Close Encounters of the Third Kind 4K UHD (1977) (40th Anniversary Edition)

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

There we are then. With the VFX only existing in a finished form as a 35mm reduction I can't see Sony doing a load of heavy lifting to change that.

Which ultimately is odd, since 70mm prints were struck and released in it's initial theatrical release.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

Which ultimately is odd, since 70mm prints were struck and released in it's initial theatrical release.

Right, but AFAIK it wasn't the regular practice to create large format negs of the VFX to slug directly the 70mm blow-up. They just took the conformed 35mm neg and wetgated it out to 70mm.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by jaaguir

I never owned this movie on home-video and I've never seen it from beginning to end, just some scenes when it aired on tv. I think I'll get it.

It's far from my favorite sci-fi movie but it's definitely a classic and definitely one a sci-fi or Spielberg collector should own.

[Boristhespie]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

It depends on what cuts Spielberg wishes to show you. Me? I've ended up liking the theatrical version the best. The added scenes don't add much to the story and make you dislike his wife and kids even more.

I never liked the studio mandated inside the ship ending. It ruins the mystery.

Yup, really didn't like the extra family bits. The Special Edition as far as I can make out has a couple of changes but it is the ending which it mostly changes with the ship internal and aliens. I doubt Spielberg will release it. He apparently hated having to put that ending in.

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[Boristhespie]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Well, Warners did that for Brade Runner's 4K Final Cut restoration 10 years ago but AFAIK Sony didn't do that for, say, Ghostbusters 4K which had 65mm VFX. Then again, the large format stuff there was blown down to anamorphic 4-perf as part of the optical printing so no large format neg of the final composited shot would exist, unlike on BR where they actually output a 65mm negative that ended up being cut into the neg for the 70mm blow-up.

So it depends on whether the VFX were composited on 65mm or shot on 65mm and printed out to 35mm, if it was the latter I can't see them wanting to rebuild the large format VFX shots from scratch. If it's the former then it still needs more work doing than just newly transferring the conformed 35mm neg (inclusive of the large-format reductions) but it's got a better chance.

I prefer the original theatrical version. I remeber a Scott interview where he said that there always was meant to be a voiceover, only the studio made him make it too intrusive. He has since changed his story to fit the last cut. Personally, I like the voiceover.

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[StingingVelvet]

The Blade Runner voice-over would have been better if it weren't terribly performed and written.

[Lensman]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

The Blade Runner voice-over would have been better if it weren't terribly performed and written.

That was deliberate in a desperate attempt to force the studio not to use it. Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford had no love for it and that's why it vanished as soon as Ridley had subsequent control.

[Ray_Rogers]

I doubt this UHD will have the bonus disc from the 2-disc release. So I'll be keeping it anyway. First Spielberg title on UHD!

[tyrok]

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

I doubt this UHD will have the bonus disc from the 2-disc release. So I'll be keeping it anyway. First Spielberg title on UHD!

So far Sony hasn't really been known to drop massive amounts of extras like WB.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by tyrok

So far Sony hasn't really been known to drop massive amounts of extras like WB.

Yeah even on their recent Taxi Driver re-release they still put all the old extras in the package on a DVD. I would guess they keep the extras BD in this and then probably keep it in the UHD set.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by jaaguir

Is there any stop-motion in this movie?

No. They're all in-camera mechanical and optical effects. Carlo Rambaldi created the main alien creature effects. He also worked on the E.T. puppet and the Alien creatures with Stan Winston and H.R. Giger. Further modifications were made for Aliens by James Cameron and Stan Winston based off Carlo's original creature designs.

[mars5l]

Movie was before my time but as a kid I was enthralled with it. Will be getting it as long as its a great transfer

[HeavyHitter]

I posted this not long ago in the BD thread, but this is how I saw the movie for the first time at 9 years old. I taped it on VHS and watched that copy over the next several years.

Now, just think, 35 years later I will have the opportunity to see it in UHD on my front projector at home. That was beyond any wildest dream at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcwA...ature=youtu.be

[Dubstar]

^ ah - the memories of when movies where on prime time TV - I remember that ABC Sunday night movie theme like it was yesterday.

[afr52]

Day one purchase for me!

[JohnCarpenterFan]

So if Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released on Blu-ray in 2007, Jaws was released on Blu-ray in 2012 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is being released on UHD in 2017, does that mean Jaws will be released on UHD in 2022?

Just wait for Universal to release the same smeary, DNR'd master they released on Blu-ray, even though there's apparently a non-DNR'd negative scan still out there.

[kyloren]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterFan

So if Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released on Blu-ray in 2007, Jaws was released on Blu-ray in 2012 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is being released on UHD in 2017, does that mean Jaws will be released on UHD in 2022?

Just wait for Universal to release the same smeary, DNR'd master they released on Blu-ray, even though there's apparently a non-DNR'd negative scan still out there.

That'd be awesome!

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterFan

So if Close Encounters of the Third Kind was released on Blu-ray in 2007, Jaws was released on Blu-ray in 2012 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind is being released on UHD in 2017, does that mean Jaws will be released on UHD in 2022?

Just wait for Universal to release the same smeary, DNR'd master they released on Blu-ray, even though there's apparently a non-DNR'd negative scan still out there.

I'm hoping the DNR was not added to the master, but afterward. However, Universal has moved back into that DNR philosophy again and my hopes for improvement in that area are diminished.

[bigbadwoppet]

Originally Posted by Lensman

That was deliberate in a desperate attempt to force the studio not to use it. Ridley Scott and Harrison Ford had no love for it and that's why it vanished as soon as Ridley had subsequent control.

I don't think so, at least not on Scott's part since it was done behind his back in LA while he was still editing in London. But yes, he'd decided not to use voice-over by then.

After having watched the movie without the VO for decades (even though I saw the original cut first), the shock was incredible when I watched it again on DVD in 2007. The text of the VO really SUCKS, especially considering how good the dialogue is in the movie. It adds absolutely NOTHING, it feels PHONY trying too hard to mimic a 40's film noir. It doesn't RUIN the movie, BR is too perfect a movie to be ruined by a few details.

The only people I know personally who prefer it with the voice-over are the kind of people who decided they wouldn't like the director's cut even before watching it and, funnily enough, once you start digging deep enough, they aren't that big BR fans either!

[brainofj72]

Every time this thread gets bumped I think it's going to be an actual announcement.