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
Released by Universal Pictures in the summer of 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became a defining moment for Steven Spielberg and for popular filmmaking itself. Its story of a stranded alien befriended by suburban children struck a nationwide chord, breaking box office records and earning nine Academy Award nominations. The film's blend of childhood wonder and genuine emotion helped cement Spielberg's reputation as a master of accessible, heartfelt cinema, and its imagery, from the flying bicycles to E.T.'s glowing finger, remains embedded in American visual culture four decades later.
This cell centers on Gertie, the youngest of the Elliott siblings, played by a very young Drew Barrymore in her breakout role. As the character who first befriends E.T. with openness rather than fear, Gertie represents the film's emotional throughline of childlike trust, and collectors prize frames featuring her alongside the alien for that pairing alone. A cell naming both figures together points to one of the picture's tender domestic exchanges, the quiet interior scenes that grounded the film's fantastical premise in ordinary family life.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a single bilateral or variable-area mono/stereo optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers clearly.
Base & colour
Base shows a slight cyan-green tint typical of color print stock; dye image appears warm and saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Fine longitudinal scratches are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a projected 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 a release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Era check
The single variable-area optical soundtrack, cyan-tinted color print base, and warm dye saturation are all consistent with a 1982-era theatrical release print.
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 000062731
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
