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 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became one of Steven Spielberg's defining achievements and, for a time, the highest grossing film ever made. It captured a particular strain of early 1980s Americana, blending suburban childhood with science fiction wonder, and its story of a stranded alien befriended by a lonely boy resonated across generations. The film's success cemented Spielberg's reputation as a master of populist storytelling grounded in genuine emotion, and its imagery, especially involving flight, has become shorthand for cinematic wonder itself.
This cell centers on Elliott and E.T., the film's central pairing, whose bond drives the entire narrative. Their flying scene together is arguably the single most iconic sequence in the movie, a moment collectors specifically seek out for its symbolic weight within the story. As a 35mm cell, this piece represents a physical fragment of the actual film print, connecting directly to that celebrated moment shared between the boy and the extraterrestrial he protects.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge; spacing appears even and the punched holes look cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single bilateral variable-area track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image reads warm-amber with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light longitudinal scratches are visible running through the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour 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 bilateral variable-area optical track, cyan-tinted polyester-base colour stock, and warm dye image 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 000062738
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
