Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Steven Spielberg followed Jaws (1975), his first major box-office success, with this epic science fiction adventure about a disparate group of people who attempt to contact alien intelligence. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is an electrical lineman who, while sent out on emergency repairs, witnesses an unidentified flying object, and even has a "sunburn" from its bright lights to prove it. Neary's wife and children are at first skeptical, then concerned, and eventually fearful, as Roy refuses to accept a "logical" explanation for what he saw and is prepared to give up his job, his home, and his family to pursue the "truth" about UFOs. Neary's obsession eventually puts him in contact with others who've had close encounters with alien spacecraft, including Jillian (Melinda Dillon), a single mother whose son disappeared during her UFO experience, and Claude Lacombe (celebrated French filmmaker Francois Truffaut), a French researcher who believes that we can use a musical language to communicate with alien visitors. Lacombe's theory is put to the test when a band of government researchers and underground UFO enthusiasts (including Neary) join for an exchange with alien visitors near Devil's Tower, Wyoming. In 1980, a "Special Edition" was released. While its primary selling point was the addition of scenes inside the alien spaceship, Spielberg claimed that he also cleaned up some choppy editing in the second act. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
• Features:
  • cc

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Cinematography - 1977 (Vilmos Zsigmond)
•     Won Special Achievement - 1977 (Frank Warner)
•     Nominated Best Art Direction - 1977 (Daniel Lomino, Phillip Abramson, Joe Alves)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1977 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Nominated Best Editing - 1977 (Michael Kahn)
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 1977 (John Williams)
•     Nominated Best Sound - 1977 (Robert Glass, Robert Knudson, Don MacDougall, Gene S. Cantamessa)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actress - 1977 (Melinda Dillon)
•     Nominated Best Visual Effects - 1977 (Gregory Jein, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Richard Yuricich, Roy Arbogast)

• American Film Institute

•     Won 100 Greatest American Movies - 1998

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best Art Direction - 1978 (Joe Alves)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1978 (Steven Spielberg)

• Directors Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Director - 1977 (Steven Spielberg)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Nominated Best Director - 1977 (Steven Spielberg)
•     Nominated Best Original Score - 1977 (John Williams)
•     Nominated Best Picture - Drama - 1977
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 1977 (Steven Spielberg)

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1977

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Richard Dreyfuss - Roy Neary
       Francois Truffaut - Claude Lacombe
       Teri Garr - Ronnie Neary
       Melinda Dillon - Jillian Guiler
       Cary Guffey - Barry Guiler
       Bob Balaban - David Laughlin
       J. Patrick McNamara - Project leader
       Warren Kemmerling - Wild Bill
       Roberts Blossom - Farmer
       Philip Dodds - Jean Claude
       Shawn Bishop - Brad Neary
       Adrienne Campbell - Silvia Neary
       Justin Dreyfuss - Toby Neary
       Merrill Connally - Team Leader
       George DiCenzo - Major Benchley
       Eumenio Blanco - Federale
       James Keane - Radio Telescope Team
       Hal Barwood - Returnee #2 Flt. 19
       David Anderson - Air Traffic Controller
       Chuy Franco - Federale
       Dennis McMullen - Radio Telescope Team
       Matthew Robbins - Returnee #3 Flt. 19
       Lance Henriksen - Robert
       Bill Thurman - Air Traffic
       Norman Bartold - Ohio Tolls
       Jon Ewing - Dirty Tricks #1
       Amy Douglass - Implantee
       John Dennis Johnston - Special Forces
       Robert Broyles - Dirty Tricks #3
       Galen Thompson - Special Forces
       Matt Emery - Special Leader
       Alexander Lockwood - Implantee
       David Gilbert
       Luis Contreras - Federale
       F.J. O'Neil - ARP Project Member
       Basil Hoffman
       Keith Atkinson - Dirty Tricks #2
       Gene Rader - Hawker
       Gene Dynarski - Ike
       Bob Westmoreland
       Josef Sommer - Larry Butler
       Randy Herman - Returnee #1 Flt. 19
       Carl Weathers - M.P.

• Director:

  Steven Spielberg

• Producer:

  Jim Bloom, Michael Phillips, Julia Phillips

• Screenwriter:

  Jerry Belson, Steven Spielberg

• Cinematographer:

  John A. Alonzo, Douglas Trumbull, William A. Fraker, Laszlo Kovacs, Dennis Muren, Vilmos Zsigmond, Don Jarel, Dave Stewart, Richard Yuricich

• Composer (Music Score):

  John Williams

• Editor:

  Michael Kahn

• Production Designer:

  Joe Alves, John Loggia

• Art Director:

  Daniel Lomino

• Set Designer:

  Phillip Abramson

• Costume Designer:

  Jim Linn

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Don MacDougall, Gene S. Cantamessa, Buzz Knudson, Robert Glass

• Special Effects:

  Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Douglas Slocombe, Gregory Jein, Matthew Yuricich, Richard Yuricich

• First Assistant Director:

  Chuck Myers

• Camera Operator:

  Steven Poster

• Sound Effects Editor:

  Frank Warner

• Additional Cinematography:

  Allen Daviau

• Stunts Coordinator:

  Buddy Joe Hooker

• Mechanical Design:

  Don Trumbull

• Musical Performer:

  Tommy Johnson

• Casting Director:

  Shari Rhodes

• Makeup Supervisor:

  Bob Westmoreland

REVIEW:

• Several years in the making and, like Jaws, millions over budget, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) became Steven Spielberg's second blockbuster, confirming his skills at creating visually spectacular popular entertainment. Blending his reverence for the power of movies with a science fiction UFO tale, Spielberg turns an average man's "close encounter" with an extra-terrestrial into an uplifting excursion into fantastic sights. Unlike in Cold War 1950s UFO stories that posit a threat from outside, Spielberg turns the unknown from an initially menacing force that imperils normality into a universal ambassador of transcendent goodwill, providing an escapist note of cinematic hope during the late '70s cultural malaise. Still, 2001 F/X master Douglas Trumbull's pre-digital age visual effects were an even stronger draw, as Close Encounters moves from initial appearances of space pod lights towards the climactic appearance of the enormous and stunningly rendered "mother ship." Praised for Spielberg and company's dazzling craft, amid reservations over the cardboard characters, Close Encounters became one of the biggest hits of the 1970s, helping financially teetering Columbia Pictures and strengthening the late '70s turn towards youth-oriented blockbusters. Beginning with a 1980 "Special Edition," Spielberg re-edited Close Encounters several times after 1977. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi