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Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, DTS 5.1 ES (Eng only)
Languages: English, Dutch
Subtitles: English for the hard of hearing, Dutch
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16:9-enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: 2 * DVD 9
Price: £22.99
Extras: Introduction by Steven Spielberg, John Williams
Live at the Shrine Auditorium 2002 Premiere, Evolution and Creation of E.T.,
The Reunion, The Music of John Williams, The 20th Anniversary Premiere,
Space Exploration, Designs Photographs and Marketing, Trailers
Director:
Steven Spielberg
(1941, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Always, Amistad, Catch Me If You Can, Close Encounter of the Third Kind, The Color Purple, Duel, Empire of the Sun, E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Hook, The Indiana Jones Trilogy,
Jaws, Jurassic Park 1 & 2, Minority Report, Poltergeist (uncredited), Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List)
Producers:
Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg
Screenplay:
Melissa Mathison
Original Score :
John Williams
Cast :
Elliott: Henry Thomas
Gertie: Drew Barrymore
Michael: Robert MacNaughton
Mary: Dee Wallace
Keys: Peter Coyote
Tyler: C.Thomas Howell
Pretty girl: Erika Eleniak
E.T. voice: Pat Welsh
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial: quite
definitely one of the most well-known films ever made and still a classic
even twenty years on. It also brought the attention of seven-year-old Drew
Barrymore to the fore, who's easily gone on to have the biggest career
of the whole cast, presuming you don't count Harrison Ford who shot
scenes as the School Principal, which were later cut out of the final version.
I saw it, aged 9, on New Year's Day 1983. All was quiet on new year's day,
except for some people blubbing in the audience as E.T. was forced to return
to his homeland after the snooty government stepped in after a young boy
named Elliott found him hiding in his summer house and allowed him to seek
refuge in the family home.
Soon after E.T. originally lands, the family are sceptical about the door to
the summer house being left open, the footprints in the dust leading Michael
to conclude "The coyote's back again, Mum", but Elliott has other ideas
and after going outside with a torch and hearing grunting in the bushes like a
demented Sidney Cooke, he strikes upon a more pleasant revelation and consults
the family over dinner while they discuss their Halloween plans.
What follows is a really fantastic film as Elliott happens across a
once-in-a-lifetime friend and they begin to learn a great deal about each
other and where they each come from.
This 20th Anniversary Special Edition has some welcome additions such as
two new scenes, including one where E.T. takes a bath, plus improved special
FX, most noticeable in E.T.'s spaceship and his facial expressions. Alas,
in an attempt to be politically-correct, Spielberg has stupidly replaced
all the guns with walkie-talkies. Bad idea.
Unless I'm mistaken, Spielberg has also removed the line about looking like a
"terrorist" when in Halloween fancy dress.
The DVD set reviewed here was released on October 28th 2002 and six weeks
following that is the release of a 3-disc version which also contains the
original 1982 version with an RRP of £27.99. Since the Region 1 DVD
contains the 1982 version as standard - and not at the expense of many extras
- I think that's how the Region 2 version should've come out.
Note: E.T. carries a U-certificate, but the extra,
Evolution and Creation of E.T., which has a PG-cert, means the entire
boxset carries the higher certificate.
Hey, they got the 1982 version, but we didn't!
Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the picture is flawless to these
eyes, but then you'd expect it to be so, given that the extensive restoration
that Spielberg has undertaken in this project.
Both major home sound formats are catered for, of which I plumped for the
superlatve DTS 5.1 ES option. Dialogue is clear as a bell, spot-effects are
well-realised and when the DTS sound kicks in early on as E.T.'s spaceship
takes off, it will rock your room more than a Manchester earthquake.
I do think that if the Dutch DD5.1 soundtrack had been dropped and some of
disc 2's extras moved across to the other one, then the regular version of the
film would've fitted on disc 2... or, put them both on disc 1 and use
seamless-branching to flit between the two.
Mmm... hug.
Of the extras on the first disc, you don't get to choose from a list which is
bizarre. It runs straight into the 2-minute Introduction by Steven Spielberg
in 16:9 letterbox, after which comes the John Williams Live at the Shrine
Auditorium 2002 Premiere, which is just an alternate soundtrack to the film,
not that you'd be able to tell the difference.
And on to disc 2...
These begin with Evolution and Creation of E.T. (50 mins), another featurette
in 16;9 letterbox (come on, it can't be hard to dig out the anamorphic version
of these, given that so much work has gone into the film itself), which
blends chat from the cast and crew with film clips and also includes the
screen test for Henry Thomas you might have seen on TV at the time
of the updated film's cinema release. There's also a look at the enhanced
E.T.
Ah, The Reunion... (18 mins, 4:3) everyone gets together and discusses
how they feel 20 years on. The Music of John Williams (10 mins, 4:3)
shows footage from the film score's original recording as well as recent chat
from Williams. As for The 20th Anniversary Premiere (18 mins, 4:3)...
Hang on, the box said that this live piece was on disc one... Oh, it's the
"making-of" that event and, as such, isn't particularly interesting.
Designs Photographs and Marketing shows off the designs of E.T, the
spaceship, production photographs and how the film was marketed. Erm... the
finger-light (right) looks like a massive dildo!
Space Exploration shows off the solar system, with E.T. explaining
basic facts about each planet. Alas, the voice sounds more like Stephen
Hawking with his voice-computer batteries having gone flat. This is followed
by three Trailers, one for E.T. itself (2 mins, 16:9 letterbox), one for
the Ubisoft game (1½ mins) (anyone remember the fantastic Atari VCS game??)
and the Back To The Future DVD trilogy (4:3, 1½ mins), due to hit the shops in
December 2002, at the time of typing.
Ok, some reasonable extras there, but a far cry from what you'd expect for
a Special Edition. No audio commentaries and just the bare bones of the usual,
all or most of which would've fitted on disc one had it dumped the Dutch
soundtrack and alternative music track from Williams, and all of which are
extras that you'll watch once and rarely return to.
Subtitles for the film come in both English and Dutch, with various other
languages for some of the extras, there are 20 chapters to the film
and the menus feature music from the film.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial: quite
definitely one of the most well-known films ever made and still a classic
even twenty years on. It also brought the attention of seven-year-old Drew
Barrymore to the fore, who's easily gone on to have the biggest career
of the whole cast, presuming you don't count Harrison Ford who shot
scenes as the School Principal, which were later cut out of the final version.
Designs Photographs and Marketing shows off the designs of E.T, the
spaceship, production photographs and how the film was marketed. Erm... the
finger-light (right) looks like a massive dildo!
