E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review Commentary 

Mars Inc were approached for permission to use M&M's as the temptation but they refused so the producers turned to Hershey Foods and Reese's pieces instead. They were all for it and agreed a joint marketing deal. It transformed their sales seeing an 85% increase in sales after the films release and Mars Inc decision is regarded as one of the biggest business mistakes ever made.

I was 16 when this hit the theaters. My parents had divorced four years earlier. This film was the first time I had seen a family dynamic like mine on screen, with three kids including the eldest being the brother trying to be the new man of the house, protecting his mom from everything he can. My heart breaks for Michael when he lays into Elliot for talking about Mexico-he reminds me so much of my big brother.

I think E.T.'s character design was beautiful. His eyes are so endearing and he made me love frogs and turtles as a kid. Easily one of my favorite all time movies!

I was a child when this came out and ET never looked ugly or weird, and the sounds made him sound cute to me. I don't know why you both find him so disgusting looking. Interesting. Maybe the idea behind it was not to judge a book by its cover. Can you imagine what humans looked like to them? I love watching you guys react, even if I don't understand how you can think ET wasn't adorable. LOL.

I think the whole point of E.T design is to teach something to the kids, to teach how you have to go further than just the looks, to teach it's ok to be scared at the unknown but you have to stay open minded and kind. It would ruin the whole message to just make a cute pretty alien. Same thing for its death, these are things important to show to kids, i don't know if it's too harsh or still ok tho.

On her talk show, Drew Barrymore had Steven Spielberg as a guest, and they discussed how Drew thought E.T. was real, and if I remember correctly, Spielberg fed the illusion by making sure that there was somebody to puppet ET whenever Drew was on set. One obvious major Spielberg that you guys didn't do was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That was the one that really established him as the next big thing after he broke out with Jaws. One huge success makes you the talk of the town, the second proves youre the real deal and that it wasnt a fluke. There are three versions of the film, and the only one you want to avoid is the middle version, called the "Special Edition," which has a significant addition to ending he later regretted. His preferred version is the last one, the Director's Cut. A later one that many reaction channels do is Catch Me If You Can, one of the two films that marked Leonardo DiCaprio's advancement from Titanic heartthrob to the respected actor he is today -- it and Martin Scorsese's first movie with Leo, Gangs of New York, both opened on Christmas 2002.

Also, I love that Peter Coyote's character remained unseen for so much of the movie, making him menacing - then we finally see him when his character gets more humanized.

Yes, E.T.s species is canonically in the Star Wars Universe. George made sure to add them as a member of the Republic Senate in the Prequel Trilogy. The Book that accompanied the movie went more in depth about many things left unsaid in the film. E.T.'s species are intergalactic Botanists, traveling the Universe collecting plants for study. They are also a Collective species able to speak to each other telepathically, use the force, and are dependent on the collective for their very life force. When E.T. was left behind, it cut him off from the collective. He sought out Elliot and used as a temporary way to stay alive and call his people. When he felt that he was about to die he separated himself from Elliot so he wouldn't take him with him. Luckily, the message got through to his people and they arrived within moments of his death reconnecting him to the collective and restoring his life.

Another fun easter egg about ET and Yoda being in the same universe: in The Phantom Menace, there's a shot in the Senate where you can briefly see a few members of ET's species on one of the senate disks.

A 'Nice Alien" movie from the 80's was "Starman " with Jeff Bridges. Definitely worth a watch. I think Bridges was nominated for an Oscar for the role.

It still amazes me how this film perfectly captured being a kid in 1980's Southern California. We certainly rode bikes through tract home construction sites. Halloween really did have that many kids going around without parents. We dissected frogs too.

Gen X ers grew up real fast. Realistic portrayals of adult themes was not uncommon. Loved this movie when I saw it as an 8 year old when it was in my home town for three nights only before moving on to other nearby towns. Many forget that this movie was the highest grossing movie for a great many years, playing in some theatre the world over for years after its initial release until it was eventually released on VHS.

The puppeteers noticed that Drew Barrymore used to talk to ET even when they were on breaks so they took it upon themselves to animate him in order to maintain her connection. Spielberg credits those acts of kindness for her tearful final goodbye as by that stage she considered him her friend.

Spielberg filmed the movie in sequence order, which is not common. He wanted the kids to get used to the ET puppet as their characters would. And during the "death" scene all the actors' tears were 100% genuine, including the mom's.

Spielberg once said that he wanted E.T. to have a face that only his mother would love. He obscured him, gradually revealing him in more and more light as we get to know him and realise that he is not something to be afraid of, before we get a clear view. It was so artfully done, truly masterful in its execution. This was the second Spielberg movie I ever saw, and I was six years-old. The one before scared the life out of me (Jaws), this one just enthralled me, quickly becoming my favourite film for all time, to this very day. Every layer of learning about film that would follow for me in years beyond revealed another layer of brilliance embedded in the construction of this film. Did you notice that no adult face was visible (except the mother) throughout the first two acts? Adults are treated as a threatening force, getting closer and closer to invading, and by implication (the keys) violating, the secret world of E.T. and the children. Did you notice that the story Mary was reading to Gertie was Peter Pan? Specifically the portion where Tinkerbell is poisoned and brought back to life by people believing in fairies, while E.T. was healing Elliott's finger? That Elliott says, 'I'll believe in you all my life,' shortly before E.T. himself is resurrected? The writing, the editing, the cinematography, the music, the acting, the animatronic effects, the sound, all meld perfectly to create this artistic masterpiece that should have won Best Picture that year (even Richard Attenborough admitted that - the director of the winner: Ghandi). I think it's often overlooked, because of how much fun this film is, that it is a true work of art.

Boggles my mind that anyone could not find ET adorable!!

I grew up with E.T., so as a kid, I didn’t really question his look. Your experiences are much more limited as a child, so it was just, “That’s E.T.” You don’t have anything to compare him to, so he’s not creepy or scary. Also, as a kid the concept of death doesn’t hit the same as when you’re an adult. You realize what’s happening and that it’s sad, but you’re not torn up about it. I had no problem with Bambi or The Land Before Time as a kid, but as a grown up, I can’t watch those without bawling.

I was about 7 years old when this came out. It was the first movie I can remember crying at, specifically at the end. I loved it so much. And E.T. never looked gross or anything to me.

Showing aliens not as monsters or dangerous was definitely a motivation for Spielberg to make this movie. This was a more intimate story but he was already on that path with his previous sci-fi movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That is a great movie too (well, it's also by Spielberg) and I hope you guys will react to that one too.

Wonderful for you guys to react to one of the best films of the 80s. :) But I can’t believe that ET grossed you out, have to say I’m a bit disappointed how juvenile your reaction to his looks seemed to be. We loved him back in the day, everybody used to have ET dolls and they were considered to be cute! And the one of the points of this movie was to how someone that looks outwardly so alien can be so loving and and healing being. U know beauty is insinde CineBinge!😊

This movie is peak 80's. Mom leaving the kids alone all day, Drew Barrymore at like 6 years old riding in the front seat of the car, riding bikes with your friends, playing D&D. It's funny to re-watch it now.

This movie either really scares you as a kid, or moves you to tears by the end. There is no in between. For me, this might have the best ending of all time in movies. John Williams’ score is just perfection.

I admit it is a little weird to me that you seem fixated on ET's appearance. I don't think other reactions I've watched have had that sort of fixation. I saw it in theaters as a teen, and I thought ET was supposed to be alien but adorable, with those big eyes and cute expressions. I thought his skin was shiny, not slimy. All that said, this movie almost never fails to bring tears to my eyes, even though I've rewatched it a lot.

My favourite film of all time. Was a child and that’s never changed. My favourite moment that a lot of people miss is when they are saying goodbye, and the brief scene with E.T and the older brother Michael. During the film, Micheal and E.T do not directly interact much, but Micheal does a lot to help. He helps keep him a secret, he goes to the forest to find him, he drives the van and helps them escape. E.T acknowledges this. When they say goodbye, you can tell that Michael doesn’t know what to say, so E.T says simply “Thank you” , to which Michael replies “you’re welcome”…..and nothing more needed saying

"I'll be right here." Even in the throes of adulthood, that ending never fails to make me bawl like a baby. Also, I strongly feel that "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" is one of John Williams' best scores. The bicycle chase is particularly spectacular and the final moments with Eliot before E.T. departs for home is incredibly moving and always brings tears to my eyes.

How can you watch this and not cry your eyes out ?

As I recall, when the move came out, no one thought ET was ugly or that his voice was creepy. I think that the pop culture landscape has changed, and that's why young people react so differently than people did when the film came out. When I was a kid, for example, almost no one found clowns creepy, while today it seems universal that they are inherently creepy.

I found this out only a few years ago, that Spielberg conceived this movie based on his personal pain as a kid when his dad left the family. He wasn't out to make an alien movie. It started with an idea about a boy with a broken heart and wanting to feel connected to another. Hearing this story decades after the movie broke my heart and watching the movie with this knowledge adds so much more impact.

i'm always surprised by how much younger people (meaning younger than my middle-aged self who was a kid when this came out) find the design of e.t. creepy, because they sure as hell sold a boatload of plush e.t. toys to little kids back in the day. though i guess the default for the past 30 years has been to make anything "for kids" as cute as possible. also e.t. and john carpenter's the thing opened roughly around the same time, and carpenter has always said (half-jokingly) that e.t. was part of the reason the thing bombed in theaters, because audiences decided they wanted the cute alien that year rather than the horrifying one.

I still feel like this film defines the 'magic' of Spielberg. Such fond memories of it as a child, and the John Williams score is right up there with his best work.

Making a antenna out of an umbrella is actually a real thing. Usually you are going to want some kind of coating on the inside to reflect the RF. Different coatings reflect different frequency ranges. Not only do people build their own but there are professionally made portable dishes you can buy and if you didn't know what it was before it was set up you might assume it was a weird patio umbrella.

How can you not find E.T cute ? He’s got to be one of the cutest Aliens ever imagined. This movie also made bmx bikes the number 1 craze of the 80s.

I find it interesting what a person experiences with a movie can change depending on their point of view, age and experience. For me, all the things that you think are creepy because I grew up with this movie are adorable and charming. This is not a criticism of you, I'm just saying that I find it amusing how something like ET's looks and demeanor can go from being fantastic and captivating to me and alot of other people, to something disturbing and terrifying for others.

In terms of movies with nice aliens, there's also "Flight of the Navigator" from 1986. Didn't watch it for like 30 years, but I remember that I liked it as a kid.

Fun Fact: George Lucas included ET's race in the background during the senate scene of The Phantom Menace (Episode 1). They are seen in one of the floating pods as a species represented in the senate. Apparently it was suggested by Spielberg.

FUN FACT: Yes.. E.T. was in fact animatronic... and the fun fact is.. While filming... ANY TIME Drew Barrymore was there on set... Stephen Spielberg made sure to have puppeteers for the entire time... when not filming... These guys would control E.T. And voice him JUST FOR DREW!! When ever she was around him.. he was alive to her!! So sweet of him!!

Nominated for 9 Oscars including Best Picture but won for Best Visual Effects Best Sound Editing Best Sound Mixing Best Original Score. It was one of the highest grossing movies of 1982, $790 million dollars against a $10 million dollar budget.

No matter how old I get, this movie still hits hard, the "death scene" and the final goodbye. There's just something so genuine and heartfelt that Spielberg taps into with this classic. The only movie I can recall that had my entire family in tears at the end, even my dad, and he was, or seemed to be to me, a very ice cold guy. The power of imagery and that John William's score, it's truly a masterpiece. I remember flipping channels one afternoon and the final scene was playing and those few minutes alone made me well up in tears. Damn you Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Williams, or rather, thank you Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Williams.

It’s so funny because I never thought of ET being scary as a kid and neither did any kids at the time, but then I thought my daughter would love it too but she was terrified of him and so many reactors say the same thing. Maybe it’s the puppet thing or lack of graphics but I always thought he was adorable 😂

This movie was one of my favourites as a kid, my grandfathers also. When I was around 4 or 5, he got us a copy on VHS before he passed, and my biggest memory was bawling my eyes out when E.T. was saying his goodbyes. This movie will always have a special place in my heart.

Weird and gross? Huh? Maybe weird, ET is an alien. But gross? I don't get it.

This film really did set an unrealistic expectation for house sizes. Elliot grew up to renovate a massive house, with spooky results, in Haunting of Hill House (one of Netflix's best-made tv shows)

One thing I always liked about E.T. was the fact that the "government" or the grown-ups if you will, wasn't necessarily evil. I mean it could have taken a much darker turn, with military involvement and wanting to needlessly dissect and "experiment" on E.T., like they often do in these sorts of movies. The first scientist Elliot talks with, literally says "I have dreamed of this since I was 10 years old." and actually seems like a genuine person throughout, and even allowed Elliot to see E.T. for the last time before they took the supposed corpse away.

Starman, Batteries Not Included, the abyss, and Cocoon were nice popular alien movies from the 80's.

Simone and George, it's really great that you loved the part with the mom laughing when Elliot calls his brother "Penis Breath". That was one of the moments in the movie that helped create the family binder that made the audience empathize with the family. And that empathy for the family was a big component of later scenes, like when the big brother sees ET for the first time and that moment when Gertie points out to her barely-containing-the-chaos mom what Michael's been doing with the car on the driveway, and finally when they all are acting as a unit as ET is taken from them and he seemingly dies. That's finally when the audience is pulling for the entire family together. I haven't seen any other reaction videos where they highlighted this moment in their edit. The arc of the family's relationship with each other is really important to the tone of this movie. And the other family dynamic is that all of these moments highlight how the kids are becoming more independent from their mother. They have their own values and their own intelligence and their own jokes and they keep secrets.

The look of ET was inspired by the alien from War of the Worlds (1953) and I believe it was intentional to make ET look creepy and then show him to be good. It being a message about xenophobia and not judging people or aliens by the way they look. If you look at the movie poster for War of the Worlds (1953) and ET, they both feature similar looking alien hand and the shape of the alien body is also similar. War of the Worlds (1953) is worth watching.

Saw it when I was a kid and it was amazing, seeing people react to it and pick apart logical irregularities is kind of infuriating.I never once thought ET was scary.

I'm glad that you chose to watch the original version of this classic movie. In the anniversary re-release of it, they did what George Lucas did to the original Star Wars trilogy movies. They placed in a lot of CGI. For example, E.T. is totally computer generated. And they changed somethings to make it more compliant to social sensibilities of the time. An example is that during the bike and car chase near the end, when the kids get to the road block, they replaced the guns the agents are holding with walkie-talkies. I remembered reading the Steven Spielberg later regretted the changes that he made to the movie and recommends everybody to just watch the original version. I personally agree and do prefer the original.

Henry Thomas (Elliott's) audition tape was so good that Steven Spielberg hired him right after his audition was done. You can find it on here if you search for it, it's impressive.

I was 11 when this came out, and we didn't think he was creepy or ugly, just incredibly adorable. Yeah, we made jokes about his neck getting erections, but we fell in love with ET like people these days love Grogu. I'm a crabby 52-year-old now, but I still well up with tears several times in this movie.

I think some movies have to be seen at a certain point in your life to really take hold. I was 11 when E.T. came out and it's the first movie that really had me tearing up, so it holds a special nostalgic place for me and, I think, for a lot of my generation. Enjoyed the reaction, thank you.

Literally never thought I'd see 2 grown adults just laugh through this movie that made me so emotional as a 5 year old. Not a single word about the soundtrack. Just how "weird" ET looks. YOU MISSED THE ENTIRE POINT OF HIS APPEARANCE. That's not what's supposed to matter, it's the kindness inside.

10 miles, uphill both ways, in the snow, no shoes, supporting a family of four, on my way to my second job... I was only 6 years old.

Them shitting on how et looks made the child in me sad lol, when I was a kid I thought he was adorable and still do

This is my favorite score that John Williams ever did. The bike chase scene (and the accompanying score) is top tier cinema.

man, the kid actors in this movie were amazing

A group of astronauts leaves a strange planet in a hurry, leaving behind one of his own. The rest of the movie it's him trying to go home until the same group goes back and rescues him. This is "The Martian" for me

I've never clicked on anything faster once I saw the Patreon announcement... only to find you're not quite as on board as I thought you might! To be fair, you are not the only ones. But I'm way, WAY too close to this amazing movie and therefore very biased. It's sort of interesting that you, as adults, automatically dislike that design of E.T himself, yet those of us that were kids at the time, didn't even think about that. He's meant to be a bit WTF initially, but very, very quickly he's just a benign presence, that Elliot befriended. I guess you had to be there :D - Never judge a book by its cover. This is an enormously special movie to me, I'm sort of sad that you weren't quite able to engage with it as was intended - but I also have a healthy sense of humour, so that, plus knowing you two, I was laughing a lot at some of your commentary on this. Beware though, you're about to get a LOT of salty comments!

When this came out, it was unusual to have an alien that was friendly. I don't ever remember thinking E.T. was ugly. Odd, yes, but his mannerisms were so innocent that what he looked like didn't matter. I never got to see it in the theater, but did see it shortly after it came out on VHS, and I remember just really enjoying the story. And maybe it's because I grew up in the 80's that the death scene didn't scar me? I don't know, but if you really look at kid's movies from the 80's, they are so much more hardcore than kid's movies now. I'm always reminded of Don Bluth's comment about how kids can handle just about anything in a movie as long as there's a happy ending.

In the beginning of the movie they showed the plants inside of the ship, and if you payed attention there was a lot of fog and plants that would be found in swamps and by ponds, lakes, and rivers - so it makes sense that ET would look like a combination of frogs, turtles, fish like mudskippers that can also breathe oxygen, and tadpoles. I get that a lot of people think those kind of creatures are "icky", but I believe that Steven Speilberg and his design crew helped a lot of 80s kids see the beauty in amphibians and reptiles. Sooooo many people I know just lost when we thought ET was dead, and we cried again at the end when he was saying goodbye to everyone, especially Elliot... we all felt that ouch. In the end, ET reassured Elliot that he would always be there in his memories, and some of us hoped that if ET ever came back to Earth, Elliot would somehow know. I think your ewws and icks probably came from the later (and one earlier) Alien movies that played up slimy, gross aliens as something to fear. Back when this movie came out, none of us had seen the original Alien because it was R rated, so we were a little scared at the beginning, but as ET was shown to be friendly and especially funny during the drunk scene, we just accepted him as a weird looking friend who could do cool things.

My uncle (now 39 years old) loved this film as a kid, but he used to make my grandfather fast forward through the parts when ET was sick because it scared him so much. Also, another 80s movies with nice aliens it one of my favorites, 'Explorers', with very young Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.

How could neither of you cry at the end?!! 😭

There is a theory that E.T.'s species are force-sensitive. E.T.'s species are actually in the Star Wars universe. They appear very briefly in the Senate Chamber in Episode I. In the movie we can see that E.T. can levitate objects, heal using touch and influence other people's actions through some type of mind control. Similar to the abilities of a Jedi. E.T. also 'recognised' somebody dressed up as Yoda when the kids were out on Halloween.

I was 4 years old when my grandfather took me into this movie in the cinema. I was so scared of it, I was not looking at the screen most of the time, and had a hard time going into our cellar of our (back then newly built) house for years. Years later when I was much older and had the chance to watch it again (cant remember if it was already on TV or VHS, maybe already DVD) i overcame my fears - just to cry my heart out. And there are not many movies that make me cry. This movie had such a big influence on who I am today, its... wonderful.

An odd reaction by you guys on this occasion, you seem to be strangely focused on his appearance and little else. I saw ET when I was a kid and just saw how kind & gentle he was. The message being appearance doesn't matter, it's what's inside that's important. It's kind of the whole point that he looks different & unusual. Also you didn't seem to be picking up on any of the themes or messages the film is trying to convey.

You can see this movie's influence all over Stranger Things. Eleven is basically a human E.T.

I can't understand why you were laughing the whole movie. In my opinion is a masterpiece.

>Watches film about the importance of not judging a book by its cover >Spends entire film focusing on nothing but the alien's appearance That, miss Morissette, is ironic.

"B(e) Good" is the first thing E.T. said to Gurdie when he learned to talk, so he said it to her in the end, and "I'll be right here" is what Elliot said to E.T. when he left him in the closet the first time, and he came back...so E.T. said it back to him in the end -- were they setting up for a E.T. 2? I worked in a movie theater when this released. Sold out shows for months. When E.T. came back to life, the theater cheered loud, every show.

ET is so cute

I don't know about many other friendly alien movies from the 80's but "Harry and the Hendersons" is a friendly Bigfoot movie that's worth checking out 😁

I'm confident you two aren't as shallow as this movie's reactions (falsely?) reveal. It is an alien, after all, and clearly meant to teach us to look past physical appearances. From a script-writing perspective, this is a film about divorce and the longing for a friend during such a turbulent experience. Anyway, at the time of its release, the world fell in love with both the character and this very personal story.

One of the greatest cinematic experiences I’ve ever had…pure Spielberg magic at work here✌🏻😀

There’s definitely a generation gap with this film. The kids and the adults in the 80s just loved ET. I myself had a little ET stuffed doll that I just loved to death. In fact, I hugged him so much that his plastic skin peeled off. ET never scared me or grossed me out. The government agents and scientists in the movie, however, they were scary. It didn’t help that at the time there was a lot of government mistrust, and it wasn’t party-based. It was just government in general. The memories of Vietnam and Watergate are still very fresh in everyone’s minds. The Cold War was still in force. It was a different mindset.

"Heartlight" often called "Turn on your Heartlight" is a top 10 hit song written & sung by Neil Diamond 'just because he liked this movie'. A very talented singer songwriter w/a large catalog of great music that spent a decade on the top of the charts. Recommend investigating his work.

Also… the “stomach thing” is his heart. Look closer! You can see his little heart. They are connected by their heart

This is, in my opinion, John Williams finest creation and that's some body of work to pick from ! The whole 'Adventures on Earth' suite from the beginning of the final escape and chase leading to that final rainbow stanza is PERFECT. It never, ever fails to reduce this 50+ year old guy to tears. Wonderful work from the Maestro of Maestros and he knew it because it was one of the rare occasions where Williams actually asked Spielberg to hear what he had composed without the footage. Why ? Because he couldn't match the visuals with the score as per usual but he knew he had something special. Spielberg agreed and once he'd heard it he took the movie back and re-edited the final scene to match the score. Henry Thomas nailed his performance. Do you know the story about his audition ? He wasn't the first choice, another kid was chosen but whilst he could act, after losing a game of Dungeons & Dragons being played on set during further casting he showed his real colours when he lost. He kicked off and became a real asshole of a kid and the casting director realised the real person behind the act wasn't the sweet innocent 9 year old they wanted and nobody liked him so they axed him. Word reached them about a young boy from Texas called Henry who seemed to be the real deal, a great kid who could also act. Due to time restraints after the first error of judgement with their initial choice for Eliot, Spielberg had him flown out to audition in front of him in person along with the Producers. He was given a general premise and asked to improvise - and it was filmed. You can view it on RU-vid. Famously, at the end, with hardened Hollywood producers in tears, you can hear Spielberg tell him: "Ok Kid, you got the job..."

Starman was one of my favorite “friendly alien” movies.

I went to see this movie at a weekend sneak preview. I was in my 20's and the crowd I was in line with were almost entirely 13 years old or younger.. They were very loud and rowdy, and I was starting to reget my decision. We got into the theater and the kids were still very noisy, and the few parents weren't doing anything to quiet them. The theater darkened and the kids were still crazy loud. As soon as the film actually started the kids immediately quieted down and became the best audience I could have hoped to see this wonderful film with.

Peter Coyote’s character - the government scientist with the keys - is literally credited as “Keys”. Such a great movie, and for a long time holder of the box office record.

E.T. is able to levitate things and recognized Yoda. So George Lucas decided to give his species a cameo in Star Wars Episode 1. A bunch of E.Ts is seen in a loge of the galactic senate. It's a blink and you'll miss it scene but still a nice nod.

The "I'll be right here." Line from ET always makes me emotional. ET also makes me think of a humanoid penguin. Specifically with his feet, long arms, and neck.

In the book Elliot used M&M's to lure the alien into the house, but Mars refused to allow this. However, Recces, was coming out with a new candy that was vey much like M&M's but were filled with peanut butter instead of chocolate. They jumped at the chance for a bit of product placement, and as a result Recess Pieces exploded in popularity.

Drew Barrymore was 7 years old when she play the little Eliot's sister. The funny fact, she believed E.T. was real through all the shooting.

Now you need to watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Predates ET by a few years, but one of the greats.

Drew Barrymore has to be one of the most adorable kids in movies, ever.

E.T. and Star Wars are absolutely the same universe. In response to the Star Wars references in this film, Lucas put a scene in the Star Wars prequel trilogy where in the galactic senate there is a pod of E.T.s. It's only up for a few seconds so you have to look carefully but they are undeniably there.

Wasn't Close Encounters of the Third Kind also a nice (i.e not evil) alien movie? Although I suppose that was technically in the late 70s as opposed to the early 80s. That's really the only other movie that immediately comes to mind.

I watched E.T. often as a kid in the80's. We were surrounded by weird puppets in kids entertainment: muppets, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc. E.T. wasn't so jarring. Compared to much of the less well produced stuff like HR Pufnstuff, Bodger & Badger (lol), the E.T. effects actually looked convincing. Looking at the effects now, they haven't aged particularly well. For the time the animatronics were fairly advanced. He has an expressive face that is more than a rubber mask, along with little things like his throat expanding when he chugs the beer. It stands out when everything else was a puppet with a flapping mouth. I agree the visual and sound design could have been made more appealing. It would be interesting to learn why they landed on that as a final design.

Sometime in the 90's or early 2000's there was a backlash on guns being in a kids movie, so they digitally changed the TV version of the movie to replace all of the guns the feds were holding with walkie-talkies. Also, you probably already know that the kid is Henry Thomas, who is the dad and uncle of the 2 Michael Flanagan "Haunting of" series.

Also, this movie single-handedly reduce the price of VHS tapes by about 70%. At the time, almost all tapes sold in the $80-$90 range. Spielberg insisted it be priced at $24.95 and so they sold zillions of them. Prices of everything else came down shortly after.

Starman is another film that was made with a nice alien. Stars Jeff Bridges and was made in 84.

This is A MOVIE. Not A KID'S MOVIE. Eleven-year old me had to fight the tears that were coming full steam ahead in this one. Then I glanced at my parents and other adults in the theater and saw wet eyes and heard crying everywhere and just went with it. John Williams score is what sets me off now, I think. Watching you guys reacts and the musical cues start cranking up the tear ducts again! E.T. sticks with you. That's what "I'll be right here" means. Great reaction!

"Earth girls are easy" is another "positive" alien movie from the 80s

So, E.T species can be seen in a shot from the Ep. I the Phantom Menace (1999) in one of the "pods" for the representatives in the galactic senate when Queen Amidala states that she lost confidence in Chancellor Valorum. Supposedly, E.T. species is known in Star Wars universe as "Asogiana" and their home planet is called "Brodo Asogi".

I love that the dog's name is "E. Buzz". E. Buzz Miller was a really creepy Dan Aykroyd character from Saturday Night Live in the '70s. He was basically a porn movie producer in maybe one or two interview sketches. The name for the dog suggests that someone in the family was kind of socially aware (maybe the departed dad) or maybe that the kids were staying up late to watch Saturday Night Live without the parents knowing.

A really cool SF (1986) was "flight of the navigator". As I kid, I absolutely loved it - And the music, As an adult... Yep still love it! I suspect both of you would enjoy it, if you haven't already seen it.

ET’s appearance as “unattractive” is the same reason Sesame Street muppets were “monsters” in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors - to teach young children to see love and to see themselves in those who are different, to look beyond fear and repulsion.

Fun fact: the lad that played Eliot went on to act as an adult, working often with Mike Flanagan. He played Jack Torrance in Doctor Sleep.

This movie scared me to as a kid, it was the scene with Elliot in the tall grass, plus all the eerie build up before that, but my dad got me an E.T. stuffed alien that became my favorite toy and I overcame my fear. I was 4 BTW, don’t picture a 12 year old being afraid of this.