E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial Special Edition, DVD Review

It’s been many a year since I’ve seen this film, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’d imagined that I would find it all a little bit immature now that I’m a grown up 30 something (yeah right). I’d also seen all the comments about Spielberg’s changes to the film and I wondered if they would also spoil it for me.

I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed watching it again and it was a different viewing experience to the last time I watched it. The last time I saw this film I was a child myself and I just saw it as a cool film about a boy that befriends an alien. As an adult though I could pick up the underlying story of the film. The loneliness a child can feel when their parents separate and the need for companionship and a soul mate. E.T. is a heart-warming story that can be enjoyed by people of any age and thankfully Spielberg hasn’t done anything in this new cut to lessen the experience.

As for the new release itself, many of the changes are very subtle. E.T. has far more facial expressions in many of the scenes and there are one or two short deleted scenes that have been added to the film. There are also the more controversial changes like the removal of the guns, to be honest I was so engrossed in the film that I didn’t even really notice these changes.

As you can probably gather, I really enjoyed watching this film again. The cast are all really strong; especially considering the age of some of them (Drew Barrymore was only six). The plot is emotional and gripping throughout and in this new print the film looks and sounds excellent.

Video/Audio

From the opening credits you can instantly see that a lot of care and attention has gone into the video quality of this DVD. There is not a scratch or defect in sight, the colours are strong and vibrant and the image is nice and sharp. Several points in this film feature very foggy or smokey scenes, which can cause a lot of problems for DVD’s. This print handles it perfectly though, without an artefact in sight.

Looking at the back of the box you would assume that there are three choices of audio track here DD 5.1 EX English, DD 5.1 EX Dutch and DTS 5.1 ES English. However if you go into the Bonus Features menu on Disk 1 you also have the option to watch the film with the John Williams score from the live 2002 premiere performance. I viewed the film with the DTS 5.1 ES soundtrack and I can say that it’s a top quality track. Very atmospheric and the dialogue is perfectly crisp and clear throughout.

Extras

Disk 1

Disk one contains a short introduction by Steven Spielberg that is really just Mr Spielberg explaining why he wanted to come back to the picture and update it with new CG and additional scenes etc. The only other extra on Disk 1 is the option to watch the film with the live John Williams score from the 2002 re-release premiere.

Disk 2

At 50 Minutes in length, Evolution and Creation of E.T. is an excellent featurette packed with all kinds of information. There’s behind the scenes sections from the 1982 original film. There are loads of interview clips with cast & crew including Spielberg, Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore etc. Spielberg talks at length about the film and the new version including his controversial removal of all the guns through CG. There’s also a look at some of the new C.G. with comparisons of original and new version scenes. This is a very interesting featurette.

The Reunion is a 17 minute long group interview with Spielberg, producer Kathleen Kennedy and the main cast. As this is a recent interview the cast are now all adults and they all speak of their experiences and feelings for the film. It’s an interesting enough feature although the sentimentality is rather laid on with a trowel. The Music of John Williams is a ten-minute feature that contains some interview clips with composer John Williams and some behind the scenes footage of the making of the score.

The 20th Anniversary Premiere is a 17 minute feature that concentrates on the live soundtrack performance that John Williams and the orchestra made for this performance. The first half of the feature gives a good insight into how incredibly difficult it is to perform a live soundtrack for a film, the second half shows many clips of the performance itself. Designs, Photographs and Marketing contains sections of concept design drawings, some on set photographs and merchandising images, including a very odd looking E.T. finger.

Space Exploration, I’m trying to think of something positive to say about this feature but I can’t, as it’s one of the most stupid extras I’ve seen in a long time. You are presented with images of all the planets in the solar system. If you select a planet E.T. gives you lots of facts about the planet except that the long drawn out drone of his voice is painful to listen to. What a waste of disk space. Finally we have a set of Trailers for E.T., Back to the Future Trilogy and E.T. the game on various computer formats.

The DVD’s are packaged in a nice cardboard box with external cardboard sleeve. It also comes with a six-page booklet containing some quite extensive production notes. The film is broken into 20 chapters and subtitles are available in English and Dutch. Most menus are animated, although to be honest they are not the best animated menus I’ve ever seen on a DVD.

Overall

I have to confess that I probably wanted to dislike this release if only for the fact that unlike the US we are not going to get the original version of the film on the standard release. Now that I’ve seen the new version though, I don’t know if I’m that bothered if I never see the original again. The picture has been lovingly cleaned up and looks as good as any new release film. E.T. has been made to look more realistic thanks to the C.G. with far more facial expression and better, more fluid movement. Finally I’m tempted to agree with Spielberg that on reflection guns don’t really belong in a film like this.

I’m sure there are many people who would disagree with me, but I personally think that this is an excellent DVD release, that is only let down by the lack of a commentary track from the man himself.

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