E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Why It's a Classic

Spielberg drew directly from his own childhood experience of his parents' divorce and his reliance on imaginary friends, which gives the film an emotional authenticity that transcends its science fiction premise. The decision to shoot the film almost entirely from a child's eye level, with adults often shown only from the waist down, was a radical choice that places the audience inside Elliott's perspective and makes the world feel enormous and intimidating. Henry Thomas's audition tape, in which he generated real tears by thinking about his dead dog, convinced Spielberg immediately, and Thomas's performance in the finished film carries an unguarded emotional honesty that adult actors rarely achieve. John Williams' score is inseparable from the film's emotional impact; the flying bicycle theme, with its ascending strings, creates a feeling of pure transcendent joy. The silhouette of Elliott and E.T. flying across the moon became one of the most iconic images in cinema history and later the logo for Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment.