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

A classic movie worth buying in HD 4K if you own a 4K DVD Player. Great Specials also.

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.

The vendor was quick and the product was A-OK.I would use them again.

First off, I don't know why others were having problems with the digital code; as another reviewer had instructed, use the web address given on the UltraViolet insert, which is sonypicutures.com/uvredeem. Now this could be because I do have an account registered with the sony pictures web site, but I logged in from the "uvredeem" page, enter the redemption number, and VOILA!. Not only was the entire 3 version set added to my library at the sony site, I logged into both my Vudu, and UltraViolet accounts, and the entire 3 version set showed up in both of those accounts as well! Again, it could be that I was registered at the sony picutures site, and that may have made all the difference in the world; but also, I have all accounts linked, so when I add a movie (which is most often at UltraViolet), within a few minutes of adding, the movie will show up in all accounts. With UV, though, it may be necessary to click the little question mark icon above your library, then click on the 'Refresh' link that shows in the dropdown, and at the point, all of your movies should be showing - if not, there is another issue I cannot advise you on....sorry.Now, onto my review! Firstly, I am watching on a Phillips 43" 4K UHD/w HDR TV, so am able to take full advantage of the high dynamic range capabilities built into this Anniversary Edition. Now, about the grain: it's there, yes, but in my opinion, it ADDS to the quality, and also reminds me of the age of the film, making me think 'wow, this is from 40 YEARS AGO, and looks like it could have just hit theaters TODAY'! Someone had said it 'distracts' them, but not me, I appreciate what the grain does for the film quality. Secondly, I watched about 15 minutes of the Special Edition, and was ASTOUNDED at what was done to this movie, to make it GREAT once more! Crystal clear (taking into account the grain, of course) picture, clear enough that I noticed something I hadn't before, and by watching it further, I have no doubt I will see other things I hadn't seen in previous versions of lesser quality. If the rest of this, as well as the other versions, is of the same quality I have seen in the first 15-20 minutes of watching, then this rating shall remain at 5 stars! OUTSTANDING JOB, Sony (and Steven Spielberg, as well as others who may have had a hand in bringing this Edition to us)!On a person note, I really wish I had known about the gift set before I had seen this, and jumped on it; the gift set includes this very Edition, as well as the other stuff that I would've liked to have. I may just order it (the gift set) anyway, and just keep it all wrapped up, as a collectors piece. Anyway, that's my review, and I definitely, HIGHLY recommend it!