This is part of a series of articles reviewing the American Film Institute's Top 100 Films, as unveiled in 2007. Why am I doing this? Because the damned cinemas are closed and I have to review something.
(PG) ★★★★★
Director: Steven Spielberg.
Cast: Henry Thomas, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, K. C. Martel, C. Thomas Howell, Sean Frye, Erika Eleniak, Pat Welsh.
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E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial was bigger than Star Wars. It's a weird thing to realise, but it's true. George Lucas' Star Wars bumped Steven Spielberg's Jaws off the top of the "biggest grossing films ever" list, but Spielberg had the last laugh, knocking his friend's space opera from top spot with this simplistic-seeming tale of a boy and his alien friend.
Of course, Star Wars went on to spawn a franchise-worth of sequels, prequels, spin-offs, TV shows, comics, books, and games. E.T. - aside from a then-insane level of merchandise including a famously bad video game - is basically just E.T.. No billion-dollar franchise - just one little film to rule them all.
Not counting this somewhat touching ad:
So why was E.T. the biggest film ever (for about a decade until Spielberg's Jurassic Park set a new benchmark)?
I've been thinking about this for weeks and I keep coming back to the fact E.T. is a deceptively deep fairy tale, perfectly told. There's not a hair out of place on its charming, alien-shaped head, and it has unexpected layers to its characterisation and themes. It's direction perfectly matches its subject matter, and it's enormously enjoyable, family-friendly and satisfying - these latter points are part of why Variety called it "the best Disney movie that Disney never made".
E.T. doesn't push the boundaries of film-making like Citizen Kane or The General or even Star Wars. It doesn't set a benchmark in genre like The Searchers or Singin' In The Rain or 2001: A Space Odyssey.
But it does something few other great films do (not even Star Wars) - E.T. speaks to our inner child in a deeply realistic and touching way. In fact, it does it better than any other film ever produced. It has a kids-eye view of the world, and understands what it's like to be a youngster in this strange, scary world full of confusing grown-ups. Its hero Elliot (Thomas) is a wonderful innocent who can't comprehend why adults do the things they do, whether it be break-up with his mum or try to capture a wandering alien. He just wants to do the right thing, which is to be caring and good, and spread love in a way that even he doesn't understand. To Elliot, the real indecipherable creatures that may as well be from another world are grown-ups. Or flip it, and take into account Elliot and E.T.'s strange symbiosis, and Elliot is the alien, trying to fit into a world he doesn't understand.
Spielberg's genius move is to enhance this directorially, taking every opportunity to make this Elliot's story, even on a subconscious level. For most of the film, adults are faceless drones (except Mum), it's largely filmed from Elliot's height, almost every scene is about him, and we don't see E.T. properly until Elliot does.
Originally starting as a horror movie called Night Skies, screenwriter Melissa Mathison pulled out a subplot about the lone good alien befriending an autistic child and turned that into what we know and love as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Matthew Robbins, who wrote Spielberg's The Sugarland Express, claims to have done an uncredited re-write, and indeed the film also seems to be partly based on a script he co-wrote that focused on growing up in suburbia.
But lying beneath the surface of Mathison's beautiful writing and Robbins' sharpening is wonderful thematic depths - there's a Christ parable in there, deep streaks of anti-authoritarianism, and a fascinating look at single-parent family life in America. Best of all is the film's hopeful and positive attitude; as critic Barry Norman put it while naming E.T. one of the best movies of the 20th century, "along with the adventure and (genuine) sentiment, the film contains a warning against bigotry and prejudice: we should not judge others by their appearance or colour or creed but by their character and their behaviour".
"The message is understated but clear and gives E.T. the moral edge that makes it the ideal modern fairy tale," continues Norman.
The technical brilliance abounds too. Carlo Rambaldi's remarkable alien model, John William's profound and stirring score, and that magical moon shot are all exemplary, and the 20th anniversary touch-ups are largely worthwhile. Add in great performances (with seven-year-old Barrymore a stand-out), and E.T. shines as an incredibly well-made piece of all-ages entertainment.
For the record, here are the 2002 changes, compared with the original:
Like most good films, and indeed the majority of the films on this list, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is more than just its surface. It's a parable and a fairy tale that speaks to the child in us all, and wishes that we could all be more like Elliot, and less like the grown-ups.
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