You have to admit the way the alien ship came behind the car making it look like a random truck but then the lights start rising revealing itself to actually be a space ship was sick wasn’t it

In the 80's Spielberg said "ET is my most successful film, but Close Encounters is the best-directed." This scene is an example. 5 minutes of inspired, incredible visual filmmaking. The "headlights" moment never gets old, and the composition of the lonely railway crossing is poetry.

44 years since the original release... and still chills me.

When I first saw this, when the headlights went up behind Richard Dreyfuss, the whole audience gasped.

In my opinion, this is Spielberg's best movie he's ever done. Fantastic story. Great acting. Wonderful music from the master, Sir John Williams!

No CGI..just practical effects..and it still holds up after all these years.

I saw this movie when it was first released in a large theater in San Francisco. During this scene there wasn't a peep in the theater except when the ship lit up Roy's truck, a very scared sounding woman said, "Oh my God." Then there were a few gasps. Loved it!

I've always loved Spielberg's humour. Waving on the spacecraft is a choice moment.

Just one of the most brilliantly conceived and directed sequences in any film ever.

This whole movie is a master class on building tension. Balancing fear and wonderment.

Some of the scenes in this movie still give me more chills than all the horror movies these days.

Please, someone start making movies like this again (and No, I dont mean a sequel) . Just more movies with great stories and real people

Gotta love the moving “star” at 1:01 There are little moments like this throughout the beginning of the film. Find ‘em all..

I was 15 years old when this movie hit the theaters and did not know Devil's Tower existed at that time. I'm finally making my trip to see it in a few weeks. What a great movie.

I like how the ufo pulls up the man waving at it not paying attention and then it starts floating in the air

Spielbergs masterpiece.the opening scene with the planes sets up the film and this scene is a masterclass of composition.the film is ahead of its time

I wish I could see this movie for the first time again, the way I did when I was 13. Absolutely brilliant film, will always have a special place in my heart.

Seen this movie maybe 100 times and no other movie still has the mystery this movie does. I love how so much is left unexplained in it. Thats what makes it timeless.

About 10 years after that movie came out, I was with my buddy, driving around in his work truck at night, out in a rural area. We stopped at a railroad crossing . Then all of a sudden a micro-burst (tornado) rolled over us. It reminded me of this scene in the movie, because the railroad crossing sign began to shake violently, and the wind was whipping all around us, and there was a vacuum-like air current, sucking everything out of the cabin interior. In an instant there was an intense hail storm that beat down on cab roof so hard, which made a roaring sound, so loud we couldn't hear each other, yelling "Oh my god, oh my god"!! The whole harrowing ordeal probably didn't last more than 15 minutes, and then it was over.

I took my Mom to see this at the drive in theatre in the 1970s... the scene where the "car" levitates out of scene scared the crap out of us both...

All the practical effects and simple things like the abrupt absence of insect noises, and their return, the mailboxes and railroad crossing swinging rapidly, the flashlight turning on. Jaws was the most impactful film Spielberg directed because it taught him how to do more with less.

0:59 if you look up at the sky on the left hand side of the screen, you can see a light flying. Is that possibly the spaceship?

We made the best movies in the 70’s and 80’s that are still being made as run offs today in 2022. Sadly the new generation will never experience the thrill of going to a theater ( Before all this technology we have today) to enjoy block busters like this. We were lucky to have lived it and it was all so good!

What a masterpiece this film is. Movies will never be like this again. A film became a blockbuster through word of mouth, not a $100 mil. ad blitz.

1:00 you can see the ufo tracking him

This stunned everyone in the audience including me!😮 That incredible base rumble!! and the light then…….just silence…….unbelievable!! but you had be at the cinema with a large screen and ‘Dolby surrounded’ to really experience it. No tv even today with the sound tech we have can “duplicate“ it. just amazing! Iconic scene in cinema history.

This was a GREAT movie. i had such a crush on Richard Dreyfus....

1:15 - I want to roll down map in my car.

I'm so glad we have navigation today LOL

My first favorite movie when I was a child! I remember I recorded it, on Beta, and watched it over and over again. I've since gotten it on DVD and just last year, on Blu-ray.

Hearing the crickets chirping stop reminded of the trailer for NOPE

2:35 those alien's just turned a normal railroad crossing into a wig wag 😆

Fantastic scene, although I always laugh a little when the temperature gauge itself begins to smoke at 02:43. 😁

Gonna leave a comment here, since I dont see it mentioned. (Found it in the comment section of another clip on here of the same scene) If you listen closely, you can hear the "close encounters music" "sent" by the UFO to Roy spread out (with your sounds settings right) Basically when the light hits him, then a few seconds later, etc If you watch the shorter "official clip" of this scene and check the comment section, the person who found it has the time marks for each tone

1:39, that scene sends shivers down my spine..👍

There's like an extra edit when he shines his flashlight that makes it so much creepier. I love that.

Goosebumps everytime.

4:23 I always found this part unintentionally funny. Dreyfuss acting is superb.

A timeless classic

Could you tell me where Cornbread is? Turkey! 😂

I was 6 years old when this came out and my parents took me to see it and I have to say it blew my mind. I was always interested in space and the solar systems Etc, but this got me believing in life on other planets and planes of existence. That's a lot for a 6-year-old mind to comprehend but it still gives me chills till this day. The most amazing movie I've ever seen even better than Star Wars and ET, for me it was a life-changing event

great 1977 sci fi movie

Why would 14 people give this a thumbs down?

Kurt is still looking for the blonde in the white t-bird….

Brilliant then at 12 years of age. Absolutely brilliant and way more breathtaking at 59. Thanks Steve. Yer a master

@1:35 the UFO pulled up, realized the guy wasn’t moving and said that’s aiight, I’ll go around you.

I saw this at the drive in with my dadn & older sister. I was 10 years old laying on the hood of dads Monte Carlo. I can still feel the night summer air on my skin as I write this. one of my most. cherished memories.

That final scene is hilarious 😅

I like to label this scene as "the point of no return." This is where the Universe grabs Roy by the collar and bitch slaps him"Hey stupid! Wake the fu*k up!!! There's more going around you than you're robotic 9-5 job , then go home and chill out in front the TV with a beer - get back up and do all over again tomorrow routine"

This part where the stuff goes flying was done by rolling a truck cab. I read they had to do it over several times as Richard had a hard time sitting still. 😂

Bravo bravo bravo!! This scene alone is award winning

Wen his torch went on! 🤣 scary but amzing scene! This and barry's abduction scene were the most terrifying scenes of CEOTTK movie!

Still Outstanding to this day.

Here's a fun little experiment you can do: watch this scene with the sound off. It changes nothing at all about what you learn and how it makes you feel. One of the best examples of how to direct a scene.

Wow' My Favorite scene in the entire movie! I’m sure most people would do that also……This is nuts.

In case you have ever wondered why the mailboxes were shaking and all the junk in the pickup was moving around and look at the actor actually start floating in his seat. This is because of the anti gravity field the UFO is emitting and the close proximity to the truck actually being partially in that field.

Really wish Spielberg would return to this subject......

As the truck drove by, we didn’t think that light flying in the sky was anything except the plane. It’s the kind that blink and you miss it scene.

Love this movie!

The tense in this scene is such intense, you almost think you are sitting with him in that truck!

this scene is the bomb! That ship going up is incredibly an awesome effect!

Now i see where Jordan Peele's "Nope" got some of its inspiration from

Just awesome.

There was not one thing wrong with that scene. Perfect.

Dogs bark, crickets chirping, giant soundless light beam from above

Want to use this clip every time I teach narrative realism as artificial but realistic.

The add campaign for the movie was unprecedented and heightened the anticipation. Like an Orson Wells War of the Worlds where it's relayed as an epic event of sorts rather then just promoting a movie. And the movie fed that type of anticipation to the tenth power. Amazing. What's more amazing is that I heard snoring as the aliens came out of the ship and it was my mom snoring.

Brilliant.

Great special effects

The railroad signal violently shaking makes me laugh every time.

Still funny decades later.

when he gets spooked by the flashlight at the end, haha

And hence the birth of the X-Files.

Heard but never seen this movie...may b 1 day

The crickets stopped.

I just came here to say "Can you tell me where Cornbread is? TURKEY!!!!!"

From 2:18 to 3:18 you can hear the iconic 5 tones being played slowly from the ufo. This is when it got imprinted in Roy's mind.

I vaguely remember a version of this movie where the mailboxes actually played the musical arrangement, that the chosen people are obsessed with. But I've never been able to find proof of it.

What a film just perfect

I have seen this movie a few times, including when it first hit cinemas in the 1970s. I love this movie. That said, watching this clip on YT made me realize something I never thought of before: *_WHY ARE THERE MULTIPLE MAILBOXES NEXT TO A RAILROAD CROSSING?_*

Corect! Absolut corect! Exceptional! Exact ca in realitate! Atentie! VIATA BATE FILMUL! 🙄🤗🙄😉👌🎩😁🤩😍💞🎥🎦💕❤️💖💎

........ all these Years Later this Scene Creeps me out and Impresses me at the Same Time I wonder how Steven Spielberg Recorded this Scene with the Electronics going Haywire.....

Ohhh wht a film making🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙆‍♂️🙏🙏😍😍👍👍😊😊

i love it when humans act so tough then get chin checked by something like that ALIENS ARE THE TOUGH ONES ♥

"It's Better than Goofy Golf".....lol

This is very similar to what happen to me and my grand parents going from Ohio to west Virginia one night

I have it in my DVD library

I don’t even know when I watched this but this is as far as I got before my memory shut off Thank goodness google understood “Clip of aliens picking up truck” lmao

At @3:14 What's happening to him? He looks like he's having some kind of seizure from the event.

When all of nature goes silent… You should know, you’re in trouble.

They travel in the 4th dimension. They can move between the 3 & 4. When they travel and seemingly defying inertia what we see is the 3 dimensional shadow. That's why it's silent and without sonic booms or vapor trails. The matter and mass is in the 4th.

That most other worldly of motion pictures.

If its ever going to happen this is it

I remember seeing this the summer this came out and during the scene when hes driving and the camera pans far out to show the beautiful night sky you can see something coming diagonally from the top left and I started to ask my aunt, "what was that thing moving?" but got shushed. Then it all made sense!! What a scene! And it flashing that light further down the road was an incredible addition! Why did it do that?! Did it stop at all stop signs?

Before Google maps!

Reading a map. Been a long time since I saw that.

Roy should have asked Siri for directions. Would have been much faster than a map.

🖖👽

All shot in camera... And better for it.

Bozos think this is actually happening irl Lol