National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg at the height of his commercial and artistic powers. The film became the highest-grossing release of its era, displacing Star Wars, and remains a defining work of American cinema — a suburban fairy tale shot with documentary intimacy that transformed how Hollywood approached science fiction and family storytelling.

These three frames center on Keys, the federal agent whose quiet persistence drives the film's tension from the shadows. Two frames capture his reflection in a car side mirror, a compositional choice that keeps him at a remove — observed rather than confronting. The third opens into the chaos of the climactic roadblock, lights and flares cutting through the night around him.