Barnes & Noble

Steven Spielberg's 1982 masterpiece and all-around pop culture phenomenon soars to new heights on DVD. The beloved adventure concerns the remarkable friendship between young Elliot (Henry Thomas), whose world has been shattered by his parents' divorce, and the stranded alien he befriends and helps to return home. To mark the film's 20th anniversary, Spielberg did a bit of tinkering. Most exciting is the restoration of two brief, deleted scenes, as well as enhancements to the Oscar-winning special effects and to the wayward extra-terrestrial. More questionable calls include the digital replacement of the government agents' guns with walkie-talkies, and the description of a trick-or-treater as a "hippie," substituting for the original "terrorist." A winner of four Academy Awards, including one for John Williams's transcendent score, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is still wondrous after all these years, brimming with iconic images (a bicycle ride across the sky) and classic moments, such as young Drew Barrymore's introduction to E.T. Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

Both a classic movie for kids and a remarkable portrait of childhood, E.T. is a sci-fi adventure that captures that strange moment in youth when the world is a place of mysterious possibilities (some wonderful, some awful), and the universe seems somehow separate from the one inhabited by grown-ups. Henry Thomas plays Elliott, a young boy living with his single mother (Dee Wallace), his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and his younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Elliott often seems lonely and out of sorts, lost in his own world. One day, while looking for something in the back yard, he senses something mysterious in the woods watching him. And he's right: an alien spacecraft on a scientific mission mistakenly left behind an aging botanist who isn't sure how to get home. Eventually Elliott puts his fears aside and makes contact with the "little squashy guy," perhaps the least threatening alien invader ever to hit a movie screen. As Elliott tries to keep the alien under wraps and help him figure out a way to get home, he discovers that the creature can communicate with him telepathically. Soon they begin to learn from each other, and Elliott becomes braver and less threatened by life. E.T. rigs up a communication device from junk he finds around the house, but no one knows if he'll be rescued before a group of government scientists gets hold of him. In 2002, Steven Spielberg re-released E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in a revised edition, with several deleted scenes restored and digitally refurbished special effects. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 025192866425
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound, Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Language: English, Français, Español, Français
• Subtitles: Español
• Time: 2:01:00
• Sales Rank: 673

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