The Greatest "Family" Movie Ever

Rating: 10/10 (19 September 2010)

I hadn't seen E.T. in about 15 years when I was maybe 6 years old. It's a movie that everyone has seen and acknowledges as a good movie, but it really deserves more than that. I think the movie suffers from the stigma of being a "family movie" so that people are reluctant to list it as the great movie that it is. When I picked it up at the movie store, I saw that a review on the box said "One of the great American films." Yeah right, I thought. Surely this is just the obligatory lip service that is so often directed at Spielberg because he's such a commercial American success. Wow, was I ever jaded, and this movie made me realize just how much so. I loved this movie.
It's a testament to the film's greatness that it can have such broad appeal and still maintain a level of artistry that keeps the movie fresh after all these years. It's difficult to summarize why this movie is so good, but all I can say is that it reminds us of why we all fell in love with movies in the first place. It's magical, it's fun, it's touching, and it's beautiful. I'll even say a few bold things about it's place in movie history. I believe that it is:

Spielberg's best movie

One of the top 3 movies of the 80's

The greatest science fiction film of all time

Wow. Yesterday, I never would have imagined that I would have said that.