Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

From: Laura Clifford <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 20:20:39 -0000

E.T. - THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (20th Anniversary Edition)
----------------------------

Twenty years ago, a movie about a young boy who befriends a stranded alien
opened with little pre-release fanfare and went on to become one of the 
most beloved (and top grossing) films of all time.  Director Steven Spielberg 
has added 5 minutes of footage and taken advantage of technological advances
to
enhance the effects of his quintessential film, "E.T. - The
Extra-Terrestrial."

After two decades, one might expect a revisiting of E.T. to produce
embarrassment at having succumbed to Spielberg's manipulative sentimentality,
but "E.T.," when seen on the big screen as it should be, works its magic
once again.  At its heart a boy-and-his-dog story, "E.T." soars on the
basis of the on screen believability of Carlo Rambaldi's titular creation
and its director's innate ability to capture the world through a child's
eyes.

Speaking of eyes, Spielberg recognized the maternal compulsion
to react to the large, wide set eyes of a newborn and emphasized that
feature throughout his film, whether balancing a shot of E.T. with
an eyelit Elliott (Henry Thomas, "All the Pretty Horses") or offering
a closeup of a jar-jailed frog.  It's no surprise that this film's
harried single mom (Dee Wallace Stone, "The Frighteners") would overlook
E.T. hiding in plain site amidst a pyramid of teddy bears and other
huggable toys.

When government investigators get too close to an alien spaceship, it
departs, leaving behind one of its own.  The little alien makes its way
to a suburban backyard storage shed, where he's discovered by Elliott.
E.T. makes a telepathic connection to Elliott and is soon hidden in his
room and introduced to older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton, "I Am
the cheese") and younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore, "Riding in Cars
with boys").  It's up to this trio to enable E.T. to make his way home
as Earth's atmosphere is having a degenerative effect on the little guy.

Spielberg gets some of the best child performances ever captured on film
from the empathetic Thomas and side-splitting natural Barrymore with
MacNaughton ably bridging the child-adult gap.  His staging of Elliott's
biology class rebellion, where reacting to E.T.'s beer consumption back home
he sets free all the frogs, is classic filmmaking.  (The recipient of 
Elliott's "The Quiet Man" kiss is future Playboy Playmate Erika Eleniak).

"E.T." is not without flaws, though, particularly in the heavy handed
home invasion which begins the film's final segment.  The menacing, faceless
figures which enter the house's orifices are a manipulative effect with
no story basis.  The villainous overtones are softened by Peter Coyote's
caring character, Keys, and Spielberg's wise decision to replace the guns
formerly yielded by the agents who chase the children with walkie talkies.
This tampering may strike some purists as overtly PC, yet it actually
makes more sense in the serving of the story.  Alas, his overdubbing of
mom's exhortation to Michael that he looks like a terrorist with hippie 
instead doesn't.  While Elliott's initial flight past a full moon has been 
digitally enhanced (his cape now flutters in the wind), the later group flight 

is saddled with obvious blue screen work and hammy reaction shots from
Michael's buddies.

Yet for all that goes before, "E.T." is still one of those magical 
collaborations where a director's vision is assisted by people working
at their peak including Melissa Mathison (screenplay), Allen Daviau (director
of photography), John Williams (score), James D. Bissell (production design)
and Carol Littleton (editor).  Only the most hardened heart should be
able to resist the glow from the one that anchors this classic.

A-

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X-Language: en
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X-RT-RatingText: A-