How well I remember walking out of the theatre in 1976, and looking up at the sky as if it were a living thing! CE3K remains a beautiful metaphor for all that is unknown. For many of us, the first question will be, "Did Steven ditch that interior of the Mothership?" Happily, it was the first cut he made. All the good stuff is here, edited more tightly by an admittedly older and less credulous director. Yet despite his avowed "maturity" (read skepticism), his Director's Cut is delicious, loving, and as full of wonder as ever. I know this is unpopular: I love Spielberg for his lyricism, his poetry, and his willingness to take us "out there." "Private Ryan" was quite well-made. I've never gotten through Schindler. But in CE3K, ET, Jurassic Park, Always and others, Steven has shown me things I've always wanted to see. Though much of his industry recognition has come from his more recent work, it's always been his forays into fantasy that seemed so redolent of truth to me. In the Director's Cut, he shows that the boy within the man is still alive and luminous. Dreyfuss has never had a better turn (arguable, admittedly, when one thinks of "Mr. Holland's Opus," a more mature tour-de-force for him) and Melinda Dillon is the ultimate feminine archetype. Can't recommend this highly enough. The decision to split the newer "extras" into three parts, across the DVDs is inconvenient, and a small matter in the face of this wonderful release.