National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 1994
“Written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Steven Spielberg, this film chronicles the relationship between a young boy (Henry Thomas) and a benevolent alien who is stranded on Earth and trying to find his way back to his home planet. The film's masterful blending of hopeful innocence with excitement and humor made it both a critical and popular success.”
Universal Pictures · Amblin Entertainment · 115 min
Box office
$792.9M worldwide on a $10.5M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 4 wins, 9 nominationsGolden Globe Awards — 2 wins, 4 nominationsLos Angeles Film Critics Association — 2 winsBritish Academy Film Awards — 1 win, 8 nominationsAll 20 wins · 27 nominations on record
Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects
Academy Awards: Best Original Score
Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing
Academy Awards: Best Sound
Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Drama
Golden Globe Awards: Best Original Score
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Film
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director
British Academy Film Awards: Best Original Music
Japan Academy Film Prize: Outstanding Foreign Language Film
David di Donatello: Best Foreign Director
National Board of Review: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Saturn Award: Best Special Effects
Saturn Award: Best Writing
Saturn Award: Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn Award: Best Music
Saturn Award: Best Classic Film DVD Release
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Director
Boston Society of Film Critics Award: Best Director
Grammy Award: Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Scholarship
Named in the title of 28 peer-reviewed works
Examples
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial — 100 Science Fiction Films, 2013
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — A K Peters/CRC Press eBooks, 2010
E.T. the extra-terrestrial — Open Research Exeter (University of Exeter), 1982
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial arrived in 1982 from Universal Pictures and became a defining event of the era, both for the studio and for a generation raised on it. Its story of a boy and a stranded alien captured audiences with warmth rather than spectacle, and it went on to become one of the highest grossing films of its time. The film's mix of childhood wonder and genuine emotion helped set a new template for family filmmaking in Hollywood, and its imagery, especially the bicycle flight, became instantly recognizable shorthand for the movie's spirit.
This cell centers on Elliott and E.T., the film's central pairing, whose bond drives the entire narrative. The moment named here, E.T. and Elliott flying, points to the film's most celebrated sequence, the soaring bicycle ride silhouetted against the sky, a scene synonymous with the movie's identity. For collectors, frames tied to this exact pairing and action are especially sought after, since they represent the emotional and visual peak of the story, the image most often used to evoke the film itself in posters, retrospectives, and memory alike.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral (two-track) variable-area pattern running the full length of the strip.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight cyan-tinted edge strip; the dye image reads as a cool-neutral silver tone with no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines consistent with projection are visible across the picture area; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour print image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the iconic bicycle-silhouette-against-moon imagery is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
A dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack and the cyan-edged polyester-base stock are consistent with a 1982 theatrical release print era for this title.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062675
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
