# E.T.: Was this ever considered a good movie?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 18, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778 "2008-05-18T19:07:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/21 "2008-05-18T22:32:24Z")
I haven’t seen it since it came out. At the time I thought it was stupid and manipulative. I remember rooting for the scientists at the end.
(And I generally like kids’ movies. I’m a huge fan of the Disney animated features, for example.)
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2008, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/22 "2008-05-18T22:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=mbh]
It is not High Art. Spielberg never pretended that it was.
[/QUOTE]
. . . and no one in this thread has suggested its status as “high art” (wtf does that even mean?) has anything to do with it.
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### Author:  [@Baine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baine)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/23 "2008-05-18T22:57:23Z")
I haven’t seen it since I was a kid, and I don’t recall watching it from start to finish, but I do have fond memories of many moments from the film.
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### Author:  [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/24 "2008-05-18T23:51:01Z")
IMHO it is not nearly as good as Close Encounters. I was in my late 20’s when it came out.
I liked it fine, loved the flying moonlight bicycle scenes.
I’d much rather have my emotions manipulated by Spielberg than by Disney.
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### Author:  [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/25 "2008-05-19T00:06:48Z")
There was a moment in there where Henry Thomas’ character calls someone “Penis breath.” Ruined the whole movie for me b/c that term simply does not belong in a children’s movie.
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### Author:  [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/26 "2008-05-19T00:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63]
There was a moment in there where Henry Thomas’ character calls someone “Penis breath.” Ruined the whole movie for me b/c that term simply does not belong in a children’s movie.
[/QUOTE]
Compared to some of the language that appears in children’s movies nowadays, “penis breath” is pretty tame, and actually sounds like an insult that a kid who doesn’t really know how to swear.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/27 "2008-05-19T00:54:03Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63]
There was a moment in there where Henry Thomas’ character calls someone “Penis breath.” Ruined the whole movie for me b/c that term simply does not belong in a children’s movie.
[/QUOTE]
I agree, I always thought that was unbelievably off-color for a kids’ movie (the implication being that anyone with penis breath would have to have been sucking on a penis.) Also, the line “Mom won’t let me be a terrorist for Halloween” is amusingly dated given the current political climate.
The best part of E.T. is when the astronauts break into the house. That scene was fuckin’ scary.
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### Author:  [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/28 "2008-05-19T00:59:04Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
I agree, I always thought that was unbelievably off-color for a kids’ movie (the implication being that anyone with penis breath would have to have been sucking on a penis.) Also, the line “Mom won’t let me be a terrorist for Halloween” is amusingly dated given the current political climate.
[/QUOTE]
No, I think it just happens to be that his breath _smells_ like a penis. And the line is actually given by the mother: “I don’t want you going out looking like a terrorist.” (This was changed to “hippie” in the 20th anniversary edition.)
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/29 "2008-05-19T01:14:19Z")
I personally didn’t care for it much when it first came out, but a lot of my friends thought I was crazy. We saw the anniversary re-release, but MilliCal wasn’t that impressed.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/30 "2008-05-19T01:26:06Z")
I loved it when it first came out. In 1982. At that time, it was like nothing I’d ever seen before.
Since then, it has been imitated somewhat, which puts it in a different light. And maybe Spielberg layed the emotional manipulation on a bit thick. But I still think it’s a well made piece of entertainment.
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### Author:  [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/31 "2008-05-19T01:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63]
There was a moment in there where Henry Thomas’ character calls someone “Penis breath.” Ruined the whole movie for me b/c that term simply does not belong in a children’s movie.
[/QUOTE]
I read somewhere that that was added to give the movie a PG rating – a G rating usually being a kiss of death, box-office wise.
ET isn’t my cup of tea nowadays, but I don’t think you can really fault it. The family dynamic as shown is actually very realistic and unsentimental – the story is about a boy whose home has been shattered, with a mom who can barely keep up with her life and kids who are starting to realize that they’re basically on their own. Much more nuanced than most “kids’ movies” you see nowadays.
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### Author:  [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/32 "2008-05-19T01:33:26Z")
ET (the character) always scared the crap out of me. I don’t remember much about the flim, but I remember that much. He was creepy.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/33 "2008-05-19T01:36:13Z")
1. It’s primarily a children’s movie,
2. It is, after all, 26 years old now, and has been heavily copied and corrowed from, and
3. It’s such a common cultural touchstone that it’s hard to watch it and not feel it’s cliche.
It was a hell of a movie for what it was.
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### Author:  [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/34 "2008-05-19T01:58:18Z")
My local theatre played it for about 10 weeks straight. I heard from everyone how fantastic it was before I finally saw it, so I had high expectations going in. I thought it was okay, but I couldn’t understand how so many people thought it was great.
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/35 "2008-05-19T02:22:58Z")
I was 13 years old, and before I saw the movie I bought the paperback novelization to read on our family vacation. I loved the book, and when I finally saw the movie a few weeks later I hated, hated it. The movie, obviously, omitted the ‘inner thoughts’ of the characters (Elliot and ET) and I felt incredibly cheated. I ranked it as one of my top five most overrated movies of the '80s. (Others on that list: _Top Gun_, _Dirty Dancing_, _Ferris Bueler’s Day Off_, and _Risky Business_.)
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### Author:  [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/36 "2008-05-19T02:23:51Z")
I enjoyed it when I first saw it as a uni student. I enjoyed it just as much when I saw it again last week with my nieces.
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### Author:  [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/37 "2008-05-19T02:33:00Z")
[QUOTE=Nonsuch]
ET isn’t my cup of tea nowadays, but I don’t think you can really fault it. The family dynamic as shown is actually very realistic and unsentimental – the story is about a boy whose home has been shattered, with a mom who can barely keep up with her life and kids who are starting to realize that they’re basically on their own. Much more nuanced than most “kids’ movies” you see nowadays.
[/QUOTE]
I think this is why it was so highly reviewed. The parts with the alien are, as others have said, rather saccharine and manipulative, but its contrasted against the fairly realistic and unromantic “real life” of Elliot’s family.
It’s a very common formula in modern children’s movies, depict a fairly unromantic and “real” child’s life, likely to be similar to that of many of the children who are actually watching the movie, and contrast it with a more fantastic, happy, reality. Was ET the first movie to use this device? I can’t think of any before then, but then I haven’t seen many movies from before that time.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/38 "2008-05-19T02:44:02Z")
Um, \*Cinderella? Snow White? Oliver Twist? \*Stop me when you’ve heard of any of these . . .
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/39 "2008-05-19T02:44:04Z")
_The Wizard of Oz_, of course.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-was-this-ever-considered-a-good-movie/449778/40 "2008-05-19T02:45:03Z")
_Ad_, you might say, _nauseum_.
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