Spielberg's 80s blockbuster about a left-behind-alien and the lonely little boy who befriends him returns fully restored with new scenes, and beefed-up effects. Great - it's a classic film - but why has the director decided it's time to re-release it and what new touches are in store?
Forgetting the pile of cash it's sure to make, Spielberg says "I never wanted to make a sequel but I thought it would be great to re-issue the film on the 20th anniversary with a few enhancements to please the perfectionist inside myself."
These enhancements include the controversial digital replacement of guns for walkie-talkies, but Spielberg didn't play with these particular pixels on a whim, he had been thinking about it for sometime. Back in 1995 he commented: "I really regret having any guns in the movie."
It's a barely noticeable and minor change anyway. More interesting are the new scenes, including ET tumbling into the bath tub and Elliot's mum out looking for her son on Halloween night which also shows for the first time one of seven-year-old Drew Barrymore's best moments.
Elsewhere, subtle computer graphics have been used to enhance ET's expressive eyes (like they need to look any bigger, sadder, or lost), make his movements smoother, and cause the cape of Elliot's Halloween costume to flutter in the wind when he flies in front of the moon. Spielberg watched the original and picked the scenes he wanted to revise: "I was very careful not to change the substance of the story. It was just like taking a very fine paintbrush and putting a little bit of rouge on a pallid face."
The one scene you don't get to see features Harrison Ford as Elliot's school principal. Spielberg cut it as he felt Ford's superstar status would be a distraction, and he's probably right. For the anniversary edition, he's added just enough to make the film a little more magical than it already was.
