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 Director
: Steven Spielberg
Starring
: Richard Dreyfus, Teri Garr, Lance Henrikson, Melinda Dillon,
Bob Balaban, Carl Weathers and Francois Truffaut
Picture
2.35:1 Anamorphic, DD 5.1 & DTS 5.1, Dual-Layer, Double
Disc, Keep Case
Running
Time : 137 mins
The
story:
We
are not alone!
Planes
reported missing in 1945 suddenly appear in the Mojave desert.
A commercial flight is buzzed by a 'bright' object that
the pilot 'wouldn't know how to describe'. Roy Neary (Richard
Dreyfus), while working one night, has a Close Encounter...
The US Government determine where the visitors plan to land
and create an elaborate cover-up to keep people away. However,
a group of people, including Neary, share a vision which
draws them to the place and a meeting with new, and old,
friends.
The
summary:
Steven
Spielbergs' continuing fascination with space all started
with this movie. Released at around the same time as Star
Wars, Spielberg used his curiosity to indulge his love of
the unexplained and forge them together into this spooky
yet uplifting tale of visitors from another planet. The
film was a lot darker than the fairytale feel of Star Wars
but concentrated on real life events and people, whilst
all the time captivating audiences with its special effects
and atmosphere.
Richard
Dreyfus once again took the lead role as Spielberg used
his screen ordinariness to transform him from a humble electrical
worker into an obsessed follower of the mystery beings and
a witness to the unexplained. Dreyfus is truly great in
this pivotal role which, after Jaws, saw his career really
take off. The late Francois Truffaut is also magnificent
as the French scientist preparing for the meeting of the
two worlds. The films continued use of gloomy sets and brightly
lit colours leads you on a journey with the central characters
into a world of the unknown and make this one of the most
entertaining films of all time. What Spielbergs' Jaws was
to the sea, Close Encounters is to the skies and prompted
a new rush of UFO sightings all over America.
Close
Encounters is truly one of those magical moments in moviemaking
and some of its key scenes are landmarks in the movie world.
The soundtrack is also worth as mention, after all who can
forget the five note signature of the whole film.
The
DVD release is a very plush remaster that restores the vivid
imagery to the picture that seemed lost in previous video
releases. It also includes a brand new 5.1 Dolby Digital
and DTS mix of the films soundtrack, which compared to recent
remasters is stunning. Extra wise this double disc collectors
edition is disappointing. Whilst it does have an absolutely
brilliant documentary and deleted scenes it lets itself
down with the remainder of the extras which are little more
than text and trailers. Overall though a good package for
a great movie.
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