Movie Review – E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
My Senior Project this year is on greatness in film and for the project portion I’ve picked out six films (made between the years 1941 and 1990) to watch and review. This is the first of those reviews. If you’re interested in reading more or commenting on the reviews, feel free to go to post a response! Hope you enjoy!
It’s been voted the 20th best film of all time by Entertainment Weekly and the 3rd best science fiction film by the American Film Institute, as well as was the most financially successful film ever made until Star Wars was re-released in 1997. The first time I watched E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, my father told me about going to see it over and over again during the many months it stayed in theaters. At the time I couldn’t understand why—I found the movie to be weird, with poor special effects and a scary premise that made me reluctant to watch it for several more years. But after seeing it again, my perspective entirely changed. There’s something about E.T., whether it be his strange, waddling walk, his pug-like face, or his famous lines of “be good,” and “E.T. phone home”, that draws you into the film, despite any discouraging factors.
If asked to summarize what the movie is about, the simple answer would be an alien botanist that gets trapped on earth and found by a young boy who is determined to help the little guy get back home. But the simple answer ignores the actual point of the film. E.T. is not about aliens or extra terrestrial life or anything like that. It’s really about the relationships between family and friends and about the true meaning of love. Sound corny? Maybe. But perhaps that’s what makes E.T. so special. Upon being unofficially entered into a film festival before its release in 1982, it received an uproarious reaction from the enthusiastic crowd, unlike other official entries which failed to touch the audience. A generation after it was released I find myself as drawn into the story and characters as my father was when he first went to see it. So there’s something to be said for its somewhat cheesy message—the audience is eager to love the movie from the moment it begins.
The story starts out when a group of alien botanists visiting earth one night is interrupted by a human task force, which sends the aliens quickly back into space—so quickly, in fact, that they leave behind one of their own. However, the little alien soon makes friends with Elliot, a 10-year-old boy who finds and names the extra terrestrial E.T.; no surprise. Eventually, they start to learn how to communicate, and while Elliot is forced to hide E.T. from his mother and –of course –the less than welcoming task force that is still looking for the alien, he comes closer to his brother Michael and his sister Gertie. Once the language barrier is broken, they begin trying to create a device that will allow them to contact E.T.’s family, so that “E.T. phone home.” All too soon, though, E.T. gets sick and, through his special connection to the little alien, so does Elliot. The two of them have to fight to get E.T. back home before it’s too late.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, this movie is innovative in many different ways. Everything from the sound and score to the cinematography adds amazingly to the final product. The music, composed by the brilliant John Williams, was special in that the movie was edited around it at times, rather than the music being edited around the movie, which is how things are normally done. It’s a stirring composition that enhances the tale immensely. Also special about this film is the way the camera was used to help the audience connect to the younger/shorter characters. Almost the entire film was shot from a child’s height to increase the feeling of being close to Elliot and E.T. Until the second half of the film, the only adult face shown was Elliot’s mother. It’s a simple but extremely effective way of emphasizing the youth of the lead roles.
Overall, this film takes sci-fi to a level of intimacy that has not been achieved by any other. Famous lines and images from E.T. have been quoted and idolized in many aspects of the film industry; the silhouette of Elliot’s bicycle with E.T. sitting in the front basket has even become the symbol of Amblin Entertainment. So while I once was incredulous when it came to this movie, I have since come to recognize its value and have even come to love it for the great film it is. If you haven’t seen it, you should, and if you’ve already watched it, it’s worth a second, third, or hundredth time.
