Retro Review: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Chad’s Grade: A-

I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since the release of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” and that wild summer of groundbreaking genre releases. The 1982 classic family film managed to pierce the pop culture landscape and became one of the defining films for director Steven Spielberg. Who hasn’t heard the phrase “E.T. phone home” or eaten a package of Reese’s Pieces without thinking of the weird and cuddly alien? Or the infamous and terrible Atari arcade game that helped crater the early home game console market. 

Director Spielberg was riding high after a wave of popular and critically acclaimed hits like “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Yes, he did have his first flop with the expensive screwball comedy “1941” but Spielberg was entering the exclusive club of brand-name directors, and “E.T.” would further cement that status.

While filming “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Spielberg developed the script with screenwriter Melissa Mathison (who was dating her future husband, Harrison Ford, at the time). Originally the idea was to do a companion piece to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and then a horror film in the vein of “Signs,” with the pair finally settling on a family film version of an alien encounter. 

“E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” is the story of 10-year-old Elliot, who discovers an alien abandoned by his ship, hiding in the tool shed of his suburban house. Elliot and his two siblings, Mike & Gertie, take in the creature, whom they nickname E.T., and hide him in the large walk-in closet. Many hi-jinks ensue as the kids try to keep E.T. disguised from their mom Mary and an unnamed government official known as “Keys.” Eventually, they communicate with E.T. and discover he needs their help to “phone home” so his species can return to retrieve him. 

After making a communicator device out of various household items, E.T.s plans seem to work. But soon, E.T. grows deathly sick, and government officials invade Mary’s house in spacesuits led by the shadowy “Keys. The various scientist’s race to keep the creature alive, but he flatlines and dies. 

Or does he? As Elliot says goodbye to his alien buddy, E.T. reveals that he faked his death and his family’s ship is on the way. The race is on as Elliot, Mike, and the neighborhood kids smuggle E.T. and flee the authorities to make the rendezvous with the aliens. The film concludes with E.T. saying farewell to his human siblings and boarding the spacecraft in one of the most emotional moments in cinema history, all set to John Williams’s stirring musical cues.

Director Spielberg is firing on all cylinders with “E.T.” The movie flawlessly blends family drama, alien science fiction, and the tropes of childhood fantasy. The Peter Pan story is referenced throughout the film, and you can practically see the magic pixie dust as E.T. and Elliot take flight on his bicycle through the night sky, with that iconic moon shot. And there’s a spiritual element as Elliot cuts his finger, and E.T. magically heals the bleeding cut. Later, the alien makes a pot of dead flowers grow and bloom. 

One of Spielberg’s great gifts as a director is coaxing remarkable performances from child actors. As Elliot, Henry Thomas has the daunting task of anchoring the film, and he’s the perfect surrogate of every kid’s dream of befriending an alien creature. Thomas has a natural style, most evident when he shows E.T. his various toys and contraptions in his room, which is a nostalgic sugar rush for many Gen X viewers. Not to be outdone is Robert MacNaughton as older brother Mike and a young 6-year-old Drew Barrymore as Gertie, who easily steals every scene. It’s no secret why she would become one of Hollywood’s most famous and tragic child actors. 

The film has two adult actors who are just as strong as the kids. Following her horror turn in “The Howling, ” Dee Wallace plays the children’s warm but firm mother, Mary. She has the thankless role of the frazzled, divorced mom who has no clue that an alien is hiding out in her home, but Wallace gives it some new dimensions. I found Peter Coyote much more interesting as the government official dubbed “keys.” At first glance, with the foreboding shots of his keychain, Coyote seems to be playing the villain but soon reveals his kind nature as E.T. is dying. He’s essentially a grown-up version of Elliot and, in an emotional exchange with the young boy, reveals that he too dreamed of finding his own E.T. 

One of the film’s many strengths is that it doesn’t feel frenetic or overstuffed like many of the current family fare. The kids are believable as they fight and converse, eschewing the precocious and over-cute style that afflicts many child actors. And the movie is filled with subtle touches, like the botanist nature of the aliens during the creepy opening, never over-explaining things but keeping that air of mystery.

The camera work and cinematography embellish the suburban fantasy aspect of the film, particularly the opening. Spielberg shoots all the adults, except the kid’s mother, in shadow and faceless, where we hear the voices. Or the sweet moment where E.T., after gathering his plants, gazes across the nighttime suburban valley, those twinkling lights looking both beautiful and alien to the small creature. It’s almost shameless how the Netflix show “Stranger Things” blatantly copied shots wholesale during its first season.

The only negative mark I can give the film is the outdated visual effects. There are many shots where the E.T. creature is obviously a puppet, a very advanced believable puppet, but the seams show. Also, the blue screen optical effects of the flying bicycles and levitating objects look woefully fake in this modern age of CGI and green screen work. Much of the effects work was state of the art at the time, but they have not aged well in the last 40 years.

It’s fascinating to compare “E.T.” to Spielberg’s other alien-themed films like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “War of the Worlds.” In a way, these three films form an unofficial trilogy, where “Close Encounters” envisions a spiritual and life-affirming beginning, and “War of the Worlds” is the dark and violent finale. “E.T.” falls somewhere in the middle, filtering all the planetary wonder of the alien encounter through a child’s eyes and in the backyard of suburban America. 

For me, “E.T.” was one of my seminal films growing up, as I was the same age as Elliot in the film. After nearly a decade, viewing the film again as an adult was a fascinating experience. The Gen X kid in me loved the images of the 80s suburban lifestyle, the way Elliot hides his candy in the drawers, the messy and strewn-out toys, and the kids riding their bicycles with freedom and abandon. As for my middle-aged self, the “Keys” character stood out, as he now embodies many grown-up Gen Xers still hoping to find a childhood adventure hiding in their backyard.

THE 2002 SPECIAL EDITION

To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of “E.T.,” Spielberg decided to tickle his inner “George Lucas” and rework various aspects of the film. Several visual effects were updated, like the fleet of the kid’s bikes flying into the sunset sky with enhanced computer effects replacing the creaky blue screen shots. The opening had a CGI version of E.T. running from “Keys” and the government officials. And most glaringly, replacing all the police and FBI officers’ rifles and handguns with… walkie-talkies during the climactic finale E.T. chase.

There was also an interesting but unneeded deleted scene with Elliot being scolded by the school principal, played by an uncredited Harrison Ford. As with all the adult characters, principal Ford is never seen, while Elliot in the background is levitating his chair due to his psychic connection to E.T. 

This “special edition” was briefly released in theatres in 2002 and later issued on DVD. Thankfully, Spielberg came to his senses and renounced the revised cut, realizing the mistake of messing with his classic film. Moving forward, all new home video editions only have the original theatrical cut. 

The “special edition” DVD is long out of print, so if you want a copy, it’s best to try your luck on e-bay or any online marketplaces.