Spielberg Hails One of His Own Movies as “Pretty Perfect”
Steven Spielberg has made countless iconic movies over the years, but the director says one stands out as “pretty perfect”: his 1982 sci-fi classic, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
The film tells the story of Elliott, a young boy who befriends a stranded alien he names E.T., and stars Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, and a young Drew Barrymore. The movie won four Oscars, including Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score.
Speaking to Stephen Colbert on The Late Late Show, Spielberg shared why E.T. is special to him. “I don’t look a lot at my movies after I’ve made them. I don’t look back that often, but every once in a while, I’ll see a movie with my kids,” he said.
“I want to accompany my kids when I see E.T. with them for the first time. I don’t want them to see E.T. without dad sitting there, especially the scary parts at the beginning.”
He continued, “Sometimes I see things that I had intended to do that I didn’t do, and sometimes I see things that would have been a better idea than what I’m now seeing all these years later – but for the most part, E.T. is a pretty perfect movie.” The director added that it’s one of the few films he can watch again and again.
The story of E.T. came from an imaginary friend Spielberg created after his parents’ divorce. He worked with writer Melissa Mathison to develop the script, which was initially called E.T. and Me.
Universal Pictures bought the script for $1 million after Columbia Pictures passed on it. Filming took place from September to December 1981 with a $10.5 million budget. To help the young actors deliver authentic performances, the movie was filmed mostly in chronological order. The animatronic E.T. was designed by Carlo Rambaldi.
E.T. premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 26, 1982, and hit U.S. theaters on June 11. It became a massive box office hit, surpassing Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film at the time, a record it held until Jurassic Park in 1993.
The movie received widespread praise from critics and is now considered one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. It earned nine Academy Award nominations, winning four, along with multiple Golden Globes and Saturn Awards.
The film has been re-released several times, including in 1985, 2002, and 2022 for its 40th anniversary. In 1994, the Library of Congress added E.T. to the U.S. National Film Registry, recognizing it as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Spielberg’s affection for the movie shows in how he watches it with his children and reflects on its making decades later. “It’s one of the few movies I’ve made that I can actually look back at again and again,” he said.
It’s easy to see why Spielberg holds E.T. so close to his heart. It’s not just a story about an alien; it’s a tale of childhood wonder and emotional connection that has stood the test of time. What do you think about E.T. being Spielberg’s “perfect” movie? Share your thoughts in the comments.
