Pop Culture Movies and More: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

While visiting Earth one night to collect plants, a group of alien botanists is discovered and disturbed by an approaching human task force. Because of the more than hasty take-off, one of them is left behind. He finds himself all alone on a very strange planet. Fortunately, he soon finds a friend and emotional companion in Elliot, a lonely 10-year-old boy whose parents have gotten divorced. While E.T. slowly gets acquainted with Elliot's brother Michael, his sister Gertie, and the customs of Earth, members of the task force work day and night to track down his whereabouts. E.T. wishes strongly to go home, and after being able to communicate with Elliot and the others, he starts building an improvised device to send a message home for his people to pick him up. With the task force hot on their trails things seem dire with no spaceship in sight. This is probably up there as one of the most iconic films of the 1980s and easily the most recognisable with so much iconography throughout. I really liked this movie and found it extremely charming with many emotionally driven sequences too. This story is much like many other films that follow the theme/sub-genre where a child finds an alien being and hides them from people who would exploit or harm them but I think this is easily one of the best certainly up there with The Iron Giant (1999). Steven Spielberg has created countless phenomenal films over the years but this is certainly one of his finest that evokes so many emotions in a well-rounded story. Spielberg brought us a film where extra-terrestrials aren't on a hell-bent mission of destruction, but one of curiosity with no intentions of invasion, which is a nice breath of fresh air for the sci-fi genre. He also accomplished this in one of his previous titles: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) where beings from another world reach out to us in friendship. In an interview, Spielberg said how when doing Close Encounters he got some inspiration for this film which is quite noticeable being of a similar style. He noted how Close Encounters was a more adult-focused story whereas, with E.T., he wanted to do a child-oriented story from their perspective. E.T. has such a heartwarming story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages with its child-like wonder expressed throughout that older audiences can surely connect with. I found this sense of wonder to be amplified by the beautifully composed music of John Williams, especially during the flying sequences that were just truly magical. Also, speaking of the flying scene, what a magnificent visual of Elliot riding his bike with E.T. in the basket as they fly past the full illuminating moon at night. Matched with that score it is enough to give any viewer goosebumps. I absolutely adored the design for E.T. because of how unique it was with some exceptional detail, which brought it to life. I miss seeing animatronics and practical effects in the film as they are just amazing. Scenes of E.T. using his powers will always be awe-inspiring, seeing the bright glow of his finger light up as he heals people's injuries was so mystical and other-worldly. The friendship and bond between E.T. and Elliot was very strong and I loved their scenes together where their care for one another grew and it is another great example of the childish wonder the story brings. One of my favourite scenes from this film is when the group go out trick-or-treating and they come across a child dressed as Yoda from Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), which was included due to Spielberg having a close friendship with George Lucas (Star Wars' creator). Lucas would then go on to reference this movie as a background easter egg in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) with a group of E.T.'s people visible in the Senate. Such a cool detail. Overall, this film packs in so many emotions along its adventure from heartfelt and joyous moments to tearful, heart-wrenching scenes that will have you hooked from start to finish. If you are looking for an exciting and emotionally rich story, look no further than E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Runtime: 1h 55m