E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

***E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial*** is a 1982 American science fiction fantasy film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It features special effects by Carlo Rambaldi and Dennis Muren and stars Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote and Pat Welsh. It tells the story of Elliott (Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help E.T. return to his home planet while attempting to keep him hidden from their mother and the government.

## Plot

After a gentle alien becomes stranded on Earth, the being is discovered and befriended by a young boy named Elliott. Bringing the extraterrestrial into his suburban California house, Elliott introduces E.T., as the alien is dubbed, to his brother and his little sister, Gertie, and the children decide to keep its existence a secret. Soon, however, E.T. falls ill, resulting in government intervention and a dire situation for both Elliott and the alien.

## Why It Phoned Home

1. It is a very interesting story about a friendly gentle alien getting lost in Planet Earth, and it is executed very well and it is one of the most memorable premises in the history of cinema.
2. The film has a lot of memorable and loveable characters, such as:
	* E.T. is a lovable short brown extraterrestrial, and a very smart, but childlike and curious creature who learns how to adapt to human life very quickly, how to communicate, and even builds a device that will help send him home.
	* Elliott Taylor is a 10-year-old boy who lived with his family in Los Angeles, California, and he must find a way to help E.T. return home while avoiding the government.
3. The actors did a really good job performing as Mary Taylor, Elliott Taylor, Michael Taylor, etc.
4. It had some great special effects for its time.
5. The iconic scene of Elliott and E.T.'s flight across the moon was called the most magical moment in cinema history.
6. Although it has a lot of product placement (especially Reese's Pieces), it is used efficiently and subtly unlike the 1988 rip-off film *mh:awfulmovies:Mac and Me*.
7. It had a beautiful musical score by none other than the legendary John Williams and was his fifth collaboration with Spielberg, after 1981's *Raiders of the Lost Ark* and the 1979 period comedy film *1941*.
8. Amazing cinematography.
9. Fantastic directing by Steven Spielberg.
10. It also had some great and memorable quotes like "E.T. phone home".
11. The poster, based on Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling piece, is well drawn and is one of the most iconic movie posters of all time, and has become the face of Amblin Entertainment.
12. The ending scene where E.T. says goodbye to Michael and Gertie as he leaves planet Earth with his spaceship leaves a rainbow in the sky is one of the saddest endings in the entire film.

## The Only 2 Bad Qualities

1. All the guns were replaced with walkie talkies in the 2002 re-release and the line "You are not going as a terrorist for Halloween!" had "terrorist" replaced with "hippie", which is outright censorship. Unlike George Lucas, who continued to edit his *Star Wars* movies, Spielberg later regretted these decisions and now only the original 1982 version is on the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD in Streaming services.
2. Don't ask about it's Atari 2600 video game tie-in of the same name.

## Reception

*E.T.* was widely acclaimed by critics and is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. The film holds a 99% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 135 reviews, and an average rating of 9.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Playing as both an exciting sci-fi adventure and a remarkable portrait of childhood, Steven Spielberg's touching tale of a homesick alien remains a piece of movie magic for young and old.". On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 91/100, based on 30 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four stars and wrote, "This is not simply a good movie. It is one of those movies that brush away our cautions and win our hearts." CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade, the first known film to earn that grade. The film currently has a Google users rating of "83% of users liked this film".

President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan were moved by it after a screening at the White House on June 27, 1982. Princess Diana was in tears after watching it. On September 17, 1982, it was screened at the United Nations, and Spielberg received a UN Peace Medal.

## Trivia

* Steven Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy thought of the idea for E.T. before starting production on *Raiders of the Lost Ark*. Kennedy suggested screenwriter Melissa Mathison – who had worked on The Black Stallion.
* The movie surpassed *Star Wars* to become the highest-grossing film of all time—a record it held for eleven years until *Jurassic Park*, film directed by Steven Spielberg, surpassed it.
* Italian artist Carlo Rambaldi constructed E.T. with an aluminum and steel skeleton under layers of sculpted fiberglass, polyurethane, and foam rubber. Each “muscle” was connected to a control mechanism, operated by Rambaldi and his ten assistants, responsible for 150 individual, complex motions.
* John Williams has written the music for 29 of Spielberg’s films and won five Academy Awards for his work, including one for E.T.
* After hearing Pat Welsh’s deep, raspy smoker’s voice at a local camera store, the film’s sound designer Ben Burtt hired the non-actor to be the voice of E.T.
* Harrison Ford, who was dating E.T. screenwriter Melissa Mathison at the time, was initially intended to have a cameo role in the film as Elliot’s school headmaster and school nurse, but the scene was cut.
* E.T. makes an appearance in *Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace*.
* George Lucas liked the Halloween scene with E.T. and the kid in a Yoda costume.
* The film's original working title was going to be named "E.T and Me", though it was changed to a "A Boy's Life" as Spielberg didn't want anyone to discover or plagiarize the plot.
* E.T was the playable character in *LEGO Dimensions*.

## External links

* Template:IMDb
* Template:Rotten Tomatoes