E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

After rebounding from the critical and commercial failure of 1941 (1979) with the massive hit of _Raiders Of The Lost Ark _(1981), one of the most purely entertaining films ever made, Spielberg consolidated his position as a filmmaker with unprecedented understanding of the collective psyche with the story of a lonely young boy and his friendship with an abandoned alien, adapted from Melissa Mathison’s outstanding screenplay.

Visiting our planet, E.T. is separated from his peers and takes refuge in the garden shed of ten-year-old Elliott (Henry Thomas). The two bond in friendship as they learn to communicate, but their bond becomes dangerous to the boy as the alien sickens in the unfamiliar environment. With pleasures including its soaring John Williams score, a scene-stealing Drew Barrymore (and a Star Wars reference paid off in 1999’s The Phantom Menace), E.T. is an unimpeachable classic.