E.T.
E.T. (1982)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote
Memorable Line: "E.T., phone home"
Steven Spielberg was the darling of the box office at this point of his career and he knew all the ways to manipulate the heart strings of the audiences. E.T. is a good example of that less than subtle skill.
The Plot of E.T.
Elliot (Thomas), a normal young boy in a single parent family discovers an alien and befriends it. Not know what to do, he hides the alien from his family as long as he can, but slowly must introduce it to, first, his sister, then his older brother and finally his mother. Elliot develops a strong empathetic connection with E.T. in the process.
Of course, this can't go on as a shadowy government agency suddenly arrives on the scene and Elliot is sure his new friend will be dissected in unholy experiments. While the government folks work on E.T., the little alien gets sick and because of his connection to Elliot, the boy get sick also. To help his new alien friend out, Elliot plots with his friends to rescue E.T. But will Elliot's plan to get E.T. work or will the government agents take E.T. down?
The Performances, Writing, and Director of E.T.
By now, Spielberg had all his tricks established and he knew just what strings to pull to make the audience dance. For the most part, he's quiet effective, but there are several times in this movie that he stretches the limits of his manipulation. I can remember hearing a grown man behind my crying when E.T. was in peril.
Still Spielberg does a good job of making the family seem real. Thomas stands out as Elliot and holds his own with any adult. Drew Barrymore is a scene-stealer in her own right, though. Dee Wallace does a solid job of playing the harried single parent.
John William's score is a major player in the movie and makes the manipulation a little more evident at times.
Of course, this can't go on as a shadowy government agency suddenly arrives on the scene and Elliot is sure his new friend will be dissected in unholy experiments. While the government folks work on E.T., the little alien gets sick and because of his connection to Elliot, the boy get sick also. To help his new alien friend out, Elliot plots with his friends to rescue E.T. But will Elliot's plan to get E.T. work or will the government agents take E.T. down?
The Performances, Writing, and Director of E.T.
By now, Spielberg had all his tricks established and he knew just what strings to pull to make the audience dance. For the most part, he's quiet effective, but there are several times in this movie that he stretches the limits of his manipulation. I can remember hearing a grown man behind my crying when E.T. was in peril.
Still Spielberg does a good job of making the family seem real. Thomas stands out as Elliot and holds his own with any adult. Drew Barrymore is a scene-stealer in her own right, though. Dee Wallace does a solid job of playing the harried single parent.
John William's score is a major player in the movie and makes the manipulation a little more evident at times.
Summary Judgment on E.T.
E.T. is a simple crowd pleasing movie. It has a lot of appeal for the mass audience and if you going into the movie with that in mind, you should have no problems and I can now watch it again with my own kids and not feel too manipulated.
E.T. is a simple crowd pleasing movie. It has a lot of appeal for the mass audience and if you going into the movie with that in mind, you should have no problems and I can now watch it again with my own kids and not feel too manipulated.
posted by Random at
9:26 AM
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