Movie review - "ET" (1983) ****

Enormously popular on release somehow it seems to be less revived than other Gen X classics e.g. Star Wars. I remember being scared going to see it when I was little, that I would cry - "you see ET and you'll cry". Watching it again years down the track I was struck by a number of things: John Williams' music score was a bit over the top bombastic, the strength of Henry Thomas' lead performance, the sheer overwhelming cuteness of Drew Barrymore, the innocuousness of the poor old buck toothed guy no one remembers who plays Thomas' elder brother (but he performs a key role - kids movies often place great emphasis on impressing your elder brother, look at how Harry Potter is always impressing his prefect), the skill of Melissa Matheson's script ("this is reality Greg"), but most of all the skill of Spielberg's direction. So many clever touches - like making Thomas wear red so you always know its him, the thrilling final chase, etc