ET:The Extra Terrestrial is one of Steven Spielberg's better movies, funny, touching and just wonderful. It not only entertains very young children and their parents but it reaches out to the child within us, that is something I want to feel when I watch a movie from my childhood. I love films like Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins and The NeverEnding Story for exactly that reason. The film is beautifully filmed, with breathtaking cinematography and beautiful scenery. The scene with ET and Elliot on the bicycle is just an amazing scene, I think John Williams's amazing score is to thank for that. The special effects are excellent, and the script is funny and touching. There is one sight gag with ET hiding among Elliot's stuffed animal toys that warms my heart every time. The acting is very good, with Henry Thomas appealing as Elliot and Dee Wallace sincere and sensitive as the mother. I also loved Drew Barrymore as the sassy and big-mouthed sister. What makes this film though is ET himself, even with his large eyes and long arms for an alien ET is adorable, sad and sweet. The part when Elliot cries when ET is dying is a real tearjerker, it kills me every time I see this film. Overall, I love this film, it is so special and delightful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

An alien being is left behind when his compatriots take off without him. He is hounded by humans but he escapes. Elliott (Henry Thomas) is a 10 year old boy with a rambunctious family. He finds the little alien hiding in the woods behind his family home. Nobody believes him. Not his single mother (Dee Wallace),not his older brother (Robert MacNaughton),nor his cute little sister (Drew Barrymore).

Spielberg got the visual style with the beautifully shot backyard with the light streaming from the shed. He's got the emotional touch with the boy and alien relationship. And he's got the comedic touch with Drew screaming at the alien. This is a beautifully put together story. Henry Thomas' performance draws you into his character. The pacing is good. The camera work is thoroughly modern. The jokes are still funny. The emotional payoff is still powerful. It is a modern classic.

I watched the redux version again recently, and it's interesting to see the intention of Spielberg with a CGI alien. I do miss the animatronic ET sometimes. And sure there are the minutia of gun or no gun controversy. But the story still remains. And that's the best part of the movie.

E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL was one of those films that everybody took for granted as a child in the 1980s. Everybody had seen it, everybody loved it, everybody could reference it with the other kids knowing what they were talking about. Finding myself less than impressed than Steven Spielberg's overt sentimentalism, I wondered how I'd find it as an adult...

Well, I needn't have worried, because E.T. still hits the mark. Yes, it's mawkish and rather dated, but I think that's all part of the fun. This is the classic kid's film of the 1980s, in which the adults are portrayed as either out of touch or the enemy; it's the kids who have to band together to fight for justice, and the template works very well here.

Inevitably, the character of E.T. himself is what makes this film. The Carlo Rambaldi special effects still stand the test of time and the voice mannerisms are just right. Henry Thomas has a tough role, acting against an non-human for the most part, but he excels in the part and the frog scene is still excellent. Drew Barrymore is very effective too. E.T. is certainly a film that still manages to tug at the heartstrings with all of the increasing drama and that poignant ending, and I love it just as much as I always did.