Rating: 
Summary: Overhyped, but sets the tone for future Speilberg works
Review: While this is one of Speilberg's overly hyped movies, it fairs well. I found the movie slow paced and boring in lots of places, causing me to fall asleep on some viewings. The movie has great special effects (for the time) and great acting. The transfer was good, but fuzzy in some places..I was expecting a bit more from Columbia and Speilberg since their other realeases are amazingly beautiful. Kudas for the second disc chalk full of goodies and great packaging..keep this away from the kids.
Rating: 
Summary: Great film. Awful transfer!
Review: There is no excuse for the poor image quality and distorted sound track. Excessive noise in dark scenes was distracting to an otherwise superb film. Of the nearly 150 DVD's I have purchased from Amazon.com, this is the most disappointing. You may want to rent it before you buy.
Rating: 
Summary: A collector needs a decent package!
Review: I love the little comment a previous reviewer said about "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind." I remember seeing that parody on HBO years ago and it was before seeing the "actual" film. The scene where Richard Dreyfuss looks at the shaving cream and says "This means something," I still haven't recovered myself from restraining the laugh-fest. Maybe someday that parody and "Hardware Wars," can make an appearance on DVD! It wasn't until the Special Edition came out in theatres where I finally got to see it with all the added scenes. Yet, after watching this DVD version I love it! The movie most definitely does better without all the added stuff. The sound and picture are better than it ever was in theatres but that's also a testament to explain how far the technology of sound has come from. Let's face it, I saw the Special Edition in theatres in 82! Sound has most definitely improved since then, thank God! The picture quality is unbelievable and after watching "Superman The Movie" it's great to see our classic films get the facelift they deserve, even though most of these actors need facelifts of their own:) Just kidding!
Rating:
Summary: ILLEGAL ALIEN PR
Review: Steven Spielberg's epic film that brainwashed the world into accepting alien invaders with open arms and a five-note melody arrives in a great looking two disc set that includes a fascinating new 102 minute "making-of" documentary and 10 deleted scenes. The lush 137 minute widescreen transfer is apparently the third version of the film and is Spielberg's definitive version. For now. Rated PG.
Rating:
Summary: An awesome DVD of a great movie.
Review: I had forgotten how good this movie was until I got it on DVD. Richard Dreyfuss puts in a great performance as Roy Neary. His portrayal of the subtle changes his character goes through throughout the movie, from child like enthusiasm, to outright obsession, is spot on. Francois Truffaut also puts in an outstanding performance. This is the movie that established Spielberg's kind of "awe/woundrous" style of filmaking. You know, like the spaceships in Close Encounters, E.T., Indiana Jones' adventures, the first glimpse of a dinosaur in the Jurassic series, he just stages some wonderfull awe inspiring scenes. I really like how this movie is made. It's not so much about the aliens as it is about the people, namely Roy, who they touch somehow. How these people become obsessed with UFOs or whatever. As for the UFOs themselves, Speilberg teases us with small sighting near the beginning of the film, a tense scene at the house of the little boy, and some finds of missing planes and ships. Other than those few scenes, it's more about the characters and you don't really see much about the aliens until the big pay off scene at the end. And as for that scene, it's worth the buildup. Even 20 some odd years after the movie came out, with the advancement of special effects and everyting, the climax still manages to be awe inspiring. The extras are great as well. Some really good deleted scenes here, about 11 in all, some dealing with the chaos of Roy doing his work when the power goes out, some dealing with Roy's obsession with the sky and the infamous inside the spaceship ending that was in the Special Edition. I also really like the scene with the policemen filing their reports. A couple of old trailers for the movie, it's interesting to see how they advertised their movies back in the day. And my favorite, the in depth documentary. This baby is as long as a movie by itself and it has tons of info on the movie, everying you wanna know. I love it when a disc goes all out on a documentary, as I find the behind the scenes stuff, the stories to be told and the looking back on stuff intriguing. This movie whets my appetite for Spielberg DVDs for now, much like Jurassic Park and Jaws did when they came out. But like those movies, it won't be long before I crave MORE Spielberg on DVD! Bring on E.T., bring on Indy, bring on Shindlers List, bring 'em all on!
Rating:
Summary: Almost flawless, with one reservation.....
Review: Is it my imagination, or does the McDonalds sign we see as the lights are going out say "Over 24 Billion Served?" Seems to me that in the late seventies, these signs said "Over 6 Million served," and indeed, I remember watching this same scene a few years ago on another edition and thinking, "Boy, things have changed" when I saw the old style sign. Is there some kind of CGI silliness going on here? Did Columbia-TriStar give in to pressure from McDonald's to bolster their apparent popularity in 1977? What the hell? Otherwise, this is movie I've been waiting to see- CE3K sans the silly tacked-on-inside-the-mothership ending that spoiled what was my favorite movie of '77. And the extras- my God, the extras! The documentary alone is worth the price I paid for it. An essential disc.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally here, and worth the wait...
Review: This movie is why DVD players were invented! I remember seeing this in the theater 24 years ago and not quite understanding what it meant (I was only 7). The 1980 re-release added a couple of scenes including the ticket-selling final sequence inside the mother ship. The DVD version of Close Encounters contains neither the original version nor the Special Edition. Instead, DVD owners are treated to the "Directors Cut" that "...can be seen and enjoyed as he has always intended...". This basically means that the sequence inside the mother ship is cut out (a sequence he never wanted to do anyway) and a few scenes that were included in the original were put back (including a favorite scene of mine of Roy taking plants and fencing from the neighbors to build his mountain). I personally love this director's cut. I must admit my initial viewing ended in disappointment when the final mother ship sequence had been removed. After watching the phenomenal documentary on disc 2, I understand why it was taken away (you can still view the scene as part of the "deleted scenes" portion of disc 2). The documentary really gives the view a renewed appreciation of what it took to make this film. We've waited a long time for this DVD and it doesn't disappoint. It deserves 5 stars (though it would have been even better had it included the parody, "Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind").
Rating:
Summary: An excellent DVD edition--with reservations
Review: The good stuff first: This DVD is one of the best-if not the best-movie-to-DVD transfers I have ever seen. The video and sound quality is a showcase for this format. The supplemental material on disc two is great. A 100+ minute documentary on the making of the film with a lot of deleted scenes makes this disc a must-have for any fan. Now the bad stuff: Do we really need another edit of this movie? An accurate description of this version should be, 'The Director's Slash-and-Burn Cut.' First of all, I do not miss the shots of inside the mother ship-something best left to the viewer's imagination. According to Spielberg, in an interview on my Criterion laser disc edition of Close Encounters, Columbia Pictures mandated this shot for him to be allowed to release the "Special Edition." Everything else removed from the film left me scratching my head. The worst edit is the removal of Roy Neary's trip to the power station. The removal of this leaves the first-time viewer wondering why Roy was driving around the countryside in his service truck. One would have pay very close attention to the voices coming over the telephone during calls at Roy's house to fully understand this. There are also lots of short scenes and dialog that appeared in the original and/or SE versions of this movie that have been removed completely and not (at least) added to the deleted scenes on the second disc. What gives here? A few things I caught missing during the first viewing of the DVD: --The close-up of the McDonalds billboard while the UFO stops and examines it. --Just before the police cars chasing the UFOs appear, the whistling bystander says, "They can fly rings around the moon, but we're light years ahead of 'em on the highway." This was a funny line that was thrown away. --Roy seeing "the shape" in the pillow. I'm sure there is more missing, but I'll have to view the disc again with this in mind. This was the most disappointing aspect of the DVD. At least my Criterion Edition laserdisc had all of the footage so I could program my laserdisc player to show either the original or SE versions if I so desired. Additionally, with all the idiotic over-copy-protection on DVDs, I cannot even edit-in the deleted footage from the original releases onto VHS so I can enjoy them in my home. My laserdisc also has a lot of great supplemental material (interviews, stills, etc.) that never made it to the DVD. Couple that with the inclusion of all the relevant footage, I think I'll still be watching my laserdisc for several years to come. The bottom line: this DVD is beautiful, but Spielberg's 'slash-and-burn' edit of the movie is a big disappointment to this fan. The cynical side of me says there will probably be another release a few years with the "lost" footage "restored" to entice us to fork over another twenty dollars to have the entire movie on DVD. ...yeah, right!
Rating:
Summary: WATCH THE SKIES!
Review: CLOSE ENCOUTERS holds up very well and remains a true classic. Richard Dreyfuss, as "everyman" Roy Neary, gives one of his best perfomances (only his turn in MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS matches the performance given here). Teri Garr, who plays his wife, is also a gem. Melinda Dillon and the late French actor/director Franciois Truffaut round out the principal players. Spielberg uses special effects to tell his story but the film remains very intimate and never gets bogged down by them as often happens in some of his latter films. Let's face it, the only reason people flock to see the JURASSIC PARK movies, (myself included), is to watch people get eaten by the Dinosaurs. The 2 disc DVD includes The wonderful 1hour and 41 minute documentary from the '97 Laserdisc release, filled with lots of facinating tid-bits, and behind the scenes stuff. It also has 11 deleted scenes-including the "inside the Mothership" ending that is not, and rightfully so, incorporated into this TRUE Director's Cut. The rest of the set has the standard trailers and filmographies. The highlight for me though was watching Dreyfuss do his stuff, especially his scenes with Garr, they are very "real" and played to perfection.
Rating:
Summary: Good To Own
Review: This DVD is good, and it is worth it to own it, however, it could be much better. Once again, Spielberg refuses to do a Director's Commentary.
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