ET

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Written by: Melissa Mathison
Produced By: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg
Starring: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote,
C. Thomas Howell, Melissa Mathison, K.C. Martel Music By: John Williams
Production Company: Amblin Entertainment
Release dates: May 26, 1982 (Cannes). June 11, 1982 (United States)

Plot: Alien botanists secretly visit Earth at night to gather specimens in a California forest. One of them separates from the group, fascinated by the distant city lights, but U.S. government vehicles arrive and chase the startled creature. The other aliens depart, abandoning him on Earth. In a nearby neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley, ten-year-old Elliott Taylor's suspicions are roused when he pitches a baseball into a tool shed, and the ball is thrown back. Later that night, Elliott returns with a flashlight, discovering the creature among the cornstalks. He shrieks and flees the scene.

Elliott leaves a trail of candy to lure the alien into his house. Before bed, he realises the alien is imitating his movements. The next morning, Elliott feigns sickness to stay home from school and play with him. He can "feel" the alien's thoughts and emotions, shown when the alien accidentally opens an umbrella, startling him and simultaneously Elliott several rooms away.

Elliott introduces his older brother Michael and seven-year-old sister Gertie to the alien, deciding to keep him hidden from their mother, Mary. When the children ask the alien about his origins, he shows them by levitating several balls, representing his planetary system and demonstrates his powers by reviving a dead chrysanthemum.

Review: As a fantasy film ET is a remarkable story. Taking the genre of fantasy from the stars to Earth. Creating a likeable character that is relatable to all ages. When it was first aired it had a mixed review from both critic and audiences. One of the complaints made from Christian Churches was a part at the end where ET points to the centre of Eliot's forehead and tells him that they won't be apart. But that he would be always in Eliot's thoughts. Though the area the alien points is also deemed the "third eye". A sacred aspect of a bodies Chaka's The complaint was that the film was promoting an esoteric or pagan belief system. An aspect that one would need to believe to exist to find offensive. Personally I wasn't overly worried as the film was just an imaginative fantasy film.

The film has aged reasonably well. All the actresses and actors have grown and developed their respective acting careers. One such person who has done well is Drew Barrymore who is recognised as one of the industries success stories. The film is well worth watching with the whole family.

M J Flack