“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” which hit theaters 40 years ago this month, was more than a hit. It was a bona fide phenomenon, the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle sensation rarely seen outside ...

Toward the end of the movie, as E.T. is getting ready to be transported back to wherever he came from, he and Elliot are preparing for the inevitable. Naturally, they’re sad, after all they’ve ...

As such, the flight represents everything cinema can be: a perfect fusion of visual spectacle, musical score, and character investment that creates pure movie bliss. As E.T.’s ship descends into ...

There was also — like Spielberg, who has not only rewatched E.T. the most of his films, but saw it with his seven children and six grandchildren — getting to experience the movie with her two ...

Rambaldi based some of E.T.’s facial features on his Himalayan cat, Kika. Credit: Sotheby’s Carlo Rambaldi passed away in 2012 after a lifetime spent in the movie business. In addition to the ...