Review: 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial' is a classic story of a boy and his alien

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial   PG        

            Steven Spielberg's epic following Close Encounters is a tale of a boy and his alien, a kind of true love story. The formula would be imitated in other movies, and parodied, but this is the original. An alien science team is caught off guard in the woods during a survey mission and ends up leaving one of theirs behind. The little alien wanders into a housing development and is befriended by the children of a broken family. The little boy, Elliot, attempts to get him back home after he learns that the alien can make a transmitter out of spare parts, and so he can ‘phone home’. When the military shows up guns drawn and wants the alien sealed off in a quarantine ten city, the boy breaks him out and they make a run for the awaiting space ship. The classic 1980s version is the best ever. Drew Berrymore plays Gertie in the film. (She was not in Poltergeist, That was the late Heather O’Rourke). Too bad he ruined it with the 2002 anniversary edited version by removing the suspense and replacing it with keys and CG things. Just don't rent the newer version.            
     Blatant rip off, Mac and Me, has it that audiences must love McDonald’s and little putty aliens like misfits. Darker version, Super 8, has the alien as powerful and scary. Comic version, Paul, plays alien for laughs and implies that a smark alec Grey is responsible for ET in the first place. Also the M&M Mars candy company is still kicking itself for not wanting their product in the movie, and Reese’s Pieces wouldn’t even be known anymore if it wasn’t for this.  Hopefully in 2012, Spielberg will rerelease the original without the asinine changes! 
Review by Adam Browne