In a sentenceThe alien wants to go home, which is reasonable, though we would happily have him round again
Elliott, played by Henry Thomas, befriends an alien who is afraid, alone and far from home. The visitor wants to return, while Elliott begins to make sense of a friendship with someone whose experience is far removed from his own. Their encounter places an unfamiliar creature amid suburban childhood, where family unhappiness and the need for company already shape the human lives around him. Steven Spielberg directs this family science-fiction adventure, written by Melissa Mathison, with Drew Barrymore as Gertie, Robert MacNaughton as Michael and Dee Wallace as Mary.
Plays from YouTube when you press play; nothing loads from them until then.
Spielberg makes a boy’s friendship with a homesick alien funny, tender and worth taking seriously. The music sometimes tells us more than we need, but the children and the creature make its sentiment feel deserved.
Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a funny, deeply affecting family film whose kindness never feels like a duty. We would recommend it even to those usually suspicious of children befriending unusual creatures. Melissa Mathison’s screenplay takes the friendship seriously without requiring Elliott or his alien companion to become solemn representatives of human goodness. The visitor wants to go home, a wish simple enough for a child to understand, and the film gives that wish the attention it deserves.
Henry Thomas is the crucial choice as Elliott: he makes concern for the alien seem immediate and practical, without presenting it as precocious wisdom. We were moved more than we expected by the boy’s affection for this frightened visitor. Thomas gives the friendship such conviction that the creature’s unfamiliarity soon ceases to be the most interesting thing about him. Drew Barrymore’s Gertie and Robert MacNaughton’s Michael help keep the children funny and distinct, each worth watching in their own right.
The creature itself is a considerable achievement because we can take an interest in him beyond wondering how he was made. The effects make his gentleness convincing, giving Thomas a companion we can believe he would care about. The film’s humour also allows him to be odd without making him merely a joke. Spielberg leaves room for affection to develop, which is essential in a family fantasy that asks us to care about someone so unfamiliar.
Allen Daviau’s cinematography gives suburban childhood enough visual interest to hold its own beside the visitor. The human setting remains worth looking at; the film does not become a wait for another sight of the alien. James D. Bissell’s production design helps make that setting feel inhabited by children, with lives that extend beyond this extraordinary encounter. We believe in the ordinary surroundings, and that gives Spielberg somewhere credible to put a creature who could so easily have seemed like an interruption.
Carol Littleton’s editing keeps the children central even when the effects might reasonably claim our attention. That balance is one reason the film’s treatment of divorce and dislocation feels personal: the fantasy does not require childhood’s unhappiness to disappear. Mathison also understands the usefulness of a joke when a scene threatens to become too reverent about innocence. Against the family-adventure habit of hurrying towards the next attraction, this attention to how children feel is a substantial virtue.
John Williams’s score occasionally pushes too hard. Its familiarity can be comforting, but there are passages when the music tells us how to feel with an insistence the performances do not need. Spielberg sometimes seems anxious that we might miss just how much we ought to care, when Thomas has already made the point. These are moments of overstatement, and they briefly make us conscious of being coaxed towards a response we were having quite willingly.
The U certificate should not be mistaken for a promise of an emotionally undemanding evening. There is sadness here, and the affection makes it harder to keep at a distance. Choose it for family viewing, but leave the adults a little time afterwards before asking what they thought.
The reviews lean strongly to the positive: thirteen of fifteen recommend the film and none dismiss it. Most critics read it as Spielberg’s most personal work, a story about a broken suburban home as much as an alien, and they credit Melissa Mathison’s script for keeping the sentiment honest with sharp detail and humour. The child performances, the practical creation of E.T. and the middle-American setting are praised almost everywhere, and several critics revisiting the anniversary reissues find the clean, classical storytelling holds up against later effects-heavy films.
The spread is narrow, the dissent mild. Time Out finds it less impressive than Close Encounters, objecting to vulgar comedy and to emotion bought at the expense of truth, while Sight and Sound treats it as a child-like suburban pastoral that defies easy criticism and invites analysis instead. The AV Club notes moments of emotional overstatement, and The New York Times has minor reservations about a familiar-sounding John Williams score.
Spielberg's ode to aliens is also a tribute to loners, with the abandoned ET befriended by lonely boy Elliott. It is a special, delightful adventure that entertains children and reaches the child in all of us.
Read the full review →The critic calls E.T. a classic that retains its magic and emotional complexity, dealing with themes of divorce and dislocation in a personal way. They single out the film's affecting power and the performances of the child actors for praise.
Read the full review →The critic argues that E.T. deserves more credit as one of the biggest and best-reviewed films ever, noting its massive adjusted box office and strong critical reception including a high Metacritic score. He singles out its status as a standalone blockbuster without sequels and its cultural phenomenon status for praise.
Read the full review →The 20th-anniversary reissue of E.T. is welcome because the film endures through its personal resonance for Spielberg, superb script by Melissa Mathison, beautiful construction, and brilliant casting that makes the simple story of a boy and his alien friend timeless. It remains one of the director's most personal works, filled with warmth and effortless storytelling.
Read the full review →The Blu-ray review celebrates the film's emotional power and ability to evoke catharsis through its specific suburban family dynamics and the alien's bond with the boy. It singles out the realistic portrayal of a broken home and the universal heartache turned into wonder for particular praise.
Read the full review →The critic praises Spielberg and screenwriter Melissa Mathison for blending old-fashioned sentiment with new technology in a disarming way, creating a funny, inventive, and affectionate portrait of middle-American childhood that avoids mawkishness through sharp detail and humour.
Read the full review →
The Iron GiantAnother unlikely friendship whose humour makes its fear of outsiders matter.
My Neighbour TotoroChildren meet unfamiliar creatures, and the film takes their feelings seriously.
The Spirit of the BeehiveA quieter, more unsettling child’s encounter with the idea of a monster.
The Red Balloon · not reviewed yetA child’s attachment to something extraordinary, told with little need for words.
Petite MamanChildhood fantasy makes difficult family feelings easier to approach without explaining them away.
Free account
Two lists that know where things are streaming, collections you can share, your own score beside ours, and Discover that remembers what you have seen.
