From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:21 2002 From: Robin Clifford Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 18:54:53 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31347 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 295910 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: A- Summary: r.a.m.r. #31347 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 86 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!headwall.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3176 rec.arts.sf.reviews:228 "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial" Twenty years ago a film legend was born with the story of a little alien left stranded, alone, on Earth. His friendship with a young boy and an overwhelming need to "phone home" touched the hearts of millions around the world. Now, it's time to dust off the legend, spruce it up a bit and capture the hearts of millions more in the anniversary release of Steven Spielberg's "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial." I attended an advance screening of the 20th anniversary reissue of "E.T." and was struck by several things. One is that Steven Spielberg established himself as the master of manipulation with this opus as he plucked our heartstrings with the sentimentality of a friendship between a little boy and a diminutive alien. The helmer also has a knack of putting a sinister tone to the story, even when there is no actual menace - the faceless men swarming around the darkened woods, flashlights poking beams in all directions, hunting down the frightened, stranded E.T.; or, the invasion into Elliott's home by more faceless government guys dressed in space suits. These are disturbing elements that place a dark edge on the otherwise light and charming adventure tale, even if, in the end, the actions turn benign. Seeing this flick again, so many years later, also shows that the things that captured our hearts two decades ago still apply today. While I may scorn the rank manipulation of sentimentality endemic in many Spielberg films, I believe, again, in E.T. Not once did it come to mind that the little guy is anything other than real. His reintroduction to a whole new audience of kids will revive this marketing concern - a good thing, too, since Laura's stuffed E.T. toy gave up the ghost years ago - and, I'm sure, the box office takes around the world are going to be huge. The other thing about "E.T." that I had forgotten about is the caliber of the acting of the kids starring in the film. Henry Thomas, as young Elliott, is outstanding as he, initially, is the only one who believes in the little creature. When his eyes fill with tears over the fate of his friend from another planet, I got all choked up, too, over what is happening to little E.T. Six-year old (at the time) Drew Barrymore is wonderful as Elliott's little sister Gertie. Her innocent denials of Elliott's escapades with his alien buddy or her dealings with the little critter himself are the comic relief through much of the film. Robert MacNaughton, as Elliott and Gertie's elder sibling Mike, is dead on as the older brother who, initially, puts up with his little brother's fantasy imaginings about aliens but becomes a firm ally when the truth is told. The adults in this fantasy adventure - mainly limited to Dee Wallace Stone as the kids' mom and Peter Coyote as the initially sinister government guy who, really, has a heart - don't fare as well as their younger costars. The reissue of "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial," as one expects, has additional footage and changes/updates to the existing film and, overall, it works. E.T.'s first encounter with the "sinister" men in the woods is given a bit more realism to the little guy's escape as he hops, rather than glides (as in the original), to safety. In a politically correct move, Spielberg and the crew at Industrial Light and Magic replace the guns of the swarming Feds, in the climactic chase, with walkie-talkies. This PC move may piss off the purists but in my mind works far better than guys toting guns to take some little kids into custody. One addition I do question is the insert of a scene as mom tries to find Elliott during Halloween. The added scene provides some amusing notes, particularly by Drew Barrymore, but looks like a cross between "Wild In the Streets," "The Crow" and footage of the siege at Attica State Prison. Overall, though, the changes and additions help smooth out some problems with the original rather than seem simply tacked on. Bringing back "E.T." to the big screen, decades after its first release, and "fixing" the problems that bothered the director turns out to be a big plus. A whole new generation of kids will have the chance to see the magic of the lovable title character and, despite the fact that film technology has grown in leaps and bounds, the "old-fashioned" puppeteering still works and you do believe in the little guy. I give it an A-. For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com laura@reelingreviews.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31347 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 295910 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: A- From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:21 2002 From: Steve Rhodes Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 18:57:17 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31348 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 295911 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 703 X-RT-AuthorID: 1271 X-RT-RatingText: 4/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31348 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 75 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!uab.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!newsfeed1.bredband.com!bredband!diablo.netcom.net.uk!netcom.net.uk!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!telocity-west!TELOCITY!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3177 rec.arts.sf.reviews:229 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2002 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): **** Steven Spielberg's much beloved film treasure, E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, is coming to the big screen in a theater near you in celebration of its twentieth anniversary. If you see it there, your heart will likely soar just like Elliot's does when E.T. lifts them both into the air on Elliot's bike. Real classics improve with age as does E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, but, just to make sure that the film is in tip-top form, Spielberg has tweaked it some by adding a few new scenes, including a hilarious bathtub one, improving the special effects some and remixing the sound to take better advantage of today's speaker systems. The reality, however, is that the original was already great so the improvements aren't that important. The real treat is being able to see the movie on the big screen again. (It should be pointed out that a widely reported change, the removal of the infamous "penis breath" epithet, did not happen. It's still there to worry worry-wart school administrators about the appropriateness of showing the movie at school.) As most of us know by now, E.T. is an alien who is accidentally left behind on earth. With gigantic, soulful eyes and arms so long that his hands drag the ground, E.T. is easily the most adorable alien ever to grace the screen. A sad but sweet creature, he waddles his way to a house where three kids, Elliot (Henry Thomas), Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and Gertie (Drew Barrymore), are sort of watched over by their busy mom, Mary (Dee Wallace). Like most parents, she's oblivious to the obvious for way too long. Elliot is the first to discover E.T., whom he treats rather like the world's most fascinating stray dog. When they first meet, it's not clear who is more scared. With eyes almost as big as E.T.'s, Thomas could have stolen the show were it not for Barrymore. Her sassy rendition of a big mouthed little charmer lays waste to anyone else who might try to upstage her. If every kid were this cute, we'd have nothing but kids' movies at the multiplex. But even she is outshined by E.T., who redefines cute. The movie, which is much slower paced than most movies today, especially kids' pictures, contains some great lines and wonderful sight gags. The best of these is E.T.'s hiding amongst a bunch of stuffed animals. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll have a great time. Be like Gertie, who can never keep a secret. Tell everyone you know that they don't want to miss this rare opportunity to view this great motion picture on the big screen. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL runs 2:00. It is rated PG for "language and mild thematic elements" and would be a great choice for all ages. My son Jeffrey, almost 13, gave it *** 1/2, commenting on how extremely funny the film is. His friend John, age 13, gave it *** 1/2 as well. He liked the new scenes but thought E.T.'s motions aren't as good as they used to be. John's twin Steven, gave it ****, saying that it is his favorite film. He thought the changes made the movie slightly more dramatic and less scary. (Note: The guns, which used to appear briefly, have been digitally changed to walkie-talkies.) The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 22, 2002. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters. Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com *********************************************************************** Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email? Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31348 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 295911 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 703 X-RT-AuthorID: 1271 X-RT-RatingText: 4/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Christopher Null Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 18:59:07 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31349 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 295912 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 178 X-RT-AuthorID: 1062 X-RT-RatingText: 5/5 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31349 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 110 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!206.252.192.28!news.stealth.net!news.stealth.net!lackawana.kippona.com!paradoxa.ogoense.net!sn-xit-04!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3178 rec.arts.sf.reviews:230 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL A film review by Christopher Null Copyright 2002 filmcritic.com Break out the Reese’s Pieces and the Speak ‘n’ Spell – E.T. is back, and he’s hungry for your blood!!! Okay, while this 20th anniversary reissue makes a few changes, it’s not quite that radical… but if you haven’t seen this film since you were 10 years old (like me), it is well worth another visit to the movie. Never mind the updates and alterations -- it's amazing how much I'd forgotten from the original -- which means the update is just as fresh and exciting as it was in 1982. But Steven Spielberg has been tinkering -- and not really in an obvious way like Lucas did with Star Wars. Most notable among the changes (which add about 5 minutes to the running time) are a repaired and expanded opening sequence, wherein we meet E.T. and his alien family, which is forced to leave him behind when those pesky feds get too close. E.T. ends up being found in America's foggiest subdivision by Elliott (Henry Thomas), who immediately finds a connection with him – two loners both lost in their own way. Elliott eventually introduces E.T. to his siblings, played by Robert NacNaughton and an unforgettable Drew Barrymore, who absolutely steals the show as the terminally cute Gertie (poor kid!). Meanwhile, a strange, symbiotic bond forms between the boy and the alien. Soon they feel each other’s emotions and experience each other’s sicknesses – most memorably when E.T. consumes a six-pack of Coors, getting them both drunk. The feds close in on the alien just as he begins to get inexplicably ill (and not from the beer) – prompting Elliott to help him “phone home,” building a kind of space antenna out of an umbrella, a circular saw blade, a fork, and, of course, a Speak ‘n’ Spell. Director Steven Spielberg hasn’t fixed the nonsensical science of E.T. with this reissue, but that’s befitting both the Spielberg “writ large” style and the fact that this is really a fable for children, not a pondering on high-tech. In fact, it’s one of the best children’s stories ever put to film. The other changes are more difficult to spot. Spielberg has fixed a number of continuity and special effects mistakes, of course. A scene with Elliott comparing his height to the alien – only for his neck to stretch for the first time – is a memorable addition, and purists will bemoan the replacement of the feds’ guns with walkie-talkies (yeah, it looks weird when you hold a walkie-talkie like a gun), though it hardly ruins the movie. What’s intact is the film’s powerful yet unmushy message of friendship, unconditional love, helping those in need… geez, what doesn’t this film have that an impressionable kid couldn’t stand to hear? E.T., as we conclude in the end, is a lost child, just like Elliott. The bond between these two stands as one of cinema's most stirring relationships ever -- especially amazing considering one of them has a vocabulary of about 10 words. I figured today’s jaded kids, which packed our screening, wouldn't care for E.T., seeing the movie as manipulative and cheesy. But how wrong I was: On the way out, a pipsqueak chorus of “E.T. phone home!” was all I could hear. RATING: ***** [HIGHEST RATING] [* = lowest rating / ***** = highest rating] MPAA Rating: PG Director: Steven Spielberg Producer: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg Writer: Melissa Mathison Starring: Dee Wallace-Stone, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore http://www.et20.com/ --- filmcritic.com / http://filmcritic.com/ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31349 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 295912 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 178 X-RT-AuthorID: 1062 X-RT-RatingText: 5/5 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Bob Bloom Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2002 18:25:33 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31352 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 296037 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 872 X-RT-AuthorID: 1363 X-RT-RatingText: 4/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31352 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 74 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!uab.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!cyclone2.usenetserver.com!peer1-sjc1.usenetserver.com!usenetserver.com!sn-xit-04!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3182 rec.arts.sf.reviews:231 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982, 2002) 4 stars out of 4. Starring Dee Wallace Stone, Peter Coyote, Drew Barrymore, Henry Thomas and Robert MacNaughton. Music by John Williams. Written by Melissa Mathison. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Rated PG. Twenty years after its initial release, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial remains timeless. The years have not dimmed the awe, the spectacle nor the heart from this wonderful classic. Save for one added scene, and some enhanced special effects that give E.T. more personality, this masterpiece is the same touching feature that brought tears to millions of eyes back in 1982. I doubt any warm-blooded individual can watch this film's finale - especially the moment when E.T. touches young Elliott's forehead and says, "I'll be right here." - without unashamedly weeping. The decades have not siphoned the emotional potency brewed by Melissa Mathison's script, Steven Spielberg's direction and John Williams' soaring musical score. Spielberg had admitted his attachment to E.T., calling it his most personal film, his catharsis for finally being able to deal with his parents divorce and the feelings of abandonment caused by the departure of his father. And these elements are very much in evidence in E.T. Elliott, the middle child, lives with his older brother, Mike, younger sister, Gertie, and their now-separated mother. Elliott misses his father terribly. The story of E.T. is so well known that repeating any of it is unnecessary. So, let's look at what has been added and technologically updated. The added scene features E.T. and Elliott in the bathroom with E.T. fooling around with a tube of toothpaste then relaxing underwater in the bathtub. It doesn't really add much to the film, except to show more of the bonding between the boy and his alien. Computer graphics have made E.T. more expressive, especially around the eyes and mouth. He seems more emotionally in tune with the children around him. Computer magic also was used in the final chase sequence to transform shotguns the government agents were holding into walkie-talkies. Purists may object, but I'd rather see grownups carrying communication devices when chasing youngsters than guns. One of the strangest aspects of looking back on E.T. is watching Drew Barrymore. She is so cute and precocious, a real charmer, and it is evident even at such a young age that the camera adores her. And you forget how fine a performance young Henry Thomas gave. He tugs at your heart as he fights to keep then help his new-found friend. E.T. always will be a treasure. You can re-release it 20 years or 100 years from now and it will continue to wrap you in a warm, cozy, emotional vise. It's the epitome of true cinematic art, a movie that touches you on all levels. Welcome home, E.T. Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloomjc@yahoo.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31352 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 296037 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 872 X-RT-AuthorID: 1363 X-RT-RatingText: 4/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Jon Popick Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 19:05:23 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31359 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 296529 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 595 X-RT-AuthorID: 1146 X-RT-RatingText: 8/10 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31359 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 87 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news-peer-europe.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!193.190.198.17!newsfeeds.belnet.be!newsfeed.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!surfnet.nl!isdnet!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3187 rec.arts.sf.reviews:232 Planet Sick-Boy: http://www.sick-boy.com "We Put the SIN in Cinema" © Copyright 2001 Planet Sick-Boy. All Rights Reserved. Back when E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial was originally released, I was smack in the middle of what the film's target demographic must have been. For some reason, though, my family never really embraced E.T. quite as feverishly as the rest of the country did. In our house, the top shelf of family cinema was reserved for pictures like Gremlins, Star Wars, Poltergeist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the Queen Mother of watch-it-until-you-know-it-by-heart films, A Christmas Story (and, when my parents were gone, Body Heat). Until the screening of the spiffy new version of E.T., it had literally been 20 years since I had seen it. If asked to recount the moments I could remember, the sorry highlight reel would probably be shorter than a TV commercial. In fact, the one thing I distinctly recall from the 1982 viewing is being kind of troubled by the tract housing depicted in the film, imagining myself living in a similar neighborhood, getting off the school bus and not being able to tell which house was mine. Still, I was anxious to see the new version, if only to answer these questions: Would the film hold up after two decades or would it seem derivative and overly schmaltzy? Would years and years of cinematic desensitization have numbed me to the point where E.T. would seem no more emotionally warming than an episode of Reba, or would the magic of Steven Spielberg transcend time and reveal itself as one of the best films ever made? For the most part, the film does hold up pretty well, though it is quite derivative (particularly of The Day the Earth Stood Still) and pretty damn schmaltzy, but not in a way that makes you feel like too much of a tool. Save a new scene here and a re-done special effect there, E.T. is still the same old film about a young boy named Elliott (Henry Thomas) who finds a toddler-sized alien with a translucent chest, extendo-neck and voice like an Italian grandmother with a three-pack-a-day habit. The alien, or "E.T.," was accidentally left behind by his brethren on a scientific-type mission to Earth and holes up with Elliott and his family until he can figure out how to build an Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator using typical household objects in order to relay a distress call (or "phone home") to his planet. E.T. does this after seeing a similar device in a Buck Rogers comic strip, which is actually more of an explanation than we ever got from MacGyver or those guys from The A-Team (but this concept would never work now, because E.T. could phone home much quicker, what with DSL and all). And the little guy learns the language faster than any other newcomer to this country ever has (yeah, I'm talking to you, Mr. Schwarzenegger). The re-release of E.T. offers plenty of chances to see exciting things, like a very young Drew Barrymore (who was probably already half-crocked when E.T. delivers his parting advice to "be good") and brief appearances by miniature versions of C. Thomas Howell and Erika Eleniak. There's a sexy new bathtub scene, but no Harrison Ford, who played Elliott's school principal but has yet to make it into any cut of this film (his then-wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the screenplay). You can still enjoy rabble-rousing phrases like "douche bag" and "penis breath," but you won't hear the word "terrorist" or see the government goons wielding guns because Spielberg's testicles ascended somewhere into his chest cavity after having and adopting kids of his own. There are a lot of cool point-of-view shots and, thankfully, no sappy epilogue that left things open for a sequel. As enjoyable as the film is, it's rather bothersome that E.T.'s trailer declares itself to be Spielberg's "masterpiece," obviously forgetting those two underseen little gems that won his Best Director Oscars (Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan). Personally, I wouldn't even rate E.T. among Spielberg's best sci-fi films, placing it well after A.I. and Close Encounters. Though it only took in a paltry $11.9 million during its opening weekend (that might be good for a 5th place finish in this century), the film eventually made about $400 million in the U.S. alone. It was nominated for nine Oscars and won five, mostly in technical categories, including John Williams' score which features the most annoying swell in the history of modern cinema. Most notably -and shockingly - it somehow bested Das Boot in both the Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing categories. 2:00 - PG for language and mild thematic elements ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31359 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 296529 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 595 X-RT-AuthorID: 1146 X-RT-RatingText: 8/10 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Harvey S. Karten Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 20:15:41 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31367 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298323 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31367 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 80 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!fr.usenet-edu.net!usenet-edu.net!freenix!sn-xit-01!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3193 rec.arts.sf.reviews:233 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL Reviewed by Harvey Karten Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment Director: Steven Spielberg Writer: Melissa Mathison Cast:Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, K.C. Martel, Sean Frye, C. Thomas Howell, Erika Eleniak, David M. O'Dell, Richard Swingler Screened at:Loews E-Walk, NYC 3/23/02 When the final curtain rang down on a Broadway performance of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" one evening in 1949, an executive type in the fifth row was heard to say to his wife, "I always knew that New England route was no damn good." Talk about literal interpretations of theater! I almost expected someone in the audience for "E.T." to mumble, "I always told you that the suburbs are the best place to bring up kids," which may well be true considering the adorable family adopted by Steven Spielberg for his blockbusting, box-office-record-breaking 1982 film. Now in its 20th anniversary with just a few minutes added and a sprucing up of John Williams' stirring score, "E.T." knocks 'em dead once again, a film that is so visually and emotionally arresting the darn thing takes your breath away. What makes this fable a parable that compares favorably with "The Wizard of Oz"? You could mention ten-year-old Henry Thomas's performance, perhaps the best rendetion by a kid at any time on the silver screen of the power of imagination, the very quality that begins to deteriorate once we reach junior high school. Then again, the greatness could be found in the dramatic trajectory, the way director Steven Spielberg starts the show ominously as though he were emulating David Lynch's "Blue Velvet." as a group of sinister adults attempt to track down something that's moving in the tall grass, and breaks up each episode of high excitement with a period of character exploration. We can't fail to mention the astonishing visuals, culminating in the world-famous scene of a boy on his bike soaring over the California trees by the light of the moon. Most of all, I guess, "E.T." treats the subject of communication in a way so stirring that few so-called adult films can match the depiction of the empathy of a lonely boy, the product of a home without a father and the butt of jokes of his older schoolmates, as he connects famously with his mirror image from a distant planet. The title character is a green, lizard-like creature with a neck so flexible that he can rise from a figure about three and one-half feet tall to one about a forehead higher than his new young friend. When his space vehicle takes off inadvertently without him, the extra terrestrial feels as abandoned as does the young lad, Elliott (Henry Thomas), and as a creature dependent on the kindness of his ten-year-old host he evokes love and a sense of responsibility in the little man and eventually in his mom (Dee Wallace), his kid sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore) and even the older guys in school who go along for the ride. Though the film bogs down for a while when E.T. has been stricken and is placed on an operating table by doctors intent on bringing him back for future experimentation, Spielberg's movie effectively shows adults a world as seen from the point of view of a excited boy, and while the kids in the audience are bound to forget about fidgeting, the real winners are we old timers in the audience who for a couple of hours are transported back to a period in our lives that the clouds, the stars, and whole universe are seen as though for the first time. Rated PG. Running time: 120 minutes. (C) 2002 by Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31367 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298323 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 570 X-RT-AuthorID: 1123 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Laura Clifford Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 20:20:39 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31370 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298325 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1487 X-RT-RatingText: A- Summary: r.a.m.r. #31370 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 82 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!uab.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3198 rec.arts.sf.reviews:234 E.T. - THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (20th Anniversary Edition) ---------------------------- Twenty years ago, a movie about a young boy who befriends a stranded alien opened with little pre-release fanfare and went on to become one of the most beloved (and top grossing) films of all time. Director Steven Spielberg has added 5 minutes of footage and taken advantage of technological advances to enhance the effects of his quintessential film, "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial." After two decades, one might expect a revisiting of E.T. to produce embarrassment at having succumbed to Spielberg's manipulative sentimentality, but "E.T.," when seen on the big screen as it should be, works its magic once again. At its heart a boy-and-his-dog story, "E.T." soars on the basis of the on screen believability of Carlo Rambaldi's titular creation and its director's innate ability to capture the world through a child's eyes. Speaking of eyes, Spielberg recognized the maternal compulsion to react to the large, wide set eyes of a newborn and emphasized that feature throughout his film, whether balancing a shot of E.T. with an eyelit Elliott (Henry Thomas, "All the Pretty Horses") or offering a closeup of a jar-jailed frog. It's no surprise that this film's harried single mom (Dee Wallace Stone, "The Frighteners") would overlook E.T. hiding in plain site amidst a pyramid of teddy bears and other huggable toys. When government investigators get too close to an alien spaceship, it departs, leaving behind one of its own. The little alien makes its way to a suburban backyard storage shed, where he's discovered by Elliott. E.T. makes a telepathic connection to Elliott and is soon hidden in his room and introduced to older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton, "I Am the cheese") and younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore, "Riding in Cars with boys"). It's up to this trio to enable E.T. to make his way home as Earth's atmosphere is having a degenerative effect on the little guy. Spielberg gets some of the best child performances ever captured on film from the empathetic Thomas and side-splitting natural Barrymore with MacNaughton ably bridging the child-adult gap. His staging of Elliott's biology class rebellion, where reacting to E.T.'s beer consumption back home he sets free all the frogs, is classic filmmaking. (The recipient of Elliott's "The Quiet Man" kiss is future Playboy Playmate Erika Eleniak). "E.T." is not without flaws, though, particularly in the heavy handed home invasion which begins the film's final segment. The menacing, faceless figures which enter the house's orifices are a manipulative effect with no story basis. The villainous overtones are softened by Peter Coyote's caring character, Keys, and Spielberg's wise decision to replace the guns formerly yielded by the agents who chase the children with walkie talkies. This tampering may strike some purists as overtly PC, yet it actually makes more sense in the serving of the story. Alas, his overdubbing of mom's exhortation to Michael that he looks like a terrorist with hippie instead doesn't. While Elliott's initial flight past a full moon has been digitally enhanced (his cape now flutters in the wind), the later group flight is saddled with obvious blue screen work and hammy reaction shots from Michael's buddies. Yet for all that goes before, "E.T." is still one of those magical collaborations where a director's vision is assisted by people working at their peak including Melissa Mathison (screenplay), Allen Daviau (director of photography), John Williams (score), James D. Bissell (production design) and Carol Littleton (editor). Only the most hardened heart should be able to resist the glow from the one that anchors this classic. A- For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com laura@reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31370 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298325 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1487 X-RT-RatingText: A- From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Ram Samudrala Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 20:31:30 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31377 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298330 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 302 X-RT-AuthorID: 29 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31377 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 53 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.kth.se!uio.no!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!sn-xit-03!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3211 rec.arts.sf.reviews:237 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/et_the_extra_terrestrial.html I saw /E.T./ when I was ten, and at that time, the excitement and suspense generated by the opening scenes, where the aliens abandon one of their kind, gave way to nausea viewing the saccharine ending. Since I can remember, I was more interested in exploring ideas presented by movies rather than the plot itself, and /E.T./'s plot was a distraction. This in general is the problem I've had with other films that Steven Speilberg has directed and produced (/A.I. Artificial Intelligence/, /Poltergeist/, /Innerspace/, /Batteries Not Included/, for example). The concepts (extraterrestrials, artificial intelligence, poltergeists, explorations of the body) are great and make my mind soar. The anthropomorphising ends up like being a huge anchor that I need to throw away to get the most from those films. This isn't to criticise Spielberg: it's clear I'm in the minority when it comes to a distaste for humanisation of films, but I feel quite strongly that there's a Universe out there that's beyond us and we're nothing more than specks of dust in the cosmos. Thus I view such films as self-aggrandising hubris. The nice thing about this story is that even though there's little nefarious activity going on (the extra-terrestrial is never threatening or threatened), the film develops well and the pacing is tight. The acting by the kids who are in charge of taking care of E.T. is very good and there's some political incorrectness that's refreshing. There's a lot of symbolism in the film that makes it worth watching when one's more well-read (than as a child), but this is also manipulative. There's nothing special to be said for the "revamped" version but its release does give one an opportunity to check it out on the big screen. /E.T./ is a part of American pop culture, and definitely worth checking out, particularly if you can ignore being preached about what you already (should) know. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- email@urls || http://www.ram.org || http://www.twisted-helices.com/th Movie ram-blings: http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies.html ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31377 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298330 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 302 X-RT-AuthorID: 29 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Dennis Schwartz Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 20:40:41 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31385 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298336 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: C+ Summary: r.a.m.r. #31385 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 103 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!newsfeed1.swip.net!swipnet!news-stob.telia.net!news-sto.telia.net!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!171.64.14.106!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3210 rec.arts.sf.reviews:236 E.T. - THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (director: Steven Spielberg; screenwriter: Melissa Mathison; cinematographer: Allen Daviau; editor: Carol Littleton; music: John Williams; cast: Henry Thomas (Elliott), Drew Barrymore (Gertie), Robert MacNaughton (Michael), Dee Wallace-Stone (Mary), Peter Coyote (Keys), K.C. Martel (Greg), Sean Frye (Steve); Runtime: 115; Universal; 1982) Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz A retelling of E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial from 20 years after its release. The director, Steven Spielberg, in this 20th anniversary reissue, has made use of modern CGI effects and added some digitally mixed sound updates and made some inconsequential changes to the classic such as adding two new scenes (an alien now digitally enhanced taking a bath and the hero's mom in search of her kids during Halloween), as the film basically remains intact from its original. In a PC move Spielberg replaces, in the climactic scene, the guns with walkie-talkies, the pursuing Feds have when chasing the alien. That change is also no biggie. If you liked the 1982 film then, you'll still like it now. It's a mushy feel-good fantasy about a harmless alien and his contact with a harmless kid from the 'burbs, as the kid helps the stranded alien go home. The realism part of the film tells about unsupervised kids in suburbia, how lonely they can get, how much they yearn for a nuclear home, and how unhappy and harried a mother can get who is trying to raise a family without a father in the house. There is no question, this manipulative tearjerker became one of the biggest hits in box-office history. But I doubt if the public that fell so much in love with this cute Disney-like tale, looked too deeply at this religious parable, steeped in mythology, and examined how overwrought and crude it really is. The film dumbs everything down sitcom style, and even reduces the alien mystery to the vulgar lovable relationship between two children from different cultures. This flick is strictly for the kids and those who are nostalgic about so-called old-fashioned values, as the suburban teens rebel by ordering a pizza without mom's permission and later help the alien escape from the perceived enemy space-suit wearing government cops. When they're not called on to rebel, we see the teens act obnoxious and play board games like Dungeons and Dragons. Lonely Elliott (Henry Thomas, he was 9-years-old at the time) finds an alien in his suburban house, where he lives with his recently separated mom Mary (Dee Wallace-Stone) who tries to keep her family functioning despite being alone. Elliott's initial problem, is that no one believes him when he sees an alien. Also at home are Elliott's high school student brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and Elliott's precocious younger sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore, she was a six-year old at the time). Gertie is the film's source of comic relief as she innocently mimics Elliott, who is intent on keeping mom from knowing his secret visitor. "E.T.", as the alien is called, has been left behind accidently by visitors from outer space who were in a rush to escape government agents. The cute looking creature just wants to get home (wanting to be home is what the alien has in common with the suburban kids). Elliott can relate to that and confides in his brother and sister to keep him a secret and protect the alien until it can make that magical call to his people and get them to pick him up in the chosen desolate forest spot of a California suburb. Elliott bonds with the alien and he not only becomes his best friend, but is on the same brain-wave. The alien invades the refrigerator and gets drunk on beer, this causes Elliott to also get drunk as his class is about to dissect frogs. Elliott gets sent home from school when he springs the frogs loose in the class, he does it so that they won't be used as part of the anatomy lesson. The creature was created by Carlo Rambaldi to sparkle with childlike gifts for communication and also to sprinkle in some supernatural powers such as, flying when on a bike. Beginning to get sick because of the Earth's atmosphere, the alien uses household items to build an interplanetary phone-like device that allows him to signal into space for help. He then must get the help of Elliott and his brother's teenager friends to escape from the government agents. This film like all Spielberg films, shows off his skills as a great storyteller. And to prove that the director made this film primarily for kids, it is interesting to note that Mary and the government agent Keys (Peter Coyote) are the only two adults whose faces are shown. The film is about children learning how to deal with the loss of their father and learning how to love someone who is completely different from them, and it's a film about growing up in the suburbs -- which outwardly appears to be very safe but there's also a dark spot where anything could happen to kids who are not supervised properly (which is the fantasy part of the film). Seeing the film again in 2002 has not changed my mind about it, I still thought it was mawkish but appealing to children. The man is a master at pulling the public's heartstrings and giving them what they want, and the youngsters in the audience seemed especially enthralled by what Spielberg gave them. REVIEWED ON 3/27/2002 GRADE: C + Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" http://www.sover.net/~ozus ozus@sover.net © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31385 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298336 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 873 X-RT-AuthorID: 1315 X-RT-RatingText: C+ From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Apr 3 14:36:22 2002 From: Jonathan F. Richards Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 18:46:52 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31393 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298650 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 896 X-RT-AuthorID: 2779 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31393 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 84 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!erinews.ericsson.se!erix.ericsson.se!luth.se!newsfeed.online.be!isdnet!sn-xit-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3220 rec.arts.sf.reviews:239 IN THE DARK/Jonathan Richards E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL E.T. is back. Well, no, he's not really back. He's here again for the first time. And he's just as wonderful this time around. Steven Spielberg is a class act. It's hard to imagine many other filmmakers in this profit-maddened day and age resisting the megabucks that would roll in from an "E.T. 2". (The lovable little alien misses Elliott, and returns to earth. Elliott, now thirty, is a failed TV writer struggling to kick his methadone habit. A touch from the glowing finger of the extra-terrestrial puts him back in the pink, and together the two pals set out on a wacky cross-galaxy road trip in their beat-up UFO....) No, no! It's still 1982, and E.T. is just the way you remember him. This is very nearly a perfect movie, assuming you still have some trace of childhood left in you. An Inner Child will do. Like J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, a story which Spielberg uses here as a conscious point of reference, "E.T." is a paean to childhood, to the fleeting magic years of imaginary friends who fade away like Puff the Magic Dragon under the withering onslaught of adolescence. The grownups in this movie are always seen from the low angle of a child's perspective. They're faceless, threatening creatures, and what they threaten is the fantasy world of childhood itself. For most of the movie the only adult face we see is the mother (Dee Wallace-Stone), who is, after all, the main link between the child's world and the grimmer world of grownups. Later on we get a scientist (Peter Coyote), whose credentials for admission are that his boyhood dreams are still alive - "I've been wishing for this since I was ten years old," he tells Elliott (Henry Thomas). And then, in that terrible moment when E.T.'s vital signs stop under the detached probing of the team of government scientists, the spell is broken, the masks come off, the camera swings up, and the bland, earthbound faces of the grownups emerge into commonplace. In this flawlessly-captured world of childhood, it is the grownups whore are the true aliens. Spielberg has said that "E.T." is his most personal movie. It springs from the longings and insecurities he felt as a child over the break-up of his parents, and that situation is mirrored in Elliott's life, with the father decamped and off "in Mexico with Sally." In that unsettled world, a boy needs a special friend, and who better than a wizened little extraterrestrial who combines the irrepressible cuteness of a puppy with the wisdom and can-do capability of an absent father? During the shooting of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Spielberg spent countless hours pouring out his heart to star Harrison Ford's girlfriend, screenwriter Melissa Mathison, who fashioned "E.T.'s" wonderful screenplay. The movie in its twentieth anniversary re-release has the added resonance of nostalgia. The world has changed since then, the kids have all grown up. Henry Thomas was recently in "All the Pretty Horses", and has five movies awaiting release this year. Drew Barrymore has been through rehab and two marriages that lasted a total of seven months, and this year will fill the big screen as "Barbarella". We know a bit about their futures, but little Gertie is still the same self-possessed, adorable moppet who crows "I taught him how to talk!", and Elliott is still the same unswervingly loyal kid. Much has been made of the changes Spielberg has wrought in refurbishing his classic for re-issue. In the climactic chase scene he has digitally replaced the guns in the agents' hands with walkie-talkies, which would seem like silliness if you noticed it, but I got so caught up in the moment that it went right by me. More noticeable (and sillier) is the change in an off-screen line when Mom criticizes her older son's Halloween costume, replacing the word "terrorist" with "hippie." The kid is dressed as a bum with a cleaver in his skull, and looks nothing like a hippie, and the mom, a veteran of the flower child generation, ought to know the difference. There are digital tweaks in E.T.'s expressions and movements that are all to the good, and a funny scene in a bathtub restored from excised footage. And - this may have always been there, but you notice it now - hanging in the night sky above the shed where E.T. takes shelter, there is a crescent moon which looks awfully like the Dreamworks logo. ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31393 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 298650 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 896 X-RT-AuthorID: 2779 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:21:11 2002 From: Jerry Saravia Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Retrospective: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.past-films Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 17:36:09 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31548 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 305177 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 875 X-RT-AuthorID: 1314 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4 Summary: r.a.m.r. #31548 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 102 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.Update.UU.SE!puffinus.its.uu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!news.kth.se!uio.no!80.65.228.52.MISMATCH!deine.net!teaser.fr!freenix!sn-xit-01!sn-post-02!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3376 rec.arts.sf.reviews:245 E.T. - THE EXTRA - TERRESTRIAL (1982) Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 2002 Special Edition version seen on April 13th, 2002 RATING: Three stars and a half I am not a huge fan of sentimental fantasy movies, but there is still a special place in my heart for "E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial," Steven Spielberg's superb fantasy movie that is now getting a digitally remastered look and some added footage. I do not agree with the changes but I will say that seeing it again in a theatre confirms this as one of Spielberg's finest achievements. A soaring, spirited, marvelous film that will be remembered for ages, just like its antecedent, "The Wizard of Oz." Living in small-town suburbia, Elliott (Henry Thomas) is the eight year old kid who discovers an alien outside his house. Slowly but surely he develops a relationship with the friendly alien who loves Reese's Pieces (the sales of that candy skyrocketed at the time of the film's release). When Elliott's older brother, Mike (Robert MacNaughton), and his young sister, Gertie (Drew Barrymore) discover the alien in Elliott's room, a sense of awe takes over, unsure of how to react to a strange looking creature with big eyes, an enormous head and an elongated neck. Naturally, Mom (Dee Wallace) is not told of the creature staying in their house. E.T.'s mission is to get back home after being left stranded on Earth. He tries to communicate with his kind using phone wires, a saw, a turntable and an electronic spelling machine. He also learns rather quickly to talk, and is used to substitute for Gertie during Halloween! Before you know it, the deja vu sets in when goverment agents are looking for the alien creature to do experiments. Can Elliott convince the agents that the alien is not out to do harm, that he is as friendly as your neighborhood dog? Spielberg described the film as a "a fairy tale for the 80's," and it is as magical and entertaining as any of Spielberg's other flights of fancy. What is most amazing is how incredibly convincing the creature is. Never for a moment is there an indication that the creature is an animatronic marvel of special effects. It probably helps that Spielberg wisely avoids showing too much of the creature. There are often close-ups of its face, its enormous eyelids, and its gnome-like feet but not too much more to notice how fake all of it is (the same holds true of Spielberg's "Jaws" where the shark was barely seen). Since the film deals with kids, we see the world and E.T. through the kids' eyes. Every shot is usually from a low angle, and adults are always seen from such an angle. This includes the terrific sequence in the classroom where Elliott is able to feel E.T.'s emotional feelings and senses telepathically. In this sequence, the science teacher's face is not actually shown, only his hands and arms. With the exception of Elliott's mother, adults are usually seen as a threat, particularly to Elliott and E.T. There is not much more to say about "E.T." that has not been said before. The special-edition of the film, however, leaves something to be desired. Although the film looks and sounds as great as it once was, Spielberg ought to learn from George Lucas how not to meddle with the tried and true. The CGI effects for E.T. destroy whatever was real about the creature in the first place. I remember best how the film showed E.T. gliding away from its pursuers in the opening sequence. Now he jumps up and down, and then appears tired as the spaceship takes off. It somehow looks more fake than when they used a puppet. Especially appalling is the deleted bathroom sequence where Elliott takes a bath with E.T. The creature in this scene looks far too animated as compared to later shots where it is drunk in the kitchen, bumping into objects and so on. If Spielman wanted to use CGI, he should have reanimated the creature completely or not bothered at all. Most upsetting is the final sequence where the government agents chase E.T. and the kids on bikes with guns. Now the agents carry walkie-talkies, not guns, thanks to CGI technology. Spielberg has said this is the way the sequence was always intended. Is he serious? As with most remastered editions of classics, this results in the deletion of one essential shot. As you may recall, the kids on bikes are cornered by hundreds of agents, all holding guns. One agent holds a rifle aimed squarely at E.T. The suspense carries over, as we fear for the kids' lives. Deleting this shot ruins whatever suspense was initially there. Just because you can revamp a film with CGI effects doesn't mean you should. Okay, and lastly, how about the line delivered by Elliott's mother to Mike? She tells him not to dress like a terrorist for Halloween. After September 11th, 2001, this line might carry more of a negative connotation than initially but this is a film from 1982. The word "terrorist" is now replaced with "hippie." Why would the mother object to him dressing like a hippie? And the terrorist angle carries weight during the suspenseful chase sequence...but since the agents do not carry guns. Oh, enough said. Despite all deletions and changes, "E.T." is one of Spielberg's finest films, taking us from our own childhood the dream of what it would be like to have an alien in your bedroom. Thanks to screenwriter Melissa Mathison, the film brings us back to our childhood innocence, remembering the dreams and hopes we all had for a better future. If we can be friendly with an alien from another world, we can get along with anybody. Post any comments, complaints or questions at http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/forum.shtml For more reviews, check out JERRY AT THE MOVIES at http://moviething.com/members/movies/faust/JATMIndex.shtml ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31548 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 305177 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 875 X-RT-AuthorID: 1314 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/4 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 19 14:22:28 2002 Path: news.island.liu.se!news.ida.liu.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!sn-xit-01!sn-post-01!supernews.com!news.supernews.com!not-for-mail From: Eugene Novikov Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Approved: ramr@rottentomatoes.com Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: Mon, 13 May 2002 18:28:25 -0000 Organization: Posted via Supernews, http://www.supernews.com Message-ID: X-RAMR-ID: 31811 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 313577 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 610 X-RT-AuthorID: 1577 X-RT-RatingText: A Summary: r.a.m.r. #31811 X-Questions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Submissions-to: ramr@rottentomatoes.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com Lines: 97 Xref: news.island.liu.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:3628 rec.arts.sf.reviews:276 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982/2002) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ "I'll be... right here." Starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Robert McNaughton, Dee Wallace Stone, Peter Coyote. Directed by Steven Spielberg. Rated PG. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, one of my favorite movies, was rereleased this year with some added footage, and perhaps more notablyy, some things missing. It's indicative of our age of limitless political correctness that Steven Spielberg felt the pressure to remove guns from FBI agents' hands and replace them with innocuous walkie-talkies. Had I not known about the modification, I wouldn't have noticed it, of course, but as the hoopla about it has been deafening, the effect is both distracting. Distracting because a classic has been altered; disturbing because the director had the need to alter it. It's Spielberg's movie, of course, and he can do whatever he wants to it as long as the original is available to us. It is; in fact, the DVD release will contain both versions of the movie. In any event, he rip out half of the scenes and E.T. would still be a masterpiece, a transcendent film experience that we have all identified with at one point or another in our lives. It is a combination of fantasy wish-fulfillment and poignant alienation (no pun intended), the former larger than life and the latter just under the surface. It is because Spielberg was able to tap into both that the movie endures. The question everyone asks when E.T. comes up in conversation is "did you cry?" The first time through, I bawled like a baby. The second time, ditto. On this viewing, I didn't get too far past the sniffles during the Big Scene, but more significantly, I felt a lump come to my throat at moments that didn't previously affect me. One such is the scene where Elliot shows E.T. to his siblings, who approach the unknown with an uncannily convincing blend of incredulity, fear and wonder. Another is the Halloween sequence, in which E.T., covered in a sheet, runs toward a kid dressed up as Yoda, shouting "Hooooooome." This is a movie that has no qualms about being manipulative. The difference between this and the dreck to which "manipulative" is applied as a pejorative is that Spielberg is skilled at toying with the audience's emotions. He earns his sentiment. By the time the mother of all tear-jerkers comes around in E.T.'s final scene, I felt that the characters had completed a monumental, Joseph Campbell quest, that their hero's journey had won them the right to this moment, still so geniune after twenty years. As if to make up for the firearms that are no more, Spielberg has added an extended sequence involving the titular alien taking a bath. It's cute, but distracting; the CGI effects are vastly "superior" to the puppetry of the rest of the film, and the scene sticks out like a sore thumb. In any case, I much prefer E.T.'s static doll face; it's his charm, his trademark, his claim to fame, and who knows if he would have remained in our collective psyche had he been given the super-mobile, humanoid complexion we see in these fleeting minutes. E.T. is a cultural phenomenon, with ubiquitous merchandising, a pretty decent ride at Universal Studios Florida and about a thousand theatrical rereleases under its belt. There have been crappy movies that become brief wonders; then they saturate the market and leave the building. But when a movie has stuck around for this long, you know there's something there. It's that good. Grade: A Up Next: Death to Smoochy ©2002 Eugene Novikov ========== X-RAMR-ID: 31811 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 313577 X-RT-TitleID: 1006389 X-RT-SourceID: 610 X-RT-AuthorID: 1577 X-RT-RatingText: A