E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982.
Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Starring Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, and Drew Barrymore.
SYNOPSIS:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial celebrates its 40th anniversary with another 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray set that includes a code for a digital copy. This time, though, Universal included a pair of new bonus features in addition to porting over the rest of the archival extras. Maybe someday they’ll include Laurent Bouzereau’s 1.5-hour documentary from the old laserdisc edition.
When I took a look at E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on Blu-ray for its 35th anniversary, I talked about how the film originally connected with me when I was 12 years old because of the difficulties I was facing during my childhood. My parents’ divorce was a year away, but our household was already wracked with turmoil, and the output of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were a big part of helping me escape all of that.
Since the time I wrote that review, I went through a breakdown last year as all the abuse heaped on me by my mother was triggered once again by a very difficult situation at work. I went on leave, and medication and therapy helped me get back to a stable place; I also spent a lot of time thinking about that period of my life. My father’s passing earlier this year was a time for reflection too.
I say all that because every time I watch a movie like E.T., I’m reminded of the era I grew up in, for good and for bad. It was a time that defined the concept of big-budget summer blockbusters, a trend that persists to this day, and movies were still special because if you didn’t see them in the theater, it would be a couple years before you’d get a chance to do so on home video or on a TV broadcast.
Of course, back then home movie watching meant pan-and-scan images on muddy standard-def TVs. How did we ever put up with that? My kids will never know what that was like, and I’m fine with that. I’m happy to share the movies of my childhood with them on a nice big 4K screen, the way they were meant to be seen, at least at home. Yes, ideally, movies are best experienced on a big screen with amazing sound and an engaged audience, but I’m not much of a purist about anything these days, so I’m happy to experience my favorite films at home.
I’m not going to bother with a review of E.T., because I’m sure you’ve either seen it or have an idea of what it’s about. And if you’re a fan but haven’t given it a spin in your home theater, there’s no better time than this new 4K Ultra HD release from Universal, just in time for the film’s 40th anniversary. Most movies on disc are pretty affordable these days, so I’d even recommend it as a blind buy.
And before anyone gets ready to roast me on social media, yes, I know the film was previously issued on 4K five years ago. This new edition, though, adds a pair of new bonus features, so it has that going for it. And I hadn’t seen it on 4K, so that part is new to me too.
As far as I know, this is the same 4K upgrade that Universal put out five years ago, complete with the same Blu-ray. It looks incredible, and my understanding is that the previous one was no slouch either, so suffice it to say that this is probably as good as E.T. is going to get on home video. Even if we get to the era of 8K discs (assuming streaming hasn’t completely killed physical media by then), you would need a really big screen to see a noticeable improvement over 4K.
If you’ve previously upgraded the film to 4K, the question of whether to double-dip comes down to whether the two new bonus features are worth it to you. The first one, a 20-minute retrospective called 40 Years of E.T., takes a stroll down memory lane with film critic Leonard Martin playing a major role in the proceedings. He’s unabashedly a fan of the film, even going so far as to say that it should have been the big winner at the 1983 Academy Awards, not Gandhi. I’m not sure I’d make a statement that bold, but E.T. has certainly outlived its competitor in the social zeitgeist.
Others including author Ernest Cline (you may think I’m a fan of the novel Ready Player One, but I actually didn’t care much for it), director J.J. Abrams, and screenwriter/director Chris Columbus also weigh in on the film, with Spielberg and the cast and crew making appearances via archival footage from the production.
The other new bonus feature is a 27-minute interview with Spielberg from the 2022 TCM Classic Film Festival. Host Ben Mankiewicz takes the director back to his first job, which included directing Joan Crawford, and runs through his early output, culminating with, of course, E.T. (The interview happened after a 40th anniversary screening of the film.)
The rest of the bonus features have been ported over from the previous edition. You can read my other review to get a rundown of them. You also get a code for a digital copy, although it doesn’t include any bonus features, so if those are important to you, you’ll want E.T. on disc.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
