Review: ET: The Extra Terrestrial

After government goons scare of its family, a small alien is left behind on Earth, all alone. A young boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) finds the alien and treats it like a pet, naming it ET. A bond is formed, as the boy also introduces the alien to his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and adorable younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Dee Wallace Stone plays the kids’ recently separated mother, whilst Peter Coyote plays a government agent looking for ET, C. Thomas Howell plays a friend of Michael’s, and a young Erika Eleniak plays one of Elliott’s classmates.

 

A rare case of movie magic, this 1982 family classic is not only the second-best film from Steven Spielberg after “Jaws”, but one of the very best movies ever made. It’s certainly one of the best family films alongside “Pinocchio”, “The NeverEnding Story”, and “The Goonies”. Things start brilliantly with one of the best John Williams (“Jaws”, “Star Wars”, “Superman”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) scores ever, which is both exciting and heart-warming like the film itself. Williams deservedly earned an Oscar for the score which also shares with “Star Wars” the fact that you can listen to the score on its own after having seen the movie and replay it in your head. That won’t work as well for “Raiders”, “Jaws”, or “Superman”, however.

 

We also get interesting POV shots from ET’s (or a child’s) level, making the adults, especially the government agents that much more sinister-looking. Early on in particular, we rarely see faces, and the whole thing is shot by cinematographer Allan Daviau (Spielberg’s “The Colour Purple” and “Empire of the Sun”) with nicely captured shadows and fog. Daviau very much deserved his Oscar nomination here. For a simply ‘boy and his alien’ movie, it sure is beautiful to look at. Lit by torches and seen in shadow, it gets across the message that humans (especially adults) are the real aliens, the real ones to mistrust. We also early on only get fleeting glimpses of the alien, a Spielberg trademark from “Jaws”...that he somehow forgot about when making the disappointing FX-fest “Jurassic Park”.

 

Early in his career in particular, divorced/broken families were a Spielberg staple (it even surfaced rather wonderfully in his underrated 2005 version of “War of the Worlds” with Tom Cruise as the douchiest divorced dad ever), but for me this is his best depiction. The family depicted here feels totally real. Hell, even ET feels a separation from his own family. Henry Thomas is terrific as Elliott, it’s hardly his fault that Drew Barrymore and a puppet end up stealing the show. He deserved a much better career, and proved himself here to be an intelligent, effective, and affecting child actor. Without him, the film simply wouldn’t be the same, cute alien or not. It’s Thomas’ Elliott that makes you believe, and one feels there’s a lot of Spielberg as a boy in Elliott too. It’s also great to hear words like ‘douchebag’ and ‘penis breath’ here. Kids swear. Deal with it, folks. Drew Barrymore, as I said, is a scene-stealing cutie. She has this smile where you can just see how she managed to get all that booze and drugs at such a young age. How could you say no to that face? It seemed like it took forever for Barrymore to go from teen skank to adorable and accomplished adult movie star, but it seemed like she went from “ET” to “Poison Ivy” in a millisecond. We can laugh at the cheeky monkey now because she got her act together, and just look at her now. All grown up and a good actress. But this is pretty much where it all started and you could already tell she was something special. Meanwhile, Dee Wallace Stone, the perfect all-American mother of the late 70s and early 80s (the underrated “Cujo”, for instance), is spot-on as always, graduating from working with Joe Dante (who himself gave us the anarchic, maniacal ‘bad’ side to “ET” with “Gremlins”) to Dante’s sort-of mentor, Spielberg. I especially loved her trying not to laugh at the term ‘penis breath’. Admittedly, it’s hard not to laugh when it comes from the adorable and consistently hilarious Drew Barrymore. Wallace is a big part of the reason why the family dynamics here seem so authentic and identifiable. She could easily be your mother. But, hell, even the furniture seems perfect and real. So does ET himself. He’s a real character, and I think this character is one of the three main reasons why we still look for signs of intelligent life to this very day (The moon landing being another reason, and the third reason is one of Spielberg’s other otherworldly films, “Close Encounters”). CGI can be effective at times, but if this were to be remade today with CGI, it would lose just about everything. How do I know? Because in the 2002 DVD release, Spielberg pulled a George Lucas and decided to add CGI ‘enhancements’ to the film, ranging from removing guns and replacing them with walkie-talkies (which I actually don’t have a problem with because I never noticed the guns), to giving ET some movie Botox, if you will. He apparently realised he cocked things up years later, and made the original version available (unlike George Lucas), but I’ve thus far only got the 2002 version and I must say the CGI is noticeable and irritating. The movie was finished, released, and loved. Why change it? It looks wrong, because it doesn’t fit in with the rest of this very 1982 (yet timeless) film. It permanently stains the film as a result. This is the only flaw with the entire film, but because it’s not really a flaw (and if you’ve got the more recent DVD release, it’s also no longer present), I’ll not further venture into a diatribe. You’re on notice, though, Mr. Spielberg. But back to ET him/itself. He’s a seemingly very real character. And even with a few CGI enhancements, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s right there on the screen interacting with Elliott (or Henry Thomas, if you will). You lose that connection and authenticity with entire CGI characters, unless the motion-capture is very, very good. OK, so I probably ended up going on a rant after all. My bad.

 

There’s so many memorable moments in this, unforgettable ones in most cases. All I have to say is ‘Ouch!’, right? Whose heart didn’t melt at that moment? Mine still does, every damn time. I especially loved that both Thomas and MacNaughton seem practically paralysed by fear when they first see “ET”. Also, a cynic might have a theory about why ET is filmed amongst a closet full of toys at one point, but I loved the scene. For starters, I had a felt ET doll myself as a kid. The scene where Elliott actually shows ET his toy collection is so cute, especially if you were a collector of ‘action figures’ as a kid. The frog dissection scene is an hilarious classic, but ET getting drunk is even funnier. Yes, an alien gets drunk in a Steven Spielberg family film, kicking cans at one brilliantly funny point. And Spielberg gets away with it! Movie magic, folks. And for some reason, ET dressed in a Flannie is somehow absolutely hilarious to me. I don’t know why, it just is. The funniest moment in the film, however, is when ET sees MacNaughton’s ‘knife to the head’ Halloween costume and tries to heal him. Brilliant. I also loved that Yoda costume. Seriously, I want one. Yes I am 33, and don’t really celebrate Halloween, what’s your damn point? Meanwhile, there’s a reason why I always smile upon seeing the “Amblin Entertainment” logo; It represents one of the most joyous moments in cinematic history. If you don’t love this movie, you just plain suck, OK? Seriously, you suck. Someone needs to inform you of this.

 

Once the camera shows us more of the government agents than their lower halves, they look like Neil Armstrong for some bizarre reason. Nonetheless, they cut a sinister visage. And it’s at this point that the waterworks, start folks. For many, like “Bambi”, this film will be a child’s first encounter with death, or at least, the possibility of death. Is it manipulative? Yup, but as far as I’m concerned, if it works, it works and it was worth it. That’s the case here. I hope someone kicked Spielberg hard in the nuts for whatever he did to make Drew Barrymore cry, though. You sick bastard! I love this movie so much that I don’t even mind Spielberg faking us out at this point. Part of the reason is because he follows the potentially intense moment up with an hilarious moment where someone just won’t shut up.

 

Everyone loves the ‘I’ll be right here’ moment, but for me, it’s the hug that is simply one of the most beautiful moments in cinematic history. There’s so much love and sensitivity in this film. I mean, in reality, Elliott would get out his dad’s shotgun and shoot the creepy alien bugger on sight. That’s why real life sometimes sucks, and movies are magic. The film is ultimately about childhood and innocence. It seems clear to me that Elliott and the government scientist played by (the not especially accomplished) Peter Coyote are the younger/elder version of one another in a way. Coyote’s scientist used to be a youthful dreamer like Elliott. Hell, it’s a bit of a “Peter Pan” thing when you think about it (Probably best not to think about it, though, lest one recall Spielberg’s underwhelming “Hook”).

 

Y’know what? I’m gonna come right out and say it: This is basically a perfect movie, one of the rare ones. Often imitated (J.J. Abrams completely failed to capture any childlike wonder or fun in his overrated semi-Spielberg tribute “Super 8”. He got the lens flares right, though...this film overdoses on them), never bettered, partly because no one gets the combination of child-like awe and genuine storytelling genius like Spielberg. He may be Mr. Blockbuster, but when he’s on target, he’s unbeatable. I just wish her were on target more often these days (“Tintin” and “War Horse” sucked, OK?). Yes, the film is a bit scary at times, but it’s not so intense that it will be too much for children. It’s a wonderful family movie.

 

This is such a lovely, sweet and humanistic film,. And this is from the same guy who later made aliens seem truly terrifying in “War of the Worlds”. So please don’t let anyone tell you that this film is simple, empty popcorn fare. It’s a beautiful work of art that just so happens to be an amazing piece of family entertainment. The two need not be thought of as separate categories never to be uttered in the same sentence. When a film like this is done practically flawlessly, I believe it has every bit of artistic worth that the Mona Freakin’ Lisa does. And it makes me feel a whole lot happier than looking at that uppity broad does. The screenplay is by Melissa Mathison (“The Black Stallion”, and the former Mrs. Harrison Ford) from a story by Spielberg himself.

 

Rating: A+