Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
This classic, dramatic science fiction film is one of Steven Spielberg’s earliest successes – coming directly after Jaws – and also holds the distinction of having been re-cut by its director twice. The original arrived in 1977, and presented to audiences the tale of a man and his repeated encounters with UFOs. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Francois Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon and Bob Balaban, the film captured the imaginations of an entire generation, as the depiction of interpersonal dramas build to the ambitious development of alien interference and, ultimately, spectacular contact.
In 1980, Spielberg delivered a director’s cut at the request of the studio. While most re-cuts tend to add to the length of a film, Spielberg’s second pass resulted in a three minute reduction of the running time. This was achieved by adding seven minutes of new footage, but removing ten minutes of surplus material from the original. The new footage involved interior shots of the mothership from the end of the film, as required by the studio, and Spielberg famously regretted that development almost immediately. In 1998, he completed a second director’s cut, which was a new modification of the original 1977 version – adding two additional minutes onto the running time of that original film, despite having dispensed with the sequences involving the interior of the mothership.
While the film itself is undeniably a classic of modern cinema, neither of the special editions addressed what some considered to be the problematic aspect of the story – the lead character’s willingness to abandon his young family and leave with the aliens. In addition, the inclusion of the interior of the mothership serves to remove the air of mystery that surrounds the vessel when it arrives. In this respect, Spielberg’s 1998 cut of the film rectifies issues from the 1980 cut, but the original, theatrical version remains superior in quality.
