There are a couple of very interesting news items on DVD releases today. One is for Steven Spielberg's classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which for the first time ever is going to feature all three versions of the film, and it will be released on Blu-ray.

Those versions are the 1977 original release, the re-edited 1980 Special Edition and Steven Spielberg's Director's cut, released in 1998. There are also going to be a few new extras on the disc in the form of a new interview with Spielberg, a new documentary, the original Watch the Skies feature and new storyboard to scene comparisons.

I am a huge fan of this film, it is one I can watch again and again and still love, and so this is a release I'm hugely excited for. So far the news from Yahoo News tells us that the Blu-ray release will be US$50 and will be released on November 13th just four days short of the thirtieth anniversary of the films release.

The history of the film release has been a tricky one. The original theatrical release never made it to video and before it was Spielberg released a new cut to cinemas and to video. Then in 1998 he re-edited the film, restoring the original ending and making more changes, and released it again.

Now this Blu-ray DVD will use the new branching options of the format to allow the viewer to watch any of the three versions of the film.

I'm keen to watch them all, but I don't know if that's just because I am a Close Encounters of the Third Kind freak and love Richard Dreyfuss' performance in the film. Is this a release you would be interested in?