The man, the films, those blondes. Free DVD collection starting this Sunday
It happened, according to movie lore, at the first Cannes Film Festival screening of E.T. Hundreds of hardened critics and cynical industry watchers were gradually melted to mush, and eventually even stood up and cheered when the bikes took flight in the third-act chase scene. They did this because they were responding to a movie that speaks not to cinephiles, to sci-fi fans or to popcorn munchers (though, in truth, it gamely addresses all three), but to a film that goes deeper than that. For this, at its most chromosomal, is the story of two lost children who find each other. Elliott (Henry Thomas) is emotionally broken and abandoned by his parents’ divorce, just as E.T. is literally abandoned by the spaceship that flees the menacing approach of Keys (Peter Coyote). The friendship of Elliot and E.T. is thus forged of necessity. Their adventures — E.T.’s housebound antics, the Hallowe’en escape, the bicycle flying — are exquisitely told by Spielberg from an exclusively childlike point of view (the camera even hovers at kiddie head height). Their bond is thus the promise of healing plenitude and total commitment that addresses the child, abandoned or not, in all of us. Kevin Maher
If you've missed a screening, you can still buy the following iconic Movies That Matter classics on DVD:
Read the training tips and advice that helped our London Triathletes
Times Online's new TV show helps you make the right decisions for your pet
Read our exclusive 100 Years of Fleming and Bond interactive timeline, packed with original Times articles and reviews
The latest travel news plus the best hotels and gadgets for business travellers
Shortcuts to help you find sections and articles
2007
£47,700
2007
£41,899
2008
£41,445
Great car insurance deals online
£33,000
Macmillan Cancer Support
Central/South West
£50k
NHS
Nationwide
£
£30k OTE
Meltwater News
Nationwide
100K
Confidential
London
5% below developer pre-launch price!
Luxury Appts, beautiful gardens w/ Thames views
Great Homes Available on a shared Ownership Basis
Great Investment, River Views
By Funway – Thailand
from £589pp
Christmas Cruises
From only £995pp
APTs East Coast now from only
£2425pp.
Great travel insurance deals online
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. Globrix Property Search - find property for sale and rent in the UK. Visit our classified services and find jobs, used cars, property or holidays. Use our dating service, read our births, marriages and deaths announcements, or place your advertisement.
Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
This wants me to throw things at the screen! A perfectly OK movie that should be #97.. and I don't even think it should make the list.
Justin, St. Louis, usa
I'm not sure how seriously I can take a top 100 missing the likes of:
Shawshank
All the Presidents Men
Ten Angry Men
Tootsie
When Harry met Sally
In the Heat of the Night
I could go on.......
Samantha, Enfield, UK
For me a totally overrated relic of the 80's betraying Speilberg's worst excess of over-sentimentality.
The guy can make films, but is very hit and miss. For me, to see him placed so high in this list, above true auteurs like Hitchcock, Ford, Hawks, Capra, et al just seems wrong.
Jim Coats, Renfrew, Scotland
Placing ET at number three suggests it is Spielberg's best film - indeed that's what Spielberg says himself. But, I would definitely put Close Encounters (did that even make the top 100?) and Jaws ahead of it.
Larkin, Cork, Ireland
Sam Bailey is right in what he says. It was a film of its time but great? come off it, and Spielberg's best effort? Hardly.
Andrew Harrison, Holmfirth, UK
wasn't the original screenplay for ET written by satyajit ray?
shammi huda, dhaka, bangladesh
With any list you will certainly foster discussion and disagreement but #3? Spielberg has made a lot of better movies.
Bill Brandt, Sacramento, USA
E.T. is not a good movie. I can see why people gush over it, but I watch it objectively and see nothing but cheap sentimentality. If you want to put it on a Top 100 list, go ahead, but don't put it this high.
Sam Bailey, Florida,
I agree with Thomas - If you're gogin to give number 3 slot to a film that had a huge impact on children and had a memorable soundtrack, you have to go for star wars, but really to put ET 12 places above apocalypse now is bizarre.
Cam, dubai,
Sounds like a couple of bitter individuals. A soundtrack is one powerful element of a succesful movie, as is proper framing, emotive acting, pacing, intuitive directing, and so forth. My memory of E.T. is one of a theatre full of tears and elation, from people of all ages. Art should move you.
Paul Johnston, Ottawa, Canada
ET was all soundtrack and little substance. People get carried away when they hear all of that loud "emotional" music and forget that this is a mediocre film at best.
Sam, Englewood, NJ, US
I cant believe that a cheesy 80s popcorn flick made number 3 on your list, but neither "Mister Roberts" nor "Bridge on the River Kwai" are anywhere to be seen.
Thomas, New York City, USA