Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #909 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-06-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Collector's Edition, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, Hindi, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 131 minutes

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

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

Synopsis
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is Steven Spielberg's extraordinary film about a man named Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) who becomes obsessed with meeting extraterrestrials after encountering a UFO on an abandoned road one night. Against the wishes of his wife (Teri Garr) and children, Neary, along with another witness to the sighting (Melinda Dillon), travels to a mysterious mountain where the government has built a landing strip hoping to attract the aliens. Director Francois Truffaut costars as Claude Lacombe, one of the organizers of the project. Spielberg hoped to follow up the huge success of JAWS with a low-budget film that would be an easy shoot, but, thanks in part to the complicated special effects, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS quickly snowballed into being an expensive endeavor but a commercial and artistic success. No one who has seen the film has ever looked at a plate of mashed potatotes the same way again.

Customer Reviews

The Definitive Version!!!
"Close Encounters of a Third Kind -The Special Edition" is the definitive version of this very enjoyable movie. The final entrance by Richard Dreyfuss into the Mothership has been removed to the betterment of the whole and certain scenes that explore further his descend into madness have been restored. This film represents a Spielberg oozing with talent and confidence. The only reference he makes to another director is to Kubrick and these are in the first reel. After that we are left with Spielberg the visionary not the successful journeyman we have today.

At the time of release no one had seen anything like this on the big screen and I feel the film holds up remarkably well today. The effects are faultless and jaw dropping. The music is inspired and profound.

It is a shame Spielberg can't find that unselfconscious talent he once had in abundance and so produce another film of this quality in the new millennium. It is about time because he has made us suffer a lot in the last few years.

The DVD features the most in depth "Making Of" documentary of any film I have ever seen. It is nearly as long as the feature itself yet well worth watching. It is a shame that Spielberg and Dreyfuss could not find the time for a commentary track but I suppose everything had been covered in the documentary.

Greatest movie to embrace cinema history
Close Encounters of the Third Kind--Collector's Edition (two discs) [1978] in my books is the greatest movie to embrace cinema history. Legendary movie director Steven Spielberg has treated viewers with memorable movies during late 70's to early 80's. The movie is a real genuine model to reflect the art of fine cinema making. What elements should this model comprise?

1/The movie special effects are truly amazing bearing in mind it was screened in the late 1970's and you would expect technology to be obsolete, but what you observe does not appear to be the case.

2/ The subject area of movie is about sightings of UFO'S activities discovered in a mid- western town in American. There are sightings of these unusual activities witnessed in other parts of the world. The average American (Richard Dreyfuss) wants to seek answers surrounding these activities. The subject area of extra terrestrial activities continues to attract widespread global attention and is fascinating to learn about.

3/ The pace of the story is really well builds up and maintains interest. The musical background adds a thrilling element to the movie.

In a nutshell, Close Encounters of the Third Kind--Collector's Edition (two discs) [1978] is the greatest movie to embrace cinema history. The extra features accompanying the DVD are excellent. If you are interested in UFO activities or you want to appreciate cinema making at its sheer best and highest quality, then Close Encounters of the Third Kind--Collector's Edition (two discs) [1978] will certainly satisfy your taste.

*The* Classic UFO Film
Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr portray the average Midwestern family living in rural Indiana. The mystery and suspense of the film contrasts well with the ordinairy lives of this couple. Roy Neary (Dreyfuss) sees unusual lights in the sky as he drives home one night, his truck is engulfed by light, the radio goes beserk and the clock on his car is affected. He is bafflied and awestruck by this event. He sees a huge object overhead in the sky ... It has bright blinking lights on its underside. The size is monumental as it floats off. This event changes his life forever ... He begins to draw and paint a flat-topped mountain which becomes an obsession. He does not know what it means but the desire to understand becomes all consuming. People who witnessed this event are interviewed on TV. The local authorities try to maintain calm and order ... The national government gets involved ... It becomes clear - we are not alone in the universe. Something is about to happen ...

The mysterious events are not only confined to Midwestern America ... A scientist interviews a poor Mexican farmer who saw the bright lights over the Mexican desert which he describes as the sun singing to him ... Roy Neary and many of his neighbors go out into the fields where the sky is the darkest and wait to see the phenomenon again. He meets Jillian Guiler and her son Barry who is fascinated by the lights and object ... The child runs off and is taken up into the UFO. Many other people have disappeared after encountering the object ... Roy's wife is fed up with his obsession. She leaves with the children to stay with her family. Roy discovers the meaning behind the flat-topped mountain ... He and Jillian partner together to visit Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

Government agents are everywhere claiming an environmental hazardous waste was spilled making the location unsafe for inhabitants ... everyone was evacuated. Roy and Jillian believe this is a hoax and evade detection as they pursue their quest to discover the secrets behind the evacuation ... They climb over a mountain and see a huge landing field. They hear musical tones played which were familiar, as the sounds were heard when the UFO was overhead ... They know the moment for the "First Encounter" is about to arrive. The film has a fantastic climax and conclusion which unravels certain mysteries from the past and is completely satisfying to the viewer. The ending is exciting ... yet many questions remain unanswered. Steven Spielberg created an all time favorite masterpiece which still keeps the mystery alive ... Erika Borsos [bakonyvilla]