E.T.-Spielberg Gives You The Finger
Don’t kid yourself there are evil MBA’s and lawyers all over Hollywood laying awake at night trying to capture the magic of E.T. and replicate it. The film cost about $10-$15 million dollars but generated in the neighborhood of $700 million dollars! Not a bad return on their investment.
So why is it so hard to replicate the success of E.T. E.T. at its core, is a simple film about helping others and this concept is so very foreign to many of Hollywood’s decision makers that it impedes their judgement in the script selection process. “What? Its about people helping someone else, for free? Holy crap?”
Elliot must help the stranded alien or E.T. escape the government and get back home to his world. Now, there is nothing in it for Elliot or the other children, they help the lost alien to be nice, and this is why I love this film. Conversely, this is why Hollywood has such a tough time reproducing the box-office success of E.T. How easy is it for some of the soulless predatory executives in Hollywood to green light a flick about someone lending a helping hand and getting nothing out of it? Foreign stuff my friends, foreign stuff. This is the home of the Casting Couch. Scripts of this nature, when they do come along, from the right people of course, are often tossed aside. How do we know this? How often do we see it? How often do we see that script? Competition not collaboration is the name of the game.
The success of E.T. is that this simple script, written by Melissa Mathison who is married to Harrison Ford, actually teaches children some values about, well to be a bit comical, sharing and caring. Increasingly animation and stories aimed at children have a different agenda. Take a look at The Lion King (focus on nobility and right of succession) or Monsters Inc or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which really drives home how much fun it is to work in a factory, or The Incredibles, which state that heros are born, not made, and the list could go on. Or the scripts sent solely on children outsmarting adults or simply try to wow children with visual effects.
In terms of special and visual effects, E.T. was quite impressive for its day. While not exactly top-shelf by today’s standards, E.T. was extremely well done for the early 1980s and added a level of believability that resonated throughout the entire film. The realistic nature of E.T. when combined with the strong performances of the child actors added tremendously to the overall impact of the script and to the emotional connection the audience feels with all the characters both real and puppet. The other effects are also quite impressive, such as the famous flying bicycle scene which, again for the day, was pretty well-done.
E.T. is great fun for kids as it puts ordinary children in situations where they can aspire to greatness by helping others. The script also taps into the universal desire, whether repressed or expressed, of children to stand up to adults who are engaged in wrong doing.
Spielberg simply did a great job with E.T. from concept through to completion. What was handled poorly however was the deluge of product tie-ins that accompanied the launch. Like anyone needed a replica glowing finger from E.T. made of plastic. Worse yet was the complete and now almost legendarily bad E.T. video game for the Atari 2600. This game ranks as one of the mostly blatant money grabs in the history of entertainment and may be the worse video game of all time. This was obviously a black eye for what was otherwise a great film with a good message. These minor flaws can be overlooked by the fact that it is a simple film that has a great message for kids. It would be refreshing if Hollywood would make films for children that are less about obedience or making money and more about doing the right thing and helping others. After all now, isn’t that what America is supposed to be all about?
Story A
Acting A-
Visuals B+ (Considering the budget of the film the visuals are quite good even when adjusted for inflation. Truth be told, this film made in 2005 dollars would likely be rather expensive.)
Originality/Innovation A
Enjoyability Grade A
Home Theater/HD Factor B (When E.T. is available in HD for the home let’s just hope that it has been mastered properly as it would be a great buy for any parent, and a welcomed addition to any library.)
Overall Grade A
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