Okay, here it is. This alien is left behind on earth. He befriends a boy named Elliott and they get into mischief and have some wacky adventures together. Before long, the boy's brother and sister find out about the friendly alien. They all go out trick-or-treating together. Next thing you know, the alien starts to get sick. Evil government representatives show up and . . . nah, it will never work.
I know, the alien uses a kid's toy to make an interstellar communications device. OK, that is a bit far-fetched.
That's the best idea since Billy and the Clonasaurus.
But that's not all! The alien and the boy drink ridiculous amounts of Coca Cola together, and eat at McDonald's all the time! And the alien looks like a furry bipedal elephant who can move things by telekenesis!
Brother R
Oh and once you make millions off of the movie you can add and change the scenes in the movie later for when you want to put it back out in theaters.
The Burgomaster was right: El Stupido Idea-o.
Too bad it made a billion and didn't just fade away like 1941 did.
Bastards.
I liked that movie! The only thing they shouldn't have done was the remake: meddlesome big government ought to be treated as a threat, and taking out the guns ruins this moral point. Think of what an important lesson this is!
Did you know the U.S. government actually does have a plan in place just in case extra-terrestrials visit, and that it's just as lame-brained as the government activity in this movie? If a bunch of space aliens ever do set down, they'll be arrested, their ship will be impounded so it can be checked for dangerous substances, and a welcoming party composed of the nation's supposed top scientists and the like will be trotted out to greet them. If I were the space aliens, I'd rather avoid those arrogant cusses in the welcoming party too, to say nothing of all the other unpleasant stuff. (Good thing Carl Sagan's dead, because his smug personality alone would be justification for frying the whole pack of them with death rays.) Don't think that this is just some stupid American thing either, because knowing those stuck-up European nations, they probably have exactly the same kind of plan.
I don't know as how I'd choose to stay with a bunch of children, but just about anything would have to be better than listening to those blubber-heads go on and on about how smart they are and what a historic occasion this is and how they hope you'll share those supposed wonderful secrets you have for ending poverty, war, and injustice with them. (Who says extraterrestrials have any such secrets at all? Maybe they're just as plagued with poverty, war, and injustice as we are, only on a grander scale. Our own explorers of foreign continents were hardly angels by all accounts, and the very violent nature our peaceniks despise may have been the very quality needed to make them restless enough to go exploring.)
In any case, the E.T. movie holds together pretty well, it's from the days when charming movies actually were charming rather than annoying, and it doesn't overplay the "Space Aliens are nice people" angle too much. The product placement is even rather restrained, considering that in the scene where the kid opens the refrigerator, they had to turn most of the products around so we couldn't see their labels. (Those companies didn't want their products in the movie, you see.) Reeses Pieces never would have gotten such a prominent role, had it not been for the other candy companies that turned Spielberg's offer down, and I'm rather in favor of capitalism anyway, as long as it doesn't get in the way of the art.
If you want a bad kids' alien movie to rag on, try the MST3K pick Pod People, which is what E.T. would have been if it had been a movie absolutely dedicated to product placement with a bunch of bad actors, stop-motion effects, bad music, and no budget. As the MST3K guy put it, the movie's not about people, and it's not about pods. What he doesn't say is that it is, however, about a bunch of companies who probably wish they could have their sponsorship money back and have the film suppressed.
The post that came back from the dead.
I think it would be better if, at first, E.T. started killing people. However, after reading a copy of the bible, he realizes killing is wrong and befriends what is left of Elliott's neighborhood. The good thing about this plot twist is that Drew Barrymore is removed early on, courtesy of E.T.'s particle whip.
The other possibility is that Drew manifests her mental powers and unleashes flaming death in retaliation for her destroyed home. Just imagine E.T. and a little girl throwing balls of crackling fire at each other.
This post was probably not necessary.
Maybe it wasn't necessary Andrew, but it was very thought provoking.
The thought that came to my mind was what uses could we come up with for that retractable neck of his. Also does the big index finger just glow or does it also vibrate? Is Dee Wallace into kinky...........ah never mind.