Sci-Fi: An alien misses his spaceship ride home and is befriended by a young boy until his crew returns for him.
PLOT:
Elliott (HENRY THOMAS) is a young boy who discovers an alien who's been left behind after his spaceship takes off without him. Elliot's older brother Michael (ROBERT MACNAUGHTON), younger sister Gertie (DREW BARRYMORE), and mother Mary (DEE WALLACE-STONE) think Elliot's joking about finding something. Once the kids have seen E.T., a three-foot high alien, however, they do everything they can to keep their mother from finding out. Another person, Keys (PETER COYOTE), so named because of the jingling keys hanging from his belt, also wants to find E.T. He works for the government and he and his men track E.T. to Elliot's house. It's then up to the kids to keep Keys away from E.T., thus allowing him time to contact his people and return to his home.
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Yes. The fact that the movie is still the domestic box office king and that the video is still a best seller attests to that.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG
The MPAA reason wasn't available, but we'd guess it was for mild language and some thematic elements.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
HENRY THOMAS plays the boy who befriends E.T. and does whatever it takes to protect him.
PETER COYOTE plays the government agent who wants to find E.T., but not harm him.
What can you say about a film that fifteen years after its release is still the number one grossing domestic movie of all time? You could say that it's entertaining and that kids easily identify with it. It's certainly not a perfect movie, and there are lots of details that are overlooked (why is the dead flower in the sterile medical room, other than to hint that E.T.'s coming back to life?) but Spielberg's had that problem in other movies (watch Jurassic Park for a boatload of small details that are overlooked for logic or continuity). Still, we guess that one's supposed to overlook those details and be swept up in the moment and magic of the story. That does happen, but with repeated viewings those problems stand out more and more. Again they're not huge and certainly don't do a huge disservice to the production, but one wishes that someone would have caught and fixed them. Other than that, it's obvious that kids will love this movie and will easily identify with both Elliot and E.T. as loner characters who survive through their ordeals. It's also fun to watch young Drew Barrymore (before her substance and other problems) as she provides a great deal of the film's humor with her cute mannerisms and dialogue. While we think the movie could've been better with a finer attention to detail, it still comes across as a very enjoyable production. We give it a 7 out of 10.
OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
Other than some mild profanity (2 "s" words spoken by the older brother) and a few early scenes that may be frightening to younger kids, there isn't much here to object to. As everyone knows by now, E.T. dies and then comes back to life, but the scenes where he's sickly and finally dies might be upsetting to younger kids. Just to be sure that the film is appropriate for you and your family, we suggest that you read the scene descriptions in each category.
E.T. finds a beer in the fridge and drinks it (not knowing what it is). He then drinks another (and apparently more based on the number of empty cans later seen) and then is seen "fall down" drunk. Since he and Elliot appear to have a physical link, Elliot also seems to be drunk.
Younger kids may be scared by the early scenes played out in the dark with some suspenseful music accompanying them. Also, since E.T. isn't fully seen at first and Elliot appears nervous about what's out there, younger kids might be scared as well.
E.T.'s appearance may initially scare some younger kids.
As Keys and his men chase E.T. back toward his ship, E.T. lets out spooky sounds reminiscent of a hurt animal.
The appearance of government men (in space suits) as they enter the home (with their respirator breathing sounds) may be unsettling to younger kids.
Younger kids may be upset when E.T. is found lying in a culvert, looking rather sickly. Also, when he and Elliot are hooked up to medical equipment and E.T.'s health deteriorates might upset kids.
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