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

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writer:

Melissa Mathison (written by)

Release Date:

11 June 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

He is afraid. He is totally alone. He is 3 million light years from home.

Plot:

A group of Earth children help a stranded alien botanist return home.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Friendship | Stranded | Children | Drunk Scene

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 38 wins & 27 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 11

12:20 PM

MAX

US Showtimes:

(register to personalize)

Cast

Henry Thomas	...	Elliott
Dee Wallace	...	Mary
Robert MacNaughton	...	Michael (as Robert Macnaughton)
Drew Barrymore	...	Gertie
Peter Coyote	...	Keys
K.C. Martel	...	Greg
Sean Frye	...	Steve
C. Thomas Howell	...	Tyler (as Tom Howell)
David M. O'Dell	...	Schoolboy (as David O'Dell)
Richard Swingler	...	Science Teacher
Frank Toth	...	Policeman
Robert Barton	...	Ultrasound Man
Michael Darrell	...	Van Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Berkson	...	Medic
Susan Cameron	...	Medic
David Carlberg	...	Medic
Erika Eleniak	...	Pretty Young Girl
Will Fowler Jr.	...	Medic
Barbara Hartnett	...	Medic
Milt Kogan	...	Medic
Alexander Lampone	...	Medic
Diane Lampone	...	Medic
Rhoda Makoff	...	Medic
Robert Murphy	...	Medic
Richard Pesavento	...	Medic
Tom Sherry	...	Medic
Mary Stein	...	Medic
Mitchell Suskin	...	Medic
Ted Grossman	...	Government Agent (uncredited)
Jean-Paul Hellendall	...	Student (uncredited)
Michael Lepre	...	Pizza Man (uncredited)
Anne Lockhart	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Pat Welsh	...	E.T. (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Steven Spielberg

Writing credits
Melissa Mathison		(written by)

Produced by
Kathleen Kennedy	....	producer
Melissa Mathison	....	associate producer
Steven Spielberg	....	producer

Original Music by
John Williams

Cinematography by
Allen Daviau		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Carol Littleton

Casting by
Jane Feinberg
Mike Fenton
Marci Liroff

Production Design by
James D. Bissell

Set Decoration by
Jackie Carr

Makeup Department
Lola 'Skip' McNalley	....	hair stylist
Robert Sidell	....	makeup supervisor
Jim Gillespie	....	special makeup effects artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Frank Marshall	....	production supervisor
Wallace Worsley Jr.	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel Attias	....	second assistant director
Katy Emde	....	first assistant director
John Flynn	....	dga trainee
Glenn Randall Jr.	....	second unit director (as Glenn H. Randall Jr.)
Jerram A. Swartz	....	first assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Leslie Butcher	....	greensman
Ernest Depew	....	construction manager
Michael Dunn	....	assistant propertyman
Russell Goble	....	property manager
Eero Hautanen	....	propmaker foreman
Jack Jennings	....	propmaker foreman
Ralph McQuarrie	....	scenic artist/spaceship designer
James Moss	....	paint foreman
Craig Reardon	....	special artistic consultant
Sandra Renfroe	....	set dressing leadwoman
Clark Shindel	....	labor foreman
William James Teegarden	....	set designer (as William Teegarden)
Ed Verreaux	....	unit illustrator
John Villarino	....	propmaker foreman
Ken Walker	....	assistant propertyman
Claudia Gilligan Ivanjack	....	stand-by painter (uncredited)
Drew Struzan	....	poster artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Raul A. Bruce	....	boom operator
Charles L. Campbell	....	supervising sound editor
Gene S. Cantamessa	....	sound mixer
Norval D. Crutcher III	....	sound editor: 2002 restoration
Samuel C. Crutcher	....	sound effects editor
Don Digirolamo	....	sound re-recording mixer
Louis L. Edemann	....	sound effects editor
Richard C. Franklin	....	sound effects editor
Robert Glass	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Knudson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Nicholas Vincent Korda	....	adr editor
Andy Koyama	....	2001 restoration sound re-recording mixer
Shawn Murphy	....	sound re-recording mixer (2001 restoration)
Chuck Neely	....	assistant sound editor
Charles Payne	....	sound technician
David Pettijohn	....	sound effects editor
John Roesch	....	foley artist
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
Hank Salerno	....	adr editor
Norman B. Schwartz	....	post-production dialogue editor
Howard Stein	....	sound effects editor
Jonathan Wales	....	sound re-recording mixer: 20th anniversary edition
Joe DeAngelis	....	sound recordist: 2001 restoration (uncredited)
Lee Gilmore	....	2001 restoration apprentice sound editor (uncredited)
William Hooper	....	sound editor: 2001 restoration (uncredited)
Bill Meadows	....	2001 restoration sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Robert Avila	....	E.T. operator
Gary Crawford	....	special effects assistant
Eugene Crum	....	E.T. operator
Dale L. Martin	....	special effects coordinator
Andrew Miller	....	special effects assistant
Carlo Rambaldi	....	E.T. operator
Frank Schepler	....	E.T. operator
Bob Townsend	....	E.T. operator
Steven Willis	....	E.T. operator (as Steve Willis)
Robert E. Worthington	....	special effects assistant
Richard Zarro	....	E.T. operator
Ronald Zarro	....	E.T. operator

Visual Effects by
Al Bailey	....	digital compositor (special edition)
Charles Bailey	....	chief model maker
Craig Barron	....	matte photography assistant
David Berry	....	optical printer operator
Jessie Boberg	....	model maker
Colin Brady	....	animation supervisor: ILM (2002 special edition)
Marty Brenneis	....	model electronics
Ronn Brown	....	digital matte artist: ILM: re-release 2002
Conrad Buff IV	....	effects editorial supervisor
Dave Childers	....	stage technician
Bob Chrisoulis	....	optical technician
Mike Cochrane	....	model maker
Harold Cole	....	stage technician
Samuel Comstock	....	animation supervisor
Ryan Cook	....	assistant technical director: ILM (2002 special edition)
Andrew Doucette	....	character animator: ILM (2002 special edition)
Dick Dova	....	stage technician
Don Dow	....	visual effects camera operator
Selwyn Eddy	....	visual effects camera assistant
John Ellis	....	optical printer engineer
Robert Elswit	....	visual effects camera operator
Christopher Evans	....	matte painting artist
Bob Finley III	....	stage technician
Pat Fitzsimmons	....	stage technician
Warren Franklin	....	visual effects production coordinator
Michael Fulmer	....	chief model maker
Tim Geideman	....	optical technician
Bill George	....	visual effects supervisor: ILM (2002 special edition)
Ralph Gordon	....	optical printer line-up
Michael J. Halsted	....	CG artist: ILM (re-release) (as Michael Halsted)
Karl Herrmann	....	visual effects camera assistant
Edward Hirsh	....	stage technician
Lars Jensvold	....	assistant visual effects editor (2002 special edition)
Russell Koonce	....	digital effects artist (20th Anniversary re-release 2002)
Neil Krepela	....	matte photography
Greg Kyle	....	animator: ILM (2002 special edition)
Gary Leo	....	model electronics
Scott Marshall	....	model maker
Kevin Martel	....	animator (2002 special edition)
Michael J. McAlister	....	visual effects camera operator: ILM
Glen McIntosh	....	character animator (2002 special edition)
John McLeod	....	special effects technician: ILM
Duncan Meyers	....	optical technician
Ted Moehnke	....	supervising stage technician
Thaine Morris	....	stage technician
Dennis Muren	....	visual effects supervisor
Jennifer Maryam Nona	....	digital artist (20th Anniversary re-release 2002)
Frank Ordaz	....	matte painting artist
Randy Ottenberg	....	model maker
Michael Owens	....	visual effects camera assistant
Ease Owyeung	....	model maker
Michael Pangrazio	....	visual effects matte painting supervisor
Suzanne Pastor	....	model maker
Lorne Peterson	....	model shop supervisor
Magali Rigaudias	....	digital character animator (2002 restoration)
Kenneth Smith	....	optical photography supervisor
Michael Smith	....	equipment maintenance
Thomas G. Smith	....	general manager: ILM (as Tom Smith)
Tom St. Amand	....	visual effects go-motion figures
Michael Steffe	....	model maker
Sam Stewart	....	digital restoration artist: ILM (re-release)
Peter Stolz	....	stage technician
Mitchell Suskin	....	optical effects coordinator
Pat Sweeney	....	visual effects camera assistant
Catherine Tate	....	Sabre artist: ILM (2002 special edition)
Marc Toscano	....	CG artist: ILM (2002 re-release)
Alan Travis	....	2D paint artist
Alan Travis	....	rotoscoper
David Valentin	....	visual effects production coordinator (20th anniversary edition)
Michael Van Eps	....	roto/paint lead (2002 special addition)
Laurie Vermont	....	visual effects production coordinator
Eric Voegels	....	digital artist: ILM (20th anniversary release 2002)
Andy Wang	....	digital artist: ILM (2002 special edition)
Gene Whiteman	....	optical printer engineer
Julie Adrianson-Neary	....	digital artist (special edition) (uncredited)
Kris Brown	....	visual effects engineer: ILM (uncredited)
Carey Burens	....	visual effects assistant editor (uncredited)
Zachary Cole	....	technical support: ILM (uncredited)
Bill Gilman	....	digital compositor (2002 special edition) (uncredited)
Peter Mitchell Rubin	....	visual effects art director (uncredited) (2002 special edition)
Jeff Shank	....	digital effects: ILM (20th anniversary edition, 2002) (uncredited)
Hoyt Yeatman	....	motion control photographer (uncredited)

Stunts
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunts
Ted Grossman	....	stunts
Keith Harvey	....	stunts
Fred Lerner	....	stunts
Bobby Porter	....	stunts
Glenn Randall Jr.	....	stunt coordinator (as Glenn H. Randall Jr.)
Glenn Randall Jr.	....	stunts
Felix Silla	....	stunts
Chuck Waters	....	stunts
Al Wyatt Jr.	....	stunts (as Alan Wyatt Jr.)
Bob Haro	....	stunts (uncredited)
Michael R. Long	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Paul	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Joseph Capshaw	....	lighting best boy
Terry Chostner	....	still photographer
John J. Connor	....	camera operator
Rick Fee	....	second assistant camera (as Richard Fee)
John Fleckenstein	....	camera operator
Donald L. Hartley	....	dolly grip
Gene Kearney	....	key grip
Bruce McBroom	....	still photographer
Bob Munoz	....	best boy grip
James Plannette	....	gaffer
Steven Shaw	....	first assistant camera
Ernest Holzman	....	film loader (uncredited)

Animation Department
Miguel A. Fuertes	....	animator
Jack Mongovan	....	animator
Peggy Tonkonogy	....	animator
Gary Waller	....	animator (as Garry Waller)
Terry Windell	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dan Moore	....	assistant costumer
Phyllis Corcoran-Woods	....	costume assistant (uncredited)
Katherine Dover	....	additional costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Donah Bassett	....	negative cutter
Dennis Brookins	....	negative cutter
Bruce Cannon	....	second assistant editor
Dana E. Glauberman	....	assistant editor
Kathleen Korth	....	first assistant editor
Robert Raring	....	color timer

Music Department
Kenneth Hall	....	music editor
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator
Don McVay	....	musician (uncredited)
Angela Morley	....	additional orchestrator (uncredited)
Angela Morley	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)
David Newman	....	musician: violin (uncredited)
Jim Self	....	musician: tuba (uncredited)

Transportation Department
John Feinblatt	....	transportation captain
Eugene Schwartz	....	transportation manager

Other crew
'Little Pat' Bilon	....	special e.t. movement (as Pat Bilon)
Laura Buff	....	production accountant (as Laura Kaysen)
Michael J. Burmeister	....	production associate
Corey Burton	....	adr loop group
Ben Burtt	....	e.t.'s voice design
Richard L. Calkins	....	harvey's owner/trainer
David Carlberg	....	medical unit consultant
Matthew De Meritt	....	special e.t. movement
Tamara De Treaux	....	special e.t. movement
Denise Durham	....	assistant: Ms. Kennedy
Sue Dwiggins	....	production coordinator
Henry Feinberg	....	communicator design
Lyla Foggia	....	unit publicist
Jane Goe	....	assistant accountant
Dennis Grisco	....	animal talent
Beverley Hoffman	....	e.t. eyes design
Jerry Jeffress	....	electronic systems design
Adria Later	....	teacher
Phyllis Levin	....	first aid
Nancy MacLean	....	special e.t. movement
Roberto McGrath	....	still lab technician
Kerry Nordquist	....	still lab technician
Ramon Pahoyo	....	craft service
Tina Palmer	....	special e.t. movement
Janice Pober	....	assistant: Mr. Spielberg
Bonne Radford	....	unit accountant
Pattee Roedig	....	representative: Cine Guarantors (as Patricia Roedig)
Caprice Rothe	....	e.t. movement coordinator
Patty Rumph	....	assistant: Mr. Marshall
Robert W. Scholler	....	medical unit consultant
Robert Short	....	additional E.T. effects
Steve Townsend	....	special e.t. effects manager
Richard Vane	....	location services
Esther Vivante	....	script supervisor
Pam Ybarra	....	special e.t. movement
Lance Young	....	production associate
Howie Hammerman	....	voice: ET belch (uncredited)
Ken Mura	....	voice: drunk ET vocalizations (uncredited)
Debra Winger	....	voice: partially-retained E.T. temp track (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures
• Amblin Entertainment (uncredited)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1982) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2002) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-edited)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2002) (Argentina) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1991) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Columbia TriStar (video)
• East West (Russia)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• MCA/Universal Pictures
• Prem'er Video Fil'm (Russia) (VHS)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1982) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2002) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2002) (Italy) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (Brazil) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD) (remastered)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2002) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (special edition)

Special Effects

• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) (special visual effects)

Other Companies

• Affinity Artists Agency  talent agency
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• Judi's Casting Service  extras casting
• Location Security Service  location security
• MCA Records  soundtrack released by
• Pacific Title  titles
• Post Logic Studios  digital film mastering
• Producer's Location Vehicle  location production vehicle
• UMG Soundtracks  soundtrack released by

Also Known As:

A Boy's Life (USA) (working title)
E.T. (USA) (short title)
E.T. and Me (USA) (working title)
E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial: The 20th Anniversary (USA) (longer version)
Night Skies (USA) (working title)
E.T., el extraterrestre (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
хМНОКЮМЕРЪМХМ (Soviet Union: Russian title) [ru]
E.T. (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
E.T. - Der Außerirdische (West Germany) [de]
E.T. - O Extra-Terrestre (Portugal) [pt]
E.T. - O Extraterrestre (Brazil) [pt]
E.T. - gjesten fra verdensrommet (Norway) [no]
E.T. l'extra-terrestre (Italy) [it]
E.T. l'extraterrestre (Canada: French title) [fr]
E.T. l'extraterrestre (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
E.T. mimozemstan (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
E.T. o exogiinos (Greece) [el]
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Finland) [fi]
E.T., l'extra-terrestre (France) [fr]

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements. (2002 edited version)

Runtime:

115 min | USA:120 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital EX (re-release) | Dolby (35 mm prints) (original release) | SDDS (re-release) | DTS-ES (re-release)

Certification:

Canada:F (Ontario) (video rating) (1996) (2002) | Canada:G (British Columbia) (2002) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2002) | Canada:PG (Alberta) (2002) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original rating) | Iceland:LH | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Mexico:A | South Korea:All | West Germany:6 (f) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Australia:PG (20th anniversary edition) | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Finland:K-7 (20th anniversary special edition) | France:U | Hong Kong:I | Netherlands:AL | Norway:12 | Norway:7 (20th anniversary special edition) | Peru:14 | Philippines:G | Singapore:G (20th anniversary edition) | Singapore:PG (original rating) | Sweden:11 | Sweden:7 (2001) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) (20th anniversary edition) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) (20th anniversary edition) | Switzerland:8 (canton of the Grisons) (20th anniversary edition) | UK:U | USA:PG (certificate #26717) (original rating) | USA:PG (certificate #38656) (20th anniversary edition)

Filming Locations:

7121 Lonzo Street, Tujunga, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Was the highest-grossing movie of all time until Star Wars (1977) was re-released in 1997.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the boys are racing away on their bicycles from the Feds, the stunt doubles for Elliott and his friends are obviously way too tall to be children.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Steve: [reading dice] Five.
Michael: Oh, great.
Steve: So you got an arrow right in your chest.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Men Behaving Badly: Rent Boy (#2.2)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Accidents Will Happen

One of the best films ever made and experienced

Everyone gets lost in nostalgia from time to time. Many of us vividly recall the days when the most important thing you had to do that afternoon was find a place to stay cool or to make sure that all of your friends were willing to go on whatever adventure you wanted to embark on. For me, those days were the years between 1980 and 1987. At this time I was between the ages of 8 and 15. This was a time when some of the greatest movies were ever made for a teenaged boy. The genesis of film was started in my life with films like First Blood, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Back To The Future and of course E.T.

Being that movies were such an intricate part of my young life and these experiences shaped me into the man that I am today, it is easy to recall with reverence the entire experience that went with those films. E.T. is a rare film however, because it is an experience that just gets better with age.

There was a theater in Windsor Ontario, where I spent my youth called the Vanity, located on Oullette Street, right near Wyandotte. This one theater was the place to be when the blockbsuters arrived. It was a one celled theater that managed to flourish in a time which pre-dated multi plexes with arcades and Pizza Hut's.

When the sequel to Star Wars arrived, the Vanity proudly played it. Same with Raiders and it's sequels and of course E.T. E.T. was a film that me and my best friend Gary had to see because it was Spielberg. Even though we were ten years old, we knew that Spielberg had given us great films like Jaws, Close Encounters and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I am not sure if it is normal at the age of ten but we rushed out to see E.T. because we knew who directed it. What a phenom this tiny film turned out to be and what a life changing experience the whole film was.

When you are ten and you see a movie with your best friend who watches the A-Team and Conan the Barbarian with you, you expect a certain reaction from him. After all, this same friend enjoys playing football at lunch and enjoys inflicting pain in a barbaric pasttime called the "The Tripping Game", therefore you don't expect a film to affect you and your macho friend the way E.T. did. When you are ten, you go to the movies to see things like lightsabre duels and heroes with bullwhips being lowered into the Well of the Souls and maybe the occasional breast shot. What you don't expect is a film to manipulate your emotional realm thh way E.T. did and still does. Most of my friends who saw E.T. bawled their eyes out at the age of ten. I, for some unexplainable reason did not. I loved the film but it wouldn't be for another six years that I cried in my first film. That was She's Having A Baby when Kate Bush sang Woman's Work and made me sob uncontrollably as I watched Kevin Bacon lose his unborn child. Some things can't be explained.

E.T. became one of my favourite films and I saw it again on its re-release in 1985, bought the poster, purchased the movie on VHS and told everyone who would listen that E.T. got robbed at the 82 Oscars when it lost every major category to (snicker snicker) Gandhi. There have been some Oscar travesties but this ( along with Annie Hall defeating Star Wars and Cuckoo's Nest beating Jaws ) had to be up there as one of the most ridiculous snubs ever. I was peeved. What a joke. But all of the cranky and derelict academy members seethed with contempt and jealousy because they couldn't accept the fact that a man this young could really be this much of a genius. In fact he made the rest of the folks in Hollywood look young compared to himself.

As the years passed I became a film lover, a movie buff and I tried to see any and every film out there. And I did. It's not that E.T. became an after-thought, it's just that it became one of those films that just sat it my collection and wasn't utilized often enough. When I made my revised top 25 list, E.T. would always hover around number 20. That is not an indictment of the quality of E.T., it's just that my tastes became more garnered to horror films and the sheer brilliance of E.T. was stored in the catacombs of my mind. That all changed on March 24th, 2002. This is ironic because my wife and I had the whole day planned. We were going to see E.T. at the theater and then come home and watch the 24 hour Oscar-a-thon. And in a year when an inferior film like A Beautiful Mind takes top honours from the much more ambitious and deserving Lord of the Rings, it reminded me of 20 years ago. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Seeing E.T. after a 17 year hiatus was nothing short of uplifting. My excitement was gushing and when John Williams' ever recognizable score reverberated over the sound system, I was hooked and it felt like I was ten all over again. I also noticed that the audience was an eclectic mix of young kids, 30 somethings like myself and the elderly. All of us were there because we either wanted to experience it for the first time or because we wanted to feel what it was like that first time we saw it 20 years ago.

I think I liked E.T. when I was ten but this time around I developed a deep level of respect for it. E.T. is simply one of the finest films ever made and if you have not seen the film in the theater then you have no idea what you are missing. Everything about this film is perfect, and there really aren't many films around I can say that about. Even some of my personal favourites have moments of weakness but not E.T. There has never really been another movie that has offered the experience that E.T. does. And when I said that I didn't shed a tear while watching E.T., that has all changed. I think there were about five moments in E.T. that had me holding back the tears. You can analyze the film, psychologically deconstruct it and tell me that the reason the film works so well is because of the feeling of loneliness and comradery and I will agree with you. But I don't really care about that. What it comes down to is that E.T. is a film that will touch you in a way that no other film before could do and no other film after it can. 1982 was a different time for film and it was a different time as a civilization. And E.T. encompassed all of that. If I had to make my revised top 25 list, E.T. would be number 2, right behind Jaws and ahead of JFK, Halloween, American Beauty and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

If you have not seen E.T. at the theaters since 1985, please I urge you, go see it again. It is a film experience that is indefeasible. It is also a film that should be looked upon as a paradigm for which all movies should try to emulate. There is a reason that films like E.T. and Star Wars and Raiders make the money they do. And there is also a reason they stay firmly planted in our memories. That is because they mean something and they stand for something. Those are the qualities in film that transcend time and they transcend the generations.

10 out of 10----What more can be said?