Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Director's Cut) - 4K + Blu-ray [4K UHD]

I have not seen this movie for years. I did get to see it at the show up on the big screen. Steven Spielberg is a master film maker and really knows how to make entertaining epic adventure stories come to life on the big screen. He also makes some pretty interesting sci-fi movies. Close Encounters is one of his best and he broke new ground in sfx with this one. His real genius is making his characters believable. Having read some of the negative reviews on the 4K release of this fine film I was a little apprehensive but I ordered it anyway to get my own take on the 4K version and I must say I had none of the issues that others were saying they were having. Some were complaining that the 4K version was too dark in places and too bright in others. I have a SAMSUNG 55" tv that I purchased back in late 2019. It wasn't until recently that I learned how to play with the controls to get the best picture. There are some things that I changed or got rid of completely that are just unnecessary. For instance, the sharpness needs to be set all the way to neutral as adding sharpness can cause blurriness to the image. I know that sounds counter intuitive but believe me that's how it works. I also changed the brightness controls down to -2 and the backlight to 35 on the "movie" setting and depending on the ambient light in the room I set the contrast enhancer to "off" for night time viewing and "low" for daytime. All these settings help to keep the washed out brightness and the darkness under control while maintaining the HDR resolution. I must say having seen the movie several times over the years from VHS to DVD and Blu-ray and now on 4K blu-ray it has never looked better. The details of the mother ship at the end are sharp and clear and the colors just pop off the screen. This disc has three versions. The original theater version, then the enhanced version where Roy goes inside the huge mother ship, and the directors version. All on one disc. The price is also a very good deal. I will probably be ordering E.T. in the very near future after seeing the excellent restoration of this classic from COLUMBIA and Steven Spielberg who I know is very proud of his work and the restoration of these film masterpieces.

Great film on a high quality BluRay.

Great to see another great movie from the movie master

Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind isn’t just a science fiction film. It is a spiritual experience. In an era when alien visitation stories often defaulted to paranoia or destruction, Close Encounters dared to ask a more profound question: What if contact meant something beautiful?This 4K restoration of the 1977 classic is nothing short of breathtaking. Every frame of Vilmos Zsigmond’s luminous cinematography has been lovingly preserved. The inky black skies, the gentle wash of red over Devil’s Tower, and of course, the dazzling light show in the final act—all glow with a new vibrancy. The film has never looked or sounded better. It feels not just restored, but reborn.Richard Dreyfuss, as Roy Neary, gives one of the great everyman performances in American cinema. He doesn’t play a hero—he plays a man slowly unraveling in the face of something he doesn’t understand, yet must follow. His journey is both cosmic and deeply human. In the midst of mashed potatoes shaped like mountains and lights in the sky, Spielberg gives us a story about faith, obsession, and the longing for connection.There are moments in Close Encounters that play like dreams—unsettling, beautiful, otherworldly. Spielberg was only in his late 20s when he directed it, but already had the confidence of a seasoned storyteller. He paces the film like a symphony, building tension with a quiet crescendo until the final act explodes in light and music. The five-note motif—composed by John Williams—is as iconic as anything in cinema, simple yet haunting, like a greeting from another world.Unlike many sci-fi films, there is no villain here. The aliens are not monsters; they are mysteries. And Spielberg, to his credit, doesn’t overexplain them. He respects our imagination. What matters is not what they are, but what they mean to us. In the end, it’s about seeing the world—and the universe—with childlike awe.This 4K edition includes multiple cuts of the film, each with subtle differences. But no matter the version, the emotional truth remains the same. Few movies have captured the sublime the way this one has. It taps into something eternal—the yearning to know we’re not alone, and the courage it takes to seek that answer.Nearly 50 years later, Close Encounters of the Third Kind hasn’t aged—it has endured. And in this stunning 4K release, it stands taller than ever. Not just as a sci-fi classic, but as a rare cinematic hymn to wonder.