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
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial arrived in the summer of 1982 as a Universal Pictures release directed by Steven Spielberg, becoming one of the defining blockbusters of its decade. Its story of a stranded alien befriended by a suburban boy resonated far beyond children's entertainment, earning enormous box office success and lasting cultural affection. The film helped define a Spielbergian sensibility of wonder and heart that studios would chase for years afterward, and it remains a touchstone of American popular cinema.
This cell isolates E.T. himself, the small, gentle visitor whose design and presence became instantly iconic and endlessly merchandised, making him one of the most recognizable non-human characters in film history. A frame built solely around this figure speaks to the character's centrality to the picture's identity, independent of any single scene or plot beat. For collectors, holding a strip devoted purely to E.T. is a way of owning a piece of that character's own screen presence, a fragment of the reel where the alien exists simply as himself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm color release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes have clean, rounded corners throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-band variable-area pattern.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text clearly.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-teal tint along the outer edge strip; the dye image reads with a cool blue-purple cast consistent with an aged color print.
Projection history
Several fine longitudinal scratches are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive color image; all three frames appear to be the same or near-identical consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, color positive print stock with teal edge backing, and perforation style 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 000062711
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
