In hindsight slightly overemotional but still great.

Rating: Null/10 (23 October 2018)

The Extra-Terrestrial is one of the biggest money makers in box-office history. It is quite possibly the best known of all Steven Spielberg's films. Even at the relatively young cinematic age of two decades, it is beloved by multiple generations of film-goers. Yet it is arguably the most overrated motion picture to arrive in theaters during the 1980s. Obviously, this isn't a popular thing to say, and it's not meant to denigrate E.T. as being badly or clumsily made. In fact, viewed as a fable or an allegory (it's actually based on The Day the Earth Stood Still, which is a thinly-veiled re-telling of the Christ story), E.T. is successful. But there are times, especially during the final third, when it is hugely overwrought. Spielberg has always shown a penchant for overt manipulation, but nowhere is this more obvious than in E.T., where he pulls out all the stops in an effort to bleed tears from the eyes of every audience member. It doesn't take a cynical nature to recognize what the director is doing. Regardless, this is a classic.