Let's talk about E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Solaris, Aug 11, 2016.

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  1. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Too late! :shh:

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    i'm sure its something in me, but i just can't get into "youth-oriented" films at at all, never could, even when i was a youth!
     
  3. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Absolutely adored the movie in 1982 and still love it - definitely in my top 10.

    Arguably the greatest "family movie" ever made, and one of the best directed films ever as well. Face it: "ET" should've sucked. The plot is nothing special and it should've been cheesy and stupid.

    But instead, it was magical.

    Never understood the hate for it - never will!

    E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial [Blu-Ray] (1982) »
     
  4. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I've always been able to watch movies for all ages - well, at least since I was 7 or 8, I guess. Of course, I leaned toward "kiddie movies" as a kid, but I still saw a lot of movies meant for adults and enjoyed them.

    The same still holds true: I can watch movies made for all ages and enjoy them - if they're well-made.

    IMO, a good movie is a good movie is a good movie - it shouldn't matter if it's for "kids" or adults...
     
  5. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I hate you for reminding me that that movie exists. :(
     
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  6. bamaaudio

    bamaaudio Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    All the mentions of Mac and Me reminds of....

     
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  7. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    You hated me anyway!
     
  8. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Spoony plays E.T on the Atari 2600:

     
  9. thxdave

    thxdave "One black, one white, one blonde"

    Awww, Paul.....you forgot to put in the "In my opinion...." part.
    I had a friend who was a bit like you in that he couldn't stand the thought of being manipulated emotionally by a movie. Kinda sad, really.
     
  10. davidshirt

    davidshirt =^,,^=

    Location:
    Grand Terrace, CA
    First movie I ever seen in a "walk-in" theatre was E.T. And I was 5 years old. I honestly really just remember the insane marketing of E.T. Products at the time. I saw the limited 2002 re-release in theatres with added scenes, but haven't watched it since. I might Netflix it seeing how it's on the streaming service now.
     
  11. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight Thread Starter

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    In a few shots I also saw some of that soft focus filter that shows up in late 70s movies like Superman, but I thought by 82 it was gone. Weird.

    On my rewatch I felt a few passages of the music were almost from a different film. Case in point is the final "goodbye," as if the music is trying to hard to convince you. On its own, that music is fantastic, but I don't think it matches up well with the visuals. But then you have a scene like the one where ET and Elliot are first getting to know each other and fall asleep. That's kind of magical, and the music plays a big part in that.

    As Colin noted, ET should have sucked, and as I said at the start, it's a strange little movie, which in other hands would have sucked. I chalk its success up to Spielberg's direction, with everything else falling in line behind him, and Williams just breathing life into it. I'd be really curious to watch the film without music, actually. Someone should do that in a film class.

    I have to say that I also still managed to believe in the ET puppet, which surprised me. Not as good as Yoda in Empire, but pretty damn good.

    And the similarities with ET's hand and the hand of the Martian in the original War of the Worlds stood out to me this time. I'm convinced that's Spielberg explicitly nodding toward the alien invasion films of the 50s while in the same breath turning them inside out.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2016
  12. Splungeworthy

    Splungeworthy Forum Rezidentura

    Convinced the **** outta me. Never fail to get a lump in the throat.
     
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  13. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Me, too! I'm downloading as we speak!
     
  14. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I'll admit it. When I saw it in the theater (How old was I? 21?) I had to choke back tears. Oh, my favorite story. I showed it to my daughter at age 8 and I couldn't get her to stop crying for an hour. I had to take her out for ice cream to get her over the trauma!
     
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  15. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    It's also in Star Wars, and Mr. Lucas was not happy about it. You'll notice they cut way down on this by Empire, and it's hardly there at all in the other movies.
     
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  16. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    I rediscovered ET on Blu-ray and I think it's great. This and "Jurassic Park" (and maybe "Duel") are easily my favorite Spielberg works. Just because Spielberg laid it on too thick using some of the "ET" heartstring formula in later films of his doesn't negate how great ET is. It's no more dated than any "old" film. It's not any less accurate of a depiction of 1982 life than a film now is of 2016.

    I'm also VERY glad that Spielberg went back on his Lucas-esque CGI rejiggering when he did ET on Blu-ray a few years ago. I haven't seen the "special edition" version with the added CGI stuff from the previous decade, but there are clips of the CGI version on the Blu-ray special features, and the CGI is awful. I get it, they had to CGI him for that bathtub scene outtake, so a s***ty CGI version just convey what the scene was supposed to be is fine.

    But this film and its sentimentality are something one either "gets" or doesn't "get." As I get older, I get more cynical about some things but also have ended up sort of softening when it comes to stuff like this. Give me "ET" over superhero bulls**t any time.
     
  17. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    Paul Rudd evidently still does this bit every time he goes on Conan, and it somehow never stops being funny, even when he does the *same joke* multiple times in the same interview:

     
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  18. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Oh, she manipulated the crap out of you! Now she knows "tears = ice cream"! :D
     
  19. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    IIRC, in another thread, someone recently called "ET" an inaccurate representation of suburban life circa 1982 due to all the freedom the kids had - stuff like the older brother backing the car out of the driveway or kids being left alone for extended periods.

    That's the way life was in 1982! Spielberg captured things very well - he eventually lost his "touch" with kids, but through the early 80s, he really worked well with them.

    Spielberg's canon is so good that it's impossible to define a "best film". I think that other than "1941", the 1975-1982 run was untouchable - movies just don't get better than "Jaws", "CE3K", "Raiders" and "ET"...
     
  20. sparkydog

    sparkydog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kentucky
    It's still there in Orlando. I liked it way more than I thought I would when I rode it last October. It's been described as "It's a Small World" on acid.

     
  21. balzac

    balzac Senior Member

    Yeah, I don't think there's anything particularly inaccurate about the depiction of suburban life in ET. No more so than most any movie, where one can make the argument if one doesn't incorporate a statistically valid proportion of every ill of society (physical abuse, drug abuse, mental illness, etc.), it's not very accurate.

    But the older brother backing the car out? That's actually a unique touch of uber-realism. That's *totally* a lame, goofy, almost endearing a thing a less jaded, less cynical kid of the early 80s would want to do. To be able to just "drive" the car that little bit. He's not Snapchatting pics of his junk to girls. Hell, this was even before videogames were a big enough thing to overtake a kid's life (at least at home). He's actually excited to be an "adult" enough to back the car down the driveway.

    As far as the kids being left alone, in my experience, both back then and now, a lot of kids were left alone even more often for even longer periods of time.

    I'm not quite as enamored with Spielberg's entire output (even in his early era) as some folks, but "ET" is a masterpiece. Look at it this way; I'm not a Spielberg hardcore fan and I didn't even really truly get fully "into" "ET" until the BD reissue in 2012, and within a year I had somehow saved up the money to buy this full size foam replica (the pic below is obviously just a stock photo!):

    [​IMG]
     
  22. Nope. Not in the theatrical cut that was widely distributed. I think someone had one too many with E.T.
     
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  23. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Very true - it wasn't a big deal to leave kids on their own back then, at least not once they were 10 or 11.

    Even in 1982, though, I did think it was unlikely that the mom would leave Gertie on her own while she went to get Elliott. Even if it was only for a few minutes, it seemed like a stretch for a 6-year-old to be left in the house alone...
     
  24. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
  25. bluejeanbaby

    bluejeanbaby Forum Resident

    Location:
    NW Indiana
    Was this what put Drew Barrymore on the map, or was she already known?
     
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