he devotes much time to illustrating the language barrier separating Africans from both their captors and their potential saviors. It's an essential plot point, but it's so belabored that the story gets bogged down. In ''CE3K'', the language problem is illustrated concisely by a quick scene in which an interpreter translates Spanish into English for Laughlin so he can turn around and translate it into French for Lacombe. Since Spielberg doesn't ram the language problem down our throats, the extraterrestrials' solution—using music to communicate with humanity—seems more elegant and natural."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johnston|first=Andrew|date=May 14, 1998|title=Third time around|journal=Time Out New York|pages=149}}</ref>

==Release and reception==
===Box office===
The film was to be released in mid-1977 but was delayed to November because of the various production problems.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p= 280–89}}

''Close Encounters'' premiered at the [[Ziegfeld Theatre (1969)|Ziegfeld Theatre]] in New York City on November 16, 1977,<ref>{{AFI film|id=67160|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind}}</ref> and continued there and at the [[Cinerama Dome]] in Los Angeles, grossing $1,077,000. Its national release was December 14, in 270 theaters and grossing $10,115,000 in one week with a per-screen average of $37,460.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|page=1|last= Pollock|first=Dale|title=Per-Screen 'Alien' B.O. May Be Record|date=May 30, 1979}}</ref> On December 21, 301 more theaters were added. By the end of the second week of national release it had grossed $24,695,317.<ref>{{cite news|title='Close Encounters' tops $23 mil gross|date=December 29, 1977|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|page=1}}</ref>

It made a record $3,026,558 on December 26, 1977,<ref name=box/> and set a one-week record of $17,393,654 from December 26 to January 1.<ref>{{cite news|title= 'Encounters' now totals $39.4 mil|date= January 5, 1978|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref> The film opened internationally on February 24, 1978, and grossed $27 million by the end of March from 19 countries.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Segers|first=Frank|page=4|title=At Three-Quarter Fiscal Pole, Col, $71,367,000 (Credit Sci-Fi)|magazine=[[Variety (Magazine)|Variety]] |date=April 12, 1978}}</ref> ''Close Encounters'' received mostly positive reviews and became a certified [[box office]] success, grossing $116.39&nbsp;million in the United States and Canada, and $171.7&nbsp;million in foreign countries, for $288&nbsp;million worldwide.<ref name="box">{{cite web | url = https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=closeencountersofthethirdkind.htm | title = Close Encounters of the Third Kind | website = [[Box Office Mojo]] | access-date = September 12, 2008 | archive-date = July 18, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190718161019/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=closeencountersofthethirdkind.htm | url-status = live }}</ref>

It was the most successful [[Columbia Pictures]] film at that time.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=April 13, 1983|page=3|title='Tootsie' Windfall}}</ref><ref name="pro">DVD production notes</ref>

Released in conjunction with ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' was a [[novelization]] of the film, credited solely to Steven Spielberg but largely [[ghostwriter|ghostwritten]] by [[Leslie Waller]]. Spielberg later explained to ''[[Starlog]]'' magazine,

{{cquote|It was very early on when we made the deal with [the publishers] [[Dell Publishing|Dell]]... It included an advance with a promise that I was going to have direct writing input into the book. But post-production on the movie became so impossible that I had to get somebody else to write it. I didn't write the first, second, or third drafts. Those were written, based on my screenplay, by Leslie Waller, a very good writer. When I read his drafts, though, I told the publishers that unless it was cleaned up I wouldn't let my name go out with the book. So I sat down and spent less than a week – I wouldn't say rewriting the novel – but polishing it, and taking a lot of the plot and twisting it back into the direction of the screenplay. All told, there's about 20 percent of me in the book. I wish I could say there was more, but there's not. I cringe when I see my name on the cover, and I usually avoid it at bookstores. Actually, I've never bought a copy.<ref>"CE3K Novel not Steven's". ''Starlog'' #19, February 1979.</ref>}}

===Critical reception===
[[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] refers to the film as "the best expression of Spielberg's benign, dreamy-eyed vision".<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind/Film?oid=1068469 | title = Close Encounters of the Third Kind | author = Jonathan Rosenbaum | author-link = Jonathan Rosenbaum | work = [[Chicago Reader]] | access-date = April 26, 2010 | archive-date = June 10, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130610004618/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind/Film?oid=1068469 | url-status = dead }}</ref> A.D. Murphy of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine gave a positive review but wrote that ''Close Encounters'' "lacks the warmth and humanity" of [[George Lucas|George Lucas's]] ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''. Murphy found most of the film slow-paced, but praised the climax.<ref>{{cite news | first = A.D. | last = Murphy | url = https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117789972/ | title = Close Encounters of the Third Kind | work = [[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] | date = 1977-11-08 | access-date = 2008-09-12 | archive-date = February 6, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210206034413/https://variety.com/1977/film/reviews/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1200424081/ | url-status = live }}</ref> On ''[[Sneak Previews]]'', [[Gene Siskel]] and [[Roger Ebert]] highly recommended the film. Siskel praised the message of not being "afraid of the unknown", said Dreyfuss was "perfectly cast", and described the ending as "a wonderful scene, combining fantasy, adventure and mystery". However, he mentioned that the story got "bogged down" by a subplot in the middle. Ebert said "the last 30 minutes are among the most marvelous things I've ever seen on the screen" and that the film was "like a kid's picture...in its innocence".<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2DAK1V7UyI| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/J2DAK1V7UyI| archive-date=2021-11-07 | url-status=live|title=Siskel & Ebert review Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977|date=February 20, 2021|access-date=February 22, 2021|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Pauline Kael]] similarly called it "a kid's film in the best sense". Kael wrote that,
{{blockquote | "Spielberg is the son of an electrical-engineer, sci-fi-addict father and a classical-pianist mother, and in the climax of the film he does justice to both. Under the French scientist’s direction, the earthlings are ready with a console, and they greet the great craft with an oboe solo variation on the five-note theme; the craft answers in deep, tuba tones. The dialogue becomes blissfully garrulous. And with light flooding out from the windows of this omniscient airship—it’s like New York’s skyscrapers all lighted up on a summer night—there is a conversational duet: the music of the spheres. This is one of the peerless moments in movie history—spiritually reassuring, magical, and funny at the same time. Very few movies have ever hit upon this combination of fantasy and amusement—''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', perhaps, in a plainer, down-home way."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| date=November 20, 1977| title=The Greening of the Solar System | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1977/11/28/the-greening-of-the-solar-system| magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=November 17, 2023}}</ref>}}

[[Jean Renoir]] compared Spielberg's storytelling to [[Jules Verne]] and [[Georges Méliès]].{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=290–294}} [[Ray Bradbury]] declared it the greatest science fiction film ever made.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=A Viewers' Guide To Sci-Fi's Greatest Hits|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=December 2, 1994|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/12/02/best-sci-fi-flicks-and-shows/|access-date=November 17, 2008|archive-date=September 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905025930/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,304743,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] wrote that "''Close Encounters'' had a flawless wonder, such that it might be the first film ever made" calling it "a tribute to the richness of human imagination" and "as close to a mystical experience as a major film has come, but it's the mysticism of common sense... The movie could have been naive and sentimental—it was inspired by Disney—but Spielberg never relinquishes his practicality and his eye for everyday detail."<ref>{{cite book|  last=Thomson| first=David| title=[[The New Biographical Dictionary of Film]]| pages=847–848| year=2004}}</ref>

===Reissues and home media===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Versions
!Release date
!Version Description 
!Notes
!Runtime
|-
|11-16-1977
|Original Theatrical Version
|
|135 minutes
|-
|08-03-1980
|Special Edition
|Adds SS Cotopaxi; and Mothership interior
|132 minutes
|-
|05-12-1998
|Collector's Edition/Director's Cut
|Removes Mothership interior
|137 minutes
|}
On the [[final cut privilege]], Spielberg was dissatisfied with the film. Columbia Pictures was experiencing financial problems, and depending on this film to save their company. He explained, "I wanted to have another six months to finish off this film, and release it in summer 1978. They told me they needed this film out immediately. Anyway, ''Close Encounters'' was a huge financial success and I told them I wanted to make my own [[director's cut]]. They agreed on the condition that I show the inside of the [[mother ship|mothership]] so they could have something to hang a [reissue marketing] campaign on. I never should have shown the inside of the mothership."<ref name=making/>

In 1979, Columbia gave Spielberg $1.5&nbsp;million to produce what became the ''Special Edition''. Spielberg added seven minutes of new and previously discarded footage, but also [[Deleted scene|deleted or shortened various existing scenes]] by ten minutes, so that its 132-minute runtime is 3 minutes shorter than the original release.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=290–294}} The ''Special Edition'' features several new character development scenes, the discovery of the [[SS Cotopaxi|SS ''Cotopaxi'']] in the [[Gobi Desert]], and a view of the inside of the mothership. ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition'' was released on August 3, 1980,<ref name=revision>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=August 6, 1980|title='Close Encounters' Revision|page=22|last=McCarthy|first=Todd|author-link=Todd McCarthy|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1980-08-06_300_1/page/n2/mode/1up?view=theater|access-date=December 2, 2023|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> making a further $15.7&nbsp;million, accumulating a final $303.7&nbsp;million box office gross.{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=290–294}}<ref name=box/> [[Roger Ebert]] "thought the original film was an astonishing achievement, capturing the feeling of awe and wonder we have when considering the likelihood of life beyond the Earth. ... This new version ... is, quite simply, a better film ... Why didn't Spielberg make it this good the first time?"<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1980 | title = Close Encounters of the Third Kind | first=Roger | last=Ebert | author-link = Roger Ebert | work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date = January 1, 1980 | access-date = September 12, 2008 | archive-date = October 3, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081003133426/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19800101%2FREVIEWS%2F1010309%2F1023 | url-status = live }}</ref>

The 1980 ''Special Edition'' was the only version officially available for many years on VHS. It was RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video's biggest selling title with sales of 60,000 in its first three years of release in the United States.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=November 28, 1983|page=1|title='Gandhi' vid tops 50,000 units; eyeing all-time RCA/Col total|last=Graham|first=Jefferson}}</ref> Then, in 1990, [[The Criterion Collection]] offered two versions for LaserDisc, one a variant of the original 1977 edition (with subtle edits made by Spielberg which became the syndicated television version), the other the ''Special Edition'' (programmed by the viewer using the LaserDisc player's remote features that predate the seamless branching of DVDs).<ref>Shay, Don (November 12, 1990). ''[https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/877-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind Close Encounters of the Third Kind] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924060938/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/877-close-encounters-of-the-third-kind |date=September 24, 2020 }}''. Criterion.com</ref> This triple-disc LaserDisc set also includes an interactive ''Making Close Encounters'' documentary featuring interviews with Spielberg and other cast and crew involved with the film, and stills and script excerpts. In 1993, the ''Special Edition'' was released on VHS and LaserDisc with no further release for 14 years.

Vincent Misiano reviewed ''Close Encounters: The Special Edition'' in ''[[Ares (magazine)|Ares Magazine]]'' #5 and commented that "Artists in other media have always had the luxury of returning to a piece, reworking and refining it. For various reasons, money first among them, this opportunity has rarely been afforded to filmmakers. Steven Spielberg has been given the chance and used it well."<ref name="Ares">{{cite magazine | last=Misiano | first=Vincent | title=Books | magazine=[[Ares (magazine)|Ares Magazine]] | publisher=[[Simulations Publications, Inc.]] | date=November 1980 | issue=5 | page=33}}</ref>

On May 12, 1998, Spielberg recut ''Close Encounters'' again for the ''Director's Cut'', released as simply the "Collector's Edition" on VHS. This version is a re-edit of the original 1977 release with some elements of the 1980 ''Special Edition'', but omits the mothership interior scenes as Spielberg said they should have remained a mystery. The director's cut is the longest release of the film at 137 minutes, two minutes longer than the theatrical version and five minutes longer than the ''Special Edition''.<ref name="ifc.com"/> A LaserDisc release of the ''Collector's Edition'', on July 14, 1998, includes a new 101-minute documentary, ''The Making of Close Encounters'', which was produced in 1997 and features interviews with Spielberg, the main cast, and notable crew members. Many other alternative versions were made for network and syndicated television, and the Criterion LaserDisc version. Some of these combined all released material from the 1977 and 1980 versions. However, most of these versions were not edited by Spielberg, who regards the ''Collector's Edition'' as his definitive version. The ''Collector's Edition'' was given a limited release as part of a [[Roadshow theatrical release|roadshow]] featuring select films to celebrate Columbia Pictures's 75th anniversary in 1999. It was the first time this version of the film had been shown theatrically. This was once again released in theaters on September 1, 2017, in tribute to the film's 40th anniversary.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/close-encounters-third-kind-returning-theaters-40th-anniversary-1024275|title='Close Encounters of the Third Kind' Returning to Theaters for 40th Anniversary|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=September 3, 2017|language=en|archive-date=September 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903161842/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/close-encounters-third-kind-returning-theaters-40th-anniversary-1024275|url-status=live}}</ref> It made $1.8 million in the weekend ($2.3 million over the four-day Labor Day holiday), pushing its career global gross to over $306 million worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2017/09/labor-day-weekend-box-office-hitmans-bodyguard-close-encounters-of-third-kind-tulip-fever-marvel-inhumans-1202159557/|title=Labor Day Weekend The Worst Since 1998 As 'Hitman's Bodyguard' Holds No. 1 For 3rd Weekend With $12.9M|first=Anthony|last=D'Alessandro|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|date=September 3, 2017|access-date=February 18, 2020|archive-date=September 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905025115/http://deadline.com/2017/09/labor-day-weekend-box-office-hitmans-bodyguard-close-encounters-of-third-kind-tulip-fever-marvel-inhumans-1202159557/|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Close Encounters'' was released on DVD on May 29, 2001, in a two-disc ''Collector's Edition'' set that contains only the director's cut.<ref>{{ASIN|B00003CX9G|title = Close Encounters of the Third Kind {{noitalic|(Two-Disc Collector's Edition) (1977)}}}}</ref> This set contains several extra features, including the 1997 documentary, a featurette from 1977, trailers, and deleted scenes that includes the mothership interior from the 1980 ''Special Edition''. A single-disc DVD edition was released on August 27, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|first=Enrique|last=Rivero|url=http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_id=3325|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020702164646/http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_id=3325|title=Columbia Trims Its DVDs|website=hive4media.com|archive-date=July 2, 2002|date=June 20, 2002|access-date=September 12, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In tribute to the film's 30th anniversary, [[Sony Pictures]] released it on DVD and Blu-ray in 2007. For the first time, all three versions were packaged together.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind Blu-ray|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind-Blu-ray/529/|website=Blu-ray.com|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530035401/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind-Blu-ray/529/|url-status=live}}</ref> Then in 2017, in honor of its 40th anniversary, the film was given a [[4K resolution|4K]] restoration of the original camera negative. Following its theatrical re-release of the director's cut, the film was released in 4K and Blu-ray with all three versions given the same 4K treatment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4K Blu-ray|url=http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind-4K-Blu-ray/171515/|website=Blu-ray.com|access-date=May 29, 2018|archive-date=May 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180530035223/http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Close-Encounters-of-the-Third-Kind-4K-Blu-ray/171515/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! {{Refh}}
|-
| rowspan="9"| [[50th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| [[Steven Spielberg]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="9"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1978 |title=The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=October 5, 2011}}</ref> <br> <ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/641736812.html?dids=641736812:641736812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+04%2C+1978&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Top+Oscars+Go+to+Dreyfuss%2C+Diane+Keaton%2C+%27Annie+Hall%27&pqatl=google |title=Top Oscars Go to Dreyfuss, Diane Keaton, ''Annie Hall'' |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=April 26, 2010 |first=Ted |last=Thackrey Jr |date=April 4, 1978 |archive-date=April 15, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130415041104/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/641736812.html?dids=641736812:641736812&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+04%2C+1978&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Top+Oscars+Go+to+Dreyfuss%2C+Diane+Keaton%2C+%27Annie+Hall%27&pqatl=google |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Melinda Dillon]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| <small>Art Direction:</small> [[Joe Alves]] and [[Dan Lomino]], <small>Set Decoration:</small> [[Phil Abramson]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Vilmos Zsigmond]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| [[Michael Kahn (film editor)|Michael Kahn]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]
| [[John Williams]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
| [[Robert Knudson]], [[Robert Glass (sound engineer)|Robert J. Glass]], [[Don MacDougall]] and [[Gene Cantamessa]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]]
| [[Roy Arbogast]], [[Douglas Trumbull]], [[Matthew Yuricich]], [[Gregory Jein]] and [[Richard Yuricich]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Special Achievement Academy Award]] <small>(for "Sound Effects Editing")</small>
| [[Frank Warner (sound editor)|Frank Warner]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[American Cinema Editors#Eddie Awards|American Cinema Editors Awards]]
| [[American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic|Best Edited Feature Film]]
| Michael Kahn
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| rowspan="9"| [[32nd British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| rowspan="2"| Steven Spielberg
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="9"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1979/film |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1979 |publisher=[[British Academy Film Awards]] |access-date=June 3, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role|Best Actor in a Supporting Role]]
| [[François Truffaut]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| Vilmos Zsigmond
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
| Michael Kahn
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Original Music|Best Original Music]]
| John Williams
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Production Design]]
| Joe Alves
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]]
| Gene Cantamessa, Robert Knudson, Don MacDougall, Robert Glass, Steve Katz, Frank Warner, Richard Oswald, David Horton, Sam Gemette, Gary Gerlich, Chet Slomka and Neil Burrow
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[David di Donatello|David di Donatello Awards]]
| [[David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]]
| rowspan="2"| Steven Spielberg
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[30th Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1970s/1977.aspx?value=1977 |title=30th DGA Awards |publisher=[[Directors Guild of America Awards]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="4"| [[35th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="4"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/close-encounters-third-kind |title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director – Motion Picture]]
| rowspan="2"| Steven Spielberg
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay – Motion Picture]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score – Motion Picture]]
| John Williams
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Motion Picture Sound Editors#Golden Reel Awards|Golden Reel Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Reel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley for Feature Film|Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| colspan="3"| [[Goldene Leinwand|Golden Screen Awards]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| rowspan="4"| [[21st Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance|Best Pop Instrumental Performance]]
| ''[[Close Encounters of the Third Kind (soundtrack)|Close Encounters of the Third Kind]]'' <br> [[Zubin Mehta]] conducting the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="4"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/21st-annual-grammy-awards |title=21st Annual GRAMMY Awards |publisher=[[Grammy Awards]] |access-date=May 1, 2011}}</ref>
|-
| ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' – John Williams
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition|Best Instrumental Composition]]
| "[[Theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind|Theme from ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'']]" – <br> John Williams
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media|Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a <br> Television Special]]
| ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' – John Williams
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Hugo Award]]s
| [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation|Best Dramatic Presentation]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/1978-hugo-awards/ |title=1978 Hugo Awards |publisher=[[Hugo Award]]s |date=July 26, 2007 |access-date=November 1, 2008}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[International Film Music Critics Association|International Film Music Critics Association Awards]]
| [[International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best New Archival Release of an Existing Score – Re-Release or Re-Recording|Best Re-Release of a Previously Existing Score]]
| John Williams
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://filmmusiccritics.org/awards-archive/1998-fmcj-awards/ |title=1998 FMCJ Awards |publisher=[[International Film Music Critics Association]] |date=October 18, 2009 |access-date=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[International Film Music Critics Association Award for Best New Archival Release of an Existing Score – Re-Release or Re-Recording|Best New Release, Re-Release or Re-Recording of an Existing Score]]
| John Williams, Mike Matessino and Jim Titus
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=http://filmmusiccritics.org/awards-archive/2017-ifmca-awards/ |title=2017 IFMCA Awards |publisher=[[International Film Music Critics Association]] |date=February 6, 2020 |access-date=December 18, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[Japan Academy Film Prize]]
| colspan="2"| [[Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film|Outstanding Foreign Language Film]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[Korean Association of Film Critics Awards]]
| Best Foreign Film
| Steven Spielberg
| {{won}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[National Board of Review Awards 1977|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|5th Place}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1977/ |title=1977 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| colspan="2"| Special Citation – Outstanding Special Effects
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Film Preservation Board]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Film Registry]]
| {{won|Inducted}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=December 16, 2015}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1977 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{draw|3rd Place}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite news |url=https://nationalsocietyoffilmcritics.com/about-2/ |title=Past Awards |publisher=[[National Society of Film Critics]] |date=19 December 2009 |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{draw|2nd Place}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1977 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{Runner-up}}
| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1977 |title=1977 New York Film Critics Circle Awards |publisher=[[New York Film Critics Circle]] |access-date=July 5, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{Runner-up}}
|-
| Online Film & Television Association Awards
| colspan="2"| Hall of Fame – Motion Picture
| {{won|Inducted}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oftaawards.com/film-hall-of-fame/film-hall-of-fame-productions/ |title=Film Hall of Fame Inductees: Productions |website=Online Film & Television Association |access-date=August 15, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="9"| [[5th Saturn Awards|Saturn Awards]] {{small|(1977)}}
| colspan="2"| [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" rowspan="9"| <ref name="Past Saturn Awards">{{cite web |url=http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html |title=Past Saturn Awards |publisher=[[Saturn Awards]] |access-date=September 12, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512032708/http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html |archive-date=May 12, 2011}}</ref>
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with [[George Lucas]] for ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]''.}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Richard Dreyfuss]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| Melinda Dillon
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Teri Garr]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writing]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Make-up|Best Make-up]]
| Bob Westmoreland, [[Thomas R. Burman]] and [[Carlo Rambaldi]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Music|Best Music]]
| John Williams
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects]]
| Douglas Trumbull
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[28th Saturn Awards|Saturn Awards]] {{small|(2001)}}
| colspan="2"| [[Saturn Award for Best Classic Film DVD Release|Best DVD Classic Film Release]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://movieweb.com/the-2001-saturn-awards/ |title=The 2001 Saturn Awards |first=Brian |last=B. |publisher=[[MovieWeb]] |date=June 13, 2002 |access-date=May 28, 2022}}</ref>
|-
| [[34th Saturn Awards|Saturn Awards]] {{small|(2007)}}
| colspan="2"| [[Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Special Edition Release|Best DVD Special Edition Release]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref name="Past Saturn Awards"/>
|-
| [[Turkish Film Critics Association|Turkish Film Critics Association Awards]]
| colspan="2"| Best Foreign Film
| {{draw|7th Place}}
| align="center"| 
|-
| [[30th Writers Guild of America Awards|Writers Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Drama – Written Directly for the Screen]]
| Steven Spielberg
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |title=Awards Winners |work=wga.org |publisher=[[Writers Guild of America Awards]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205095022/http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1551 |archive-date=2012-12-05 |access-date=2010-06-06}}</ref>
|}

====[[American Film Institute]] Lists====
* [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies]]: #64
* [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills]]: #31
* [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers]]: #58

==Legacy==
{{See also|Night Skies}}
Observers credited the ''Close Encounters'' for launching the reemergence of a large market for [[science fiction film]]s
[[List of science fiction films of the 1980s|in the 1980s]] alongside  ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' (1977) and  ''[[Superman (1978 film)|Superman]]'' (1978).<ref name="Ilya">Ilya Salkind, [[Pierre Spengler]], DVD [[audio commentary]], 2006, [[Warner Home Video]]</ref><ref name=one>{{Cite news | author = Barry Freiman | url = http://www.supermanhomepage.com/movies/movies.php?topic=interview-salkind | title = One-on-One Interview with Producer Ilya Salkind | work = Superman Homepage | date = February 2006 | access-date = September 9, 2008 | archive-date = July 4, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140704005928/http://www.supermanhomepage.com/movies/movies.php?topic=interview-salkind | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Brad Lohan|title=What If "Star Wars" Had Never Been Made?|url=http://www.entertainmentbuff.com/culture/what-if-star-wars-had-never-been-made/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710193902/http://www.entertainmentbuff.com/culture/what-if-star-wars-had-never-been-made/|archive-date=July 10, 2011|access-date=January 26, 2011|publisher=Entertainment Buff}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |people=[[Ilya Salkind]], [[Pierre Spengler]]|date=2006 |title=Superman ''(audio commentary)'' |medium=DVD |publisher=[[Warner Home Video]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | author = John Culhane | title = Special Effects Are Revolutionizing Film | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = July 4, 1982 | access-date = September 14, 2008 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/04/movies/special-effects-are-revolutionizing-film.html | archive-date = July 28, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090728075444/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/04/movies/special-effects-are-revolutionizing-film.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In 1985, Spielberg donated $100,000 to the [[Planetary Society]] for [[Megachannel ExtraTerrestrial Assay]].{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=260–269}}

Shortly after the film's release in late 1977, Spielberg considered either a [[sequel]] or [[prequel]], but decided against it. He explained, "The army's knowledge and ensuing [[cover-up]] is so subterranean that it would take a creative screen story, perhaps someone else making the picture and giving it the equal time it deserves."<ref name=mind>{{cite news | author = Steve Poster | title = The Mind Behind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' | work = [[Film Comment]] | pages= 23–29 | date = January 1978 }}</ref>

When asked in 1980 to select a single "master image" that summed up his film career, Spielberg chose the shot of Barry opening his living room door to see the blazing orange light from the UFO. "That was beautiful but awful light, just like fire coming through the doorway. [Barry's] very small, and it's a very large door, and there's a lot of promise or danger outside that door."{{sfn|McBride|1997|p=14–68}} In 2007, ''Close Encounters'' was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the [[United States Library of Congress]] and was added to the [[National Film Registry]] for preservation.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.loc.gov/film/nfrchron.html | title = National Film Registry: 1989–2007 | publisher = [[National Film Registry]] | access-date = May 9, 2008 | archive-date = May 1, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080501155016/http://www.loc.gov/film/nfrchron.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In [[American Film Institute]] polls, ''Close Encounters'' has been voted the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies|64th-greatest American film]],<ref>{{cite web | title = AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies | publisher= [[American Film Institute]] | url = http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx | access-date = April 4, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070403094338/http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx |archive-date = April 3, 2007}}</ref> the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills|31st-most thrilling]],<ref>{{cite web | title = America's Most Heart-Pounding Movies | publisher = [[American Film Institute]] | url = http://www.afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/thrills100.pdf | access-date = April 4, 2007 | archive-date = June 29, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160629221917/http://www.afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/thrills100.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> and the [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers|58th-most inspiring]].<ref>{{cite web | title = America's Most Uplifting Movies | publisher = American Film Institute | url = http://www.afi.com/docs/tvevents/pdf/cheers100.pdf | access-date = April 4, 2007 | archive-date = December 2, 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071202175956/http://www.afi.com/docs/tvevents/pdf/cheers100.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> It was also nominated for the top 10 science fiction films in [[AFI's 10 Top 10]]<ref>[http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/10top10.pdf?docID=361 AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807135149/http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/10top10.pdf?docID=361 |date=August 7, 2011 }}</ref> and the [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)|tenth-anniversary edition of the 100 Movies list]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/Movies_ballot_06.pdf |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Ballot |access-date=March 27, 2011 |archive-date=July 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714173401/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/Movies_ballot_06.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The score by John Williams was nominated for [[AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/scores250.pdf |title=AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Ballot |access-date=March 27, 2011 |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706070523/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/scores250.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2011, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] aired a primetime special, ''Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time'', that counted down the best films chosen by fans based on results of a poll conducted by ABC and [[People (magazine)|''People'' magazine]]. ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' was selected as the #5 Best Sci-Fi Film.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stodola |first1=Ellen |date=March 22, 2011 |title= 'The Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time' Recap |url= http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/best-film-greatest-movies-our-time-recap-03-22-2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140219084054/http://thecelebritycafe.com/feature/best-film-greatest-movies-our-time-recap-03-22-2011 |archive-date=February 19, 2014 | work =The Celebrity Café |access-date= September 3, 2015}}</ref> ''The Guardian'' also selected the film as the 11th best Sci-Fi and fantasy film of all time.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wise|first=Damon|date=2010-10-21|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: No 11 best sci-fi and fantasy film of all time|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/21/close-encounters-spielberg-fantasy|access-date=2020-11-19|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=March 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331195710/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/21/close-encounters-spielberg-fantasy|url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2024, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was included in Rolling Stone's "The 150 Best Science Fiction Movies of All Time" list at #3.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The 150 Greatest Science Fiction Movies of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-sci-fi-movies-1234893930/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1977-3-1234931312/|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=January 1, 2024|access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

Many prominent directors have cited ''Close Encounters'' as one of their favorites, among them [[Stanley Kubrick]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 19, 2020|title=From David Lynch to Quentin Tarantino: A list of Stanley Kubrick's 93 favourite films|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stanley-kubrick-93-favourite-films-of-all-time-list/|access-date=2020-11-19|website=Far Out Magazine|language=en-US|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023063008/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/stanley-kubrick-93-favourite-films-of-all-time-list/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Edgar Wright]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-06-20|title=What are Edgar Wright's 40 Favorite Movies of All Time?|url=https://nofilmschool.com/2017/06/edgar-wrights-40-favorite-movies-all-time|access-date=2020-11-19|website=No Film School|language=en|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112012810/https://nofilmschool.com/2017/06/edgar-wrights-40-favorite-movies-all-time|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Bong Joon-ho]], [[Spike Lee]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Spike Lee Shares His NYU Teaching List of 87 Essential Films Every Aspiring Director Should See {{!}} Open Culture|url=https://www.openculture.com/2013/07/spike-lee-shares-his-nyu-teaching-list-of-87-essential-films-every-aspiring-director-should-see.html|access-date=2020-11-19|language=en-US|archive-date=November 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119010459/https://www.openculture.com/2013/07/spike-lee-shares-his-nyu-teaching-list-of-87-essential-films-every-aspiring-director-should-see.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Denis Villeneuve]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Denis Villeneuve Has Arrived. Now He's About to Take the Next Step.|url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/01/denis-villeneuve-intervew-blade-runner-dune-arrival.html|access-date=2020-11-19|website=Vulture|date=January 25, 2017 |language=en-us|archive-date=April 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425102122/https://www.vulture.com/2017/01/denis-villeneuve-intervew-blade-runner-dune-arrival.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Guillermo del Toro]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chapman |first=Wilson |date=2024-07-17 |title=Guillermo del Toro’s Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/guillermo-del-toro-favorite-movies/ |access-date=2025-12-23 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Christopher Nolan]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/christopher-nolan-favorite-movies/ | title=Christopher Nolan's Favorite Movies: 42 Films the Director Wants You to See | date=March 25, 2024 }}</ref> [[Greta Gerwig]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/greta-gerwig-favorite-movies-film-recommendations| title=Greta Gerwig's Favorite Movies: 32 Films the Director Wants You to See | date=April 29, 2025 }}</ref> [[Andrew Stanton]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-06-24|title=Movie Playlist: Andrew Stanton|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/movie-playlist-andrew-stanton/|access-date=2020-11-19|website=Film|language=en-US|archive-date=August 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812131953/https://www.slashfilm.com/movie-playlist-andrew-stanton/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Patrick Read Johnson]] and [[Michael Williams (film director)|Michael Williams]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sameraentertainment.com/michaelwilliams | title=Samera Entertainment Michael Williams }}</ref> [[Stephen King]] named it one of his ten favorite movies.<ref>{{cite news| title=Stephen King Reveals His Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/stephen-king-10-favorite-movies-1236365416/| work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]| author=James Hibberd| date=September 8, 2025}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of films featuring extraterrestrials]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=McBride|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph McBride (writer)| title=Steven Spielberg: A Biography |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |year=1997|location=New York City |isbn=0-571-19177-0}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Balaban|first=Bob|author-link=Bob Balaban |title=Spielberg, Truffaut & Me: Close Encounters of the Third Kind—An Actor's Diary |year=2002 |publisher=[[Titan Books]] |isbn=978-1-84023-430-5|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=González Hevia|first=Leoncio| title = Encuentros en la tercera fase. La película | publisher = Grupo Editorial Círculo Rojo SL | year = 2020 | location = Almería, España | isbn = 9788413634722|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Klastorin|first=Michael|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History |date=2017 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Inc |isbn=9780062692993|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last=Morton|first=Ray|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg's Classic Film |date=2007 |publisher=Applause Theatre and Cinema Books |isbn=978-1-55783-710-3|ref=none}}
* {{cite book|last1=Spielberg|first1=Steven|author1-link=Steven Spielberg|last2=Waller|first2=Leslie|author2-link=Leslie Waller|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind |year=1977 |location=New York |publisher=Delacorte Press |isbn=978-0-440-11433-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/closeencounterso01spie|ref=none}} [[Novelization]] of the film.

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/close_encounters.pdf ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''] essay by [[Matt Zoller Seitz]] at [[National Film Registry]] 
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''] essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 743–745 
* {{IMDb title|0075860|Close Encounters of the Third Kind}}
* {{AFI film|67160}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=4492}}
* {{Rotten-tomatoes|close_encounters_of_the_third_kind|Close Encounters of the Third Kind}}
* {{Metacritic film|title=Close Encounters of the Third Kind}}
* ''[http://www.filmsite.org/clos.html Close Encounters of the Third Kind]'' at [[Filmsite.org]]

{{Steven Spielberg}}
{{David di Donatello Best Foreign Film}}

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