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 arrived at the height of Steven Spielberg's early-career dominance, following Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark. It became the highest-grossing film of its era and remains a touchstone of family filmmaking, prized for its restraint, its suburban intimacy, and its refusal to treat childhood as small or trivial. The film's enduring reputation rests on that balance of wonder and ordinary domestic life, anchored by a trio of young siblings whose home becomes the site of something extraordinary.
This cell draws from 35mm print material featuring Gertie, Elliott, and Michael, the three Taylor children at the heart of the story. Gertie and Michael, played by Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton, represent the family dynamic surrounding Elliott's secret, the younger sister's curiosity and the older brother's protective skepticism. Collectors value material centered on the siblings for the way it reflects the film's grounding in family rather than spectacle, a scene of shared complicity within the household as the children navigate their extraordinary circumstance together.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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, evenly spaced; punched holes appear clean with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-band variable-area format.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base shows a slight cyan-blue tint consistent with colour print stock; dye image appears warm-toned with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Faint longitudinal lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, cyan-base colour 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 000062689
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
