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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Movie Review

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 family science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg. It’s one of the director’s most overrated films.

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“E.T. phone home“

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The film is about a boy who befriends an alien creature, eventually trying to protect him from the government. I previously saw this film some ten years ago, and I was utterly unimpressed. I wanted to give it a second chance, but unfortunately my opinion of it remains the same – it’s a passable children’s flick that is far from the greatest family films out there.

My main problem with the movie is that it’s so damn sentimental. It’s so emotionally manipulative and sappy in fact that it becomes simply unbearable to watch in that third act. I really disliked that entire section of the movie, especially the cliched government and hospital sequences. Those grind the movie to a halt for me.

The same goes for most of the scenes with the alien and the kids playing around in the house. Yes, those are all quite cute and endearing, but they are overlong, and some are downright unnecessary. The entire movie would have benefited from more discipline and restraint, especially in terms of runtime as two hours was way too long for such a simplistic plot.

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But there is no denying the fact that the movie is full of excellent fantastical elements. This is a science fiction for kids of course, but still some of the imagery here is undeniably iconic. The alien himself looks great, his healing abilities are very well utilized and the connection that the two share figuratively and literally is also well explored. The spacecraft scenes are also memorable as is the ending. And of course the flying scene is unforgettable in its entirety.

I liked E.T. quite a bit. He is undeniably endearing and amusing. Elliott is your standard underdeveloped kid protagonist, though Henry Thomas’ performance is one of the better child performances out there. The movie is also famous for introducing the world to Drew Barrymore who was here a very small, adorable kid. All of the scenes with her are my favorites. As for the adults, they are all immensely forgettable, and the same goes for the other children in the flick.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is technically stupendous for its time. I would go so far to say that even for today the film aged well and it looks good. The alien sometimes does look like a puppet too much with his slow movements, but I bought it for the most part. The VFX are excellent throughout and the movie surely is one of the best of the 80s when it comes to its visuals. The score is also wonderful, and some scenes are quite epic.

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But most aren’t, the pacing is terribly slow, and the movie, apart from its visuals, aged terribly, especially for how tedious of a watch it is. Maybe if I were a kid, I would love it, but as an adult, it bored me to death, and the sappy moments ruined the whole flick. I also found its plot simplistic to a fault, the dialogue is also not the greatest and I wanted to have seen at least some themes or message in it. It’s utterly flat in that regard.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial really did not age well at all, and I am not talking about the special effects, which are terrific and stupendous for its time. The movie is so damn tedious, especially in its prolonged second act. Its runtime is unreasonably long for such a simplistic plot. Yes, the fantastical elements are great as is the score, but the cloying moments in the third act are too much for me personally. Consequently, it’s one of the most overrated films from Spielberg.