There. I said it. I'm starting to feel beter about myself now. The summer of 1982 was prime time for science fiction and fantasy films... [*]Star Trek II -- The Wrath of Khan [*]Bladerunner [*]The Thing [*]Poltergeist [*]Conan the Barbarian (Not great, but better than I expected) [*]Atomic Cafe [*]Firefox ...and I heard about this other Steven Spielberg film, besides Poltergeist. There was merchandizing for it everywhere. I avoided it, not wanting to spoil the film. Spielberg had proven that he knew how to use special effects, create memorable images, and tell a story. I was willing to forgive Close Encounters of the Third Kind. After all, he'd given us Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark. So I went to see E.T., hoping for the best. Blechhhhh! I know that all moviemakers manipulate their audiences. It's their job, after all. But when they do so in such a blatant way I am strongly repulsed. The movie fairly dripped with treacle. I never saw the Sense of Childlike Wonder that everyone else seemed to see. I saw clunky humor and alien abuse and false endings that rang really false. I never saw it again. Only now my goddaughter, is in love with it. Twenty years after this thing should have been staked in its grave, and it's calling out to envelop my soul through the next generation. And I will have to take her to see it. If I’m lucky, one the “never before seen scenes” will be of ET eating the children, or the scientists actually getting to slit him open from chin to crotch. Peace. P.S. -- what really drove the nail in was that syrupy Neil Diamond song. And don't tell me that it had no direct connection with the film. That only makes it worse.
1981 Blues Brothers. Dune. Raiders Of The Lost Ark. An American Werewolf In London. Arthur. Das Boot. Stripes. 1980 FLASH GORDON!!!
Feh. Or not... Saw it again this weekend. And I was proud of myself as I kept an open mind all the way through the “Preview of Coming Attractions.” Some random thoughts that occurred to me during the flick: The whole movie starts with E.T. being cornered by the evil faceless government jerks. He eludes them, but they prevent him from getting back to his starship on time. Poor E.T. is left to watch as the UFO flies about 20 feet off the ground and out of his reach. Later on in the movie, E.T. telekinetically flies not just himself, but Elliott, Elliot's bike, and even later about half the kids in the neighborhood and their bikes several miles through the air. Why the hell didn’t he just fly up to the UFO at the beginning of the movie??? What happened to “penis breath”? Jump to the scene where these big scary spacesuit guys show up and my goddaughter starts crying, “Who are they? What are they doing?" Then the best part, where they start defibrillating ET to revive him. My goddaughter has not realized that ET was dying, as they weren't very clear about that particular plot point. So, to her it looks like they are killing ET. The people in Hazmat suits are portrayed as sinister & menacing. Given recent political events, & the threat of bio-warfare, is teaching young people that Hazmat Teams are evil & threatening a good idea? I think the movie might have been improved if E.T. had looked more alien, less like a dried-up little man with enormous blue eyes. If he had looked like a big cockroach with constantly moving feeding tendrils, and the kids had still learned to identify with him, that would have been something. What a miserable, wretched waste of film. The characters were both unbelievable and, apparently, brain-dead. The alien was completely without visual or emotional impact. The gadget-building was unreasonable. The entire thing was drowned in saccharine-based syrup. As for a sense of "child-like wonder"...bleh. By the way, if E.T. had shown up in my old neighborhood, we wouldn't have taken him home and hidden him. We'd have beaten him up & stolen his wallet. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
"I never saw the Sense of Childlike Wonder that everyone else seemed to see." Hell, I was a child when I saw it and I hated it. Lowest common denominator - that's who this film was aimed squarely at. I'm glad you hate it too....Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I've never really been a big fan of Speilberg. Too Disney-esque for me. I thought he fucking butchered AI. Kubrick would have made another masterpiece with that one *sigh*
Speaking of childrens films they should redo, I think they should redo "the never ending story". I loved that film as a kid and would go and see it again just to rember.
Yep! E.T. sucks, big time! What a tear-yerker! I didn't see the movie til September last year and it was by accident. Had nothing better to do and my friend said it was such a lovely movie... Hell, what a typical Hollywood family tear-yerker! My apologies to all the fans of this movie, guess I'm just not the kind of person who goes for things like E.T. The Never Ending Story I like much better in the book form. A lot of the book is left out. In my imagination it was all so much nicer, a whole different movie, so to say. The song from the movie I do like. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Guess I better do not watch The Lord Of The Rings either, for the book is so cool, in my mind I saw it all happening. What can be better then that? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Never heard of the Sense of Childlike Wonder. What is it about...?
I agree, Banshee, that song from The Never Ending Story was really good. One time at a Quik Chek I thought I heard it but it was realy some song from 'Flashdance' or something- I was very dissapointed. Who did it? I have an irking feeling it may be Linda Rondstat, but most likely I'm very wrong. I know at least Bjork didn't do it.
The singer from the Band "Kajagoogoo" sang the song from "The Never Ending Story", together with a woman. And her name I forgot. Have been thinking about it since I wrote the post above, can't remember the names, only that it was the singer of "Kajagoogoo". I don't know if I spelled it right, the Band didn't last long. They had one big hit: "Too Shy.." Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Something like that, back in the early '80's, 1982 or '83... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Banshee I was SO surprised to find that LOTR WASN'T a let down. I loved it and have seen it 5 times. I haven't read Never ending story but i will now i know its a book. Go see LOTR. You wont be disapointed
Hahahah this thread is funny. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! All the ET hate, yeeeeeeeaaaaaaah! I just Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! when I heard about the pc changes that were made for the new release, how lame.
ET is for children, not adults. It's alright to hate ET. Hehehe Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I watched Flash Gordon because of the QUEEN. nice movie. Neverending story touched my heartPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Really like it. I have read the book also. In the book the kid becomes a lot meaner thn in the 2nd part of the movie. ET is another tearsoaper. Just look at the modern version - AI. (notice- again two lettersPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ) . I very don't like them much both. Try to play on your emotion. Didn't succeed. LOTR is beautiful. I haven't read the book unfortunately, but the movie is fantastic Blade Runner is classic and one of the movies in my gold collection. I liked the idea and all, very good movie. Not to mention cyberpunk janre.
