FILM REVIEW: E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Timelessness Revisited Starring: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton and Peter Coyote Rating: Classics can’t b...

Timelessness Revisited

Starring: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton and Peter Coyote

Rating: Classics can’t be rated

Steven Spielberg is considered to be one of the best American filmmakers and not without reason… just take a look at his immense body of work and all your reservations will be laid to rest. I am saying this because back in the 80s and 90s, Spielberg was second to none while now he has given mediocre stuff like ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ (2008) and ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park ‘(1997). Even ‘The BGF’ (2016) wasn’t that magical enough to woo us.

E.T. (1982) is his most famous work (even more so than the Indiana Jones series) This children’s classic could be interpreted in so many ways: about growing up, about children trying to cope with their parent’s divorce, about falling in love, about being selfless; but above all, it’s a film to be watched and entertained.

The storyline is simple enough yet so powerful that it casts its magical spell on you even 40 years after its first release that too on IMAX! The end result is still just as spell-binding for this reviewer who saw it at Sterling Theatre in Bombay on a 70 mm screen when it was first released in India in 1986.

An alien stranded on Earth gets befriended by a timid 10-year-old boy Elliott who, along with his brother and sister, helps ET to return to his home planet.

The emotional scenes are spot on, accompanied by a fabulous score by John Williams. Spielberg’s direction is flawless, with perfect editing and perfect cinematography by Allen Daviau, who shot some of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history. The special effects by Carlo Rambaldi are extraordinary and still astonish me though the film was released 40 years ago. The lighting is used to good effect.

There is a reason why E.T. continues to entertain and move audiences to this day. It will keep on reminding them about the feeling of being a child. E.T. thus will forever remain a classic moving its viewers with its poignancy, and making them laugh at its goofiness and continue to endure in its timelessness.