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Setting the scene
After Jaws and Star Wars, Hollywood chased family-friendly blockbusters, and Steven Spielberg had become the industry's most bankable storyteller with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The early 1980s recession made escapist cinema attractive, while special effects houses could finally blend animatronics with subtle puppetry for believable creatures. Spielberg wanted a gentler alien story than his earlier sci-fi work, rooted in suburban childhood loneliness.
What happened
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial opened on June 11, 1982, with Henry Thomas as Elliott, Drew Barrymore as his sister Gertie, and a wrinkled alien puppet operated by multiple crew members. Melissa Mathison's script followed a stranded visitor hiding in a California garage, phoning home with a Speak & Spell, and fleeing government agents led by Keys. John Williams' soaring theme played over Elliott's bicycle flight across the moon, one of the most parodied images in film history.
Why it still matters
E.T. overtook Star Wars as the highest-grossing film ever for a time, earned four Oscars, and kept Universal's merchandising division busy with Reese's Pieces tie-ins after Mars passed on the deal. Its blend of wonder and divorce-era family pain defined 1980s Amblin entertainment. Memorable detail: the alien's voice combined recordings of raccoons, sea otters, and a chain-smoking Pat Welsh, giving E.T. a rasp that felt both animal and oddly human.
Background
Spielberg's suburban wonder and John Williams' score defined 1980s family cinema.