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
FILM NOTES
Released by Universal Pictures in the summer of 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became a defining work of Steven Spielberg's early career and one of the highest-grossing films of its decade. Its story of a stranded alien and the children who shelter him struck a chord that transcended the science-fiction genre, earning acclaim for its emotional honesty and technical craft. The film's blend of wonder and suburban intimacy reshaped expectations for family cinema and remains a touchstone of American filmmaking, still referenced across the industry more than four decades later.
This cell draws from a moment featuring Mary, the mother at the center of the household sheltering E.T., alongside Keys, the government investigator whose pursuit drives much of the film's tension. Mary represents the domestic world trying to hold together amid extraordinary circumstances, while Keys embodies the outside forces closing in on that world. A pairing of these two figures suggests a point where those spheres intersect, a moment collectors prize for capturing the film's undercurrent of anxiety beneath its warmth. As a 35mm frame, it preserves a physical fragment of that pivotal narrative thread.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical color release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge; spacing appears even; corners appear rounded and cleanly punched with no visible torn or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a second narrower track adjacent, consistent with a stereo variable-area optical arrangement; Dolby Digital, DTS, or SDDS elements are not clearly distinguishable at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text, key numbers, or safety designation.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-orange tint typical of a color reversal or color print stock; the dye image appears intact with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Faint vertical lines consistent with projection wear are visible running through the frame area across all three frames.
Picture
Positive color image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, warm-base color print stock, and four-perforation 35mm format are all consistent with a 1982 theatrical release print era.
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 000062682
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
