While I’ve never actually seen a UFO, I’m kind of hesitant to admit that I’m actually a believer in extra terrestrial life. While that crappy Fox special “Alien Autopsy” did little to convince people about their existence (the show was awful), how can anyone ignore the thousands of sightings that happen every year? Don’t even get me started on what happened in Roswell. The 1977 science fiction epic about aliens and motherships, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", gets a jam packed double-disc release which seriously delivers the goods.

Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is your average family man. He’s got a loving wife, three young kids and a decent job. After a chance night of watching the skies along with other locals, he manages to see a bright formation of UFOs hovering about the countryside. From that point on, he slowly begins to lose his marbles, building mashed potato and dirt sculptures in a desperate attempt to recreate what he saw and continues on that mystery onwards.

After having opened the wrapping on this DVD, I thought I was in for a big cinematic treat. The packaging on the disc proclaimed that it “deserves a historic place in movie entertainment” and that it was “one of the most spectacular movies ever made”. After having read those wonderful accolades, I think I totally missed the bus on this movie. I didn’t get it. And by “get it”, I mean that the flick is one big anticlimactic fluff piece which I honestly don’t think warrants the glowing reviews on the box. The visuals aren’t by any means disappointing, even by today’s standards but there’s no real mystery or drama to the story. While I hate to make a comparison to INDEPENDENCE DAY (another movie I thought sucked), at least it had a solid conflict, plot progression and a riveting conclusion. In this one, there’s no real suspense to the revelation, it just happens and we’re then forced to sit through two hours of build-up which is supposed to qualify as groundbreaking and avant garde. It’s an exercise in sluggish filmmaking which runs its course very slowly, making for some painfully monotonous viewing at certain points.

I found myself yawning several times, just waiting for something to jump out and surprise me or at least keep me interested. I feel kind of strange writing this review because you’d think a movie with Steven Spielberg and Richard Dreyfuss attached would be a sure fire "can’t miss", but while the two are great in their respective roles, the central plot of this movie simply isn’t up to par. While I’m kind of ragging on the film, its biggest strength does deserve some recognition and that is its special effects. Given that this movie was released some 24 years ago, the spaceships and visual wizardry still look extremely convincing. Still, some spiffy looking UFOs can only keep a viewer interested for so long and the novelty wears off quite fast. With solid acting, great FX and a severely overdrawn script, "Close Encounters.." qualifies as mediocre viewing.

Video: Boasting a brand new THX certified transfer, Spielberg’s flick has never looked better. While die hard fans will complain that the print isn’t as pristine and flawless as they would have liked, Columbia Tri-Star made sure that the film finally got the treatment it deserved. They went back and meticulously cleaned up the old print, removing most of the onscreen grain and nicks. We need to keep in mind that the print does show its age and that it isn’t going to be perfect. The worst part of the disc were the black levels of many of the scenes which had this nasty “shadowy” look and I would’ve hoped that they could have touched up these parts, since they take away from the grandeur of some of the shots. Don’t worry though, it still beats the pants off anything you’ll see on VHS. The movie itself is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic. Audio: Offering a Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS soundtrack, the disc sounds great and finally does John Williams' score some justice…in full blown surround sound. While it doesn’t have the same mind blowing acoustics of say a "T2", it’s still a considerable improvement. I only noticed a slight difference between both soundtracks, with the DTS having just a bit more oomph and punch, especially during some of the more bass heavy scenes. Probably the biggest disappointment on the disc was the lack of commentary tracks but with Steven Spielberg being notorious for not doing them, it really wasn’t that big of a shock. While there are no dubbed tracks on the disc, subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Thai.

The actual DVD is a 2-disc set and all the extras are included on the second disc. The showcase bonus feature on the release is the inclusion of a "Making of" documentary which clocks in at, wait for it, 1 HOUR AND 42 MINUTES! Since I’ve been in the DVD reviewing business, I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing such a thorough and extensive featurette. The extra is practically the length of the movie! Be sure to check it out after watching the flick to get an incredible behind-the-scenes look which will answer every possible question you could have about the movie (Mind you, they never really explained why the movie kind of sucked…but that’s just my opinion).

They also managed to thrown in no less than 11 deleted scenes which in total run close to 24 minutes. Again, for fans of the movie, they’re definitely worth a look to see what was left on the cutting room floor. The quickie 1977 featurette “Watching the Skies” (5 minutes) comes off as a pitch to theatre owners to carry the movie, prior to its initial release, while two theatrical trailers and some quick production notes round out the extras. The DVD’s menus are completely animated with cool spaceship shots and sounds from the movie. While I normally don’t comment on the packaging of the discs I review, "Close Encounters.." has the flimsiest cardboard packaging I’ve ever seen and looks like it’s going to start falling apart any second. Arrgh!

While I seem to be in the minority of people who didn’t like this supposed "classic" film, I think that its top notch array of deleted scenes and super comprehensive documentary certainly make up for it. If you’re a fan of the movie, don’t even hesitate to go out and buy this DVD, it doesn’t get much better than this. If you’ve never actually seen the movie, I’d cautiously recommend it as a rental because it’s not for everyone (or apparently, just me). Buyer and renter beware!