Pure magic!

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 1999)

Christmas 1982. The hype has reached the UK big time. It's impossible to avoid it in magazines or on the TV or radio. Buy the soundtrack - John Williams finest work. The final statement of the theme in all its glory is magnificent. Get tickets for the Sunday morning premiere at the Birmingham Odeon. Watch the movie. Pure magic. 17 years later my perspective has changed a little. I still see the movie as an almost perfect example of film-making but some of the deeper issues now affect me more deeply - in particular the mother's rejection of the ailing alien. What makes me categorize this as a classic is that whenever I see an image or hear an excerpt of the soundtrack it brings back the emotions and sensations I had as I watched this beautiful story unfold before my eyes on that Sunday morning in December 1982 and remembered what it was like to be a child.