E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Movie Review
1"E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (1982) directed by Steven Spielberg is a certified classic which easily holds up today due to it's practical effects, amazing soundtrack, and reliance on emotion. I had never seen it before now so I was surprised just how great it turned out to be.
A young boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) encounters and harbors the first ever alien to be discovered by humans. Elliott and his two siblings refer to the alien as E.T. and they wish to keep him as a pet. E.T. wants to return home so he begins homemade construction on a satellite dish device to try and contact his brethren to come pick him up. Elliott forms an empath emotional connection with E.T. and is able to feel what he does.
E.T. was simplistic but really great. I would point to this one as most likely the single best family oriented live action film ever made and would easily recommend it to kids and adults alike. It has fantastic practical effects with an alien that does not look uncanny or silly, it fits right in and appears to actually be there with the characters. This is a movie to put on your resume as a cinematographer, scenes like the flying past the moon and sun being the most iconic. John Williams is easily the best movie scorer in history, and he does not disappoint here either.
As for negatives, well, there really are none. I guess I would point out just how similar the soundtrack is to "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" (1980). There is a truly terrible green screen towards the end of the film when the UFO is landing and the humans are sitting in the bottom left corner of the screen. Kathleen Kennedy receives a producer credit on this and we all know how we feel about her.
E.T. is essentially a flawless family movie with a lot of emotion to it. It even has a decent message when you realize the science classes' frogs are a representation of alien rights and treatment.
Video by Rainy Nights.
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