Stars: Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton

Director: Steven Spielberg

Summary: The 2002 rerelease of E.T., which marks 20 years since the film's 1982 debut, includes never before seen footage, enhanced visual effects, and a new remastered soundtrack.<BR>E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL is Steven Spielberg's warmhearted classic delight for both children and adults. It tells the story of an alien creature, E.T., mistakenly left behind on Earth. When a young boy, Elliott (Henry Thomas), finds E.T. and hides him in his home, both their worlds are changed forever. E.T. teaches Elliott and his two siblings (Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton), whose parents have recently separated, about caring and love while the children protect E.T. from the malevolent world of grown-ups. Elliott and E.T. become so close that they share emotions; as E.T. becomes ill, so does Elliott. The children end up going on a fabulous adventure trying to help E.T. find a way back to his home planet. The movie was originally going to be based on a story idea by director John Sayles, but after he removed himself from the project, screenwriter Melissa Mathison (Harrison Ford's former wife) took over the script and made it her own. John Williams's beautiful soundtrack became forever linked to E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL.

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This 20th Anniversary edition of E.T.introduces the warmth and sense of magic of Steven Spielberg's much-loved movie to a whole new generation. And it is the youngsters at whom this new version has been aimed, with the film being given a Star Wars-style make-over in the hope that it will appeal to a generation weaned on digital effects. Thus, ET now has a souped-up space ship and the pursuing FBI agents are more politically correct, carrying walkie-talkies in place of guns. They've even given ET himself a CGI face-lift, digitally replacing the beloved puppet in certain scenes.

But this is no Apocalypse Now Redux. The re-edited scenes are small and insignificant to the plot: the only additional footage of any note is ET taking a bath and demonstrating that he can breathe underwater, which is amusing but irrelevant. The surprise is that the deleted scene with Harrison Ford playing Elliot's school Principal has still not made it to the new version. Despite such grumbles, E.T.is still the joyful experience it was 20 years ago, only this time grown-ups can follow the story through an added glow of nostalgia, as they fondly remember just how great BMXs were! --Nikki Disney

On the DVD:E.T.--20th Anniversary Editionhas the revised version of the movie (but notthe original cut) on Disc One, presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and with a choice of gloriously remastered Dolby 5.1 or DTS sound options. The major beneficiary of this new presentation is John Williams' outstanding music score, which uniquely can also be played along with the film in the live version from the LA Shrine Auditorium 2002 premiere. A documentary about Williams conducting this extraordinary performance and a feature on his original scoring sessions are the best extra features on Disc Two. Other documentaries cover the "Evolution and Creation of ET"; a "Reunion" of the principal cast and crew with some fun behind-the-scenes footage; a piece on the planets of the Solar System narrated by ET himself (!); a photo gallery; trailers, and DVD-ROM extras. There's no director's commentary, but Spielberg does briefly introduce the movie on Disc One. --Mark Walker

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Isolated Audio Track - 1. John Williams Live Music Score, Featurette - 1. Steven Spielberg: A Look Back and Space Exploration, Documentary - 1. The Evolution and Creation of E.T., Featurette - 1. John Williams Conducts the Orchestra, 2. The Reunion, 3. E.T. Ar
Year:	2002
Release Date:	December 9, 2002
Runtime:	115 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	907 028 2
Keywords:	Family, Edition, Three, Extra, Terrestrial, Et, Discs, Collector's
Genre:	Family