E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is A Classic For The Ages!

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2015)

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Steven Spielberg's timeless ode to all the loners of the world, finds him at his most pure. The storyline of E.T. is a relatively simple one: Ten-year-old Elliott (Henry Thomas, who never resorts to that "oh-look-at-how-precious-I-am" shtick but makes you root for him through his incredible performance), who lives with his mom and two siblings, meets a wizened little geezer who turns out to be a visitor from another planet. E.T., owing to his overtly curious streak, is abandoned by his pot-bellied otherworldly pals as he misses his ride back home. He now has to cope on Earth until they can come back and rescue him. Being a friendly extraterrestrial ambassador, Elliott and E.T. soon form a special bond and Elliott, with help from his siblings, helps E.T. find a way home. And soon the magic unfolds! Along the way there are moments of humor as E.T. makes discoveries about this world and the children learn things about him; moments of sadness when E.T. becomes deathly ill and is captured by the scientists; and a thrilling chase sequence that will have you cheering along. When Elliott and his friends soar on their bicycles against a gigantic moon, it's as touching and note-perfect a moment as any in the movies.
Spielberg's 'lovable-space-creature-slums-it-in-suburbia' movie is one of the greatest achievements in imagination ever put on film. The simplicity of the narrative and the ingeniousness of the E.T. character create a powerful combination. The genius and wonder of E.T. is that Spielberg creates a character that is obviously not real. However, he draws the audience in so well that you care for him as much as you do for the children. What the movie does so well is to capture that moment in life when childhood seems to be slipping away. This is a wondrous evocation of that time in our lives when brothers and sisters were necessary co-conspirators, bikes were our ticket to freedom and we were willing to believe that a friendly little alien could really appear from the backyard shed. While doing so, Spielberg manages not only to entertain young children but also reach out to the child in all of us, never failing to strum the heartstrings.
Many have hailed E.T. as a bona-fide sci-fi classic. For me, it is a heart and soul movie that just happens to have a sci-fi angle. And you know what? You're sure going to need a box of tissues!