E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

The Jaws Blu-ray was pretty good, but E.T. is just about as well done as you could hope for! It actually looks like film for a change with beautiful, natural looking grain and no apparent DNR scrubbing or overt contrast pumping. The detail and color are outstanding, considering the 80's film stock that was used.

And YES it is *only* the 1982 theatrical version... including the bad government agents wielding guns around innocent kids, the terrorist line left intact, and most importantly... NO CGI'd E.T. at all. Your childhood memories remain safely intact.

Hurray! Now if only Lucas could see the light.

The 7.1 re-mix, encoded in 24 bit DTS-MA lossless audio, isn't too shabby either. It pays homage to the original sound design while spreading the sound effects and John Williams' epic score around the room better.

Unfortunately, Universal continues to skimp on the deluxe treatment. If they had placed the video extras on a separate Blu-ray (which they should have done on Jaws as well), they could have included the complete making-of documentaries, rather than edited versions. There is also a wealth of extras from previous video versions, like the special edition laserdisc, not included here.

I also highly recommend the 5.1 channel Super Audio-CD of the superb E.T. score by John Williams released for its 2002 anniversary.

With the release of George Lucas' original "Star Wars" film in 1977 (later re-titled "Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope") and Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounter of the Third Kind", the genre of Science Fiction film was reborn into the mainstream. Previously it had been primarily marketed to adolescent boys as either b-films or cliff-hanger series in matinees from circa 1935 to 1970. For about 5 to 6 years from circa 1977 to 1983, the entertainment industry cranked out tons of Science Fiction based films and television shows, most of which were of marginal quality, such as "Buck Rogers", "Battlestar Gallactica" and "The Black Hole" which were simply trying to mirror the success of Star Wars. A few were superb standout's, such as "Alien", "Blade Runner" and "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". At the end of this short period when the studios were saturating movie theaters with just about anything with space ships, Steven Spielberg and company produced and released "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial".

Unlike most of Hollywood's Science Fiction offerings from the release of Star Wars in 1977 to its third installment "Return of the Jedi" in 1983, "E.T." didn't rely on space ships and galactic battles. Yes, there's a space ship in a couple of scenes, and even a few technological miracles, but that's not the main point. "E.T." is primarily about how children see the world as opposed to adults. In a strange way, "E.T." probably has more in common with "To Kill a Mockingbird" than "Star Wars", the former being injustice as seen by children in a similar way. The themes of "E.T." are so moving because we see the alien through children who don't quite fear things the way adults do. Not to say that children don't have fears, but sometimes wonder can overcome fear, which is I think at the heart of "E.T." The alien is also very childlike, often exploring and getting into things he shouldn't be. "E.T." is thematically opposite from "Alien" released just two years earlier in which an horrific alien creatures infiltrates and attacks a galactic space ship. So although "Alien", "Close and Encounters of the Third Kind" and the original "Star Wars" films are in more or less the same Science Fiction genre, the similarities end there for the most part.

The story-line is deceptively simple but allows for the development of not only the characters but their relationships. A spaceship has landed on Earth and some beings from another solar system have been exploring our planet in a wooded area not far from a suburban community. For them, our planet is an alien world. One of the explorers was so curious about our planet he wandered far away from the space ship. Government men became aware that something was going on, and when they made their presence known, the ship was forced to leave, causing their companion to be stranded on Earth. Throughout the film are the government men who are investigating what's going on, and they become somewhat adversarial to the alien being and the children. Intensely curious about us and our planet, he wanders into the suburban community and hides in a shed of a house where a single mom and her three children reside. He is discovered by the younger son Elliott (Henry Thomas), the middle child of the three.

One of the most effective sequences is how Elliott and the alien meet and find common ground. Elliott leaves trails of Reese's Pieces which are picked up by the alien. But instead of eating them, the alien places a handful of them on Elliott's lap as a gesture of friendship and goodwill. Some kind of message has passed between them, not of spoken language but based on friendship gestures. Interestingly, the alien is not afraid; the alien has to persuade Elliott that he has nothing to fear. As events unfold, Elliott is vaguely aware that the adults in his life won't understand the alien, and he keeps him a secret. Eventually he introduces him to his siblings, who he has nicknamed "E.T.". In one of the most interesting scenes, E.T. communicates that he needs to contact his race and let them know they can come for him. "E.T. phone home" becomes the line of the film. And he helps them build a kind of intergalactic telephone made of electronic toys. However, the adults finally catch up with Elliott and intervene between him and the alien. In one of the most disturbing scenes of the film, the government men infiltrate Elliott's house, and they are dressed in space suits, as if they are the invaders.

One of the most striking aspects of "E.T." is that nearly every scene is shot from the height of a child, just above the waist of an adult. E.T. is short and he relates to the children but seems much less interested in the adults, as if he has a sense the adults will be too quick to judge who and what he is before he can give them a chance. When the mother finally is shown E.T. she freaks out. This is the essence of E.T. about the wonder of childhood and how children, even if they may be inexperienced, are sometimes more open to new possibilities than adults. The children exhibit love towards E.T. whereas we get the sense the adults are operating more out of fear.

I would have given this 5 stars, but settled for 4 because I was expecting the Re-release version with the new footage. Its the original theatrical release. Don't get me wrong, I love the original, but I was hoping at least for both versions of the film, like the DVD release had. I actually stopped it it when I realized it was the original and threw the DVD in!

ET the extra terrestrial is one of the all time greatest movies in my book besides Jaws. The fact that they are restoring this movie from it's original film elements makes me want to praise Steven Spielberg. I am so happy that the original film version of this movie will live on and hopefully push the 2002 crap version into a deep dark hole where it will never see the lights of day.Hopefully somebody will burn that hole and turn it into a gaping crater with no parts of the 2002 version left. I remember when I was a kid a couple of years ago and my Uncle brought a whole box of old Vhs tapes to my house for us to watch. I watched it so many times the film wore out and I had to dump it. Ever since then I wanted a new better looking original upscaled print of the 1982 version. Go to hell 2002 version. Sorry for my language for a few of you out there who don't like hearing swear words. But, anyway this film is a masterpiece. It racked up ticket sales for the rest of the summer and became the biggest box office hit of its time. Until Jurassic Park came out 11 years later. Here is some trivia; Mars candy company was originaly asked to put there M&Ms candy into the movie for promotional reasons, but they declined that offer and the hershey candy company got to put in there candy called Reeses's Pieces. There sales shot up by 65 percent. I bet who ever declined for the Mars company was banging there heads for years to come after that. I cannot wait for this blu ray release. I want October to come right now! I love this movie to much to wait until then.For a restored picture and sound and hours of bonus features this blu ray sure looks like it will fly off shelves and be talked about for a while. I feel the same way about the jaws blu ray coming out on August 14th. ET the extra terrestrial is a masterpiece that will live on for many generations!

Could not watch it picture was distorted. Threw it in the garbage.