E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (re-release)

New York Post Lou Lumenick

An all-time classic that seems even better after two decades.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Unchecked goodness has its price, after all, and childhood wonder wouldn't be nearly as sweet if it didn't fade. That may explain the film's appeal. It trapped that feeling, and its sense of possibility, in amber -- then, now, and for any time.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

A sophisticatedly sappy masterpiece that bucked the prevailing Hollywood vision of aliens as nasty invaders and recast them as friendly collectibles for children.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Just as moving, uplifting and funny as ever in its slightly modified form.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This movie made my heart glad. It is filled with innocence, hope, and good cheer. It is also wickedly funny and exciting as hell.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The least fussy great movie ever made.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Had the aura of an instant classic when it was released, and the good news is that it looks at least that good, if not better, on the eve of its 20th anniversary reissue.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Watching E.T now, in an era dominated by cold, loud special-effects-laden extravaganzas, one is struck less by its lavish grandeur than by its intimacy and precision.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Always a magical film. For its anniversary rerelease, though, it's been extensively restored and even partly reshot by Spielberg. It now looks better than it did back then.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Seeing E.T. again reminds us of how much we've remained the same, how gratified we still are by a film that connects so beautifully to our sense of wonder and joy.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Beaming back on screens for its 20th anniversary, holds up spectacularly well.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

It's one modern film worthy of being called a contemporary classic.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Music for the eyes. That's why it has become a treasured classic. That's why we'll see it again and again.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

Spielberg wrote a poem. And all the best movies are poems. [25 Mar 2002, p. 86]

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

In E.T., Spielberg proved a herald of the age when moviegoers would make full-time friends with fantasy, but his most special effect was taking us into ourselves.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

One of the loveliest and happiest of American movie entertainments.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

If we approach with sympathy and curiosity, we will be rewarded with same. And our souls, not to mention our bicycles, will soar to the heavens.

LA Weekly Paul Malcolm

The film's real power to move flows from its low, childlike angles, which, rather than infantalize its audience, bring it down to where the hurt and fear, and hence the comfort, loom larger.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

It's a fascinating look into what Spielberg truly loves, but it's not so much a masterpiece as a nice milestone.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

When E.T. debuts on DVD, you can choose between the new version, which better matches E.T.'s words to his lips, and the sweetly clunky, digitally deprived version redolent of penis breath. I don't need to phone home to know which one I'm buying.

TV Guide Staff (not credited)

One of the most popular movies ever made, E.T. translates religious myth into cute, familiar terrain.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

We're told that this new version is tweaked and enhanced, with the E.T. puppet digitally smoothed out, and the guns in the meanies' hands removed (silly, but bravo).

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A fine picture because it can still, without fail, make an entire audience of children shut up and fall in love with a little green alien with big eyes and a turtlelike body.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Doesn't make it a masterpiece, but it's fun.

Film Threat Rick Kisonak

The story itself holds up fairly well though, twenty years later, does come off as thinner than I recalled.

Village Voice Don McKellar

E.T. is a dog movie. Genre-wise, I mean. It's about a boy meeting a dog, naming it, taming it, learning from it, and growing up. Of course, the genre is superficially disguised as science fiction, as was the fashion at the time.