E.T. is the iconic 1982 film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg about an alien who becomes stranded on Earth and befriends a young boy and his family. It stars Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Dee Wallace, and Peter Coyote in the main roles. The supporting cast includes C. Thomas Howell, K.C Martel, Sean Frye, and future original Baywatch babe, Erika Eleniak. In the film, an alien becomes stranded on Earth after his ship leaves without him. He hides in the shed of a family who live near where he was stranded and is discovered by a young boy named Elliot (played by Thomas), who befriends E.T. and helps him attempt to contact his species so he can get back home.
The 40th Anniversary 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. Both contain the same content. The original theatrical edition of the film, and several hours of bonus features. Note that this release does not include the 2002 re-release with the additional footage and the CGI enhancements, which is the only thing that knocks it down a star for me. The bonus content includes two new featurettes made for this release, original making-of and behind-the-scenes footage filmed during production, and content created for the film's 20th Anniversary. The bonus content also includes the trailer and promotional content, as well as multiple picture galleries featuring photos taken during the film's production and promotional stills. The A/V quality is very good, and the movie looks and sounds great in UHD. Neither the audio nor the video transfers are quite reference-quality, but if you have a large screen and/or a multi-channel surround-sound system, you will probably not be disappointed.
This is an extremely good, but not great, release. Of course, the movie is wonderful and holds up well even (as of this writing) 44 years after it was made. Some of the cultural references in the movie are dated; however, the overall story holds up very well. It does have a little swearing and includes things that probably would not be included (like the teenagers smoking at the beginning of the movie) if it were made today, but overall it is very family-friendly, mixing drama, humor, and action. And, of course, John Williams' score is outstanding. The bonus content is excellent. The highlight of the archival material is a young Drew Barrymore (who was six when the film was shot) hamming it up on set and being interviewed at the movie's premiere. If this release had included both versions of the film, it would absolutely be a five-star set. Hopefully, when Universal releases a 45th- and/or 50th-anniversary edition, they will include both versions of the film. That is the only thing that would get me to double-dip for a new edition. Ultimately, it is a wonderful film that takes you on an emotional roller coaster, going from suspenseful to funny to dramatic to sad to uplifting. It is well-written, very well-acted, and absolutely worth watching.
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