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E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial is best known for inspiring at least three things. 1) The North American Video Game Crash of 1983, 2) Drew Barrymore’s descent into the wonderful world of drugs, and 3) the reason I was conceived. Okay, may not; but #1 is true at least. By the way, I’m 30.
The film is about a creepy alien who gets marooned in some California suburb somewhere. He scares the shit out of some poor hapless kid who only wants to get in on some action at his older bro’s D&D table when the kid goes outside to pick up a pizza. Curiosity compels the kid to seek out the creepy alien and with the help of some Reese’s Pieces the kid succeeds in luring the creepy alien into his house where he intends to keep him as some kind of toy or plaything forever and ever. It’s a playful sort of fairy tale where we see a sentient being of superior intellect get lost in the humdrum goings-on of adolescent life while being stashed away like some Teddy Bear in a little girl’s closet. Good things aren’t meant to last forever, though, and soon we see our creepy alien hero pining for the good old days of space-faring in the great beyond.
E.T. is a fine film that arguably put Spielberg on a bigger map than Indiana Jones and JAWS combined. It’s more casually paced and family-focused than those two efforts and definitely exposes Spielberg’s range as both a director and a producer. It has all the sort of things that you’d expect to see in a Spielberg movie: iconic visuals, time-expanding editing, creative use of foreshadowing, and some fairly impressive visual effects; not to mention one of the greatest bicycle chase scenes in cinematic history. That sequence inspired me to want to ride around the country side on my own bike, jumping over dirt mountains and powering down ravines. As an 8 years-old boy it’s easy to think that taking flight with a bicycle isn’t that far fetched. Overall it’s not a bad movie by any means and it still holds up just fine even today.
I kind of wonder what would have happened if E.T. would have descended into the forests of Tennessee or Kentucky. Do you think he would’ve had his head blown off? What if he landed in Saudi Arabia? This kind of shit keeps me up at night. Mr. Spielberg, I beseech you: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial demands a sequel! Perhaps one where he lands in the ruins of Babylon and some asshole throws an IED at his feet. I could see the marquee now: E.T. 2: Intergalactic Apocalypse. With the tag line This Summer: The 4-Horsemen Will RIDE. And then Bruce Willis will be all like “Phone THIS home, motherfucker!” or something. Reviewing movies is hard.
ThomFiles 