Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1 Viewer)

[ChuckSolo]

Yes, I have the single disc DTS version that I bought at Wal-Mart for 10 bucks. CEOTK is, next to "Hook", was the Spielberg movie I liked least of them all. After buying the DVD and watching it in DTS I have actually come to like it a lot more.

 

[Gary->dee]

I've always loved CE3K but I too disliked Hook. Then I delved into the absolutely wonderful soundtrack(one of Williams' best IMO) and eventually picked up the DVD and bam I was(insert pun here). I think Hoffman is terrific.

"I've just had an apostrophe."
"I think you mean an epiphany."

Is that scene in the 2-Disc DVD edition in it's entirety? It seems like it fades off prematurely during the "Shower of Lights"

Hmm, I haven't seen it in awhile but I'm almost positive it shows the entire scene inside the mothership. The shower of lights is the last thing seen inside.

 

[Dave Simkiss]

After recently watching the DVD version I was shocked to see the mothership interior ending was missing, I had pretty much grown up with the 1980 special edition. So I decided to do a little research and found this truly excellent thread, which really brought me up to speed.

But then I started talking to workmates about CE3K and one pointed out to me that here in the UK when Signs was released on DVD Woolworths had a special offer on, buy Signs and get CE3K on DVD for about £4. The weird thing was (as my friend described it) that the case for CE3K on display was different to the 2 disker, there was no mention of it being the collectors edition and it appeared to be one disk.
Did anyone buy this release? was it simply a display case, or was it perhaps the 1980 special edition? Im kicking myself for not seeing this at the time, so any info to set my mind at rest would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WillG]

the case for CE3K on display was different to the 2 disker, there was no mention of it being the collectors edition and it appeared to be one disk.

This was brought up earlier in the thread but the edtion you are refering to is just a scaled back version of the 2-disc collectors edition. It is just the 1st disc of that set, and it Spielberg's "Definitive Cut" A Hybrid of the 1977 and the 1980 version. However it is without the Spaceship interior. I would reccomend passing on that edition and go for the 2 disc with contains the Spaceship interior as a deleted scene on Disc 2, plus a great Making of Doc. that runs about an Hour-Forty

 

[Dave Simkiss]

Will - thanks for the reply. I was aware of the previously discussed 1 disk edition, but according to every DVD compare site I’ve been to it was only ever made available on Region 1, there doesn’t seem to be any info anywhere about a single disk edition release on Region 2.

Thats why Im so curious about this, I can’t find evidence that the UK ever got the 1 disk version, so why would Woolworths alone have it? I know this will probably turn out to be the 2 disker and they were just using an alternate cover as a display case for the shelves, but still, I would like some confirmation.

Did anyone in the UK buy this?

 

[WillG]

Ok, I guess I didn't see what you were getting at, but I would imagine that if a 1-Disc is available in the R2, it would probably be the same thing as what we have in R1

 

[Colton]

Can someone settle an arguement about the 5 tones they were playing over and over. My friend said those tones were the encrypted code that gave them the instructions to Devils Tower. He said that this is explained at the scene before they go grab that big globe from the office to get the latitude and longitude. I say it was just the aliens way of saying, "Hello". Which is right?

- Colton

 

[Kain_C]

Harry Knowles wrote a nice little article on attending a Rolling Roadshow tour where they screened CEOT3K at Devil's Tower!

God I would have killed to see this there!

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=21166

 

[Paul McElligott]

Can someone settle an arguement about the 5 tones they were playing over and over. My friend said those tones were the encrypted code that gave them the instructions to Devils Tower. He said that this is explained at the scene before they go grab that big globe from the office to get the latitude and longitude. I say it was just the aliens way of saying, "Hello". Which is right?

I don't think the 5-tones contained the information. It wasn't until the mothership appeared that they were able to communicate with the aliens using tones.

During the scene with the globe, I believe they were counting pulses and the repeating pattern of numbers gave them the lat/long coordinates.

 

[Steven_M Grimes]

I don't think the 5-tones contained the information. It wasn't until the mothership appeared that they were able to communicate with the aliens using tones.

I definitely remember seeing something about the tones being representations of the sign language that Lacombe uses with the aliens. That is, I think the tones WERE supposed to represent "Hello".

 

[Paul McElligott]

I definitely remember seeing something about the tones being representations of the sign language that Lacombe uses with the aliens.

The sign language Lacombe uses was meant to teach music to deaf people so the signs represented the tones instead of vice-versa.

 

[Colton]

So what was the reason for the five tones? Just to irritate?

- Colton

 

[GeorgePaul]

Great read, this thread. Between the constant re-edits on Close Encounters and the trimming of two separate internal monologue scenes on the long-awaited Duel DVD, I'm surprised there isn't more consternation over Spielberg's revisionism as there was on *ahem* other threads.

It's almost as if, in return for Spielberg directing certain scenes in Revenge of the Sith, Lucas edits Spielberg's films for home video. :wink2:

 

[WillG]

Between the constant re-edits on Close Encounters and the trimming of two separate internal monologue scenes on the long-awaited Duel DVD, I'm surprised there isn't more consternation over Spielberg's revisionism as there was on *ahem* other threads.

I would guess there is less debate as "The Collector's Edition" of CE3K does seem to genuinely cut the best elemets of the Theatrical Cut and The Special Edition together for what is truly does seem to be the best version of the film. However, I would love to a DVD release that contains all three cuts of the film....cough...2007..cough...30th anniversary....cough

 

[Paul McElligott]

So what was the reason for the five tones? Just to irritate?

I think it served the same purporse as the mental images of Devil's Tower. Sort of a mental homing beacon, or an invitation that said, "We're throwing a big party in Wyoming. Be there."

 

[Bryan Tuck]

However, I would love to a DVD release that contains all three cuts of the film....cough...2007..cough...30th anniversary....cough

I really hope so. I agree that the "Collector's/Definitive" cut is the best version, but just for historical value, it would be great to see all the versions again.

I just watched this again in a Sci-Fi Genre class at my school the other day, and they showed an actual print of the '98 cut. It wasn't the biggest screen in the world, but it was still great to see the level of detail in Zsigmond's cinematography. There's a depth to it that even DVD just can't replicate.

 

[WillG]

It wasn't the biggest screen in the world, but it was still great to see the level of detail in Zsigmond's cinematography. There's a depth to it that even DVD just can't replicate.

For anyone who lives in the NYC area, the Ziegfeld theater in Manhattan is running screenings of CE3K starting on 03/17 along with screenings of "Alien" and "2001: A Space Odyssey. The are showing all three movies each day over the weekend. I'm going to check it out.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

I believe the whole line mentioned in the first post is...

"They can fly rings around the moon, but we're years ahead of them on the highway"

And, I'm pretty sure the pillow scene is on the Criterion LD. I have the 3-disc CAV set in the gatefold cover (there was also an earlier boxed packaging), but I never bothered to try the programming that was listed on the included letter.

What bothered me more about the original Special Edition release than the tacked on ending, was the removal of the whole "Roy rips up the neighborhood landscaping and throws it all into his windows" scene. Instead it makes an all too abrupt jump from "Roy pulls the top off the little clay mountain" to "Ronnie and kids suddenly leave" for no apparent reason after seemingly just getting over the night before. I was glad to see it back in place on the LD set, and later on the DVD.

 

[Mike_G]

Great thread.

I've been a big, big fan of this film for years. So much so that, well, I used to own a 35mm print of it. Nothing like showing it at a local theater when everyone's gone .

The pillow scene: it was in my 1977 print. It's too bad I don't have the print anymore, but it was mono and I couldn't handle the bad audio knowing that I should be listening to at least stereo.

The Criterion CAV LD: In the last week I threw out my old Radio Shack multiunit remote control which dates back to 1992 or something. I had programmed it to handle everything I could cram into it for each disc in that set. Man, I hated pauses. Anyway, before I tossed the thing last week I checked and the program was STILL IN THERE.

One thing I never, EVER, EVER found out was: what the heck happened to that tall alien at the end of the film? He comes out, raises his hands, and then...disappears. I never seemed to find a decent explanation of that.

Mike

 

[Dave H]

Mike,

That's pretty cool. How did you obtain the print if you don't mind? How does the DVD picture quality compare to the print?