Film Review: E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982): Steven Spielberg’s Truly Moving Masterpiece Returns for its 40th Anniversary

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Review

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Film Review, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, K.C. Martel, Sean Frye, C. Thomas Howell, Erika Eleniak and Milt Kogan.

Filmmaker extraordinaire Steven Spielberg’s heartfelt science fiction masterpiece, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, returned to theaters for its 40th anniversary. Seeing it on the big screen again was like reliving a part of my childhood and it was one of the most exquisite experiences I’ve had at the movies recently. Like eating the alien character E.T.’s favorite candy in the movie, Reese’s Pieces, seeing this film never gets stale. It’s a story of friendship, family, love and the healing power of personal connections. In the movie, the personal connection that is most prominent is the friendship between a young boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) and an alien who simply needs to get back to his planet but forms an unforgettable bond with Elliott during the course of the movie’s deeply touching story line.

Dee Wallace portrays Mary who is Elliott’s mom. Mary is a mother of three kids. She’s usually working and does the best she can to hold her family together in her ex-husband’s absence. Drew Barrymore plays Gertie, the sister of Elliott while Robert MacNaughton is Elliott’s older brother, Michael. As the movie begins, some aliens are fleeing Earth and leave behind one of their own as some humans are in pursuit of these aliens. Elliott immediately gets frightened at the idea of a creature in the backyard as he throws a ball which gets thrown back to him by E.T. who is the alien which was left behind. Elliott drops the pizza he went to get for Michael and his friends as a result of his interaction with E.T. and Elliott runs back to tell his family the news of his encounter, but nobody believes him.

Spielberg wisely builds the audience’s curiosity regarding when the viewers will be able see the actual alien character of E.T. up close. Spielberg was the master of keeping audiences in suspense in terms of seeing the main characters of some of his most popular films. In Jaws, we had to wait a bit to see the shark up close and in the much later film, Jurassic Park, we had to be patient until the dinosaurs came on the screen in full force.

Eventually, a trail of Reese’s Pieces leads E.T. into Elliott’s bedroom where the young child shows the alien some action figures from the Star Wars movies and teaches E.T. about some life essentials on Earth. Eventually, it is discovered that E.T. wants to “phone home” and get back to his family. E.T. wants them to come and get him and take him back to his planet, but not before his relationship with Elliott makes a powerful impact on both the child and the alien’s lives. Let’s not mention Elliott’s siblings who soon take a liking to the alien as well. In a hilarious scene, Gertie first meets E.T. and screams out loud but pretty soon, she’s teaching him how to talk and he’s telling her to “Be good.”

The performances are all fine in a film where the acting could be taken for granted. Everybody is interested in the character of E.T. (and rightfully so) but Dee Wallace, in particular, stood out playing a mom who is doing the best to hold on to her family in difficult circumstances even before E.T. arrives. Thomas has an appeal about him that makes Elliott always relatable while Barrymore proved she was (and still is) a talent that shines bright on screen. MacNaughton’s Michael was always a character who seemed to be taken for granted but the quality of MacNaughton’s turn was absolutely incredible.

There are a series of moments in the film that feature Elliott (who has a newfound respect for life due to his interaction with E.T.) in the outside world. In Elliott’s school, the young boy releases some jumping frogs from his science class out into the world with the help of his classmates. This is a string of scenes that provide much needed comic relief in the movie and demonstrate how Elliott has changed over the course of the picture.

This film is not all mushy and hysterically funny. There are very serious moments in the picture such as when the government tracks down E.T. (who has become very sickly) and the authorities arrive just after Halloween to see what they can learn from E.T. through experimental testing. Spielberg and scriptwriter Melissa Mathison gave a lot of deep insights into the ideas of the people who arrive (which include Peter Coyote in a fine turn) in just a brief amount of screen time. Coyote’s character, Keys, doesn’t want to hurt E.T. but he doesn’t want him to go home either. There are some heavy, complex topics the movie bravely pursues in this part of the movie.

Technically, the movie is amazing from John Williams’s moving musical score to the alien effects which include E.T.’s glowing finger which can heal a cut and the alien’s bright, shining heart which the movie displays in key scenes throughout the film. All the plot threads and visual effects are interwoven within the picture to perfection.

What would E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial be without the scenes of the flying bicycles that the movie proudly presents to the audience to the tune of some of the most memorable music Williams has ever created? A bit less perfect, perhaps. Those scenes on the bicycle Elliott rides with E.T. are profound and moving and demonstrate the movie’s theme of being able to soar against all odds even in the most difficult of times.

Even after 40 years, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial still presents audiences with a timeless story of the healing power of friendship that must be seen, preferably on the big screen. It’s one of the most amazing cinematic triumphs of all-time. Spielberg is a genius still to this day, of course, but this movie is truly his most beloved picture of all-time and rightfully so. Don’t miss the opportunity to see it again or, perhaps, even for the first time!

Rating: 10/10

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