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E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (re-release)
Universal Pictures

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (re-release) reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 94 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.1 out of 10
based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 33 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG for language and mild thematic elements

Starring Dee Wallace-Stone, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, K.C. Martel, Sean Frye, and C. Thomas Howell

The 20th Anniversary re-release of Steven Spielberg's classic tale of an extra-terrestrial who is accidentally left behind on earth and befriends a young boy and his family.


GENRE(S): Sci-fi  
WRITTEN BY: Melissa Mathison  
DIRECTED BY: Steven Spielberg  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: October 22, 2002 
Video: October 22, 2002 
Theatrical: March 22, 2002 
RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Best Original Score (John Williams), 1983 Academy Awards; #25 on American Film Institute's 100 Greatest American Movies

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
New York Post Lou Lumenick
An all-time classic that seems even better after two decades.
Read Full Review
100
The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
Unchecked goodness has its price, after all, and childhood wonder wouldn't be nearly as sweet if it didn't fade. That may explain the film's appeal. It trapped that feeling, and its sense of possibility, in amber -- then, now, and for any time.
Read Full Review
100
Washington Post Desson Thomson
A sophisticatedly sappy masterpiece that bucked the prevailing Hollywood vision of aliens as nasty invaders and recast them as friendly collectibles for children.
Read Full Review
100
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Just as moving, uplifting and funny as ever in its slightly modified form.
Read Full Review
100
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This movie made my heart glad. It is filled with innocence, hope, and good cheer. It is also wickedly funny and exciting as hell.
Read Full Review
100
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
The least fussy great movie ever made.
100
Variety Todd McCarthy
Had the aura of an instant classic when it was released, and the good news is that it looks at least that good, if not better, on the eve of its 20th anniversary reissue.
Read Full Review
100
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Watching E.T now, in an era dominated by cold, loud special-effects-laden extravaganzas, one is struck less by its lavish grandeur than by its intimacy and precision.
Read Full Review
100
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Always a magical film. For its anniversary rerelease, though, it's been extensively restored and even partly reshot by Spielberg. It now looks better than it did back then.
Read Full Review
100
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Seeing E.T. again reminds us of how much we've remained the same, how gratified we still are by a film that connects so beautifully to our sense of wonder and joy.
Read Full Review
100
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Beaming back on screens for its 20th anniversary, holds up spectacularly well.
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
It's one modern film worthy of being called a contemporary classic.
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100
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Music for the eyes. That's why it has become a treasured classic. That's why we'll see it again and again.
Read Full Review
100
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
Spielberg wrote a poem. And all the best movies are poems. [25 Mar 2002, p. 86]
100
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
In E.T., Spielberg proved a herald of the age when moviegoers would make full-time friends with fantasy, but his most special effect was taking us into ourselves.
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100
Salon.com Charles Taylor
One of the loveliest and happiest of American movie entertainments.
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100
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
If we approach with sympathy and curiosity, we will be rewarded with same. And our souls, not to mention our bicycles, will soar to the heavens.
Read Full Review
90
LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
The film's real power to move flows from its low, childlike angles, which, rather than infantalize its audience, bring it down to where the hurt and fear, and hence the comfort, loom larger.
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83
Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
It's a fascinating look into what Spielberg truly loves, but it's not so much a masterpiece as a nice milestone.
80
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
When E.T. debuts on DVD, you can choose between the new version, which better matches E.T.'s words to his lips, and the sweetly clunky, digitally deprived version redolent of penis breath. I don't need to phone home to know which one I'm buying.
Read Full Review
80
TV Guide Staff (not credited)
One of the most popular movies ever made, E.T. translates religious myth into cute, familiar terrain.
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80
New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
We're told that this new version is tweaked and enhanced, with the E.T. puppet digitally smoothed out, and the guns in the meanies' hands removed (silly, but bravo).
75
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A fine picture because it can still, without fail, make an entire audience of children shut up and fall in love with a little green alien with big eyes and a turtlelike body.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Doesn't make it a masterpiece, but it's fun.
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60
Film Threat Rick Kisonak
The story itself holds up fairly well though, twenty years later, does come off as thinner than I recalled.
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60
Village Voice Don McKellar
E.T. is a dog movie. Genre-wise, I mean. It's about a boy meeting a dog, naming it, taming it, learning from it, and growing up. Of course, the genre is superficially disguised as science fiction, as was the fashion at the time.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Antoine T. gave it a10:
One of Spielberg's greatest films by far, timeless storytelling.

Sam gave it a10:
A masterpiece that you will fall in love with every time you see it. Key word, "will."

John B. gave it a10:
Don't listen to the cynics, those who reject anything with an ounce of heart. Forced sentimentality is junk, yes, but this movie has none of that. It's enchanting and wonderful. A great film all around.

Dean K. gave it a1:
Despite the movies great effects for the time this over the top smaltz factory from the man obsessed by 6 year old heroes himself (mr spielberg) is the most over rated bag of salmon sick I have ever watched. ET go home? I wish he'd never bothered to come here in the first place.

Jake gave it a10:
Great show to watch when you're feeling down.

Allison gave it a10:
Do you believe in magic? A wonderful story for children of all ages. A true classic.

Pat C. gave it an 8:
Shamelessly contrived button pusher. Let's just let the children run the planet. Mushy with characters the thickness of cardboard cutouts. Stupid Stupid Stupid. Bad story. Great film. It's amazing how skilled plot development and editing can save the worst of material. The alien becomes a metaphor for a lost pet or lonely child, and the human children are recognized as imbued with wisdom and people worthy of their parent's tolerance and trust. Never judge a film for its subject matter, only for its treatment of it. Spielberg pulled a fast one here. Then went too far (Jurassic Park).

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