Thirty years after this beloved movie was recently into theaters, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is making it's Blu-Ray debut. The movie has been digitally remastered for a crisp, clear picture, alongside the 7.1 surround sound to bring this movie in all it's glory to our living rooms. In this movie, a young boy named Elliot, his sister Gertie, and Michael meet a lost alien and try to help him find his way home before the government can take him away.
I remember when E.T. arrived in the theaters. My dad, a huge sci-fi fan, took my brother and I to see it. When it came out on VHS, I remember that it was nearly $50 for a video back then, but we had to have it! Who can forget the line "E.T. phone home"? And not to mention, the wonders this movie did for Reese's Pieces candy - they were a hot commodity at the movie theaters thanks to this movie! ;) So I planned family night for us, and broke down and bought boxes of Reese's Pieces for us to enjoy alongside the movie. It had been almost 20 years since I had last seen it, and I had almost forgotten how much of a sniveling crybaby this movie turns me into! LOL It was wonderful getting to see it on our big screen TV with the surround sound - man, it slammed watching it as a kid on the 27" TV with a worn out video into the ground. (My little brother was obsessed with this movie and watched it over... and over... so as you might know, that took a serious toll on VHS tapes! Blu-Ray and DVD is SO much easier!) I was a little worried that with technology the way it is today that it might take some of the magic out of E.T. himself for my daughter, but I had nothing to fear. Geeky little girl was just as thrilled with this movie as her geeky mommy and daddy! lol
The anniversary edition is a two disc set that comes with the Blu-Ray version of the movie, alongside the DVD version, a digital copy, and the new UltraViolet download code, which allows you to instantly stream and download this movie on any device, anywhere.
If you're a bonus feature junkie, I hope you're sitting down, because this anniversary edition is chock full of special feature goodness! The DVD contains deleted scenes from the 2002 version of the movie, as well as an interview with Steven Spielberg on E.T., a look back at the making of the movie, and reunion of the cast called "The E.T. Reunion". The Blu-Ray has most of the bonus features, with the same special features included on the DVD, as well as featurettes called "The E.T. Journals" that shows behind the scenes footage from the making of the film, and "The Evolution And Creation Of E.T." that takes the viewers through the idea of the movie to casting and making of the film. There is interviews and footage on the music called "The Music Of E.T. A Discussion With John Williams", and "The 20th Anniversary Premiere" where you see the score performed live for the re-release premier of the movie back in 2002. Also included is the original theatrical trailer, a special Olympics TV spot, tons of designs, photographs, and marketing, along with the UltraViolet, Digital Copy, and access to pocket BLU app and BD-Live.
Just in case you are not familiar with this movie, while it is relatively child friendly, it does have a few moments of scariness and such that does give it a PG rating. Here's some fun coloring and activity sheets for kids:
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Anniversary Edition will be released on Blu-Ray Combo Pack this coming Tuesday, October 9th, 2012. Widescreen format, it is rated PG (see above), with a total running time of 115 minutes long - not including special features. The suggested retail price is $34.99, but Amazon has it available on pre-order for $17.99 as of this posting.
I received a copy of this DVD in order to view it and share my thoughts on it. All opinions are my own.
1 comment:
I am so glad that they made this high definition release so that a whole new generation of kids can enjoy this movie. Like you I have so many memories of going to see this when I was a kid, and now I get to share those with my kids! I had no idea that this release was going to happen, and I was so excited when a coworker at DISH told me about it. I already have the 20th anniversary DVD so I decided to rent it through my Blockbuster @Home account to see if it was worth buying. This version is leagues above the DVD release if you only consider the visuals and sound, but when you take into account all of the special features it is a must have. My favorite was seeing the amazing score performed live; it makes me want the sound track.
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