**A RARE MAGICAL GEM**

E.T. The Extraterrestrial is a rare, unique once-in-a-lifetime experience you'll never forget. It will be one of those movies that will stick with you forever. Spielberg's direction, the cinematography, the visual effects, the acting, and last but not least John William's sweeping score when all combined conjure magic and strong feelings deep inside. You won't want to miss this masterpiece. So, watch this movie immediately if you haven't seen it or put this movie in your watchlist and see it ASAP!!!

Some aliens stop by to collect some plant samples. They are spooked by people, flashing lights and dogs investigating the noise and flee - but they accidentally leave one of their number behind. This youngster takes refuge in the shed of a local family where he is discovered by the young "Elliott" (Henry Thomas) and soon the two have a special bond. Gradually the rest of his family are introduced, and they try to figure out how to get him home. Can they succeed before the ever vigilant authorities cotton on? This is just one of these films that is genuinely timeless. It's a love story, a sci-fi adventure, a tale of family, longing and loyalty - all set to superb John Williams score. The chase on the bikes is the stuff of cinema legend, as is "phone home" and the sight of the little creature all dragged-up. The acting from the human youngsters is great, with Drew Barrymore's ("Gertie") and Robert MacNaughton as their elder brother ("Michael") all contributing well to a charming story that even now, 40 years later, is still one of the best cinema has to offer. It works OK on telly, but for best effect seek it out on a big screen - it's still well worth that.

Watched with my wife, the 7th grader, and the kindergartner. I only kind of half watched... It's been a long week. I really wanted to check out my youngest's reactions.

Watching this with my 5 y.o. involved answering a lot of questions, but she LOVED it: wide eyed amazement, tears at the appropriate places, and shouts of "YEAH!!!" during the bike scenes.

Some of the animatronics are definitely dated, but it's weird seeing these older movies with kids so used to everything being CGI... Even my 7th grader said that some scenes seemed really realistic, which surprised me.

**THE WACPINE OF ‘E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL’**

WRITING: 10
ATMOSPHERE: 10
CHARACTERS: 8
PRODUCTION: 10
INTRIGUE: 8
NOVELTY: 9
ENJOYMENT: 10

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**The Good:**

E.T. is the ultimate family science fiction film. It combines that magical wonder of 80s fantasy adventure films with the grounded science fiction previously explored by Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). It's all made clear by the opening sequence, which despite its creepy elements is more akin to make children wonder rather than shit their pants.

The child actors are fine, but not overly interesting. Henry Tomas is middle-field but convincing. Drew Barrymore is incredibly cute and surprisingly natural despite her young age in this film.

A testament to the brilliance of Steven Spielberg as a director on the one hand and Thomas as an actor, on the other hand, is the plethora of mostly silent, non-dialogue scenes between Elliott and E.T. that convey emotions effectively through the use of nothing but visuals, gestures and music.

It's refreshing to see a sci-fi film that depicts aliens as something else than killing monsters or threats to mankind. E.T. is very much a story about friendship and family, and for once, it is the adults who are the primary adversaries. They even tease this by only showing their legs for the first half of the film, in classic film villain style.

Spielberg's choice to portray most adults as anonymous people and show them from the chest down makes this very much a film meant to be understood from the perspective of a child. It's a simple, but effective artistic decision.

John Williams once again presents a beautiful and emotional film score, this time of a slightly less majestic scale than usual, but no less memorable.

Kudos to the people, who designed, controlled and voiced E.T. He's still one of the best-looking, most realistic and most likeable aliens in cinema history.

In terms of emotional content, E.T. remains one of Spielberg's sweetest, warmest and most touching films. It's not scary or overly exciting, but it's so magical and grounded, that it's hit hard. This is one of the most personal films Spielberg has ever created, and that is perfectly captured by the emotional atmosphere present throughout the story.

The final 30 minutes of the film twist things so significantly that the entire film suddenly gets a completely new layer of meaning. This is the major emotional and deep part of the movie. It's the kind of movie writing magic rarely seen today.


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**The Bad:**
I don't know why, but I have always had a slight problem with Dee Wallace as the mother. She seems oddly uncomfortable or uncertain about her position in this film, which carries over to her performance.


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**The Ugly:**
"Zero charisma!" must be the worst insult I've ever heard.

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**WACPINE RATING: 9.29 / 10 = 4,5 stars**

Dream work indeed.

An alien is stranded on Earth and a bunch of suburban kids attempt to help him get home.

It's amazing to think that such a simple and standard story would go on to become a global phenomenon. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg, blasted its way into pop culture and simultaneously became one of the most cherished films of all time. It's not hard to see why, for E.T. appeals to every member of the family, from the joyous set ups as E.T. stumbles around middle America suburbia, to the doses of magic so gleefully constructed by Spielberg's inner child. Those wishing to scratch away at the surface (and there are many who have previously) will find Spielberg affecting his picture with divorce subtexts (his parents divorce was known to upset him deeply), whilst the government "villains" show an astute aside to paranoia of the times and suspicions of political operatives.

Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore and Peter Coyote star. The score, now famous and likely to bring about goose bumps with at the opening bars, is from John Williams, with cinematography coming from Allen Daviau. Shown in the main from a child's perspective, the film is still a wonder that charms and informs on repeat viewings. So much so that as it approaches its 40th birthday, its longevity and all encompassing appeal shows no sign of abating. Something that Spielberg and his crew can rightly feel very proud about. 9/10