Close Encounters of the Third Kind - November 13th (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Since, this film is apparently not important enough for you to purchase then I guess there is nothing else to discuss with you in that regard.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's how I feel about it.




Crawdaddy

 

[Jarod M]

Ok, someone correct me if I am misunderstanding this, but how can this statement not be seen as negative, if not incredibly negative? Why is Sony using a dated master? Does this mean that they are going to filter/process the image in order to arrive at "good" quality? Hopefully someone will tell me that I am misreading this situation.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Jarod,

we should get confirmation about that from Paidgeek... the same thing went thru my mind. I'm assuming what he means by "original" master is the master prior to digital-cleanup, not the "old legacy" master as was the case with T5E debacle.

I'll let you know if he clarifies this point.

 

[Douglas Monce]

That or is he referring to the actual Original Camera Negative? If they are using the transfer from the 2001 release I'll be very disappointed. I've always felt that that transfer could use much improvement. The source film is very dirty and has almost unacceptable gate weave.

If on the other hand he is talking about the O neg as the "master", and they are doing an actual restoration, thats another story.

Doug

 

[Jordan_E]

You got that right.

 

[Rob Young]

This is great news and here's hoping it has awesome quality and does well in sales and it gets Spielberg (and the studios, etc) to release some of the other big titles like Jaws, JP, etc.

As for the cost...If 35 is too much for 3 versions of a film along with features then I dunno what to say...eat out less once a month and there is your 35 bucks...or don't buy as much beer, etc. I chuckle when people act like disc prices are high because I know for a fact most humans spend a bundle on trivial things like eating out, beer, smokes, etc that they could cut back on and help cover their disc buying sales. It's all about putting things into context and looking at one's whole spending habit.

Whatever the case, I am giddy to pick this disc up.

 

[Dave H]

Given Sony's recent Blu-ray track record, I'm planning on this to look and sound quite good given its age. Sony is not going to drop the ball on such a big Spielberg title.

 

[ppltd]

I give it a all of the way. Not a steep price at all for what is being included in this release.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

$50 is a bargain for three high-def versions of Steven Spielberg's best film (I know as a thrifty consumer I shouldn't say that, but as an excited film buff I can't help myself). This will be the crown jewel of my high-def collection when it's released.

The USA Today article mentions a "retrospective documentary." Wonder if this will be new, or just a port of the doc on the DVD release.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Eric F]

Well, this is a must buy for me. Strange that I have the DVD sitting on my shelf and I just never got around to watching it. I guess that was a good choice because now I get to enjoy it in full HD with lossless sound.

 

[Douglas Monce]

But to be fair regardless of his tone, he is right. I can't think of a single classic that Sony has released on Blu-ray. In fact off the top of my head I can't think of a film that Sony has released that is older than about 7 or 8 years.

Having said that I'm very glad to see that they are jumping in with a great classic like Close Encounters. I'm hoping that this is a new transfer from the O neg and not the less than stunning 2001 transfer.

Doug

 

[Eric F]

Give it time, give it time. Sony is releasing Ray Harryhausen's 20 Million Miles to Earth after all, hardly something for the PS3 set.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Oh I agree.....I'm very happy to see this title and happy to see that Harryhausen actually supervised the colorization. And a nice touch that the B&W version will be on the disc too. Its a nice start, now if we can get the Sinbad pictures and Jason!

Doug

 

[Dave Mack]

I'm still waiting on "The Perfect Storm"
Hardly a "classic" but I like it an awful lot.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Considering the 2001 transfer was only 1 of the 3 versions, I would have to think this will get a new transfer. Otherwise, the other footage isn't going to match very well.

 

[Douglas Monce]

Yeah I was just thinking about that myself. Hopefully this means a new transfer. Of course they might have transfered everything in 2001 not knowing exactly what Spielberg was going to include in that cut of the film. Also just about everything that wasn't in the final cut was included in the extras.

Doug

 

[Eric F]

Guys, I hate to say it, but while we might consider titles like Close Encounters and 2001 important, I think titles like Poltergeist,E.T. and The Spiderman Trilogy will help the most. It's virtually a certainty now the Spiderman Trilogy will be released on Blu by Dec worldwide (they were showing it at Comic-con).

 

[Robert Crawford]

You do know that Close Encounters and 2001 were much bigger box office hits than Poltergeist? As far as reviews, importance and prestige, it's not even close.

 

[Jim_K]

I hate to break it to you but it's the exact same in the world of SD DVD.

If you don't realize this then you may have lost touch with reality.