E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. may be the best Disney film Disney never made. Captivating, endearingly optimistic and magical at times, Spiel­berg's fantasy about a stranded allen from outer space protected by three youngsters until it can arrange for passage home is certain to capture the imagination of the world's youth in the manner of most of his earlier pictures. Opening sequence comes off like a repeat of Close Encounters, as a spaceship takes off just before some earthly authorities are able to close in on it. One of its occupants gets left behind in the threateningly different environment of a modem Californian subdivision. (Variety 26.5.82)