- On the VHS version when E.T. is watching the Tom and Jerry cartoon, he gasps and starts yelling. The original version and 20th anniversary have him scream like he's scared after the gasp.
- The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray edition restores the footage with guns.
- Some of the audio revisions made for the 2002 Special Edition are retained on the 7.1 track for the 30th Anniversary Blu-ray (which is otherwise the original 1982 cut). Most notably, the first medical scene (just after the face of Keys is revealed for the first time) was significantly remixed with a more natural ambience and different incidental dialogue from the doctors. The original, more atmospheric sound design for the scene can be heard on the Blu-ray's 2.0 track.
- The 1988 video release shows the logo of Amblin Entertainment, which didn't exist until 1984.
- In March 2002 was released a special 20th Anniversary edition (with a digitally remixed soundtrack, additional footage and computer-generated enhancements to existing scenes). It includes the following changes:
- a new, CGI-enhanced scene showing E.T. and Elliot taking a bath together. The scene was originally scrapped because Spielberg thought the animatronic effects weren't up to par;
- for the "E.T. phone home" dialogue scenes, CGI has been used to make E.T.'s lips movement match the words more closely;
- a longer version of the Halloween sequence;
- for the first of the film's two flying sequences, the cape of Elliot's Halloween costume is digitally fixed so it can flap in the wind as he and E.T. fly on their bicycle through the forest and past the moon. This was done to bring what Spielberg originally envisioned for this scene to fruition, and to make it look accurate to the famous silhouette's appearances on the film's iconic poster and the logo of Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment. The original reason why the cape didn't flap in the wind in this scene in the original 1982 cut may have been due to the limitations of visual effects technology at the time.
- in the original release, the government agents pursuing E.T. and Elliot had weapons in their hands: the new edition digitally replaces them with walkie-talkies;
- changes in dialogue: Elliot's mother's prohibition to go trick-or-treating dressed as "a terrorist" has been changed to "a hippie".
- Both versions were included on the Special Edition DVD that followed the 2002 theatrical re-release. The film was reissued on video in 2005 with a disc containing only the 20th Anniversary cut. This version was the only available release until the 2012 Blu-ray which featured the original theatrical cut, presumably due to Spielberg regretting having ever re-edited the film in the first place.
- In the original theatrical release of this film, in the scene where E.T. is drinking and getting Elliot drunk, Elliot used chalk and began drawing on thin air. This scene was later cut from video and subsequent theatrical releases, but is pictured in The E.T. Storybook.
- In an early cut, Elliot and his mom go to the principal after the frog incident. The principal was played by Harrison Ford, the screenwriter's husband. The scene was cut in post-production and can only be found on the American laserdisc, released in 1996.
- In the original VHS copy of the movie (the classic black and green plastic) as well as television broadcasts, the now infamous terrorist line was simply supplanted with "You can't get dressed up like THAT" and not the terrorist line OR the hippie line of the 20th anniversary edition.
- The 20th anniversary DVD version features a computer enhanced E.T. running through the forest escaping government agents at the start of the film. The enhanced version gives a clear view of E.T. standing on top of a hill watching his ship soar into the sky.
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