Films To Watch Before You Die #90 - E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982)

D.J. Haza presents the next entry in his series of films to watch before you die…

E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, 1982.

Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Starring Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore and Robert MacNaughton.

E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial is another blockbuster from Spielberg and an 80s classic that tells the story of a lonely child named Elliott (Thomas) who befriends a small and wrinkly alien that is stuck on Earth and trying to get back to his home planet. As Elliott and his siblings try to help the extra-terrestrial get home, they also have to hide him from Mother and the US government.

E.T. became the highest grossing film of all time when it was released and it held that esteemed position for 11 years. It has influenced a wide range of films since and – as with many of Spielberg’s other iconic films – it has been borrowed from many a time. The sequence in which Elliott cycles down the road with E.T. in the basket on the front of the bike has been used and recreated many times over the years in popular culture.

The film has been lauded as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time for its beautiful story of friendship and has led the way in coming of age dramas about children moving towards adulthood and learning new values. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is a film you must see before you die because apparently it developed from an imaginary friend that Spielberg had created as child after his parents divorced.