ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

[Edgy MD]

Surprise viewing last night at the Edgy household.

I naturally noticed massive plot holes and technical oversights which largely made me appreciate all the more the deft and subtle wielding of a sentimental sledgehammer that obscured them the first time.

[Willets Point]

I was eight when E.T. came out and pretty much hated it thus setting me apart from the great mass of eight year olds who loved it. I also hated Michael Jackson who was big at that time. This pretty much set the stage for my iconoclastic lifestyle and the fact that I never had any friends. Thanks fro bringing up those old wounds Edgy.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I guess I was 19 when it came out, and I thought it was great.

I watched it for the second time about 16 years later, when my son was a toddler. It didn't do much for me. I suppose my heartstrings don't get tugged the same way that they once did.

I probably would have given it 4.5 stars then, maybe 2.5 now.

I don't know if I should split the difference and vote 3.5, or go with my first (and dated) impression, or my current opinion.

Such a difficult situation!

[Centerfield]

I thought it was ok as a kid. Unwatchable when it was released on video several years later.

When I was in grade school, the teachers kept telling us that if we screwed up our buddy system, one of us would get left behind like E.T.

[Frayed Knot]

Never saw it.

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: Never saw it.

Me neither,the nearest cinema was a good thirty miles away in Clonmel,we never went,in fact I don't think any of my friends saw it either,certainly not when it was in the cinema.We didn't have a VHS/VCR for years so I didn't see it there either.

I'm sure RTE showed at Christmas but I can't remember.

[Benjamin Grimm]

In retrospect, one of the most surprising things about that movie is that there was never a sequel.

My guess is that Spielberg resisted. I'm sure the studio would have loved to do an ET 2. I don't remember if there were ever even any rumors about another ET movie.

[Edgy MD]

There was netbuzz back in 1985 of Speilberg and Drew Barrymore co-producing a sequel, with Gertie being the heroine.

[metirish]

Edgy DC wrote: There was netbuzz back in 1985 of Speilberg and Drew Barrymore co-producing a sequel, with Gertie being the heroine.

Drew Barrymore was 10,do you mean 1995 or 2005?....

[Benjamin Grimm]

Must have been 2005.

In 1985 there was no such thing as "netbuzz." The Internet probably had about a dozen users.

[Willets Point]

metirish wrote: Edgy DC wrote: There was netbuzz back in 1985 of Speilberg and Drew Barrymore co-producing a sequel, with Gertie being the heroine. Drew Barrymore was 10,do you mean 1995 or 2005?....

Drew Barrymore did a lot of things by the age of ten that most kids never do at that age. I wouldn't put producing a film past her.

[Edgy MD]

2005.

I clearly have no idea what I'm typing anymore.

[Guest sharpie]

Umm..it was ok. Couldn't stand the hype when it was released, saw it just before it left the theaters. Had its moments, but, as often with Spielburg movies, you can see the strings being pulled.

[Edgy MD]

AFI says number 24.

[Batty31]

Don't throw Reese's Pieces at me, but I liked this movie..saw it in the theater when it came out. Alien movies...even cutsey ones..will always have an appeal to me. I guess there is a soft sentimental spot in my otherwise black heart.

[dgwphotography]

I am a sentimental person, and this over-rated tripe left me cold. One vomit-inducing reeses piece.

[RealityChuck]

Just a great movie in all respects. There's nothing wrong with going for the emotions, and Spielberg does is perfectly.

[Vic Sage]

To watch this movie is to see a master craftsman at the top of his game.

I'm as cynical as they come, but Spielberg is able to elicit more terror from a set of jangling keys swinging on a belt, more romance from the setting free of frogs in science class, more humor from a drunken alien, more joy from soaring bicycles crossing the moon, and more sheer wonderment and heartbreak from a glowing red fingertip than any other filmmaker of his generation.

youse peeps are just plain nuts.

[Willets Point]

Don't forget the porn version E3: The Extra Testicle.

[metirish]

Finally I watched this today on HBO in HD. Maybe because I have heard so much about it down the years I was expecting something more , it was watchable and certainly darker that I expected . I also thought Drew Barrymore was the main star and was surprised to see it was the boy.

3.5 stars from me .