E.T. - O Extra-Terrestre

Spielberg's direction and Melissa Mathison's script never lose sight of the realistic, low center of gravity world of childhood, in which such marvelous adventures happen every day.

It is the kind of film that young people are going to want to see again immediately after they've seen it.

Don't be intimidated by those long lines. E.T. is worth standing in line for. Steven Spielberg's story is the essence of fairy-tale simplicity.

This is a real movie, with all those elements that have proved sure-fire through history; Laughter, tears, involvement, thrills, wonderment. Steven Spielberg also adds a message: Human beings and spacelings should learn to co-exist.

Spielberg has crafted with warmth and humor a simple fantasy that works so superbly on so many levels that it will surely attract masses of moviegoers from all demographics.

Steven Spielberg's E. T., The Extra-Terrestrial is the best cinematic fairy tale since The Wizard of Oz.

The marvel of this extraordinary movie is that it captures for even the most jaded grownup that pleasurable state of innocence and awe that only children are fortunate enough to experience.

E.T. is essentially a spiritual autobiography, a portrait of the filmmaker as a typical suburban kid set apart by an uncommonly fervent, mystical imagination. It comes out disarmingly funny, spontaneous, bighearted.

Captivating, endearingly optimistic and magical at times, Steven Spielberg's fantasy about a stranded alien from outer space protected by three kids until it can arrange for passage home is certain to capture the imagination of the world's youth.

What's perhaps most amazing about E.T., what distinguishes it from many of the other fantasy films of its era, is its ability to put an audience under a spell of childlike wonderment without infantilizing it.

It holds up beautifully.

Though marred by Spielberg's usual carelessness with narrative points, the film alternates sweetness and sarcasm with enough rhetorical sophistication to be fairly irresistible.

Unchecked goodness has its price, after all, and childhood wonder wouldn't be nearly as sweet if it didn't fade. That may explain the film's appeal. It trapped that feeling, and its sense of possibility, in amber -- then, now, and for any time.

An appealing film this new one is, with some charm, some glee in the childrens' triumphs, some share in their friendship with E.T.

More than the work of any other filmmaker, Spielberg's output seems uniquely designed to induce in me this queasy false-memory syndrome.

On inherent merit, the movie would not warrant such a highly publicized re-release, but this is one of those films that transcends what's on the screen.

What E.T. does so well is to capture that moment in life when childhood seems to be slipping away.

[It] may become a children's classic of the space age.

A film that connects so beautifully to our sense of wonder and joy.

Though marred by Spielberg's usual carelessness with narrative points, the film alternates sweetness and sarcasm with enough rhetorical sophistication to be fairly irresistible.