on 11 June 1982 ‘Alien ET’ it was released in cinemas (it was in Spain on December 6 of that year), but it was not yet known that it would mark the history of cinema, especially science fiction. 40 years later, the creature continues to soften the world in its efforts to return to its home.
The original idea was born from the director’s own childhood experience. Steven Spielbergaffected by his parents’ divorce and who invented it an imaginary friend
ET is dying to go home, a galaxy three million light-years away and trying to communicate (“my home, my phone” has become such a famous phrase that it has become part of cultural heritage). Like little Elliot, she thinks her home is missing.
The story begins in Crescent City, California.. Extraterrestrial botanists collect plant samples to take to their distant planet, but government agents track them down and forget one of their members on their escape.
Meanwhile, Elliot (Henry Thomas) He is sacrificed by his older brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and his friends.who is her maid and sends her to pizza.
on the road, Elliot discovers a lost and abandoned alien who has escaped. However, on the way home, the boy leaves some sweets to lure him, especially in his room.
After different adventures, Elliot and his brothers Michael and Gertie (Drew Barrymore) try to find a way to get the little alien back to his planet before the scientists and the police find him.
One of the most talked about is the final scene where ET tells Elliot, “I’ll be right here,” while pointing the tip of his glowing finger at the sky just before boarding the spaceship that will return him to his planet. emotional and sad endings in the history of cinema.
Coincidentally, the ET script. He appeared during the filming of the also successful movie ‘Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark’. During breaks in filming, Spielberg teamed up with screenwriter Melissa Mathison to work together on the film. When they more or less turned their outline, Mathison wrote the first version in two weeks, which immediately convinced the director.
When he wasn’t very convincing in the audition and test to play Elliot, Thomas improvised a scene where he thought about the day his dog died to express his sadness.. The tears moved Spielberg so much that Spielberg decided to dismiss him on the spot.
Inspiration to design cute alien’s face turned out to be a combination of the faces of scientist Albert Einstein, poet Carl Sandbug, and writer Ernest Hemingway.
Filmed in California between September and December 1981. With a budget of 10.5 million dollars (according to the Box Office Mojo page) and it was a worldwide box office success, not just in the United States.
In fact, it replaced “Star Wars” (1977) at the time (now renamed “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”). It was the box office leader until then. Only one Spielberg film could take his reign in the years that followed: “Jurassic Park” (1993).
ET impressed millions of viewers, was critically acclaimed, and was nominated for nine Oscars, four of which were won. one of them has the best soundtrack by John Williams, A music that takes the audience from the sofa and dreams of the whole generation.
Spielberg, who had previously worked with Williams on ‘Jaws’ (1975), was particularly impressed with the score of ‘ET the Extra-Terrestrial’. He was so mesmerized that when he first heardshe couldn’t hold back her tears and asked him not to change a single note.
The movie was the first big-screen cinematic experience for many children born in the 1970s. others have since been able to enjoy it via videotape, DVD or television.
What is so special about the movie that it continues to excite and attract the public 40 years later? Perhaps the simplest answer is to tell a story about a feeling as universal as friendship and show the general public that aliens can be affectionate and familiar, rather than simple monsters from another world, as cinema had previously imagined.