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 by Universal Pictures in the summer of 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became a defining work of Steven Spielberg's career and one of the highest-grossing films of its decade. Its story of a stranded alien befriended by a suburban child struck a chord with audiences worldwide, blending wonder and heartfelt emotion in a way few family films had before. The picture earned multiple Academy Award nominations and remains a touchstone of American cinema, prized for its practical effects, John Williams's score, and its enduring, tender view of childhood and connection across worlds.
This cell draws from a scene involving Mary Taylor, mother to the Elliott household, alongside Mary herself and Keys, the government investigator whose presence marks the film's tension between wonder and authority. A frame naming these three together points to a pivotal domestic or narrative moment, where family life intersects with the larger forces pursuing E.T. Collectors seek cells like this for their connection to the human core of the story, the grounded relationships that give the fantastical elements their weight and meaning.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm analog optical 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; spacing appears even and the punched edges look 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, showing the characteristic wavy bilateral pattern consistent with an analog optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image reads with normal colour saturation showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Fine longitudinal lines consistent with projector gate contact are visible across the frame area, indicating the strip has been through a projector.
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 analog variable-area optical soundtrack, positive colour print on what appears to be a safety base, and perforation layout are all consistent with a 1982-era 35mm 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 000062777
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
