E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – Limited Collector's Edition (Widescreen)

Cast View all

	Dee Wallace-Stone	Mary
	Henry Thomas	Elliott
	Peter Coyote	Keys
	Robert MacNaughton	Michael
	Drew Barrymore	Gertie
	K.C. Martel	Greg
	Sean Frye	Steve
	C. Thomas Howell	Tyler
	Erika Eleniak	Pretty Girl
	David M. O'Dell	Schoolboy
	Richard Swingler	Science Teacher
	Frank Toth	Policeman
	Robert Barton	Ultra Sound Man
	Michael Darrell	Van Man
	David Berkson	Medical Unit
	David Carlberg	Medical Unit
	Milt Kogan	Medical Unit
	Alexander Lampone	Medical Unit
	Rhoda Makoff	Medical Unit
	Robert Murphy	Medical Unit
	Richard Pesavento	Medical Unit
	Tom Sherry	Medical Unit
	Susan Cameron	Medical Unit
	Will Fowler Jr.	Medical Unit
	Barbara Hartnett	Medical Unit

Crew View all

Director	Steven Spielberg
Writer	Melissa Mathison
Producer	Kathleen Kennedy, Melissa Mathison, Steven Spielberg
Musician	John Williams
Photography	Allen Daviau

Personal

Notes

Story Synopsis:
"E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" remains today an extraordinary film, one that will warm your heart with its wondrous entertainment and magic. Its story about human values, understanding, compassion, and love is timeless as told through the perspective of a young boy’s (Thomas) friendship with a visitor from another planet. Along with the superb performance of Thomas, the rest of the cast is just as natural and believable as the film’s feeling of reality. Director Steven Spielberg has digitally enhanced his Oscar-winning 1982 classic with current technology that was not available to him 20 years ago. In his own words, “the whole digital technology allowed me to take 50 of my pet peeve shots and correct them digitally.” The more obvious changes made to the film include E.T. having a more expression-filled face, the way E.T. runs in the beginning of the film (what had simply been a light on a track has been replaced by a digitally hop-running E.T.), and the government men carrying guns now wield walkie-talkies. Spielberg and Universal have graciously also included the original, unaltered 1982 edition on both the two-disc Limited Collector’s Edition and three-disc Ultimate Gift Set releases. (When the release was first announced the plan was to include the original '82 edition only in the gift set.) (Suzanne Hodges)

DVD Picture:
For both the original theatrical version and the 20th Anniversary editions, the anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 DVDs exhibit impressively restored images. Both versions appear virtually identical, but scenes with the addition of enhanced special effects can appear slightly cleaner than the original and with higher contrast. For example, upon side-by-side comparison, there is a shot at the end of Chapter 2 that shows the men searching for E.T. with a cityscape in the background that has been enhanced with a completely new cityscape that gives the illusion of higher contrast and deeper, smoother blacks. Between Chapters 5 and 6, as Elliott waits for E.T. to emerge from the shed, upon close inspection, it is noticed that the night sky has been digitally enhanced for the appropriate placement of the moon in the sky. Yet, scenes that are left in their original form appear identical. The picture only rarely looks “dated”...rather, exhibiting a “classic” appearance. Images are nicely detailed and pleasantly sharp, with excellent contrast and shadow delineation. Windows can be blown out, creating a hazy, dim appearance inside the house. This was often creatively done to help keep the look of E.T. a mystery until later in the movie. Pixelization can cause a digital breakup of images at times. Edge enhancement can sometimes be a problem, and there are occasional distractions like a few occasions where mini-blinds in a scene shimmer. (Suzanne Hodges)

Soundtrack:
The Surround EX-encoded remastered soundtracks in Dolby Digital and DTS (included for both the 20th anniversary and original versions on both the Two-Disc Limited Edition and Three-Disc Ultimate Gift Set, except in the case of the original ’82 edition from the Gift Set which is Dolby Digital-only) feature a nicely holosonic, spacious listening experience through the music and atmospheric effects. As expected, the dated fidelity can be noticed, especially through the dialogue. Still, the soundtrack repurposing provides for a nice update of the audio to current standards. The rendering of ambience is particularly notable, namely for the many outdoor settings, for which an expansive soundstage with an impressive sense of envelopment can be noticed. John Williams’ music score nicely penetrates and fully engulfs the listening space. The surrounds are usually moderate in activity but occasionally become prominent with the music. The back surround is consistently active throughout, effectively enhancing the sense of dimension behind you. The sonic remastering also provides for some noticeable low-end extension, including the use of the .1 LFE channel. The DTS version is preferred for having a little more midrange refinement, resulting in the string section of the music score sounding a bit more natural. There’s also a little greater sense of envelopment, and more prominence in the low-end, as well. (Perry Sun)

This Disc Contains The Following WSR-Rated Superb Qualities:
Collector Edition

Tags

Links