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
Universal Pictures released E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in the summer of 1982, and Steven Spielberg's story of a stranded alien befriended by a lonely boy became a defining moment in the studio's history and in popular filmmaking generally. It overtook Star Wars as the highest grossing film of its time and remained a touchstone for a generation raised on Reagan-era suburban fantasy. Its blend of childhood wonder, family fracture, and science fiction spectacle proved that intimate, character-driven storytelling could anchor a summer blockbuster, and the film's imagery, from bicycles against the sky to a single glowing finger, entered the culture permanently.
This cell carries Elliott, the film's young protagonist, whose bond with the visitor from another world drives the entire narrative. Collectors seek Elliott frames because he is the human center of the story, the audience's entry point into wonder and loss alike. As a piece of 35mm film, this cell preserves an actual moment of projected celluloid history rather than a reproduction, offering a physical fragment of the reel that once carried Elliott's presence to theater screens across the world.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm color release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges, three frames visible on the strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible tearing or deformation.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track waveform.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
Base shows a slight cyan-teal tint consistent with color print stock; dye image appears warm with purple-blue cast, no obvious fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive color image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Era check
The single variable-area optical soundtrack, color dye image, and cyan-base print stock 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 000062694
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
