Collegio Online

Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: After Hours

When I was a kid, I liked "Close Encounters of the å Kind" for what it showed.
Now I like it even more for what it doesn't.
"CE3K" is the kind of movie we just don't have anymore, made in a day when limited technology meant directors had to focus on character and atmosphere more than flashy effects.
I wish it were still that way.
Of course, there are some flashy effects in "Close Encounters" - the alien mothership at the end of the film is still awe-inspiring after 30 years - but here they serve a purpose. They drive the story and provide a payoff for the obsessive journey of Roy Neary, played unforgettably by Richard Dreyfuss as a man who loses his entire life in pursuit of the aliens with whom he made contact.
A new home video release, billed as the "30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition," really is quite exhaustive. It includes the original theatrical cut, the 1980 "Special Edition" that unwisely showed the interior of the mothership, and Spielberg's final 1997 director's cut, which really is the best version.
Among the tidbits shared by Spielberg in one of the many documentaries included in the package: He was a true believer in alien visitors at the time the movie was filmed. Perhaps that's why every frame of this picture seems filled with passion. Spielberg was reportedly obsessed with this film as much as Neary is obsessed with aliens - he even worked on "Close Encounters" before "Jaws," but was unable to secure funding.
For this review, I watched the movie on a high definition Blu-ray disc (incidentally, this is the first Spielberg film to be released in high definition), which makes the film look and sound incredibly good for being 30 years old.
Tellingly, though, the movie was just as good on the grainy old VHS tape I darn near stretched thin as a kid. Story and character are everything here.
But this new home video release is undoubtedly the best way yet to see "Close Encounters," and any excuse to watch this again is a good one.
Not even Spielberg makes 'em like this anymore.

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