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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a
1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by
Steven Spielberg, written by
Melissa Mathison and starring
Henry Thomas,
Robert MacNaughton,
Drew Barrymore,
Dee Wallace and
Peter Coyote. It tells the story of
Elliott (played by
Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends a friendly alien, dubbed "E.T.", who is stranded on
Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the alien return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.
The concept for E.T. was based on an imaginary friend
Spielberg created after his parents' divorce. In
1980, Spielberg met Mathison and developed a new story from the stalled science fiction/horror film project
Night Skies. The film was shot from September to
December 1981 in
California on a budget of
US$10.5 million. Unlike most motion pictures, the film was shot in roughly chronological order, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast.
Released by
Universal Studios, E.T. was a blockbuster, surpassing
Star Wars to become the most financially successful film released to that
point. Critics acclaimed it as a timeless story of friendship, and it ranks as the best science fiction film ever made in a
Rotten Tomatoes survey. The alien became the subject of analogies for
Jesus. The film was rereleased in
1985, and then again in
2002 with altered special effects and additional scenes. Spielberg believes E.T. epitomizes his work.
E.T. began shooting in
September 1981.
The project was filmed under the cover name
A Boy's
Life, as Spielberg did not want anyone to discover and plagiarize the plot. The actors had to read the script behind closed doors, and everyone on set had to wear an
ID card. The shoot began with two days at a high school in
Culver City, and the crew spent the next 11 days moving between locations at
Northridge and
Tujunga. The house scenes were shot in
Lonzo Street. The next 42 days were spent at Laird
International Studios in Culver City, for the interiors of Elliott's home. The crew shot at a redwood forest near
Crescent City for the last six days of production. Spielberg shot the film in roughly chronological order to achieve convincingly emotional performances from his cast
. In the scene in which
Michael first encounters the alien, the creature's appearance caused MacNaughton to jump back and knock down the shelves behind him. The chronological shoot gave the young actors an emotional experience as they bonded with E.T., making the hospital sequences more moving. Spielberg ensured the puppeteers kept away from the set to maintain the illusion of a real alien.
For the first time in his career, he did not storyboard most of the film, in order to facilitate spontaneity in the performances.The film was shot so adults, except for Dee Wallace, are never seen from the waist up in the first half of the film, as a tribute to the cartoons of
Tex Avery. The shoot was completed in 61 days, four days ahead of schedule.
Longtime Spielberg collaborator
John Williams composed the musical score for E.T.
Williams described his challenge as creating a score that would generate sympathy for such an odd-looking creature. As with their previous collaborations, Spielberg liked every theme Williams composed and had it included. Spielberg loved the music for the final chase so much that he edited the sequence to suit it.
In July 1982, during the film's first theatrical run, Spielberg and Mathison wrote a treatment for a sequel to be titled
E.T. II:
Nocturnal Fears. It would have seen Elliott and his friends kidnapped by evil aliens and follow their attempts to contact E.T. for help. Spielberg decided against pursuing the sequel, feeling it "would do nothing but rob the original of its virginity"
- published: 16 Apr 2009
- views: 162473