I have watched bits and pieces of E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial over the years and haven’t viewed it in its entirety since its VHS release.  I was lucky enough to see it in its original release back in 1982.  I seem to recall my sister got us some special tickets she won from a radio station for opening night, and when you entered the theater everyone received a sticker for E.T. and Reese’s Pieces, which, at that moment, no one had heard of before:

I’d been a life-long fan of the oily candy coated Wonka Oompas, and these smaller bits of peanut butter goodness became a candy staple that I have yet to be able to walk away from.

Over the year stories surfaced about the little licensing battle that occurred over the M&Ms featured in a key scene in the original story and Mars’ missed marketing opportunity that resulted in Elliott leaving the trail of Reese’s instead, which ultimately seemed to be all about money as these things always are.  Suffice it to say, I am happy we live in a world where Reese’s Pieces and M&Ms can live in harmony.  (Enough about food, back to the movie).

If all was right in the world we would all be flocking back to the theaters to see E.T. on the big screen in the “see it again for the first time” way.  Of all of Spielberg’s brilliant films, E.T. is the one that stands up with Star Wars as far as story with a heart.  Raiders of the Lost Ark is probably the most exciting film ever made, and I remember the movie ending on the screen of the big River Hills theater and realizing I hadn’t eaten or drank anything or taken a restroom break because I was glued to the screen for every minute of the movie.  Jaws is the best blockbuster ever and defined the very term.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind illustrates the very best that science fiction can be on film.  But E.T.’s story didn’t require much by way of special effects then and doesn’t now, once you get beyond the non-CGI animatronic special effect of E.T. himself.  The space ship at film’s end could have been made with a soup can and strobe light and it wouldn’t have mattered.

What did matter was this very realistic neighborhood, this very real family of kids, and a simple story about concern for someone in need of help.

And John Williams delivered a standout score, a score that, like Star Wars and Raiders and Jaws and Superman, can never be confused with modern, canned soundtrack pieces.  Williams was at the top of his game when he write the rousing E.T. themes.

Years ago I bought a copy of E.T. on VHS for $1.  With viewings on TV every now and then it’s hard to justify getting the Blu-Ray for me, simply because it isn’t effects heavy and I’m not sure I need another version.  But Spielberg did something very right with the new release that shows he has learned from the errored ways of Mr. Lucas.  If you managed to see bits of the 2002 re-release edition of E.T. you may recall Spielberg jumped on the bandwagon with Lucas and decided to CGI-ify his movie a bit (CGI-ify, a newly coined term meaning “terrorizing a film through editing”).

A few odd changes Spielberg made to the 2002 release:

• Elliott’s mom says Elliott’s brother looks like a “hippie,” where the original used the word “terrorist”.
• The feds with guns at the end of the film had their guns replaced with circa-1982 mobile phones.

Where Lucas has hidden away his initial, brilliant versions of the Star Wars films, Spielberg’s new edition of E.T. makes none of these changes, returning instead to a cleaner modification of the 1982 film we all loved.  So soon you’ll be singing “Turn on your heart light” with Neil Diamond, and saying “Phone home” and “I’ll be right here” and “Home” and “Be good” in your best E.T. voice.

Here is a trailer for the Blu-Ray release:

The Blu-Ray has a lot of extra features, like

E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial hits Blu-ray on October 9, 2012.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com