John Williams, who won an Oscar for ET, really deserves a lot of the credit I think for the movie's success. He must have put in a lot of overtime on this score. There is scoring everywhere. Thankfully it was memorable.

I'm not sure why this film doesn't seem as sharp as other Spielberg films, yet it is Spielberg. Things seem protracted. Things seem to occur, that have no explanation. Why is it when we first see the cute little kids around the dinner table, there is cigarette smoke coming up like this was the poker game in "Risky Business"? When the kid is trying to unattach the chute on the back of the speeding van, why does it take him so long? How come the men in the chute, who are standing up, not able to get in before being disattached?

Despite these anomalies, the movie has to be seen on the big screen to really be appreciated to its fullest. Spielberg made excellent casting choices for the lead roles, but the extras didn't look like they came from central casting. Was this a low budget film for Spielberg? The scenes in Elliot's bedroom were shot terrific and it is there that we come to love the kids and ET. Kudos to Elliot (Henry Thomas) and Gertie (Drew Barrymore) for making their roles memorable.

And then there is the bike chase scene. What kid who owns a bike wouldn't love being chased by cops, jumping hills and police cars, all to the accompaniment of that John Williams score? And if you can believe, like in "Peter Pan", you can fly.

Like me, even if you didn't get it the first go round, it is worth your time. I enjoyed it more than some of the new films coming out today. Here's to hoping that ET comes home for his 40th anniversary.

One thing I do agree with Mitchell with is that Henry Thomas did an excellent job and was the best part of the film.

Steve

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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

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Greg Mueller
Amateur Astronomer, Machinist, Filmnut http://www.muellersatomics.com/

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The silent Universal now has glorious, multi channel music. The first few bars of Jerry Goldsmiths Universal fanfare blends into John Williams "Flying" theme as the legendary silhouette of boy, bike and alien glide across our planet. And the words "ET 20th Aniversary" appear.

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I first saw ET at a sneak preview in Costa Mesa, CA (Edwards Town Center Cinema, in garden-variety 35mm and optical Dolby Stereo). The advance buzz on the movie was huge, and expectations were very high. We stood in line for several hours to ensure getting good seats. At the end of the show, the audience exited in a sort of stunned silence. Many people were openly emotional. When the general run started and 70mm prints were showing all over SoCal, I saw it several more times, and usually to packed houses, even several months after it opened. It was truly a phenomenon unlikely to happen again. Times may have changed, people are more cynical about such things, but there is no denying that ET captured some very special magic. I have no desire to see the re-issue though because I want to remember it exactly the way it was 20 years ago and what it was like seeing it with an audience back then.

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And Charles, I do think you'll find the musical Universal logo at the start of ET (20th Aniversary) unique to that film.

Before you post again on this site you need to read the final paragraph in the FAQ. Email me once you have read and understand this.

I stand corrected. Spy Game had a different distributor in the UK so the Universal/ET logo didn't appear.

We haven't had the pleasure of Big Fat Liar yet.

Kind regards,