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 in 1982 by Universal Pictures and directed by Steven Spielberg, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became one of the defining motion picture events of its decade, holding the record for highest grossing film for over a decade. It captured a generation's imagination with its story of a stranded alien befriended by a young boy, blending wonder, family, and science fiction into a work that transcended its genre and remains a touchstone of American cinema.
This cell centers on Elliott and E.T., the film's emotional core and the pairing that defines its legacy. Their bond, forged in secrecy and friendship, reaches its most iconic expression in the act of flying together, a moment synonymous with the film's spirit of escape and connection. Collectors prize material featuring these two above nearly all else, as it distills the story to its essence. As a 35mm frame drawn from the actual release print, it offers a tangible piece of the picture itself, not a reproduction or promotional artifact.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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 appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack is visible as two wavy white lines running in a band below the picture area, consistent with a dual bilateral or stereo variable-area track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm amber-orange cast across the image area; the dye image is strongly warm-shifted with deep blacks, consistent with a colour print stock.
Projection history
Light horizontal streaking is visible across the image area, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames of a single continuous shot, and the warm night-sky imagery is consistent with a release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, warm-base colour print stock, and four-perforation 35mm format are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 1980s.
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 000062715
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
