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| One of the marvelous posters for Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which references Michelangelo's classical painting The Creation of Adam and underscores the film's religious undercurrent |
In a nice suburban neighborhood near Los Angeles lives the boy Elliott with his big brother, little sister and mother. Their father/husband has left them for Mexico. A creature from space meets Elliott, they bond, and it benefits from his warm child's heart.
E.T. is the second masterpiece of master Ohioan filmmaker Steven Spielberg's (Saving Private Ryan (1998)) incredible career, the first one, of course, being Jaws (1975). Every time I have watched it, it has moved me tremendously, like no other film. E.T. is a film that is made with such technical and visual mastery, humanity, artfulness and forcefulness, - it makes you swell up with warmth inside, and after seeing it feel positively purified. - What other films can you name that does all of that?
John Williams' (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)) Oscar-winning score is sheer perfection, musically storytelling in the best possible way, boosting every moment of the film with wonder, adventure and emotion.
The story, developed by Spielberg with recently passed, great screenwriter Melissa Mathison (The BFG (2016)), is wonderful. Henry Thomas (The Last Ride (2012)), Drew Barrymore (Blended (2014)) and everyone else are fantastic in it. Thomas is especially phenomenal, and so, of course, is Carlo Rambaldi's legendary creature design of E.T.
E.T. can be enjoyed as a religious reminder of the existence and importance of goodness and innocence in the world, with E.T. interpreted as a Jesus-like character or a symbol of childhood. At the same time the film's entirety works as a unique allegory of the full passage of life; with its dangers, mysteries, losses, adventures, unity and love.
E.T. is Spielberg's greatest accomplishment to date, one that is impossible to top. An absolutely spectacular film.
Related posts:
Steven Spielberg: War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves!
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare
Cost: 10.5 mil. $
Box office: 792.9 mil. $
= Blockbuster
[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial premiered May 26 (Cannes) and runs 117 minutes. The story is inspired by the divorce of Spielberg's parents in 1960, his estrangement from his father and development of a fantasy friend. E.T. began development as Spielberg's darker sci-fi project Night Skies, about evil aliens, collapsed. Columbia Pictures made one of the great errors of movie history when their management at the time passed on E.T., calling it "a wimpy Walt Disney movie." The E.T. puppet took 3 months and 1.5 mil. $ to make, but was still so ugly, in the nervous eyes of some, that Mars, Incorporated refused the use of M&Ms in the film. The Hershey Company then jumped in, and their profits rose 65 % after the release of the film, prominently featuring their Reese's Pieces candy. Filming took place from September - December 1981, mostly in Culver City, LA. The shoot was mostly chronological, especially to help the children's performances, and production wrapped four days early. It was the first film on which Spielberg did not use meticulous storyboarding. The film premiered at the closing gala of the Cannes Film Festival, a screening that has gone down in Cannes history as among the greatest the festival has ever enjoyed. The film opened #1 with an 11.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed #1 for 6 consecutive weeks, fluctuating between #1 and #2 in October and returning #1 once again in December. By 1983, E.T. surpassed Star Wars (1977) as the highest-grossing film of all time (unadjusted for inflation). It had grossed 359 mil. $ in North America and 619 mil. $ worldwide. E.T. was re-released in 1985 and 2002, adding 60 and 68 mil. $, respectively, to its gross. The film held its top-grossing spot for 11 years until Spielberg bested it with Jurassic Park (1993), although it stayed #1 in North America until a 1997 Star Wars re-issue beat it. The North American gross stands at 435.1 mil. $ (54.9 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are Japan with 66.9 mil. $ (8.4 %) and the UK with 29.6 mil. $ (3.7 %). E.T. is still the 4th highest-grossing film in North America ever, adjusted for inflation, only bested by Gone with the Wind, Star Wars and The Sound of Music. Bengali master filmmaker Satyajit Ray has claimed that Spielberg plagiarized his 1967 script The Alien, which Spielberg has refused, although Martin Scorsese and Richard Attenborough have substantiated the claims. Spielberg has addressed the Christian undertones of the film and made clear that they are unintentional on his part, pointing to his being Jewish. Despite much pirating of the film was reported, it made an additional 75 mil. $ on VHS sales in North America alone. E.T. was nominated for 9 Oscars, winning for Best Score, Sound, Visual Effects and Sound Effects. It lost Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing to Attenborough's Gandhi. It was nominated for 5 Golden Globes, winning for Best Picture - Drama and Best Score. A 20 year anniversary edition of E.T. was released with some minor changes made using CGI, which prompted controversy. Spielberg has decided against doing so in the future releases of his past films and recommends watching the original 1982 version of E.T. Atari, Inc. released a video game based on the film in 1982, which is widely regarded among the worst video game ever made. A 40 mil. $ theme park ride based on the film was created for the Florida Universal Studios park in 1990. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is certified fresh at 98 % with a 9.2 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial?
Do you agree that it is Spielberg's greatest achievement?
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