E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

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E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Few commercial films succeed at mining box-office gold while deeply touching the hearts of viewers, young and old. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is one such motion picture. Directed by Steven Spielberg (1947–), E.T. spotlights the evolving relationship between a space alien and a bright, sensitive middle-class suburban ten-year-old named Elliott.

At the outset, a spaceship lands in the woods nearby Elliott's home. After being scared off by the presence of humans, who from the aliens' point of view are menacing, the aliens return to their craft and head back into space. However, one of them accidentally is left behind. The terrified creature, who comes to be known as E.T., is befriended by Elliott. The two communicate by instinct, and Elliott soon becomes painfully aware that his little pal is homesick and wishes to return to his own planet.

Within the realm of the science–fiction movie genre (category), E.T. was a new kind of film. Before E.T., the aliens in most sci-fi dramas were villains. Generally the technology of the aliens, who were intent on invading and destroying Earth, was far superior to that of earthlings. Most of the classic doom-and-gloom sci-fi films were produced during the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War (1945–91; see entry under 1940s—The Way We Lived in volume 3), when the threat of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union loomed large.

At the time of its release, E.T. became the number-one moneymaking film in history, a record that has since been eclipsed, first by a 1993 Spielberg hit, Jurassic Park (see entry under 1990s—Print Culture in volume 5). The film was rereleased in 2002, upon the occasion of its twentieth anniversary. E.T. is at once funny and exciting, clever and moving, magical and memorable. Arguably, it remains Spielberg's all-time most beloved film.

—Rob Edelman