Steven Spielberg and the Quest for the Might Dollar

Rating: Null/10 (21 August 2003)

When I was 7, I loved E.T. and thought it was brilliant. As time passed, I couldn't help but see all of Spielberg's little inclusions that make this not only typical, but outstandingly mediocre. Spielberg loves making his ideal worlds the same as John Hughes, complete with similar endings. This defines the 80s...
First off we have the white, middle-class, suburban family. Briefly touched on in Jaws, this idea only grew with Close Encounters, 1941, and Poltergeist. He even includes it as a subtle trait in Minority Report. If Steven is trying to invoke fear or wonder that "this could happen to you", he profoundly fails. Diversity is obviously not one of his strong suits. Cameron sticks to professionals (whether soldiers, workers, colonists, but never sees them as people) and Tarantino has gangsters, therein lies the common trait of directing.
The character of E.T. in itself is too innocent. I would love to have seen what Cronenberg would have done with this story. We get the typical Spielberg "happy" and "sad" moments (B-O-O-H-O-O, cry me a river) full of phony emotion that other directors have tried copying ever since. While this is a delight for the intellectually devoid in film, I gag at it.
Worse yet, we now have the "safer" special edition loaded with a few extra seconds and altered footage (I thought Michael Moore was the only one who did that) that adds NOTHING to the story. I am sick of it...
Overall, you don't need to see this movie to understand Spielberg. To think that Das Boot defeated it for the technical awards is a complete abomination on the Academy of Fools' part. 1 out of 5 stars.