E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Location: The Gallivan Center
239 S. Main St.
SLC, UT 84111

Directed by Steven Spielberg
115 min | 1982 | USA | Rated PG

*Film begins at dusk. (8:45 PM)

In most cases in cinema, an adults’ reaction to alien contact is met with fear and/or aggression, while a child sees the opportunity to have a cool new friend. Spielberg stepped up to the science-fiction plate again five years after Close Encounters of the Third Kind and cranked it out of the galaxy with this masterpiece.

There are only a few films out there that captured the true essence of being a kid in the 1980s. We hung out, rode BMX bikes, collected action figures, and said curse words. It was glorious, and Spielberg was quoted as saying, “I didn’t pretend E.T. was anything other than a kids movie, about kids, for kids, of kids, I was still a kid then. I still am.” Prepare to be transported back to that radical time as John Williams’ unforgettable score induces as many goose bumps as it does smiles.

-Jimmy Martin