An opportunity to see E.T at the cinema. I never really watched it growing up but it’s one of those films that is much loved and arguably one of Spielberg's best although I think there are better such as Jurassic Park. This is a story about a boy who befriends an alien who is left on earth mistakenly. It’s not long before the authorities are after him and they are painted as the bad guys, in particular some guy who we only see from a shot of his keys hanging off his belt. Had this film been made today then this guy would be Elliott’s dad who is working for the government but as it is the dad is in Mexico and so its just this typical 1980’s family.
Henry Thomas is very good as Elliot. He has a lovely bond with E.T. and that is at the heart of the film. Child actors in the 1980’s and even until quite recently were very patchy in terms of quality. Most of the time the child actors are terrible but Thomas was a rare find and at the end when E.T. is gone you feel sorry for Elliott as he is left without his friend. Had this film been made now then there would have been a sequel and we would have found out that he has become a drug addict or alcoholic and he suffered with the loss of his friend.
I did like the scene where E.T is moving about at home and is reacting to things but Elliot is also reacting as it’s affecting him and it's good that this is the way they show that E.T. and Elliott are connected as when E.T. starts to get ill and it also makes Elliott unwell. I chuckled when there were the two references to Star Wars. One was when Elliott was showing E.T. the Star Wars figures and the better one was when some kid was dressed as Yoda. Bearing in mind that we were still a year away from Return of the Jedi, it was a fun nod to Star Wars.
The way they E.T. is hidden at first is done well and it was also clever how we never saw him run in the early scenes because it probably would have looked silly. It is nice that Spielberg learned from his time of Jaws to not show everything and use lighting and camera angles to get E.T. over.
John Williams’ score is beautiful and it shows why he is one of the greatest of all time. Some scores just stay with you and you can imagine bits of the film just hearing the score and Williams’ is filled with those scores and is just as big a part of the reason for this film being as good as it as the directing or acting or anything else.
My opinion hasn’t really changed because I saw it on the big screen. I never grew up watching this so I dont have the emotional connection to it that most people my age would do. I do think that it’s a lovely film to watch as it has a lot of heart and this type of film shows why Steven Spielberg was king of the cinema during the 80’s and 90’s. Some of the effects haven't aged as well but thats only really noticeable during the final act but bearing in mind that it was made in the 80’s I’ll forgive it. Some films made in the 2020’s have aged poorly but E.T. is a lovely film that is one I can regularly watch and enjoy.
Comments
Post a Comment