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Credits

Release Date: May 29, 2001; Rated: PG; With: Melinda Dillon, Richard Dreyfuss and Teri Garr

''Close Encounters'' of the first kind: the original version of Steven Spielberg's sci-fi blockbuster about an Indiana power-company employee (Richard Dreyfuss) who becomes obsessed with UFOs. ''Close Encounters'' of the second kind: The ''Special Edition,'' released in 1980, added several sequences, including an ending that took Dreyfuss inside the aliens' spacecraft. ''Close Encounters'' of the third kind: This ''Collector's Edition'' incorporates elements of both cuts but wisely lops off the underwhelming ''Special'' conclusion (it's one of 11 deleted scenes on the set's second disc, which also features a 101-minute 1997 making-of documentary).

The only feature to date for which Spielberg has taken sole writing credit, ''Close Encounters'' is one of his most personal works; he was inspired by a real-life childhood incident in which his father woke him in the middle of the night to see a meteor shower. The film's then-novel idea -- that aliens might be friendly -- prefigured ''E.T.,'' but its unsentimental tone is more in line with earlier Spielberg efforts like ''Duel'' and ''Jaws.'' Nearly 25 years later, the movie's visual effects may look a bit primitive, but the story's primal appeal endures.


Posted Jun 08, 2001
 

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