SPHE Press Release: Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniv. (DVD,BLU-RAY) (1 Viewer)

[Lord Dalek]

The original master recording has When You Wish Upon A Star as the finale. The suite is a hastily produced edit job put together after the original version tested negatively in advanced screenings. It also sounds notably worse than the original version from using multigenerational tape copies as it source.

Nowadays you could probably recreate the thing using MP3's of the original source material (TV Reveals, Roy and Gillian on the Road, and "Bye" respectively) edited together in SoundForge and get the same results. It would even probably sound better than the version on the original LP.

 

[Lee-c]

I sure wish they had used the blue poster art for the cover art on the DVD set.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Gotta upgrade to BD for that. Almost makes me want a PS3, but I can't bring myself to do it.

 

[David W]

Just finished watching all 3 versions after getting this set on Tuesday. What a great movie. I've haven't seen it in years. I'd have to say the Special Edition felt very disjointed. The removal of the scene where Roy rips up the plants and throws them in the kitchen ruins this version for me. I'll probably never watch the Special Edition again.

The Original version and the Director's Cut were much better. If I'm comparing these two I'd have to give the nod to the Directors Cut. I love the longer introduction to Roy's family. The scene where the kid beats the doll against the crib breaking off the head and arms is classic. I don't think I could watch Close Encounters without that scene. I wonder if Spielberg scripted that or if the kid just did it.

Most of the scenes that were cut from the original I am fine with. The only scene I wish he'd left in is the Power Plant scene at the beginning. This was a good scene and gave some background on Roy's job as well as the crisis the power company was facing that evening. I was sad to see this scene go.

However, the longer introduction, Roy's meltdown in the shower, and the Gobi Desert scene outweigh the power plant scene and other cuts from the original as far as I'm concerned. The Director's Cut is the version I will be enjoying from now on. But I'm glad I now have all 3 versions just in case I change my mind.

 

[James David Walley]

To give a counter-opinion -- I thought the removal of that ridiculous, slapstick scene was the best thing about the SE, and my main reason for buying this new set!

 

[Travis Brashear]

BLASPHEMY!

 

[Lyle_JP]

Spielberg has flip-flopped on that scene, too. According to the Criterion Collection laserdisc, he removed that scene because it was too "kitsch". However, he still needed a scene to show why Neary's wife would leave him, so the shower scene (originally left out for who knows what reason) was put in to replace it. But, years later, Spielberg reinstated the scene for his Director's Cut, evidently realizing that, as "kitschy" as it may be, it is a beloved scene by many and works well in the film, as it shows just how deep Neary's obsession goes.

I love the Director's Cut because I think both scenes are excellent, especially for Teri Garr, as they are perhaps her two best scenes. You really begin to feel sorry for her seeing what she is put through by Roy. In the 1977 and 1980 cuts (especially the '80 cut), she comes off as more of a bitch.

 

[Carter of Mars]

After finally getting around to checking all three versions, I was pleased to find that the 1977 version is absolutely accurate.

However, very surprising... the 1980 S/E is NOT. At the very beginning when the planes are discovered in the desert, the S/E changed the sound mix so that some of the background dialogue was considerably louder ("Check for landing marks and taxi trails," "Hey, these are Navy TVMs" etc.) and also added in some additional dialogue from Bob Balaban when the team leader climbs into the cockpit and looks at the 1945 calendar ("Listen to me, will ya?") I confirmed this with the old Columbia/Tristar widescreen LD of the S/E. The new release uses the same audio in this scene for all three versions, which makes the 1980 version incorrect here.

The audio for the depot evacuation scene, which was incorrect on the previous 1998 C/E version, has now been fixed, however.

 

[Lyle_JP]

I thought I was the only one who noticed this, but I didn't have the old laserdisc anymore to go back and check. I always feel like something is missing every time that "Listen to me!" line is not there.

 

[Sumnernor]

Today I have just received the Close Encounters. Funny, I ordered other things including Xmas Carol from Amazon that was sent at the beginning of December and that hasn't arrived.

One question that I have - is the "Director's Cut" EXACTLY the same of the DVD release of 2001 "Collector's Edition"?

I am not too crazy with the packaging. The box cover opens up to the back. Pasted on the rear are the details. It will not fit in the box without folding it. I will have to photocopy it and make it slightly smaller. The big documentary which is split into 3 parts, unlike the "Collector's Cut" version has no chapters. The booklet about the production and cast did not include the little boy.

 

[Lyle_JP]

No. The sound editing goof at the train station (Jillian calling for Roy) has been fixed. Otherwise it's the same.

 

[Tim-H.]

I just picked up the SD set from Amazon, and it had 2 copies of Disc 1, no Disc 3. I emailed Sony, got a reply the NEXT day, return info the next, and a replacement disc (in an amaray case) in less than 2 weeks. Really, REALLY impressed by this customer service!

 

[KMR]

I have not seen the Criterion version of CE3K. However, I did see the original theatrical cut about 6 times in its initial release, the special edition about 4 times, and the director's cut once. (This is not counting TV or home video.) I very distinctly recall a line that Truffaut had during Roy's escape from the helicopter: "Run, Mr. Neary!" (uttered sotto voce). I always liked that line, because of what it said about Lacombe's belief that Neary is very special. I noticed its absence in the special edition, and have never seen it since. What I have noticed is what seems to be the audio equivalent of a jump cut in the musical score during that sequence, but I don't know if that's the result of excising Truffaut's line or if the music has always been that way (is that where there was a reel change for projection prints?)

This piece of dialogue is not in the new release, and that makes me think that it is not the truly original theatrical cut. I am very, very sure that I am not imagining having heard that specific piece of dialogue. Can anyone else confirm this?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Question: I haven't seen this movie in many, many years. In fact, I am not entirely sure that I've ever even seen the entire film. Can anyone comment on its appropriateness for small children? Will they even get it?

Also, which version is the one to watch first? (I've got the BD.)

Thanks!

 

[TravisR]

I'd say the Director's Cut.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Thanks. I doubt my son would sit through the whole movie but I know he'd enjoy some of the parts involving planes or trucks or UFOs.

 

[WillG]

Well, the part where the Aliens abduct the kid, might seem a little scary for small children. As for the boring for kids part......maybe. A lot of the movie is dramatic and the effects surely aren't going to have the same impact as they did back then, but you could say similar things about E.T. (although there is a "loveable" character there)

 

[Midnight Mike]

Well, I can tell you the new dvd is not the Criterion version. In that version of the Theatrical cut, there was one scene that Spielberg still wanted changed. It was after Roy's encounter at the railroad crossing...he drives away and in the theatrical cut we see shots of him driving through a tunnel and hitting a road barrier on a sharp turn.

In the Criterion version we see a shortened version of this with the added scene of an overhead view of Roys' truck driving with the Shadow of a UFO passing over it. Spielberg has said they were days away from completing this shot and just ran out of time and it always bugged him. So it was completed for the special edition in 1980. The new DVD of the 1977 version does not have this scene. Just the driving. So it's certainly closer to the original then the Criterion version.

I can't speak to the Truffaut dialogue; I personally don't recall those lines.

 

[WillG]

There were a couple of other minor trims on the Criterion Theatrical LD. One, I think was when Roy was looking out his window as he was building his huge sculpture, there was original two shots of the neighborhood. One of them was cut as it now appears in the SE and the DC. There was another cut where after Roy, Jillian and the other guy escape from the helicopter, Roy shouts "Go for the mountain" that was also omitted from the Criterion LD. Both now appear in the Theatrical cut on the current DVD/BD release. So as far as we can tell, the current release does indeed contain the true Theatrical cut (barring what KMR claims)

 

[Steve Christou]

A bit of CE3K trivia. I'd read Julia Phillips notorious autobiography "You'll never Eat Lunch in this Town Again" recently and Phillips was a producer on Close Encounters. She said of Francois Truffaut -


According to Phillips, Truffaut claimed that he was deaf in one ear so he would make them repeat things over and over, so she and Spielberg hatched up a plan to test his deafness, took him to a restaurant and while he was talking to Spielberg she whispered "Francois" and he turned minutely in her direction.