E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Film Still
E.T The Extra-Terrestrial is proving to be an absolutely timeless film, it goes to show that no matter how technology advances in special effects and visual animation, what truly can make a story memorable and utterly convincing to an audience is a good narrative and solid message which allows us to suspend our disbelief throughout. E.T for example is a creature which in our current level of technology in film can clearly be understood as a rubber suit laid over a steel frame with a telescopic neck. But somehow we manage to identify with it in a very human way because as Todd McCarthy says in his review "The creature manages to project both a wondrous childlike quality and a sense of superior powers." (McCarthy, 1982) this resonates within our human instincts relating to protection and children and Spielberg knows this, we relate with the playfulness of the child-like qualities, and we have a sense of wonder from wanting to understanding, a thirst for knowledge, or in other works the human condition of the need to constantly ask 'Why?'.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Film Still
Spielberg has used very simple and relateable techniques to tie into a household, or most specifically an audience likely to be watching Genre film, he has "Placed a science fiction adventure so convincingly in an everyday domestic setting, where the cheerful chaos is overshadowed by the recent departure of the man of the house." (Lee, 2014), is suggested as an undertone for the film, E.T becomes the substitute for a broken home, arguably making us feel the situation is once again whole, more feel-good in this respect.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - Film Still
One of the main aspects which makes the film arguably so believable is the acting. Especially by Elliot (Henry Thomas), E.T's finder, "Screenwriter Melissa Mathison is equally adept at putting dialogue in the mouths of these babes that sounds like authentic childish babble." (McCabe, 2016), an audience who can associate with children and the mannerisms of which they possess can relate more towards the characters and identify with them.
E.T the Extra-Terrestrial is Close Encounters but with a Family centric Narrative instead of Special Effects MO, the Plot is basically the same, the only difference is the point of view of the Characters.
Bibliography:
Lee, M. (2014). E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, review: 'redefined popular sci-fi'. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/11310774/Must-have-movie-ET-The-Extra-Terrestrial-1982.html# [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].
McCabe, A. (2016). ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ phones home: 1982 review. [online] NY Daily News. Available at: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/e-t-extra-terrestrial-1982-review-article-1.2665682 [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].
McCarthy, T. (1982). E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial. [online] Variety. Available at: http://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-1200425287/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018].
Illustration:
Figure 1 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - [Film] 1982 - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures
Figure 2 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - [Film] 1982 - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures
Figure 3 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial - [Film] 1982 - Steven Spielberg: Universal Pictures
Hi Tom,
ReplyDeleteA nice succinct review, with a good choice of supporting evidence; just make sure that when you place your quote, it sits properly within the sentence and still makes sense. Here, for example,
'Spielberg has used very simple and relateable techniques to tie into a household, or most specifically an audience likely to be watching Genre film, he has "Placed a science fiction adventure so convincingly in an everyday domestic setting, where the cheerful chaos is overshadowed by the recent departure of the man of the house." (Lee, 2014), is suggested as an undertone for the film, E.T becomes the substitute for a broken home, arguably making us feel the situation is once again whole, more feel-good in this respect.'
This paragraph would have benefitted from a bit more punctuation, so for example,
'Spielberg has used very simple and relateable techniques to tie into a household, or most specifically an audience likely to be watching Genre film; he has "...placed a science fiction adventure so convincingly in an everyday domestic setting, where the cheerful chaos is overshadowed by the recent departure of the man of the house." (Lee, 2014). By suggesting this as an undertone for the film, E.T becomes the substitute for a broken home, arguably making us feel the situation is once again whole, more feel-good in this respect.'
Read both paragraphs back, and notice the difference :)
You have also gone a bit capital-letter-crazy in your last paragraph!
One last thing, make sure that you label the images with Fig.1 etc, as well as the caption...