E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)

By: MICHAEL TUNISON
Date: Friday, March 22, 2002

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL's original theatrical run in 1982 set a new standard for blockbuster success in Hollywood, outdoing even STAR WARS with a record domestic box-office haul that would remain the highest-ever for an amazing decade and a half (until STAR WARS briefly reclaimed its throne thanks to the added earnings of its 1997 Special Edition re-release). Steven Spielberg's digitally touched-up 20^th anniversary edition of his sci-fi fairy tale masterpiece doesn't significantly add to or detract from its solid rep as a beloved classic, a fact which might inspire viewers to wonder why the filmmaker would go to such elaborate means to fix what never seemed to be broken.

Of course, factors like expense and how many man-hours of Industrial Light & Magic animation time a project might require don't really apply to Spielberg. When your estimated net worth is somewhere north of God's and you happen to own your own studio, it's more a question of "Why not?"

While the mere thought of revisions such as digitally cranking up E.T.'s facial expressions and completely redoing Spielberg's signature flying-bicycle-against-the-moon shot will have purists bellowing "Ouuuuuuch!" most of the changes are thankfully too subtle to offend any but the most sensitive CG-phobe. The casual viewer is unlikely to realize that great pains have been taken to add new elements such as waving tree limbs and smoke into scenes in an attempt to augment the vintage special effects for tech-savvy modern audiences. Yet such minute enhancements are there for hard-core buffs geeky enough to actually sit down and study the two versions back-to-back.

(In a Spielbergian compromise typical of the guy who parlayed his natural impulse to please everybody into a career as the most commercially successful filmmaker in motion picture history, E.T.'s upcoming 20^th anniversary DVD release will include both the original and revamped versions.)

As for the much-publicized alterations to the iconic extraterrestrial himself, the anniversary edition effects team's technique of only reworking as much of a shot as they needed to (frequently replacing only his face or mouth, for instance) makes it devilishly difficult to tell exactly where Carlo Rambaldi's hydraulically controlled original E.T. puppets end and ILM's cutting-edge new additions begin in most shots. The title character's high-tech makeover is only distractingly obvious in a couple of places, such as a newly restored scene, chopped from the original cut, in which average Earth boy Elliot (Henry Thomas) watches his space-traveling new friend goof around in a bathtub. It's E.T.'s newfound Roger Rabbit-esque stretchiness that tips us off such limber moves simply weren't possible in the era of STAR WARS-style animatronics and optical effects.

To linger

too long on such superficial changes, however, would be to miss the point of what made E.T. the phenomenon it's been for the past 20 years: the heart-stabbing emotional impact of its simply and beautifully told story. At the end of the historic early hot streak that saw him direct JAWS, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and E.T. in a span of seven years (OK, and 1941 even the mightiest lose the occasional battle), the 33-year-old Spielberg poured all of his enthusiasm for his youthful fantasies into this intensely personal work. The deeply felt relationship between Elliot and his strange houseguest remains the most powerfully engaging in all of the director's films, reminding us of the endless joy and wonder in the child's heart of every one of us.

Only a passable screenwriter himself, Spielberg has always been somewhat at the mercy of his hired-gun scribes, but in this case the gracefully constructed and often quite funny script from Melissa Mathison (then Mrs. Harrison Ford) dramatized his original idea with storytelling skill equal to Spielberg's own. (Auteur theorists who play down the importance of screenwriters' contributions should compare this film's impact with that of the director's other double-letter-titled sci-fi opus, last year's clumsily Spielberg-scripted A.I.)

While a few of E.T.'s more over-the-top touches haven't aged as well as the rest of the film (the whimsical scene in which an alien-sensitized Elliot liberates some soon-to-be-dissected frogs in biology class; space-suited scientist goons doing arms-outstretched Frankenstein poses when they invade the family's house), the film still has more than enough emotional kick to blow away any "kid's" movie on the scene today. Ten-year-old Henry Thomas is still an endearing young hero as Elliott, while the 6-year-old Drew Barrymore is a heartbreaking delight as his unintentionally trouble-causing kid sister Gertie (sad as it is to say, her performance here probably beats any she's given after growing up to be a surprisingly bad actress).

In the end, the most notable thing about the newly spiffed-up E.T.'s revisions is how little impact they have on a film that worked so well to begin with. Who can say exactly what combination of elements makes it such a wonderfully magical moviegoing experience? All we know is that it cast a spell on audiences in 1982, casts a spell today, and will continue to do so for a long, long time.

"I'll believe in you all my life. Every day," Elliot says at the film's wrenching emotional highpoint.

He isn't the only one.

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

Grade: A

Reviewed Format: Wide Theatrical Release

Rated: PG

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

Writer: Melissa Mathison

Director: Steven Spielberg

Distributor: Universal