Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8945 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-10-22
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Steven Spielberg's 1982 hit about a stranded alien and his loving relationship with a fatherless boy (Henry Thomas) struck a chord with audiences everywhere, and it furthered Spielberg's reputation as a director of equally strong commercial sensibilities and classical leanings. Henry Thomas gives a strong, emotional performance as E.T.'s young friend, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore make a solid impression as his siblings, and Dee Wallace is lively as the kids' mother. The special effects almost look a bit quaint now with all the computer advancements that have occurred since, but they also have more heart behind them than a lot of what we see today. --Tom Keogh

DVD features
Universal pulled a fast one when they placed both the 1982 and 2002 versions of E.T. on this standard DVD release. The result is an excellent two-disc set that contains nearly all of the material on the higher-priced ultimate edition (minus the handsome packaging). On the disc one bonus menu, you must play through the two-minute introduction to see a short on the 2002 premiere of the film that was accompanied by John Williams conducting a live orchestra. There is an option to see the film with this unique soundtrack. The second disc contains a solid documentary on the making of the film and the reissue with plenty of interviews and cool tidbits. A slide show offers dozens of photographs and sketches, albeit with little descriptive text. Surprisingly, there are no original trailers. Since the movie was painstakingly restored and updated, the sound and picture quality are excellent. Now if we could just get Spielberg to do a commentary track. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

E.T
Both versions of Steven Spielberg's masterpiece are available on this limited edition DVD of E.T- THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL. The original 1982 and the 2002 re-mastered version are equally impressive. The minor cuts and restored footage doesn't add much. Sure, the CG E.T is impressive and there are some great moments put back in that make the film feel more complete. But the heart of the film stays the same. Differing from Spielberg's more strident films (JAWS, the INDIANA JONES films and JURASSIC PARK), E.T is the simple story of Elliot (Henry Thomas) who finds a friend from space and helps him to find his way home, hence the oft-quoted line "E.T phone home!". The iconic image of Elliot riding past the moon is one of the most memorable movie moments in cinema history, accompanied by John William's whimsical score (Another coup-de-grace par-excellence). The film itself is still emotionally involving and the peformances of the principal actors, especially Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore are fantastic. Regardless of the film's 2002 theatrical dissapointment, Spielberg's masterful storytelling holds up to this day. One of my all-time favourites, E.T will always be remembered as one of the greatest cinema experiences in film history.
The DVD extras are very impressive. Startting off with Disc One, the 2002 version has an introduction by Steven Spielberg, a live performance of John Williams conducting at the 2002 premiere and an "exciting space exploration". Disc Two has the 1982 version. the extras include a "Spotlight on Location" featurette, The Reunion: The cast and filmmakers talk sbout the film. The Evolution and Creation of ET: hundreds of production photographs, conceptual drawings and original advertising in an interactive environment. Also included are theatrical trailers and DVD-ROM features. A must have DVD.

... ruined a classic
First, I want to make it clear that I'm reviewing the DVD here, not the original film. I liked the original; it's a good movie. Not as fantastic as it is hyped to be, but good enough to have on DVD for an occasional viewing. I give the film 4 stars.

I have BIG problems with what's behind this DVD, and the "special edition" of ET that's on it.

The 2002 edition of ET is just absurd. As others pointed out, CGI ET looks silly, and isn't consistent with the "old" scenes that include ET. His stiffness was part of his physical character. Making him more "jar-jar" just doesn't make sense. It's an example of "lets do it because we can". There are lots of thing we "can" do that we "should not" do, and this is one of them.

But much worse than this is the digital removal of the guns. Not only was this poorly done (from a technical point of view), but it's an example of Political Correctness(tm) gone mad. Guess what: government agents and cops carry guns, and they point them at people/things that they are trying to stop/apprehend. Get over it.

I hate to see a work of art like ET defaced just to appease a loud, misguided minority of people who believe in political correctness. Bowing to this minority was a cowardly act.

Finally, the packaging Universal has chosen is obnoxious. The only way to get the original film is to buy a very expensive "gift boxed set", filled with things I do NOT want. I'm willing to pay for a boxed set, but only if it contains the following items: Original movie with original 5.1 sound track, commentary track(s), deleted scenes, making of and/or retrospective featurettes. That's it. This would probably fit on one disc, making a boxed set unnecessary. ...

Great movie, great set
Let me explain something that I feel a lot of people are forgetting. This set doesn't only include the new version, but the old as well. That's a great deal, since you can choose which one you would like to see. If you hate the new effects and CGI, don't watch it. It's that simple.

Now don't get me wrong. I think the newer version is very silly, and I wonder if Spielberg really thought it looked good when he did it. Maybe if he were to do it in around 10 years, it wouldn't look so animated.

I did like the deleted bathroom scene though, even though it was done with CGI. It would have been nice to have seen that in the original, but I guess that would be having my cake and eating it too.

There is nothing flawed about this set, it simply just gives some options that not everyone will want to choose. If you enjoy the movie, you will enjoy this set. It's a classic that hasn't lost it's flavor after all these years.