happy days.
the new UHD Ltd Edit has arrived: here's some info for those thinking of getting, hope you find this useful.
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first off, it's a compact little box around the same size as the recent
Sinbad/Harryhausen sets. the outer box is perfectly fine rigid card.
here are the
J-card details:
the J-card itself also contains the ratings logos and everyone's favourite giant 4K UHD banner, so
the box looks much better without the J-card:
it's also been printed on what i guess is silver-backed card, as the
front and rather lovely back of the box both have a spot-gloss like shine to them:
one fun little addition is that, when you take the booklet and amaray out,
the box closes smaller, so you can lift up the top half to 'open' the mothership slot, press the button on the right, and you get
the image lighting up and playing the famous 5 note tune:
i should say that the lightbox part of the imagery is actually a basic transition lenticular. i haven't posted a video of the tune because a) others have done it better than me elsewhere online already and b) it's relatively quiet and hard to pick up on recording devices. it's 2 bars, the 5 notes of the tune, and then the second play when the aliens play the last 2 notes back in response.
the exterior box is sound, but the
interior box is cheap, creased in transit (i'll survive), and considering the effort spent on the outside in comparison, is a definite dropped ball:
the
booklet is images only, combining on-screen footage with on-set shots. it's actually quite good, although i would have preferred a heavier stock and perfect binding for this price. the final pages are a comparison of the three versions (theatrical, special, director's) and what's different:
i really like this set, and will enjoy it. but if i am being entirely honest, it's currently overpriced for what you get. if it's cheapest around £20 to get the UHD 40th release on amaray, this is an extra £30 or thereabouts for an unnumbered limited edition set with a booklet and a box of varying quality which lights up and plays a tune.
View media item 24540this is the third time i've bought
Close Encounters, and considering my last edition was the 'Ultimate Edition'... but progress never stops! i reckon this is my last time buying it. but whatever your thoughts on the package, the film itself remains outstanding.
for the
4K fans out there, it is definitely crisper and better colour-graded in certain scenes than the blu-ray release (which also features in this set, along with the extras disc), but other scenes still have aspects of unavaoidable 1977 grain, so you probably won't be using this as your reference/impress your friends copy.
"He says the sun came out last night. He says it sang to him."