Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Blu-ray] [1977]

Steven spielberg makes some hi quality masterpieces. This classic film is timeless. A movie the family can enjoy!

4K HDR transfer is great. Dolby Atmos is stunning.

When it comes to anniversary editions of movies there are few that honors the itself with either giving it an excellent case with additional features or a collection of a franchise with bonus feature not found in other versions. Close Encounters of the third kind deliver it's 40th anniversary by not only including the original theatrical version of the movie but also the director's cut version of the movie and the special edition version of the movie as well. all three version of the movie both in Blu-ray and digital with additional features, behind the scenes, storyboard comparisons and much more all in one reasonably affordable price. If you haven't seen this movie yet or if you want to buy this movie but waited for this moment, I highly recommend buying this 40th anniversary edition of Close Encounters.

I saw this movie way back in 1977. It was an instant Spielberg classic. A simple everyday man has a close encounter with a UFO, and that begins an adventure that leads to an amazing finale. There are fine performances by Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Francois Truffaut ( the great French director), and a cameo appearance by Dr. J. Allen Hynek who was part of the original Project Blue Book. The film was filmed, not recorded, and has some of the best VFX ever seen. Remember that there was no CGI at that time.

This is one of my favorite films of all time. I have the Anniversary edition on BluRay, it has all three films as does this 4K version. The 4K version has a slight edge over the BluRay version because of the color saturation, but that’s as far as the advantage goes. The film is fantastic but there are scenes that the focus isn’t great and the aspect ratio really gives the edges of the movie a weird curved effect that was probably due to the lens on the camera. The 4K version seems to make this a little overstated since we are getting more resolution to see it with. The reason I am only giving the 4K version a slight edge over BluRay is because the film grain is so much a part of the look of this movie that the enhanced resolution doesn’t do that much to improve picture quality. I will admit the HDR offered on the 4K version is what makes this movie as good as it’s ever going to get. As of writing this review I’ve had the disc for about three weeks and had attempted to get the digital copies of the film since day one. I had put in the code like I have done on all my films and I was pleased to see the three versions of the film would be downloaded, but when I finished the process it only gave me the Director’s Cut of the film. I checked to see if there was a menu when you open the film to pick which movie to watch but that isn’t the case. The Movies Anywhere and VUDU sites showed all three versions of the film and they only gave me access to one. I have put in a ticket to see if I can get this resolved but so far it’s been escalated twice by VUDU, but no correction yet. So, if you have the BluRay version of the film that had been remastered and offers all three versions of the film, I don’t recommend spending the money on this 4K BluRay. However, if you don’t already have it, the HDR give a definite edge and is worth the slightly higher cost to get 4K version if you are deciding between 4K or BluRay.

The classic (and second-best) motion picture about alien contact. Another Spielberg film, "E.T.", is the best. "Alien" and "Aliens," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers (first two versions), "Contact," "War of the Worlds" (both versions), "Annihilation," and "Arrival" (among others) are also good.

I was very impressed with this 4K version of such an old movie. 4K can only do so much with the movie that in my opinion was filmed to be slightly grainy in some scenes...in addition to being several decades old. That being said, the extra clarity of 4K as well as impressive colors and deeper blacks in several scenes were impressive. But the most impressive part of this package has to be the audio. I have a higher end sound system but I have learned that audio is really only as good as the source material, regardless of the hardware. There are several scenes in this movie that almost cracked my walls lol. The scene where Richard Dreyfus is sitting in his pickup by the railroad crossing and the UFO descends behind him is audio magic. I turn my 3.1 sound system (15" sub) up to about 3/4 max and the bass punches me in the gut and threatens to things off the walls upstairs (my theatre is in my basement). I also think the light-up packaging with the infamous tune that plays when pressing the button is kind of cool. All of this at a fantastic sale price makes me highly recommend this package to anyone who is a fan of this classic.

I originally saw movie in VHS Format. The bluray really makes the movie pop. Better video and better audio. A collectors must have!