- Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban
- Directors: Steven Spielberg
- Writers: Steven Spielberg, Hal Barwood, Jerry Belson, John Hill, Matthew Robbins
- Producers: Clark L. Paylow, Julia Phillips
- Format: PAL
- Language English, French, Hindi, Spanish
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 2
- Classification: PG
- Studio: Sony Pictures
- DVD Release Date: 25 Jun 2001
- Run Time: 146 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005951D
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,994 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Released in 1977, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was that year's cerebral alternative to Star Wars. It's arguably the archetypal Spielberg film, featuring a fantasy-meets-reality storyline (to be developed further in E.T.), a misunderstood Everyman character (Richard Dreyfuss), apparently hostile government agents (long before The X-Files), a sense of childlike awe in the face of the otherworldly, and a sweeping feel for epic film-making learned from the classic school of David Lean. Contributing to the film's overall success are the Oscar-winning cinematography from Vilmos Zsigmond, Douglas Trumbull's lavish effects and an extraordinary score from John Williams that develops from eerie atonality à la Ligeti to the gorgeous sentiment of "When You Wish Upon a Star" over the end credits.
Not content with the final result, Spielberg tinkered with the editing and inserted some new scenes to make a "Special Edition" in 1980 which ran three minutes shorter than the original, then made further revisions to create a slightly longer "Collector's Edition" in 1998. This later version deletes the mothership interior scenes that were inserted in the "Special Edition" and restores the original ending.
On the DVD: CE3K is packaged here with confusing documentation that fails to make clear any differences between earlier versions of the film and this "Collector's Edition"--worse, the back cover blurb misleadingly implies that this disc is the 1980 "Special Edition" edit. It is not. A gorgeous anamorphic widescreen print of Spielberg's 1998 "Collector's Edition" edit occupies the first disc: this is the version with the original theatrical ending restored but new scenes from the "Special Edition" retained.
The second disc rounds up sundry deleted scenes that were either dropped from the original version or never made it into the film at all--fans of the "Special Edition" can find the mothership interior sequence here. The excellent "making-of" documentary dates from 1997 and has interviews with almost everyone involved, including the director speaking from the set of Saving Private Ryan. Thankfully the superb picture and sound of the feature make this set entirely compelling and more than compensate for the inadequate packaging. --Mark Walker
Video Description
DVD Special Features
Disc One:
Widescreen "Collector's Edition" version
Disc Two:
1977 "Watch the Skies" featurette
Making of Documentary
14 Deleted Scenes
Filmographies
Original Theatrical Preview Trailer
Special Edition Trailer
Disc One:
Widescreen "Collector's Edition" version
Disc Two:
1977 "Watch the Skies" featurette
Making of Documentary
14 Deleted Scenes
Filmographies
Original Theatrical Preview Trailer
Special Edition Trailer
Animated Menus
Dolby 5.1
DTS
2.35:1 ratio enhanced for 16:9 widescreen TVs
Subtitles: English, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, Dutch, Bulgarian, Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Arabic, Polish
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Aside from the contents, the presentation of this set is awsome in its own right. The box is opened by lifting the lid upwards which is held shut by a small magnetic strip. Once opened there is a ribbon which when pulled raises the contents for your perusal..... The 64 page book is full of photos and info of the production crew and cast and is a nice little read in itself.... the poster is double sided with the original cinema poster on one side and a comparitive timeline of all three versions of the movie on the other. This essentially explains the major differences and when they occur in each version......
All in all I feel this is one of the best box set issues I have ever bought...
All in all I feel this is one of the best box set issues I have ever bought...
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I can still remember getting excited watching this for the first time.
It's still a great movie, classic Speilberg (loads of subtle domestic detail) and interesting to think how much of recent popular culture has its roots in this movie. Without this would we have had X Files, a new Dr Who or any number of non-combat, alien contact movies and TV series? Probably not.
Presented in a nice, but unfussy box, the three discs come with a booklet and fold out timelines so you can see what is different about the three versions without having to sit and watch them all with a stopwatch.
In fact, the new cut is the best - more build up, but less (in fact, none) of inside the mothership. Speilberg admits it was a mistake to put that in the Special Edition.
On a good 5.1 system with the volume turned up the musical "chat" between the synth guy and the mothership is even more schoolboy-exciting than I remember it being 30 years ago.
It's still a great movie, classic Speilberg (loads of subtle domestic detail) and interesting to think how much of recent popular culture has its roots in this movie. Without this would we have had X Files, a new Dr Who or any number of non-combat, alien contact movies and TV series? Probably not.
Presented in a nice, but unfussy box, the three discs come with a booklet and fold out timelines so you can see what is different about the three versions without having to sit and watch them all with a stopwatch.
In fact, the new cut is the best - more build up, but less (in fact, none) of inside the mothership. Speilberg admits it was a mistake to put that in the Special Edition.
On a good 5.1 system with the volume turned up the musical "chat" between the synth guy and the mothership is even more schoolboy-exciting than I remember it being 30 years ago.
58 of 61 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
I had never seen 'Close Encounters' before, so my purchase of the Blu-Ray release was something of a blind buy except, other than a positive review I glanced through on highdefdigest. I don't even know anyone that has seen it, so was getting curious because of the revenrential terms in which the film is described. Having just finished watching it about 15 minutes ago, however, let me just say wow. If you haven't seen the film it's very intense and has aged incredibly well. The special effects don't break the immersion (as happens sometimes with older effects-laden films) and the acting is great. I was totally sucked into the scenario... I read in the supplementary material included that Spielberg believed at the time that UFO contact had really happened in the 20th century, which makes sense since there is an amazing sense of realism to it. This is definitely not the recent 'War of the Worlds' film or 'Independence Day'. Basically, if you have not seen the film before you will not be disappointed by it; you can afford to blind buy this one.
For people who have already seen 'close encounters', I should mention that this includes three versions of the film, all three of which are in 1080p... the theatrical version, special edition, and director's cut. There is lots of printed material (a booklet and a small timeline poster) showing what the differences are between the various cuts. For £14, you get more than you do with a lot of Blu-Rays costing £25.
Picture quality is a huge pleasure to behold. The film is definitely nicer in high def. I was really impressed at how good it looks for its age. While not every scene is a showcase of what 'high definition' is, anyone could see the difference between this and standard def DVD. 100% recommended on picture quality.
Basically, I went from knowing almost nothing about this film to prizing this bluray as one of the best in my collection. A wholehearted recommendation which, at this low price, deserves to be on everyone's shelf.
For people who have already seen 'close encounters', I should mention that this includes three versions of the film, all three of which are in 1080p... the theatrical version, special edition, and director's cut. There is lots of printed material (a booklet and a small timeline poster) showing what the differences are between the various cuts. For £14, you get more than you do with a lot of Blu-Rays costing £25.
Picture quality is a huge pleasure to behold. The film is definitely nicer in high def. I was really impressed at how good it looks for its age. While not every scene is a showcase of what 'high definition' is, anyone could see the difference between this and standard def DVD. 100% recommended on picture quality.
Basically, I went from knowing almost nothing about this film to prizing this bluray as one of the best in my collection. A wholehearted recommendation which, at this low price, deserves to be on everyone's shelf.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Favourite Film
I have seen this film several times and I find it equally good to watch again. I believe that we are not the only intelligent creatures in the universe and this film gives a good... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Raz
Disappointing.
The disc is fine and the various editions included useful, but as with so many Spielberg films his "over the top" style - particularly when demonstrating the leading man's... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Adrian Drew
Great
This was and still is a sci-fi classic. I loved it and the effect despite being from decades ago, didn't seem dated at all. Excellent! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Broadie
Terrific
I have loved this movie for so long. Modern films simply cannot compete with this; a testament to the creative genius of Spielberg, and one of the greatest motion pictures in... Read more
Published 3 months ago by MikeyJ
Awful Blu-Ray Transfer !
I Love Close Encounters. Its one of my favourite films. I was really looking forward to it coming out on blu-ray, but this Blu-Ray Transfer is absolutely appaling. Read more
Published 4 months ago by cragrat
Great on blu ray
A classic film i havent seen for a while. Superb on blu ray mostly for the sound effects especially the climax on the mountain where the mother ship blasts the notes out. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Taylors1960
Conversations with 'them'...
Forgive me as I slap on the sentimental hat, because watching this glorious film on Blu-ray with a full high definition experience... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Tom Cat
Modern (ish) Classic
Good to own the blu-ray if you don't have the DVD but I am not sure it's worth upgrading any movie from DVD to blu-ray. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Taylors1960
My favorite movie...
I just loved this movie in 1977. How many movies today can you go back and watch again, and again. Just the opening part when the music builds and then the cinema is bathed in... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mike47
Spielberg Mesmerising.
If you have any sense of wonder and/or any interest at all in UFO's or the unknown then this film is for you. Read more
Published 11 months ago by L. Thompson
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