E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40th Anniversary still delivers the feels

Our children have seen E.T. It didn’t carry the same emotional wallop that it did when we initially saw it, but, it’s a classic movie by any estimation. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40^th Anniversary is available and throws a couple of E.T. journals, filmed during production that has never been seen that shed some light behind the magic.

When our 11-year-old saw the film for the second or third time he was still loaded with questions. How big is the spaceship? Was that a person in costume? If it’s a robot how do they make it move? It’s the same questions that adults had when they saw the film except through the rapid-fire succession of an upper elementary school student.

I don’t know how E.T. was made. I never knew how the classic cycling against the moon back was filmed. It’s a nostalgic image that defined a decade of special effects into one shot that was emotional and encapsulated the wonder of going to the cinema. Even today, on television sets that rival the cinematic experience it packs a punch and makes you want to believe in what you’re seeing up on the screen.

Watching E.T. forty years after its release is still a joy. You know what’s going to happen, the government agent with the jingly keys, the older teens who come off as bad (but are really just teens), and the fact that some consider E.T. to be the world’s longest (and most effective) candy commercial. Surly audiences who watch the film today might bustle at some of the stereotypes and what they consider to be rote plot mechanics. However, it’s important to remember that this is the film that started it all. Lens flare was a new thing to be intentionally shown during the final product and Spielberg mastered that, in addition to other skills like no other director.

What’s refreshing about seeing the movie now is how patient the film’s scenes are. They’re longer than most modern scenes and use silence and pacing to amp up the tension. They’re also classic Speilberg. While some of his effects are standard now, they were still in their infancy when E.T. came out. However, what most audiences to the 40^th Edition are eager to see are the behind-the-scenes features at the end of the film that might answer some of the questions that they or their children have.

The video production diary is fun to watch. Some of the moments are goofy, like when Spielberg dresses up in women’s clothing for the Halloween day shoot, or when Kathleen Kennedy was on location trying not to stress out about the day’s shoot. She says something about the production, Spielberg, and Jaws that was unknown to most people who have seen that classic shark movie. Even after she said it I was having trouble remembering what aspects of his production process she might have been alluding to.

There are current videos of the cast looking back at the iconic movie, Spielberg talking about its effect on his career, a cast reunion, and the music. It’s impossible to see E.T. and not realize the importance of how the soundtrack from John Williams plays into its overall impact. At the 20th Anniversary re-release of E.T., he conducted the score live at the Shrine Auditorium. You’ll see snippets of that show, as well as, a conversation with Williams about his working relationship with Spielberg throughout the years.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40^th Anniversary is the topic at hand. It comes in all manner of packaging, 4K Ultra HD + DVD and digital code, collectibles, and so on. Surely they’ll find some new material for the 50^th Anniversary, and then the 100^th Anniversary. It’s a film that is in the National Film Registry and will be remembered hundreds of years from now. If we can still enjoy a composition by Beethoven hundreds of years after its creation it’s logical to assume that E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial will still be enjoyed by people hundreds of years from now, let’s just hope that they never remake it or try to create a sequel. And yes, an idea for a sequel was tossed around, but you’ll see that in the DVD extras.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 40^th Anniversary is available now wherever you buy or download videos.

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