'Extra' Special

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Image credit: ET: Universal/Kobal Collection

HEAD GAMES More digitally created facial expressions for E.T. broaden his range

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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

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E.T. Cleans Up His Act Spielberg restored two deleted scenes to the movie -- sequences Kennedy says the director always wanted in. In one of them, Elliot (Henry Thomas) and E.T. take a bath together. ''It's very funny,'' Kennedy promises. The other scene shows Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and Michael searching for E.T. when he goes missing on Halloween.

I Believe I Can Fly Spielberg didn't shy away from altering the most indelible images in ''E.T.'' -- the bicycles that reach up and touch the sky. He set ILM's computer mavens to work on adding detail (like clothes blowing in the wind) to make the shots more realistic. ILM also tweaked images of E.T.'s spaceship, modernizing it for the 21st century.

But how will fans react to the changes? Already hawk-eyed Internet surfers are starting to bemoan what one writer calls the ''atrocity'' of changing anything in a classic like ''E.T.'' And, of course, ILM owner George Lucas took heat for implementing similar upgrades in his late-'90s special editions of the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy (fans are still recovering from the Greedo-shoots-first scene).

Kennedy assures EW.com that the ''E.T.'' changes are on a lesser scale than those for ''Star Wars.'' ''George actually recreated a lot of sequences -- we haven't done that,'' she says. ''Steven is very happy with the movie. It's not as if he's looking at this movie and saying, 'Oh, there's so many things I can do differently.'' Okay, we're not worried...as long as Spielberg doesn't extend his no-gun policy to ''Saving Private Ryan.''

Originally posted Oct 29, 2001

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