History Film / ETTheExtraTerrestrial

->''"E.T. phone home!"''

''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' is perhaps Creator/StevenSpielberg's signature film. By the end of its initial theatrical run (which ran from early June of 1982 into early June of 1983), it had unseated ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'' as the highest-grossing film of all time, and adjusted for inflation it currently stands as the 7th highest-grossing film of all time. Music/JohnWilliams' score, flying bicycles, and an UglyCute alien hero are just the tip of the iceberg here.

* BehindTheBlack: During the HopeSpot (below) when Tyler says they've lost their pursuers, a large group of agents rushes in from ''right off camera'' on either side.

* DramaticAlienVTOL: [[When E.T. finally goes home.]]

* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: [[Both Elliott and E.T. get laid down on operating tables when they are sick and the house is quarantined. Unfortunately, E.T. doesn't last very long... or appear to, at least]]

In 2019, Xfinity released a four minute ad in which ET returns and catches up with a now adult Elliot, again played by Henry Thomas who stated doing a full feature film sequel likely wouldn't work, but this was the perfect way to follow up on the story. Spielberg agreed, and named the ad an official part of the film's canon.[[note]]Melissa Mathison had sadly died a few years earlier before she could give her own take on it.[[/note]]

* JumpScare: Elliott's encounter with E.T. in the cornfield.

In 2019, Xfinity released a four minute ad in which ET returns and catches up with a now adult Elliot, again played by Henry Thomas who stated doing a full feature film sequel likely wouldn’t work, but this was the perfect way to follow up on the story. Spielberg agreed, and named the ad an official part of the film’s canon.[[note]]Melissa Mathison had sadly died a few years earlier before she could give her own take on it.[[/note]]

* ObviousStuntDouble: During the bike chase, [[https://imgur.com/a/AqfAv38 as this image shows]], 10-year old Elliot's stunt double is a full grown man. Having the teenagers' stunt doubles as taller-than-average men did not make this much less obvious.

* ABoyAndHisX: A boy and his marooned alien botanist. %% Add more context to describe their relationship and what effect it has on them. %%

%%* ABoyAndHisX: A boy and his marooned alien botanist. %% Add more context to describe their relationship and what effect it has on them. %%

* DramaticAlienVTOL: [[spoiler:When E.T. finally goes home.]]

* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: [[spoiler:Both Elliott and E.T. get laid down on operating tables when they are sick and the house is quarantined. Unfortunately, E.T. doesn't last very long... or appear to, at least]]

%% * TheWorldIsJustAwesome: It's suggested E.T. sees Halloween this way.

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: Elliot (especially) is obviously the hero who can do no wrong; his family are also obviously the good guys by association with him. The government agents and scientists, while they are eventually revealed to be doing commendable work for a worthy cause, are [[GoodIsNotNice more than a bit creepy and overbearing about it]], and spend most of their time in rather sinister shadowy settings. Do they ''have'' to go menacing our protagonists that way? (For civilians, threatening children with guns would typically get them charged with "''felony'' assault with a deadly weapon" in a court of law, even if the guns weren't actually loaded.)

* WhiteAndGreyMorality: Elliot (especially) is obviously the hero who can do no wrong, even spending a lot of the film [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience dressed in bright white thermal underwear evocative of virginal innocence]] to drive the point home; his family are also obviously the good guys by association with him. The government agents and scientists, while they are eventually revealed to be doing commendable work for a worthy cause, are [[GoodIsNotNice more than a bit creepy and overbearing about it]], and spend most of their time in rather sinister shadowy settings. Do they ''have'' to go menacing our protagonists that way? (For civilians, threatening children with guns would typically get them charged with "''felony'' assault with a deadly weapon" in a court of law, even if the guns weren't actually loaded.)
* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: It's suggested E.T. sees Halloween this way.

In 2019, Xfinity released a four minute ad in which ET returns and catches up with a now adult Elliot, again played by Henry Thomas who stated doing a full feature film sequel likely wouldn’t work, but this was the perfect way to follow up on the story. Spielberg agreed, and named the ad an official part of the film’s canon.[[Note]]Melissa Mathison had sadly died a few years earlier before she could give her own take on it.[[/note]]

* {{Bowdlerise}}: For the 2002 special edition, the guns of the cops at the end of the film were digitally replaced by CGI walkie-talkies (Spielberg, now a father himself, felt the shotguns could have been too frightening for his children) and a line spoken by Mary commenting about Michael's Halloween costume had the word "terrorist" changed to "hippie." (The line had previously been removed altogether on the 1988 video release and television broadcasts for some unknown reason.) When the film eventually was released on DVD, the initial run saw both the 2002 release and the original theatrical cut packaged together in one set.

* BigBad: Keys (who's [[NoNameGiven his real name is never shown]]) is the lead scientist who wants to capture E.T.

* DeletedCharacter: Originally, Elliot was supposed to have an Eddie Haskell-like friend named Lance. He still appears in the novelization and the storybook.

* FlatCharacter: None of Michael's friends get any type of characterization.

* FullMoonSilhouette: The UrExample in the scene where ET makes Elliot's bike fly. The image of the bike silhouetted against the moon became the logo of Creator/StevenSpielberg's production company Creator/AmblinEntertainment.

* HiddenInPlainSight: E.T. hides from Mary among the stuffed animals in Gertie's closet.

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: E.T. hides from Elliot's mother by pretending to be one of Gertie's stuffed dolls.

* BigStupidDooDooHead: Subverted when Eliot angrily calls Michael "penis breath." It sounds like something a ten-year-old would say, but when you think about it, he's [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar calling Michael a cocksucker]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Elliot's rather... inventive insult to Michael, the obscenity of which can only increase the more one analyzes it.
** Michael and Tyler's swearing, as noted in BleepDammit and OhCrap; rather muffled, but audible nonetheless.

-->'''Tyler''': "[[TemptingFate We made it!]]" *agents attack* [[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar softly]]] "Oh, shit!"

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: Elliot's mother spills her coffee on the floor when she discovers Elliot and E.T. dying on the bathroom floor.

* SympatheticInspectorAntagonist: Keys (Peter Coyote's character). He has a job to do that conflicts with the protagonists, and is part of a group that comes across as very scary, but he is a good man at heart who has been wanting to meet an alien since he was 10, wants to save E.T., sympathizes with Elliot ("I'm glad he met you first."), and when he sees E.T. is going home, he just watches alongside Mary, and doesn't do anything to prevent it.