A Marvelous Classic that Holds Up Well Across the Years

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2015)

Yesterday I saw "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial" at a theater screening for my hometown historic theater's classic film series. I was excited to see the film, because my memory of E.T. from my youth was that it was indeed a really great movie. By the same token, though, I was a bit apprehensive about watching it again as an adult. I've grown up to be a bit of a harsh critic from time to time, so I wondered whether or not I'd like the movie at all now that I'm in my thirties.
I'm happy to report that I found "E.T." to be just as memorable and as momentous of a film now as I did when I saw it in the theater as a kid. This film is an all around classic. The story is familiar enough: a space ship crashes to earth, the lone survivor has to fend for himself in a foreign world (i.e. earth), and in doing so he meets a young boy who takes him in, shelters him, and tries to assimilate him into the family. As the film progresses E.T. learns a few words in English, at which point he is able to communicate that he wants to "phone home", meaning call other members of his extraterrestrial species to come get him so he can go back to the stars. The rest of the film revolves around the events that take place as E.T. goes about this task with the help of his adopted family.
That having been said, the thing that really stands out about this movie is that it is a triumph for movie making and storytelling. As I have said in so many of my reviews, my philosophy on good film--and this is something that my understanding of has emerged as a result of writing these reviews here on IMDb--is that good movie making is, at its core, good storytelling. A film that can clearly, cogently, and cohesively communicate its story in a way that is entertaining tends to be a good film, period. Modern special effects are nice, and action has its place in certain films. But so often these days we see films made on the "Transformers" model of film making which sacrifices the clear communication of a compelling narrative in exchange for large scale CGI effects, explosions, etc.
"E.T." has none of that. It's most advanced special effects seem to have all been physically made (the space ship scene looks suspiciously like a hot air balloon at one point). E.T. himself appears to have been either a costume or a robot of some sort, not a computer generated animation (with the film having come out in 1982 this is surely the case). There is, of course, the iconic bicycling scenes that clearly were the work of some creative green screen camera work, and those scenes are neat in terms of how they are done in the film. But the point here is that despite this being a film that deals with an alien with magical powers, there are no gratuitous special effects in this movie that don't fit in well with the gist of the film or serve its plot well. The effects serve the story and contribute to the story rather than the reverse.
At the end of the day, what we're left with is a grand 80's movie that is both fun and light hearted yet also poignant and emotional. This movie truly tugs at your heart strings at certain moments, and its good, creative and well designed narrative makes you care about its characters in a way that not all movies are able to replicate. As I sat watching this movie in the theater yesterday, at a certain point in the film I heard a young child boohooing over what had happened to E.T. in the last thirty minutes of the film, only to then have his tears turn to joy when E.T.'s plight resolved to the positive. I couldn't help but think that somewhere in the back of my memory that was surely my own experience when I saw this movie as a four or five year old when it was first in theaters in the early 80's. The power of this film is cross generational--and that's both fascinating and endearing.
If I had anything negative to say at all about "E.T." it might be that in spite of its overall appeal, there is a bit of a cheesy feel to certain elements of the movie. But no sooner than I say that, I remind myself that this is a film that is made for adolescents and youth, and was a true family movie. Cheesiness is okay in this context. That said, I can see how "E.T." could be rightly compared to Steven Spielberg's other 80's youth classic, "The Goonies". Overall both films have a very similar vibe going on, even if the Goonies is a tad bit more straight forward with its comedic value.
All in all, I have to give "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial" 10/10 stars. I toyed with the idea of a 9, but for me this film's strengths greatly surpass any relative weaknesses. It's a grand picture that provides a model of good movie making that Hollywood could learn from today.
Having said all of that, as a brief aside, I'd simply advise you to now go and do an online search for "E.T. Star Wars theory". Mind. Blown. You're welcome.