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Close Encounters of the Third Kind Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Close Encounters of the Third Kind Quizzes, Trivia

Close Encounters of the Third Kind Trivia

Close Encounters of the Third Kind Movie Trivia Quizzes

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Fun Trivia
2 quizzes and 35 trivia questions.
1.
  Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 25 Qns
I was shocked to learn that only one Funtrivia quiz had ever been written about one of my favorite movies of all time. So here's the first of my two "CE3K" quizzes. Watch the skies!
Difficult, 25 Qns, enfranklopedia, Oct 29 18
Difficult
enfranklopedia
Oct 29 18
2997 plays
2.
  Close Encounters    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
My favorite film of all time. Warning---this quiz takes into account all the scenes from all versions of the film, not just the special edition. Players who have seen multiple versions will do better.
Tough, 10 Qns, HANK2001, Feb 08 04
Tough
HANK2001
2230 plays

Close Encounters of the Third Kind Trivia Questions
1. Where does the first scene in this film take place?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Mexico

As a Jeep is shown driving through a sandstorm, we're shown a title card that reads "Sonora Desert, Mexico".

2. How many different countries do we see in the film?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: 4

The countries are Mexico, USA, Mongolia, and India.

3. What is the first line spoken in this film?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: "Are we the first?"

One of the nameless (and virtually faceless) men working for the U.S. government (is he SETI? FBI? CIA?) asks this question of the first Mexican national he sees. He then repeats the question in Spanish.

4. Where is the boat Cotapoxi discovered?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: Gobi Desert

This scene of a ship in the middle of the desert is an homage to a similar scene in "Laurence of Arabia". It was one of the extra scenes Steven Spielberg shot for the Special Edition.

5. What Disney song became the musical theme featured in John Williams' score?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: When You Wish Upon A Star

6. An early scene in the film depicts a number of air traffic controllers dealing with the fallout following a near-collision with a UFO. How many (terrestrial) aircraft were involved in this incident?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: two & 2

The head flight traffic controller asks the pilots of two aircraft, in turn, if they want to file reports detailing an encounter with a UFO. Both pilots flatly decline, presumably because they wouldn't know how to word what they had experienced, and/or didn't want to be labeled as "crazy".

7. Which town in Wyoming do the aliens plan to land in?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: Moorcroft

Devil's Tower is their choice for a landing area.

8. At the ending of the movie, Roy and Jillian climb Devil's Tower to witness the landing of the mothership. As Roy slips and Jillian reaches to help him, the setting and camera angles would suggest an homage to which Hitchcock film?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: North by Northwest

The scene is an homage to when Cary Grant reaches to help Eva Marie Saint climb Mt. Rushmore. As a further hint of this homage, the announcer on the PA system states "We have targets arriving from the North Northwest!"

9. When we first meet Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), he is excited at the prospect of taking his children to see a particular film. What's the film?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Pinocchio

Roy tells his kids that the film is even more enjoyable than "goofy golf," which I assume is some version of miniature golf. The song "When You Wish Upon a Star," from the soundtrack of "Pinocchio," is referenced a couple of times in John Williams' score for this film.

10. What song plays on the record player when the aliens abduct Barry?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: Chances Are

"...I wear a silly grin the moment you come into view." Get it? Another highly ironic religious motif is, before the aliens land, Roy is watching a Budweiser ad that proclaims "The King is Coming".

11. Just before the power goes out in the Neary house, it's revealed that Roy has told his children that they can stay up late to watch a particluar movie. What movie is it?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: The Ten Commandments

Ronnie Neary seems less than pleased with this arrangement, noting that the film is over three hours long.

12. Even though they are in Mexico, what language is the interpreter asked if he speaks?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: French

The interpreter is played by excellent character actor Bob Balaban.

13. During the blackout, Roy gets hopelessly lost trying to find a particular road. What's the name of the road?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Cornbread

After Roy is cursed at by a fellow motorist, he sarcastically asks, "Do you know where Cornbread is? TURKEY!" (Note to players born after 1980: "turkey" used to be a nasty name to call someone. Just so you know.)

14. When is the last line in the film?

From Quiz Close Encounters

Answer: Bye

This is said by little Barry as he waves goodbye to his alien friends.

15. Roy's truck is parked next to a row of mailboxes when he is scanned by the UFO. One of the mailboxes is clearly marked with a name. What's the name?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Dickson

The mailboxes thrash about wildly, an odd side effect of the UFO's presence.

16. Just before Barry Guiler and and his mother meet Roy Neary for the first time, Barry encounters an old man (played by Roberts Blossom and credited as simply "Farmer") who is whistling. What's the name of the song he's whistling?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

Quite appropriate, considering that several small UFOs "come around the mountain" only seconds later...and one could also interpret the use of this tune as foreshadowing to the approach of the mother ship later in the film.

17. As Barry waves to the "Farmer," he (Barry) is wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the name of a particular institute of higher learning. Which one?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Boston University

Why Barry wears a shirt with "BOSTON UNIV" on it is never explained, as he and Jillian live in Indiana. Perhaps his mother went to school there?

18. The Nearys have a nosy next-door neighbor who is simply flabbergasted by Roy's highly unorthodox behavior. What's her name?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Mrs. Harris

Mrs. Harris -- from whose garden Roy eventually steals the chicken wire he needs for his giant model of Devil's Tower -- is played by Mary Gafrey.

19. We're shown the highly unusual image of an ocean liner that is discovered in the middle of a desert -- deposited there, it seems, by the aliens who had abducted it years before. What is the name of this ship?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: the COTOPAXI

The COTOPAXI is presumably named for Mt. Cotopaxi, the world's tallest active volcano, located in Ecuador. An interesting note from http://www.ecuador-images.net/mountain.cotopaxi.htm: "Loosely translated from the Quechua, Cotopaxi means 'Smooth Neck of the Moon'." Could the fact that the ship's name references a celestial body (albeit a close one) have anything to do with its having been chosen for abduction? Hmmm... By the way, all of the wrong choices in this question refer to ships from other famous movies. Can you name them all? =)

20. Meanwhile, back at the Neary house, Roy's children decide to have some fun with him and take a picture of him while he is doing something decidedly un-photogenic. What is Roy doing when his children surprise him with the Polaroid?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: brushing his teeth

His son spanks him with a ping-pong paddle, and when Roy spins around, his mouth is full of toothpaste as the picture is snapped. Roy is laughing, though, and growling like a beast, which suggests that the kids didn't really sneak up on him at all.

21. The first time we hear the by-now-legendary five-note "musical message" of the aliens, it is being sung by a large group of people. On what continent does this scene take place?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: Asia

More specifically, hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of people are singing the tune in a desert in India.

22. The "Farmer" is one of the assembled onlookers hoping for another close encounter. He has fashioned a sign out of poster board. What does it say?

From Quiz Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind

Answer: STOP AND BE FRIENDLY

Seems like a sensible sentiment to me.

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