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 from Universal Pictures in the summer of 1982, directed by Steven Spielberg at the height of his early-eighties run. It became the highest-grossing film in history at the time, a status it held for over a decade, and it remains a touchstone of American popular cinema, prized for the way it fused suburban childhood with genuine wonder and heart. Its blend of family drama and science fiction reshaped what a summer blockbuster could be, and its imagery, from bicycles against the sky to a small boy beside his extraordinary friend, has become part of the culture's shared visual memory.
This cell carries Elliott, the young protagonist whose bond with the stranded alien anchors the entire story. He is the audience's way into the film, the ordinary kid whose loneliness and imagination make the extraordinary believable. Collectors seek out Elliott frames because he represents the emotional core of the picture rather than its spectacle, the human half of a friendship that defined a generation's idea of wonder. A 35mm cell showing him on his own preserves that quieter, character-driven side of the film, a physical fragment of the reel that once carried his performance through theaters worldwide.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on the upper edge; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on the upper edge; lower edge perforations are partially obscured by the soundtrack area but appear present; spacing looks even and punches appear clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the perforations, appearing as a single variable-area mono or stereo track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cyan-teal tint along the rebate edges; the dye image reads warm with strong reds and yellows, consistent with a colour reversal or colour print stock.
Projection history
Fine longitudinal lines are visible across 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.
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, cyan-tinted polyester base rebate, and colour 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 000062772
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
