Review: ‘E.T.’ holds its age quite well

Geoff Carter

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 9:04 a.m.

Grade: ****

Starring: Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, Robert McNaughton and Drew Barrymore.

Screenplay: Melissa Mathison.

Director: Steven Spielberg.

Rated: PG for language and mild thematic elements.

Running time: 105 minutes.

Movie times: http://www.vegas.com/movies/

Steven Spielberg's "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" is 20 years old this year, just a bit younger than Paris Hilton. It's aging better than Paris, too: If not for the haircuts and the lack of cellular phones, Steven Spielberg's family fable might look timeless. As it stands, it's still a gorgeous-looking film -- and holds the same surprises even for second-time viewers.

I haven't seen "E.T." since the 1980s, but I remembered a good amount about the film. I remembered the star-making comedic performance of Drew Barrymore (just before she nearly turned into Paris Hilton herself), the mature and grounded performance of Henry Thomas as Elliot and the hills and valleys of John Williams' romantic score.

That is to say, I thought I remembered these things. Almost immediately after the 20th anniversary edition began, I realized that everything old was new again.

The visual effects are just as believable today -- and a few new scenes of a computer-animated E.T. fit into the film seamlessly. Unlike George Lucas' savage reworking of "Star Wars," Spielberg didn't attempt any effects shots that wouldn't have been possible in 1982 -- and his sole thematic change, replacing the guns of government agents with walkie-talkies, isn't that severe.

And so help me, "E.T." is every bit as affecting as it was two decades ago. Even knowing what I know, I still jumped at the shocks and got misty-eyed at the dramatic scenes. Not many people remember that "E.T." was a sensation at Cannes, and instead remember it as the most saccharine of Spielberg's films. It isn't.

While Melissa Mathison's script still feels heavy-handed at times (how many times to we have to be told that Dad's run off to Mexico?), it remains a marvel of storytelling. All the events of the film happen within 10 minutes of Elliot's home. Even though most of the action happens on a handful of sets -- mostly of suburban scale -- "E.T." feels like a world unto itself.

Ultimately, "E.T." is an emotional odyssey, one that touches you in the most unexpected of ways. I sat next to a 5-year-old girl who cried through the sad scenes, and her mother was crying, too. At the conclusion of the film, the audience burst into applause. One could imagine that 20 years of Hollywood's bumbling with family films, from "Spy Kids" to "Titan A.E.," simply never happened.