Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1 Viewer)

[ZackR]

Man, I forgot all about that Japanese Superbit. I HAVE to pick that up at some point. Thanks for the reminder!!

Man, I forgot all about the Japanese Superbit. I HAVE to pick that up at some point. Thanks for the reminder!!

 

[Lord Dalek]

Yeah we deffinetly need a new box set with all three major cuts (maybe for the 30th anniversary?):

Disc 1 - Original 1977 version (NOT THE CRITERION CUT!). Fully restored from the original negative in 16:9 anamorphic (2.40:1). Dolby Digital 4.1 Surround reconstructing the original baby boom low frequency mix.

Disc 2 - 1981 Special Edition, fully restrored and remastered in 16:9 anamorphic (2.40:1). Dolby Digital 4.1

Disc 3 - 1997 Collectors Edition. New transfer of the 1997 version with remastered Dolby 2.0, 5.1 and DTS audio.

Disc 4 - The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1998), production gallery, restoration comparison, Original trailers, tv spots, featurette

 

[JamesTLewis]

Can anyone tell me what was on the Crtierion Set exactly?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Depends on which set. The CLV version is just the theatrical cut with a couple minor trims. The CAV is the same but with the ability to plop in footage from the Special Edition using some remote programming (although I hear this apparantly doesn't work too well). No commentaries on either which is a shame since CE3K was the only Spielberg film to make the Criterion Collection.

 

[Sam Favate]

I agree that the next edition I buy will be in whichever HD format wins the format war, and don't expect that to be for several years at least.

 

[Mike_Richardson]

Or, to likely be more precise, the only Spielberg film Criterion could get a license for Something tells me there would have been many more Spielberg Criterions had they been able to produce them...

 

[Mike_Richardson]

If you're looking for it, HMV Japan right now has reasonable shipping and a 23% off 3 titles or more sale (the site is in English if you click on the link). For what I ordered, I saved $26 on what CD Japan would have charged and over $30 on Amazon Japan's total price for those.

Given how seldom there are any sales or promos on Japanese titles, this was a good deal, assuming you can find another title or two to bundle in there.

Sadly the Superbit CE3K is spread over 2 discs :frowning:

 

[Eric Gripp]

Joel Henderson, you're ideas for a definitive edition of Close Encounters are perfect:

"Disc 1 - Original 1977 version (NOT THE CRITERION CUT!). Fully restored from the original negative in 16:9 anamorphic (2.40:1). Dolby Digital 4.1 Surround reconstructing the original baby boom low frequency mix.

Disc 2 - 1981 Special Edition, fully restrored and remastered in 16:9 anamorphic (2.40:1). Dolby Digital 4.1

Disc 3 - 1997 Collectors Edition. New transfer of the 1997 version with remastered Dolby 2.0, 5.1 and DTS audio.

Disc 4 - The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1998), production gallery, restoration comparison, Original trailers, tv spots, featurette"

Has anyone heard anything at all for a new release? The timing seems as though it couldn't possibly be more perfect. 2007 is the film's 30th Anniversary. It has been six years since the original DVD release and that's plenty of time between editions. Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are here. Studios obviously want to milk DVD for all it's worth with the new Hi-Def formats taking market share. And there is a perfect precedent with the upcoming release of the Definitive/Ultimate Edition of Blade Runner. All versions included with the director's Final Cut of the film. The two film's different versions mirror each other very closely: Theatrical Cut is a version that the director isn't happy with, a new version (Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition, Blade Runner: The Directors Cut) is released by the director that still isn't quite what they wanted to achieve but nonetheless becomes the de facto video release. Then a Final Cut version is finally created by each respective director, Steven Speilberg in 1998, Ridley Scott in 2007. A lot of us, including me, are foaming at the mouth waiting for that Ultimate DVD set of Blade Runner to be released this year. I think the same kind of release for Close Encounters would do very well.

 

[RickER]

As long as Speilberg didnt swap guns with walkie-talkies id buy it.

 

[Kevin M]

I agree that the next edition I buy will be in whichever HD format wins the format war

Since this is a Columbia (Sony) picture I can guarantee that for the next 5 or 6 years it will only be available on Blu-Ray.....I say 5 to 6 years because even if the "war" goes decidedly in HD-DVD's favor SONY isn't known for quickly giving up on their proprietary product formats...hell you can still buy Beta tapes in some places as well as Mini-discs.
Point being that if you want to buy Encounters in HD then within the foreseeable future it will have to be on BR.

 

[Paul_Scott]

...and man, are people going to be bitching and kvetching on the PQ on that one.


btw, the Criterion CAV also had a uniquely insightful doc on it, with a neat gimmick. It had 3 pip boxes running at the same time, each with a different interviewee One was Spielberg, and I think Balaban might have been one of the other participants. You could access the audio for each interview by changing audio opitons on the fly.
It was one of my favorite sets, and one of the most expensive I've ever owned.

Sold it for about $3 4 years ago. Cost more to ship than I actually got selling it, but such is the way of old technology. Funny that one of the rationalizations for dropping so much dough on it was that it would never degrade over time and I would be able to play it '20 years from now and it would still look the same'

 

[Cassy_w]

The 137 minute version is on HDNet Movies this month and it whoops the DVD completely.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Thats unsurprising, the hd master tape used for the current dvd was created almost 10 years ago and hasn't aged well at all.

 

[Eric Gripp]

I meant a DVD release, but an HD release would be great also.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

If anyone is in the Southern California area, the Bay Theatre in Seal Beach is showing Close Encounters this week. I went tonight, and I was surprised to discover that it is the original original 1977 version that they are showing. The print is aged, but it's still watchable. I don't know where they found it, and although I like the '98 cut the best, this was a wonderful surprise.

The only problem is that one of the projectors broke, so there was a two-minute wait between each reel. I imagine they'll get it fixed ASAP. There are two more showings, Monday (2/19) and Wednesday (2/21), at 8pm.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

What a nice surprise, Bryan - that's so cool! I take it that it was a 35mm Dolby stereo print and not a 70mm 6-track print?

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Gordon - Yeah, it was 35mm, and the sound was probably Dolby, but the soundtrack had aged a little along with the print itself. Not the clearest, but still listenable.

It was still worth going, though.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Another problem with the existing transfer is all that irritating flicker in scenes with a dark gradiant. Not just the night scenes but even the sequence of Lacombe and Mr. Laughlin interrogating Roy are extremely unstable.

Lowry Digital WHERE ARE YOU???

 

[Tony Int]

I have a Columbia Tristar LD of the Special Edition. Does anyone know how this release compares to the theatrical version of the Special Edition and the Criterion LD releases?

 

[Carter of Mars]

The S/E LD is a poorer quality transfer than the others. Visually the only piece exclusive to that LD is part of a shot in the arena scene where Lacombe first demonstrates the hand signs. Other than that, all material exclusive to the S/E is in better quality either on the Criterion LD or in the 1998 version. This includes inserts of the mothership shadow and McDonald's billboard (created for the S/E in 1980) as well as everything mentioned below.

Audio differences with the S/E:

In the opening scene in the desert some voices are much more audible (guys identifying the planes). The S/E LD is the only one with the voices mixed this way.

The voice on the phone right before the blackout was changed in the S/E because of the elimination of the power plant scene that originally followed. (Neary is told to report to the field rather than to the plant. This audio was maintained in the 1998 version because the plant scene remained cut.)

At the train depot, Jillian's voice shouting "Roy!" was positioned over different shots to accommodate a big chunk of footage that appeared in the 1977 version but was cut out for the S/E. (This footage was not reinstated into the 1998 cut, which visually is the same as the S/E here but they failed to incorporate the redone sound that includes Jillian's shouts. Consequently Roy approaches the train for no reason.)

Foley was added for the guy who runs into the porta-potty when the mothership is arriving.

As the S/E is the version with the scene inside the mothership, the music edited to accommodate the new scene is only actually heard on the S/E LD.

Finally the S/E is the only version to use John Williams' rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star" over the end titles (the Criterion & 1998 versions have edited bits from elsewhere in the score as heard in 1977).


The S/E is also the weakest version of the film, eliminating a scene of Roy at the power plant, Roy seeing a pillow in the mountain shape, the aforementioned train depot footage (these are only in the Criterion version), the press conference after Barry is abducted, and Roy going crazy in the yard and throwing stuff into the house (latter two reinstated for the 1998 cut).

The argument scene with Roy in the bathtub was first seen in the S/E (cut out in 1977) and the boat in the desert was newly-filmed for the S/E. Those two scenes are included in the '98 cut. The scene going inside the mothership was also newly-created for the S/E but not kept in the '98 cut.

Confusing and convoluted, but there it is.