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SONY

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Steven Spielberg
Cast:
Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban
Writing Credits:
Steven Spielberg

Synopsis:
After an accidental encounter with otherworldly vessels, an ordinary man follows a series of psychic clues to the first scheduled meeting between representatives of Earth and visitors from the cosmos.

Box Office:
Budget
$20 million.
Domestic Gross
$116,395,460.

MPAA:
Rated PG

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
French DTS-HD MA 5.1
Spanish Dolby 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Arabic
Chinese Simplified
Chinese Traditional
Croatian
Czech
Dutch
French
Greek
Hungarian
Icelandic
Korean
Portuguese
Romanian
Spanish
Thai
Turkish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
French
German
Italian
Dutch
Japanese
Chinese Traditional
Brazilian Portuguese
Portuguese
Castillian Spanish
Latin American Spanish
Korean
Thai

Runtime:
Original Theatrical Version: 135 min.
Special Edition: 132 min.
Director’s Cut: 137 min.
Price: $19.99
Release Date: 9/19/2017

Bonus:
• “View From Above” Guide
• “The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind” Documentary
• “30 Years of Close Encounters” Featurette
• Original 1977 Featurette
• Deleted Scenes
• Still Galleries
• “Three Kinds of Close Encounters” Featurette
• “Steven’s Home Videos and Outtakes”
• Trailers


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RELATED REVIEWS


Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: 40th Anniversary Edition [Blu-Ray] (1977)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (September 21, 2017)

As a 10-year-old in 1977, I loved Close Encounters of the Third Kind - as did all my peers. With both Star Wars and CE3K, 1977 was a killer year for science fiction, and we were happy to digest all of it.

At its heart, CE3K is a simple fantasy that depicts the first formal meeting of humans and aliens. Although the film certainly features the global point of view and shows how governments might respond to this event, Spielberg wisely took the more intimate approach to tell the story.

Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) works as a technician for an Indiana power company and lives with his wife Ronnie (Teri Garr) and three kids. He seems like a nice enough guy, but clearly the bloom is off the rose and he’s living a fairly drab existence.

All of that changes when some force causes electricity to cut off all across his area. After he’s sent to work on the situation, he comes quite close to some alien vehicles, and the experience leaves him changed, to say the least. From then on, he feels a nagging urge to find meaning in odd shapes, a desire that eventually leads him to apparent semi-madness.

However, that’s not the case, and before too long Neary and others - including Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), whose son Barry (Cary Guffey) has been kidnapped by the aliens - figure out what it is they need to do, and he heads out west for… well, he’s not sure what. Nor are we, but it’s a terrific ride as Roy and Jillian have to evade oppressive government forces to reach their ultimate goal.

Close Encounters was Spielberg’s first film after the enormous success of 1975’s Jaws, and it represents a more personal project. While he clearly made Jaws his own movie, Spielberg still functioned as a “hired hand” for the flick. He could take some liberties with the tale, but since the book had been so successful in its own right, there was only so much he could do to give Jaws his own stamp.

No similar restrictions existed for CE3K which was his baby from the start. While his earlier flicks displayed what would become some of Spielberg’s signature stylistic choices, CE3K was really the first time we saw the whole package.

Spielberg has absorbed an awful lot of abuse over the years from those who think he’s a populist hack, but I think these critics are being excessively harsh. Sure, Spielberg can produce some sappy pap - Hook comes to mind, and Amistad was another dud - and I must admit that his best days seem to be behind him.

However, when Spielberg was at the top of his game, almost no one could touch him. With the exception of 1979’s dreadful 1941, he enjoyed a killer run between Jaws in 1975 and ET the Extra-Terrestrial in 1982. Add in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark to CE3K and you have four impeccable films that stand with the best ever made.

Is CE3K a flawless movie? No - it has its own problems at times. For example, I always thought the aggressive way in which the aliens came to get Barry seemed to be at odds with their apparently-gentle nature.

The abduction makes sense within the tone of the movie because it adds excitement and intrigue, but it doesn’t really seem logical to me. Nonetheless, the film functions at a consistently high level from start to finish and offers an extremely well-executed fantasy.

The acting is top-notch from Dreyfuss down the line. Through movies like Jaws and The Goodbye Girl - another 1977 offering, and one for which he earned an Academy Award - Dreyfuss became pigeonholed as a sarcastic, self-centered sort of character. CE3K showed that he could easily portray other roles, and he brings out the middle-class dreamer in Neary nicely.

Spielberg paces the film well, and though the effects show their age, they still hold up after 40 years. It achieves a level of beauty and tenderness rare in the genre, and it also combines well-integrated humor, drama and action. As a whole, Close Encounters of the Third Kind remains a fabulous piece of work that deserves to be included along with the greatest films ever made.


The Disc Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B+/ Bonus A

Close Encounters of the Third Kind appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1; on this Blu-ray Disc. Very few concerns emerged during this terrific transfer.

Sharpness usually seemed to be excellent. A few wide shots presented some slight softness, but that was about it, and those tended to occur either due to effects or depth of field issues. The vast majority of the flick offered strong delineation and clarity.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no signs of edge enhancement. I also found no source flaws. The source material could be grainy at times, but no artificial defects appeared. The grain actually seemed less distracting than I expected; CE3K is known as a grainy film, but I didn’t have any concerns about it presence at all.

Colors looked natural and distinct. The film didn’t feature a particular bright palette except for the hues generated by the alien crafts themselves, and I felt these tones appeared clear and vivid.

Black levels occasionally looked a little too pale, but they usually appeared appropriately deep and dense, and shadow detail seemed clean and nicely heavy without excessive opacity. The smattering of slightly soft shots created my only minor complaints here, and they weren’t enough to knock my grade below an “A-“. I felt very pleased with this transfer, as it often looked exceptional.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack featured a surprisingly broad and engaging soundfield, as the front speakers offered a nice sense of ambience. In addition to John Williams’ score, they added a great deal of unique effects, all of which seemed to be well placed within the environment.

The elements also blended together neatly and smoothly. Some directional dialogue occurred, and while it could seem somewhat tentative at times, for the most part I felt that the speech appeared to come from the appropriate locations.

Surround usage generally sounded to be monaural, but a few instances of stereo usage clearly appeared. For instance, during a few scenes when alien ships zoomed past us, the audio provided unique information for the left and right rear channels.

Otherwise, I thought that the surrounds contributed very solid reinforcement for the track. They didn’t seem to present a great deal of sound that was clearly specific to them, but they bolstered the atmosphere throughout the movie. From the opening desert sandstorm scene to the ending with the Mothership, the rear speakers were fairly active participants that made this soundtrack compelling.

Audio quality was more erratic, and dialogue presented the most problems. While speech always seemed to be intelligible, I thought that some minor edginess affected the experience. Most lines appeared acceptably natural, but some came across as a bit brittle and rough.

Effects also showed some thinness and lacked tremendously natural qualities, though they matched up fine with most audio of the era. Without re-recorded stems, this was about as good as the effects were likely to sound.

Happily, they boasted some tremendous low-end at times. When the plane engines fired up during the opening desert sequence, the subwoofer kicked in with solid bass, and quite a few other scenes contributed excellent depth as well; as Roy experienced his first “close encounter”, I thought the hum of the ship was going to crack my house’s foundation!

John Williams’ score also presented nice dynamics, and the music appeared to be bright and vivid throughout the movie. Frankly, I really liked the soundtrack of CE3K; were it not for some of the edginess to speech and the thinness of the effects, it would have easily made it to “A” territory. As it stands, I felt it earned a solid “B+”.

How did this 2017 “40th Anniversary” Blu-ray compare to those of the Blu-ray from 2007? Audio appeared to be identical – the 2017 disc drops the 2007 set’s Dolby TrueHD mix, but I thought it sounded the same as the DTS-HD MA track anyway, so no harm, no foul.

As for the visuals, the 2017 disc looked a little stronger, mainly in terms of sharpness. The 40th Anniversary version came from a 4K transfer, and it delivered an observable uptick in terms of definition. This wasn’t a huge upgrade, but the 2017 image definitely fared better.

The Blu-ray contains most of the same extras as the 2007 Blu-ray plus some new ones. One of this package’s selling points comes from the fact that it includes three versions of the film. These all appear on Disc One of this Blu-Ray set.

The two-cent history here: due to a variety of pressures, Spielberg felt the 1977 theatrical release didn’t completely fulfill his vision of CE3K. Columbia gave him the money to do some reshoots for the SE with one caveat: he had to show viewers the interior of the Mothership at the film’s end.

Although this edition added new footage, it was a shorter film due to some judicious editing on the part of Spielberg. He cut 16 minutes of shots from the original, reinstated seven minutes of material filmed in 1977 but not used, and added six minutes of newly-made material.

The latter entries included the most controversial one: scenes from inside the Mothership at the end of the film. To get funding for the reshoot, Columbia wanted Spielberg to add these segments. As such, the SE of CE3K was a fairly different film than the one originally seen in 1977.

Spielberg reworked the movie again in 1998, and this 137-minute “Director’s Cut” combines different aspects of the 1977 and 1980 versions. Many think this is the best edition of the movie, and I might agree, but some good bits from the 1977 film fail to appear.

The introduction to the Nearys uses the scene from the 1980 cut, which is more abrupt but it adds some nice exposition to the family, so it’s a draw. Other 1980 snippets are integrated, such as “Roy’s shower” and the expedition to the Gobi Desert.

The 1998 version cuts some segments that appeared in both the 1977 and 1980 versions, and these are the least positive changes. We lose the cool scene in which Roy looks at a pillowcase and states, “That’s not right”.

We also don’t get some shots of Roy at the power plant; I liked these, but I can’t say they’re as painful to lose as the pillowcase. The alterations don’t hurt the movie terribly, but I wish Spielberg had kept these scenes in the movie.

When I consider the three versions, I find it hard to choose between the theatrical edition and the Director’s Cut. I strongly dislike the Special Edition, though, as ts additions and changes mostly hurt the film, especially in terms of the horrible “inside the Mothership” ending. Never say never, I suppose, but I seriously doubt I’ll ever want to revisit the SE.

It’s a much closer call between the 1977 and 1998 versions. Actually, for a while, I preferred the Director’s Cut, primarily because I liked the Gobi Desert scene, maybe the only SE addition that worked for me.

However, the more I see that shot, the less I like it. Now it feels redundant to me, and it doesn’t advance the plot. In addition, the fact that we get Lacombe’s sidekicks but no Lacombe makes it unnatural - Claude’s absence creates a distraction that almost takes me out of the movie.

So in the future, I expect I’ll go with the 1977 version, and the only scene I’ll probably miss is the one with Roy in the shower. One could argue it’s also redundant and unnecessary, but I think it helps reinforce Roy’s disintegration and the effect on his family.

It’s one of the more touching in the film, really, as we see the pain reflected in his kids. Spielberg’s choice to deflate the drama with Roy’s comment about his watch is a mistake, though; the quick bit of comedy is funny but out of place.

The beauty of this package is that it allows us to have the choice of the different versions. I might prefer the 1977 theatrical rendition, but others who like the 1980 or 1998 cuts can have their faves as well. It’s a great way to allow us flexibility.

In addition to all three versions of the film, Disc One includes View from Above. It offers an on-screen guide to the variations found in the different versions. For the SE and DC, icons tell you if a shot/scene failed to appear in the 1977 edition and if a scene appears in the 1977 cut alone.

For the 1977 edition, an icon relates that something is unique to it. This is a nice way to get a representation of the variations.

With that we head to Disc Two and the bulk of the supplements. Most substantial of the bunch is The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a 1998 documentary.

This one-hour, 41-minute, 41-second program combines film clips, excellent shots from the set, and a slew of (circa 1997 interviews with participants. In addition to writer/director Steven Spielberg, we hear from actors Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey, composer John Williams, director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond, editor Michael Kahn, production designer Joe Alves, animation supervisor Robert Swarthe, chief model maker Gregory Jein, production illustrator Ralph McQuarrie, special photographic effects person Douglas Trumbull, and Mothership photographer Dennis Muren.

Not surprisingly, Spielberg dominates the proceedings. Filmed from the set of Saving Private Ryan, he contributes lots of solid details about the project’s genesis and its production, though at times I’m not terribly sure how well we can trust his memory.

I also own the Criterion laserdisc CE3K set, and Spielberg alters some of the stories he told on that older set. None of the changes are major, but they exist; for example, when he discusses the ways in which he got little Cary Guffey to perform in the necessary manner, some of the details have changed. Nonetheless, the overall intent remained intact, so I don’t have too many concerns about Steve’s memory.

As for the rest of the crew, they chime in quite frequently and add a tremendous amount of solid information about the movie. It’s a fine mix of technical and creative, and the overall arc of the production is related in a succinct and entertaining manner.

The many outtakes and behind the scenes shots are also delightful; I especially enjoyed the alien test footage images. Put simply, this is an outstanding documentary that should be thoroughly compelling for fans of the film.

Watch the Skies is a five-minute, 54-second featurette that came out at the same time as CE3K itself. This is truly a promotional piece that acts as a variation on the disc’s “Original Theatrical Preview”, albeit a more interesting one.

“Skies” shows some decent shots from the set and also includes a brief comment from producer Julia Phillips. It remains an advertisement, but it’s a moderately enjoyable one.

For something newer, we get Steven Spielberg: 30 Years of Close Encounters. In this 21-minute, 21-second piece, we find a modern interview with Spielberg as he discusses the development of the story and the production, his thoughts about UFOs and research for the film, cast and performances, visual elements, sets and locations, how CE3K impacted his later flicks, editing, music, studio pressures and the flick’s release, the 1980 and 1998 versions, and some general thoughts.

“Years” acts as a good complement to the longer documentary. It mostly touches on subjects not addressed there, so it becomes a fresh experience.

Spielberg includes quite a few good stories; I especially like his observation that CE3K was a tough shoot but it seemed easy compared to the horrors of Jaws. I’d like a little more of a retrospective view of CE3K and what it meant to him, but this remains an informative piece.

Nine Deleted Scenes appear. These run a total of 18 minutes, 22 seconds and provide a nice collection of cut sequences.

Nothing particularly revelatory can be found, but all the clips are great to see for big fans. They’re a good addition to the Blu-ray. For reasons unknown, they don’t appear on the 2007 DVD, even though they were part of the 2001 release.

Storyboard Comparison lets us examine drawings and final film for five sequences. All together, they fill a total of 22 minutes, 10 seconds.

We also find Storyboard Galleries for “End Sequence 1” (79 frames) and “End Sequence 2” (123). Both of these are compelling, though I especially like “End Sequence 2” since it displays high quality art; instead of the standard cartoony boards, it boasts color paintings.

More stills show up elsewhere. Location Scouting Pictures (53) shows spots considered for the movie’s finale, while Mothership Drawings by Ralph McQuarrie (14) gives us a glimpse of design art. Behind the Scenes (277 across 16 areas) shows photos from the set, with an emphasis on Spielberg.

Production Team (32 across five sections) opens things up to pics of Vilmos Szigmond, Joe Alves, Doug Trumbull, Michael Kahn and John Williams as well. Portrait Gallery (54 across eight segments) shows more of Spielberg, Hynek and the cast, while Marketing: Original Theatrical Release (177 across four) delivers posters, trading cards and lobby cards.

Lastly, Special Edition (33 over two) follows similar lines. All are good, though I was startled to notice that the trading cards never showed Richard Dreyfuss; I guess he refused to license his likeness.

Under Trailers, we find two promos: “Original Version” and “Special Edition”. At six minutes, the “Original Version” is the most interesting, though even it isn’t particularly fascinating. The set drops an ad for the 1998 “Ultimate Edition”.

Two new to the 40th Anniversary release features follow. Three Kinds of Close Encounters runs 22 minutes, two seconds and offers comments from Spielberg and filmmakers JJ Abrams and Denis Villaneuve.

Spielberg gives us a few general notes about CE3K and some scene specifics, while Villaneuve and Abrams discuss the impact the film had on them. It’s a decent piece but not one that adds a lot, as it doesn’t offer a ton of insight.

Finally, we find Steven’s Home Videos & Outtakes. This five-minute, 25-second reel shows the expected behind the scenes footage along with a quick intro from Spielberg. Nothing exceptional arrives here, but it’s a decent collection.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind remains a classic, as Steven Spielberg tells an enchanting story of our first formal meeting with aliens. He utilizes a first-person point of view that makes the tale accessible and moving, and he fulfills the entire project with beauty and style. The Blu-ray provides excellent visuals as well as very good audio and extras. As good as the 2007 Blu-ray was, the 2017 “40th Anniversary Edition” works a bit better, as it offers a picture upgrade.

To rate this film visit the prior review of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main