Close Encounters of the Third Kind

In 1977, Steven Spielberg entered the space movie race with this wondrous vision grounded in a sensitive, knowing evocation of the modern nuclear family. In 1980, Spielberg recut the film, easing the tensions of the family dynamics and adding new special effects (including a new coda that brought the viewers inside the mothership, a scene previously left to our imaginations). The director's cut, ostensibly Spielberg's final take on the story, marries the best of both versions (and removes the coda) while remaining true to the tone of the painful family meltdown in the original theatrical cut. All three versions of the film are collected on this three-disc "ultimate edition." Spielberg's screenwriting sounds a bit tinny in parts today, but the film is just as gripping and mesmerizing, thanks to his command as a director and the benevolence of his vision. Richard Dreyfuss stars as husband and father Roy Neary, an obsessed man with the soul of a child chasing the visions that have colonized his dreams, and Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Francois Truffaut and Bob Balaban co-star. Laurent Bouzereau's excellent 102-minute documentary "The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is spread across all three discs, and the set also includes the new 21-minute interview featurette "Steven Spielberg: 30 Years of Close Encounters," the 1977 promotional featurette "Watching the Skies," and trailers. Also available in Blu-ray format.