Movie Review - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
User Rating:
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
1982 / 115 Minutes / PG
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz
It’s the little details, really, that make “E.T.” such an enduring movie experience. Since then, this formula has been done many other times: “Mac and Me”, “ALF”, part of one of the “Meatballs” movies, and “Gremlins” to some extent. But it’s never been done as well. Not even close. So what has Spielberg done so well here? What is it that he tapped into which struck such a chord with people all over the world? What, in other words, is it that made me watch this movie every day when I was ten or so? (I’m not even kidding, it was every day there for a while.)
Well, he tapped into whatever it is that makes up imaginary friends. He tapped into our hearts yet respected our intelligence. That is the magic of this movie. And it is a sort of magic that few directors have mastered. Say what you will about Spielberg, but when he’s at his best, there is NO other director who has EVER made movies so well. “E.T.” is Spielberg at the peak of his cinematic skills, at the top of his game. All the planets were aligned here, so to speak. All the cylinders were firing. And it’s as good (if not better than) other family-oriented films like “Wizard of Oz”. It’s one of those marvelous films that you can watch with a family, with your parents, with a group of children, or all by yourself without being ashamed of doing so. And there are several reasons why it works so magnificently well.
The script. Credit Melissa Mathison for that. Sure, Steve did a great job. But I’m sure that even he would admit that even the most ingenious filmmaker can’t save a script that just isn’t working. You can see her effortless skill lurking beneath every frame. The concept of the film itself is just magical: an intelligent being from another world, probably the Einstein of his planet (why else would the aliens risk the gas to come back for him) is stranded on Earth and befriends a young boy. It’s brilliant. I mean, think about it. Here you have this brilliant being from another world and he is reduced to a state of childlike wonder and terror by everything around him. It makes perfect sense to have him become friends with a young boy. And what little boy wouldn’t love to have a space alien living in his closet? (As long as it was a nice one, of course. No one wants the thing from “Alien” lurking in there.)
Then you have the characters. Each of them is a strong person with three, strong dimensions behind them. There isn’t a single shaky character in this pot. I love the mother dealing with her children all by herself (Dee Wallace, so perfect here that she got rather typecast) and so overwhelmed by the chaos of her everyday existence that she doesn’t have time to notice the strange visitor in her boy’s closet. I love Micheal, who gives his siblings a hard time, but secretly loves them and his mother and will protect them at any cost. Robert MacNaughton inhabits him wonderfully. Then you’ve got Gertie who, as played by an exceptionally young Drew Barrymore, is the sweetest little sister you can imagine. She asks all the little girl questions and strikes all the right notes. She’s perfect here, and cute as a button.
Then there’s Elliot. He’s a great character: a young boy who suddenly has the feelings of a visitor from another world. And Henry Thomas shines in the role. He is the one you most remember. It’s a complex and challenging role and Henry nails it. He even gets to play drunk!
But the best character of all is E.T. himself. He’s curious and whimsical and a bit of a troublemaker. And he can’t be a puppet. No amount of animatronics could have created this squashy, big-eyed, completely convincing being. The people who are listed as E.T. operators in the credits? Those were people who got paid not to admit that E.T. was an actual alien left behind and found by Steven Spielberg who consented to being in the film. How else can you explain the flawless effects of Carlo Rambaldi and all the others who brought him to life? Yes, Life.
But then you have the direction of Spielberg. He brought all the elements together and I believe you have to give him his due. The production design of James Bissell and the photography of Allen Daviau are also top notch, I must add. But Spielberg elicits wonderful performances and uses the most amazing special effects at his command to create something that has the look and feel of reality. If an alien really did land near your house, this is probably how it would look. He grounds the story in a world of the familiar: cul de sacs, Star Wars action figures, people singing snatches of Elvis Costello tunes under their breath, PEZ dispensers and the like. In order to heighten the believability of it all and make it even more wonderful when E.T. interacts with such everyday devices. In this movie, the alien drinks a couple beers out of curiosity and then spends the rest of the day watching television before being knocked over by a refrigerator door. It is brimming with great, insightful little details. And nightmarish ones as well. Did the guys in the spacesuits who suddenly showed up at Elliot’s mother’s door freak you out? I’m sure I wasn’t alone. It’s a frightening moment. Spielberg even creates a menacing character from nothing more terrifying than a jingling set of keys.
And what of John Williams’ haunting score. It’s one of his best. It underscores the action without drawing too much attention to itself. It fits like a glove. And it also has a multitude of themes that you end up humming several days later. It’s a momentous achievement.
As is everything about “E.T.” They’re bringing this film out to the theaters again, which would be cause for celebration and dancing in the streets if it weren’t for the trepidation I feel about them changing things. What can they improve on with “E.T.”? Are some flashy computer effects going to ruin the seamless animatronics that my jaw still drops at? Are they going to destroy something that is near and dear to me from my childhood? Well, I guess I will see. Maybe they will mess with it all. Maybe I will leave disappointed and broken-hearted. But I still have my VHS copy, the one I have watched trillions of times. No one can take that from me.
Besides, for the chance to see Elliot and his friend soar across the moon on a huge screen with John Williams’ incredible score digitally remastered and pouring from every THX speaker, it’s a chance I’m willing to take.
