E.T. phones home via DVD twice

As if Steven Spielberg's status as king of the box office hadn't already been established by the summer of 1982, "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" only further solidified said status, while proving Spielberg's ability to dream up note-perfect family fare -- a genre he has occasionally tapped to varying degrees of success over the last 23 years, never outdoing "E.T." in terms of the number of hearts successfully warmed.\nMost everyone already knows the story of E.T., concerning a so-ugly-he's-cute alien accidentally left behind during an experimental trip to Earth. A youngster named Elliott finds E.T., befriends him and they both teach each other some standard life lessons. Then the government shows up, almost killing E.T. Of course he miraculously survives, and finds his way home to the tune of a stirring orchestral score. This was what audiences saw in 1982. What they didn't see were updates to the film made for a 2003 DVD version, with government agents with flashlights in their hands instead of handguns (political correctness gone awry?), and several gratuitous CG shots of E.T. inserted by ILM under Spielberg's guidance, possibly in order to make E.T. seem more real to today's children. In fact, they succeed in making him seem less real, but these minor additions only slightly detract from the overall impact of the film to those familiar with the original theatrical release.\nOf course E.T. wasn't the first or last time Spielberg would deal with aliens. 1977 saw the epic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" portray life in the rest of the universe, as E.T. does, in a generally benevolent and exploratory light, while this summer's "War of the Worlds," the most viscerally powerful film Spielberg has made since "Saving Private Ryan," portrayed aliens as destroyers and colonizers of our world. Both of these are better films than "E.T.," simultaneously inspiring awe and humility in the face of what is out there to greet us in the rest of the universe, but neither have the same deep emotional impact.\nExtras on this single-disc edition include original on-set photos and early concept drawings, a featurette showcasing John Williams' memorable score, and an interactive for-kids-only tour of our solar system hosted by E.T. himself. Perhaps most valuable, though, is the all-too-brief 2003 reunion of the director and his cast as they reminisce about their experiences during production in 1981.\nWhile one can only futilely hope Spielberg will agree to release "E.T." on DVD in its original form sometime in the future, this slightly revamped version is the best we can expect for the time being, and the time-tested quality of the screenplay, acting and point-of-view cinematography renders this version more than satisfying.