E.T. THE EXTRA- TERRESTRIAL (1982)

E.T. (1982) A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world. (http://www.imdb.com/)


Origin

The 1980's saw the continued rise of the blockbuster, an increased amount of nudity in film and the increasing emphasis in the American industry on film franchises, especially in the science fiction, horror, and action genres. The teen comedy sub-genre saw its popularity rise during this decade. In the US, the PG-13 rating was introduced in 1984, to accommodate films that straddled the line between PG and R (http://en.wikipedia.org/). E.T. is a great representation of the blockbuster theme because it was the highest grossing film of the decade. This movie was directed by the famous Steven Spielberg who just a year earlier directed the hit movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.


Purpose

The concept for the film was based on an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents' divorce in 1960. In 1980, Spielberg met Melissa Mathison ( the writer of the film) and developed a new story from the stalled science fiction/horror film project Night Skies. It was shot from September to December 1981 in California on a budget of US$10.5 million. Unlike most motion pictures, it was shot in roughly chronological order, to facilitate convincing emotional performances from the young cast. This film was indicative of what was mainstream at the time because it fit into the same genre as other big blockbuster hit about the future and space.,Below is the full movie.














Value


This film is a very good expression of the decade because of it's major popularity of the time and it's relevance to what was common during the decade. It also fulfilled the popular demand of new age futuristic movies. There are a lot of other great movies that could represent the decade like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future or Alien but what makes E.T. the best expression was how well it was received by critics and the like. It shattered all records, earning 40% more than any Star-Wars film, and double or triple the revenue of 46 of the top 50 films. (http://en.wikipedia.org/)


Limitations


This film cannot tell us about other rising genres and themes of the decade like sci-fi, western, more gory horror, teen comdies, maverick police officer action, and James Bond. There were also some other voices that might have been left out that challenged the originality of the film because of obvious influences from the script of The Alien (1967). Other than that there are no other limitations that need to be brought to the table. The film was not uncommon to come upon during the decade of major blockbuster hits.