Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren, and Kenneth F. Smith win the Oscar for Visual Effects for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial at the 55th Academy Awards. Hosted by Dudley Moore; Eddie Murphy and Elizabeth McGovern present the award.
ET had great visual effects, but I think Blade runner was more innovative to the visual effects industry and even surpassed the original star wars in terms of using visual effects for world building.
I met Carlo Rambaldi in a little town in Calabria (Italy) back in 2008, when I was 12. I was too young and didn't recognise him but my mom did and I'm so thankful for that: Rambaldi gave me a drawing he made on that same day, and put his autograph on it, in front of my eyes. Now, eleven years and a performing arts degree later, I'd love to go back in time and hug him... such a genius but humble man.
Eddie Murphy looked so young back then. It’s almost unrecognizable! ET’s visual effects took the movie’s astounding quality to another level. RIP Dudley
Blade Runner should have won this without second thought. I'm not saying E.T. was a bad movie, or that it had bad visuals, but for me there was simply no competition between an animatronic alien and giant cityscapes that look every single bit as believable today as they did back then.
My god. Elizabeth McGovern was totally 🔥🔥🔥 also 1982 in general was an awesome year for movies. Not only ET, Poltergeist and Blade Runner, but also The Thing, Tron, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, First Blood, The Dark Crystal, Conan The Barbarian, Creepshow, 48 Hours, Tootsie, Star Trek II :The Wrath of Kahn, The Last Unicorn, Friday the 13th part 3 (When Jason first wore his hockey mask) That's just a few classic movies released that year.
This was an incredibly hard call, because Blade Runner had a lot more effects, but E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial's effects were more intertwined with the narrative and its aims. I think what tipped the scales was how Blade Runner was quite poorly received in 1982. Fun fact: Tron was disqualified from a nomination because the Academy ruled that the use of computers in the creation of its effects was cheating.
I agree! Tron would have been my personal vote. A personal nod for me would go to The Thing for Rob Bottin's amazing makeup work. However, the film was mostly panned at the time of release and many were put off by the gore and overall paranoia of the film. On a side note, Rick Baker never got credit for pretty much coming up with the E.T. design. Carlo did touch-ups, but look at Rick's original designs and Twitter post from around 2014. The similarities are undeniable.
A great year for visual effects and amazing movies (and masterpieces). E.T. and Blade Runner are both sci-fi masterpieces in different ways, lighter the 1st and darker the 2nd, both of them with outstanding and memorable SFX (I enjoyed Ridley Scott's masterpiece, but Steven Spielberg's little good alien has been a breakthrough movie since the 1st time I saw it and I still love that little alien today, including its amazing visual effects). Poltergeist is a little horror cult that should be re-discovered. A pity that even that year the nominees were only 3 and not 5: I would have also nominated Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan and Tron.
More effort went into John Carpenter's The Thing in the visual effects department. Also out of the nominated I believe Blade Runner should have won. I'm not putting down the visual effects of E.T but it was mostly just the starship, E.T. and the bikes flying that were the effects.
Oscars The Nominees Are Douglas Trumble Richard Urich and David Drer From Blade Runner Richard Edin Michael Wood and Bruce Nicholson From Poltergeist Carlo Rambaldi Dennis Muren Kenneth F Smith From ET The Extraterrestrial Roy Field From The Dark Crystal The Winner Is Carlo Rambaldi Dennis Muren Kennith F Smith From ET The Extraterrestrial
I love "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" but I think "Blade Runner" had much better visual effects. Even nowadays this movie looks great and even fresh. The same can't say about E.T.
If you include Original Song in technical categories, Randy Newman got a standing ovation when he won in 2002 for Monsters Inc., affter 16 nominations.
Ennio Morricone got a standing ovation after winning original score for "The Hateful Eight". I also think that Roger Deakins will get one after winning cinematography for Blade Runner 2049.
Unfortunately, people didn't realize how groundbreaking at the time the effects for "The Thing" were, only focusing on how violent and extreme they were. Funny the tide changed five years later when "The Fly" dominated the Makeup Oscar. If today's critics had been around in 1982 and gotten people to look past "The Thing" being the antithesis of "E.T." and recognized it as the masterpiece it is, it would have at least been a major contender for Visual Effects and probably won the Makeup Oscar.
MY god. Between those 3 films, The Thing, and Star Trek 2 The Wrath of Khan (both of which were released the same year but not nominated. HOW DO YOU PICK?
It did win in one right category, Best Original Score. You can’t deny the John Williams’ score is so iconic and you don’t hear it whenever you think of E.T. and Elliott flying, or when you’re flying in a plane.
Ah that’s subjective, tbf. I like both movies, so I tend not to compare them at all, as they are so very different. The original BR is certainly better than the newer one, though. And ET does have a special place in my heart, I have to say.
Very tough call guys. All three VFX are masterpieces. Blade runner created a whole dystopian world out of nothing but miniatures and flying models. ET gave us the most lasting impression on film history with the cycle flight and it's other effects involving et and the UFO are excellent. Poltergeist is an underrated gem of a VFX movie with outstanding sequences with practical effects especially towards the end and the scene where all the toys are floating is done exceptionally well. This was one of the toughest calls ever in this category. At the end it's safe to say any of the three was a worthy winner. They're all just too good. Just goes to show you ILMs skill in this regard.
