The thing I’ve always loved is when ET tells Elliot “I’ll be right here” he points to his head, as if reminding him that these few days and their time together will be something to cherish in his memories, and that as long as he remembers ET, ET will still be with him. It’s an important message for anyone we’ve lost, like Elliot losing his dad.

Watching behind the scenes moments of Spielberg working with kid actors is always heartwarming. He always treats them with respect and works with both their abilities and limitations.

I love Erik and the editors breaking down these original classics for us. This is an amazing channel ❤

A few years ago, myself, my parents, and an old family friend got to see ET with a live orchestra. It was incredible to revisit the film and highlight Williams’ amazing score. I was deeply impressed at how well it all held up. Truly a timeless and beautiful film!

The ride at Universal Florida is crazily accurate to this movie. Haven't seen the full movie, but the parts I've seen, are good.

I will be honest, this movie scarred me A LOT as a kid. I have never been able to watch it as an adult. I think it's the whole thing with ET dying and the house all covered in tubes and Elliott's emotionality. I still feel like it would be overwhelming.

I was fourteen in 1982 when this came out and it pulled the heart strings pretty hard. I saw it ten times in the theatre that year between the summer and Christmas. I had the trading bubble gum cards, the toy finger that lit up, the book and the soundtrack on vinyl which I still have. It came back to the theatre in 1985 and saw it again. Back to the future was the hit in summer of 85. In 1985, I saw E.T., Back to the future and ghostbusters which also came back to theatres in 85. It was a great experience.

This was the first movie I saw in a movie theater! I went with my parents and sat on top of my mom’s purse so I could see over the adults in front of me. I remember freaking out and crying when the men in hazmat suits took over the house and ET died, and my parents frantically calming me down saying, “look at the plant! He’s going to be ok!!” I still cry every time the plant comes back to life.

Erik, I swear I'm going to be tearing up all month long with how beautifully you break down these Spielberg movies, lol I've had an interesting relationship with this movie. As a kid I watched it multiple times, mainly as it kept being shown on T.V. (even thought I know I had the VHS). But as an adult, I think I gave in to an incorrect mentality that I should "leave this movie behind in my childhood" and the funny thing is, I'm not even sure why. I did see the 2002 re-release in theaters. CGI E.T. was fun but probably unnecessary. Honestly I didn't even notice the 'guns to walk-talkies' thing until after I heard people talking about it. But I'm glad that Spielberg changed it back so now that's the version I'll be seeking out. Being a kid of the 80s, I had forgotten how representative this movie is of my childhood (especially that Halloween scene). Maybe being a father now has changed how I view things I mistakenly thought I should leave in childhood as now I can share those things with my own son in hopes it will help him understand his father, like Spielberg sought to understand his own father. Thank you, Erik, for reminding me why this was an important movie from my childhood!

My strongest connection to this movie is the ride at Universal Studios. It was the only vacation my family ever took in my childhood. I got ET in my basket, and in 1994, the effects were borderline miraculous. I recently revisited it in 2018, and I swear the ride still holds up.

John Williams is such a prodigy. Someone that can create sounds that move through the body mind and soul is just amazing and anybody that hasn’t seen Henry Thomas’s audition needs to watch it. It’s absolutely insane how a kid can channel those emotions.

My favorite movie of all time! My first movie in a theater! I cried just watching this breakdown-as I do every single time I rewatch this movie! ❤️

With all of the talk about Star Wars crossing over into this movie, kinda surprised Eagle Eye Voss didn’t mention that Pat Welsh also did the voice of Boushh, Princess Leila’s bounty hunter disguise in Return of the Jedi. And now you can’t unhear it.

This movie came out when I was 4. It took me 3 tries to see it in the theatre because I could never get past the scene when Elliot meets ET in the corn field, it freaked me out too much. I would spend hours listening to the soundtrack (on vinyl) on headphones for a couple years after it came out. The chase scene still gives me a visceral reaction even to this day. And I still tear up at the end, no matter how many times I see it. Hell, I teared up a bit just watching this breakdown. Come to think of it, time to watch it again!

I've watched this move hundreds of times and I still tear up when ET says I'll be right here...even in this video

Does anybody notice Elliott talking on the inhale when E.T. is dying? I think it shows their mirror connection.

ET is the only movie that can make me cry instantly with that magical theme music created by the genius John Williams.

I was a kid when this came out. It quickly became my favorite movie for one very specific fact, and it's that E.T. ate Recess Pieces! Recess Pieces were my favorite candy back then, so much so that I have a nickname because of them. My closest older family members (aunts/uncles, and such) call me Reecer.

Admitting my age with this, but when we got our 1st VCR, it came with an E.T. VHS tape. 😊

there was a "magic of the movies" museum tour in the late 80s prior to the video release and in it they had the matte paintings from ET and ROTJ plus Regan puppet from the Exorcist. In the Matte area they were playing the bike scene with full WIlliams score. I guess I was 15 or so and remember collapsing to my knees and full on sobbing because of what the music and images conjured up in me. I still can't hear the score with ut tearing up, all these years later.

As I watch this movie over and over again I cry every time I watch it

Erik and crew, could you consider doing a breakdown for the Star Wars/Trek films?

I used to always be terrified of this movie, but I was able to watch the ending because of its emotional impact.

Love the Spielberg breakdowns Erik! Maybe the Edgar Wright films next??

A truly spectacular childhood movie ! My Dad was a manager at a novelty store in the mall at the time and they sold Halloween masks - well he would have me go to work with him on Saturday afternoons and wear an ET mask ( I was wrapped up in a burlap cloth - it worked well ) in the store to drum up business. It worked - apparently the corporate office inquired as to why that particular store outsold all the others in masks and costumes that year and Dad told them that he doubled his 11 year olds allowance to pretend to be ET on the weekends for five weeks before Halloween and sales were strong ! Good memories…

I was so fucking scared of E.T. as a kid, it was crazy. I actively made sure every Universal movie I ever watched never had the years 2002 and 2012 on the disk. The sight of an E.T. plushie sent me running literal blocks in the opposite direction. Any still image of him actively kept me up multiple nights. Stuff like that only scratches the surface of the intense and irrational terror I had. Ironic how it's now one of my all-time favorites.

Great E.T. Breakdown, This is one my favorite movies of all time! 👍

When i was a kid, i always felt like E.T was slowly healing Elliot and his family. They were connected and there's a deeper connection hinted at, so my head canon as a kid was that E.T felt the hurt that Elliots family felt, so after connecting with the young Elliot, he didnt want his friend to suffer. Knowing how important family is, he also healed Elliot's family, which in turn drained him and caused him to die. But when his own family was on their way, it revived him.

I was 10.5 when this came out & though we didn't have a lot of money to spare for non-essentials, my mom & I had seen a preview for ET & decided that was going to be our splurge that month. We went to the nearby theater & caught the last show before matinee prices ended & evening prices took effect @4pm, so like 2:30-3:00. We even bought popcorn there rather than make it @ home cheaper & sneak it in in ziploc bags. We both loved it & talked about it for days! Definitely the right choice. I can't even remember what other movies were coming out that month or what my other fun option had been that month. (As I really loved books I often opted for a used book or 2 from the bookstore over an outing, because you can read them over & over.) The only other movie that impacted me that much (as a kid anyway) was when Star Wars came out a little before my 6th birthday, & though we were even tighter on money at that time my mom found out that 1 theater in our city extended its showings & kept it on for 2 more weeks. I remember eating @ home right before we went & mom snuck in some cheap can sodas in her purse. I can still remember the opening, reading along (mom helped with the biggest words, but I actually read most of it). I was so enthralled the whole movie, & that was the instant that all the fairy tales & Dr Seuss read to me melded with all the westerns I watched with my dad & I have been a scifi lover since. By the time ET came out I had watched so many Star Trek reruns with my mom & read quite a lot. Every scifi book my mom had in the house, including The Martian Chronicles, & whatever I could convince mom to get from the library. Until I was 11, when she finally gave up, she kept trying to keep me from certain things because she was worried violent stuff might give me nightmares. But I literally never got nightmares, even when watching monster movies at friends' houses. Once she gave in I got to read even more, like all her Stephen King books & history-based fiction, & so on. Why did she give in? Cause she figured out my reading level had jumped so high I no longer even needed to ask her to explain anything or look certain words up in the dictionary. Not the fact that I watched westerns & wrestling with my dad since 4-5 or that I'd fully understood what s*x was since I was 7 because of reading through encyclopedias for high schoolers after done with the ones for little kids. Nope. It was that it hit her I really wasn't gonna bug her for explanations but I was gonna bug her for more reading material. 😂 Well, mom, you created this monster that loves to devour scifi & adventure stories! After that she didn't censor any reading material. If she brought it home from the library I could read it too & she didn't even blink @ all the books I borrowed from the school library.

It’s been a LOOONG time since I’ve last watched ET. Too long! But as a kid born in ‘84 seeing these scenes again now, it’s clear that it was never the plot or story of the movie that really stuck with me, it’s all the little details and bits of production and sound design that made it so memorable for me. Everything from the sound of Reese’s pieces rattling together to the way they unplugged all those bolts holding the plastic hazmat tube to the van during the finale. This movie is filled with stuff unique to my own childhood experience. I’m in a nostalgic mood, so I think I’ll watch ET this weekend! 😆

I was 10 years old when my older sister took me to see WT the first showing in our city. I've owned it ever since. From VHS,DVD and blue ray. I have to watch at least 3 to 4 times a year. It completes me,it makes me laugh, and it makes me cry . It's such a heartwarming memory of my childhood ❤❤😊😊

i don't really remember my feelings during the movie, but i remember my sister's vividly. she was BAWLING when ET died, and laughing through the tears when he came back to life. An absolutely indelible memory.

@DeepDiveNR are you still planning on doing a deep dive on Lost? Would love to see it! I recently curated a series re-watch with the family and it was a really rewarding experience

Thank you Erik and The Deep Dive team for all these breakdowns! I have come to appreciate these classics so much more because of your work and I’m always pumped to see what breakdown you have for us next :) Best wishes for this channel!

The piano end suite has stuck with me since i was a child imagining what was behind the forest in my babysitter's backyard and wishing for friends, not knowing my friend was actually music. Thank you John Williams

This was the best analysis of this movie I’ve ever seen. You pointed out things I’ve never noticed. I saw this movie when I was 5 years old and everything about it from the colors to the music was completely enchanting.

I like to think that E.T. being in The Phantom Menace is because Elliott works for ILM.❤

When I first saw ET as a kid, he terrified me lmao. But watching it now, as a 27 year old, it fills me with joy. This movie feels like the realization of every kids dream. The heart and imagination that was put into this film stands the test of time. And I think John Williams’ score here is his best score. I always get chills on the ending when the music swells as everyone watches ET and his family leave earth.

I watched this movie a lot when I was a kid and silly me always thought that Keys was secretly Elliot's father from the way he acted near the end of the movie 😅

It still makes me want to play D&D. It’s the ceiling lamp..

Great breakdown Erik!

There is a “magic” in the bike chase scene that literally brought me to tears when I most recently watched this movie.

I LOVE this movie! From the visuals, the sound design, characters, and overall the feel of this film is something that will always have a place in my heart.

I first watched ET at my neighbor's house. We were extremely close when we were young, although we had slowly grown apart over the years but in a natural-feeling way. I always think of him and his family when I watch this movie!

Thanks for this one Voss. Every scene in ET has either a visual or audio queue that triggers some of my earliest memories in life. It’s been a very long time since I’ve last watched it but today you tickled those triggers enough for me to remember… and rewatch as soon as this 39 year old man has the chance. #BeGood

This is my favorite movie of all times. Is so perfect. I can't avoid crying like a baby from the first note of Williams at the beginning to the very end. This is pure magic.

I always thought the reason ET gets sick is because the entire time he’s on Earth all he eats is candy and beer

when I was a kid in the early to mid 1980s, i was living in Houstoon Texas in a new development. So my neighborhood friends always had fun riding our bmx bikes through all the new housing construction, so watching that scene in ET brings back a lot of fond memories

Fun fact: Drew Barrymore and I were born on the same day. I had the same reactions she did when I watched the movie. ET's escape in the beginning had me terrified of him, but I started screaming crying when they found his cold body. I left the theatre inconsolably sobbing and my parents swore they'd never take me to another movie until I was older. (That promise was broken 😊)

Erik, I'll tell you how I felt after watching the movie. I cried like a baby, this is peak cinema. Music was the main cause for emotional rollercoaster.

I actually got to be the kid in the bike during a Universal Studios Hollywood ET experience during the Tram Tour. It was so much fun! My dad faked us out by switching the VHS when we weren't looking when we first got this movie at home. We thought we were going to watch Alice in Wonderland and he switched it to ET.

The first time I saw this in the theater, when it came to the scene where ET comes back to life, everyone in the theater clapped and cheered.

I think this would've been a very different movie without John Williams... what he was able to tell us, especially 7 year old me, was what everyone was thinking, what was safe, and what wasn't. What this movie does for me better than any other movie I can think of is that it plays my heart strings like a harp, and never ever let's go. You cannot passively watch this movie. Impossible.

who here got to sit on the Elliots bike at Universal Studios and get their photo in front of the sky?!? < this dude right here lol . This movie brings back so many great memories of the 80's

I was in hospital in Sydney in 1982 and I got to have a day out with my grandmother and mother. I was five years old and was taken to see ET and I can remember bursting into tear when ET got sick and died. My grandmother got me an ET doll which I still have and even as a 47 year old woman, the final scene when ET and Elliott both say "ouch" has me in floods of tears. I too was raised in a divorced family but unlike Elliott, it wasn't my father who left, but my mother. She left one week after my ninth birthday and while she is now back in my life and lives in the same town as I do, there was always a feeling of being abandoned by her and the assoicated tramua it brought.

This was the first movie I saw in theaters. I was barely 6. This is what I remember from that day. I remember my parents having a quiet discussion in the kitchen regarding about me being old enough to do something. I wasn't sure what they were talking about but they were spelling words out so I wouldn't understand. I next remember being in the theater lobby amazed by all the popcorn and candy. All of this was new to me. I had no idea what this movie was about. I don't think I truly knew what an alien was at this age. Probably the first time I heard the word. I remember sitting in the front row of a crowded theater. I was scared out of my mind until the second Elliot shows ET all his toys. Up until that moment I remember cuddling up to my dad to stay safe. I remember being in absolute tears when ET died and the feeling of excitement I felt the rest of the movie and the thrill of the soundtrack with the bike chase. I still cry every time I see this movie.

When I was like 7 I was terrified of e.t. But as I grew older and watched the movie again I realized that it’s a great movie and the bond that they had was so powerful. Me and my dad love watching it.

Something about the lighting in the movie makes it feel more like a dream or a fairy tale... The shadows, bright lights and fog makes the screen bright and dreamy... Really beautiful cinematography there ❤

This movie was one of my favs as a good growing up in the 90s. It always makes me feel happy

Seems I can't even watch a Deep Dive of E.T. without crying! I was 8 when it came out, and my heart still breaks!

Shotguns to Walkie Talkies in 2002...One number...911. I'm glad he came to his senses. Great work as always.

Haven't seen E.T. in years. Man, just watching your recap makes me choke up the way I remember doing when I last saw the movie. How is that possible? Great Deep Dive, Eric!

E.T. is one of the first movies I can remember watching. Thankfully, it's one of those that's held up when I rewatched it as an adult.

I’ve only seen ET once and that was in theaters when it came out and changing the guns to walkie talkies is ludicrous. The closeup of the shotgun and the fact that these adults had weapons made a huge impact on me. It made the stakes higher.

I saw this movie in the movie theaters during its original release and I was that kid at the end that you wanted to console but couldn't because I wasn't your kid. It was a sobtastic moment in my childhood. The music, the story, the effects (which most hold up except the flying bikes) and everything about this movie is why this has always been my favorite movie.

Another interesting factoid is that while Spielberg was making this movie, he was going across town and having a heavy influence on the making of Poltergeist. My childhood memory of this movie was kids mocking others at school asking if "did E.T. make you cry?" I just happened to watch this early last month after seeing the Spielberg documentary and I did notice the no adult faces, except Mary, until E.T. is captured. I still don't understand how E.T. just happens to come back to life and I read the novelization as a kid too. I guess he was still barely alive and when he knew he was going to be rescued telepathically that gave him a spark to fully heal. Nice observation Erik about the bike pedaling because I thought it odd that they're pedaling in air and there is nothing to pedal on. And yes, George Lucas, learn from your buddy and tell Disney to release your original theatrical Star Wars movies on HD video.

I remember as a child when I saw the trailer for ET, he scared me. I avoided the movie for a long time because of it. But then, when I was in school, I had to study a film and I chose ET. I’m really glad that I did

He changed them to walkie-talkies because Drew Barrymore asked him to for the update. He also took on the South Park ep about him and Lucas re-editing their films over and over again and said he actually agreed with South Park’s point.

It’s cool how at first in the Gertie screaming scene it whip pans from her popping through the door to ETs jump scare scream. And then after that it shows her scream. Just cool how Spielberg didn’t show ET as the monster at first, ET was the horror movie protagonist analog at first.

don't see this anywhere on the internet so I've got a new fan theory on Dale Gribble from King of the Hill. Dale Gribble was one of the kids who helped save ET; hence his lifelong distress of the government

What a beautiful bit of work you’ve done here, Erik! I’ve been wondering when would be a good time to let my 8yo daughter see this movie. She’s got a soft heart like her Dad and I’m sure it’ll make her cry, but I’ll be there crying right along side her.

In elementary and middle school, I always liked to watch this when I stayed home sick, because of seeing Elliot do the same (even when he wasn't actually sick). My family unfortunately has the edited version of the movie with the walkie talkies. But I think an obvious answer for why Spielberg made the edit was because it wasn't long after 9/11, and he must've wanted something a little less violent and threatening

So my father had seen this in a small single screen theatre in India in 82/83 when the movie had come out. It was a limited release and he was a fan of close encounters. Then 20 years later the 20th Anniversary of ET he had taken me in an IMAX theatre to see it. it was mind blowing.. the connect of ET and Elliot, the special effects, especially bike flying scene ( with elloit over the moon) was a dream. When I visited the Madam Tussads Wax Musem in London about 10 years later, I went by the ET exhibit and sat on the bike with ET in the basket.. it was rather drem come true. I've been a fan of the SCI FI world that Steven Speilberg has built , Saw READY PLAYER one also the moment it released.

Man…this movie absolutely terrified me to my core the first time I watched it. But then it became my favorite movie as a kid. Almost the same thing that happened to Elliot. Except I always kept that little bit of disgust and fear of ET. This inspired my love for things that are otherworldly and a little off putting. It has that same scary yet cozy vibe I love from things like Dark Souls. Such a success.

This breakdown is making me cry, good job Voss

Thanks for all your great work. Love from Belgium 🇧🇪 ❤

Classic Flick that is a truly timeless. Henry deserved a oscar nomination.

Who else became emotional when the commercial came out with ET visiting an adult Elliott?

One of my earliest memories (I must have been two or three) is bawling my eyes out on the bus after seeing E.T. in the cinema. It hit me hard. Sometimes I watch the last act and cry my way through it. It's like when the food critic in Ratatouille tastes the food that transports him back to his childhood. Just watching this video had me in tears. A perfect movie.

4:36 I do like that change of camera perspective and the reason behind it makes sense! Instead of just trying something new and it looking silly you literally see and understand their point of view

What Happened to The Goonies Deep Dive? It's my favorite 80s movie...

these have to be my absolute favorite videos. i love this channel and all the movies you've dived deep on. thank you voss

Awesome breakdown! Keep the classics coming!!!😊

This movie was one of my first I my grandma took me too and have so many memories. I ugly cried as I do today because of innocence- this year marks 30 years since she passed away and having that movie is an innocence I remember.

First viewing, you're seeing the movie from Elliot's point of view. Watch it again a few years later, and you empathize more with his big brother. Rewatch again as an adult, and you realize how difficult and at times terrifying it was for their mom!

This was the only movie i bought the sound track too and listened to it when felling down but mostly to go to sleep to i still have the original VHS and its because the music matched the emotions i was feeling at each scene the trumpets at the end always makes me want to take a deep breath and smile

Isn’t that the same type of forest where Endor was shot in 1983?

I am loving this channel SO much, Voss, your deep dives into the past have been SO FUN!

E.T was the first movie in theaters that I ever saw...I remember walking to the theater with my brother and mom (it was less than a mile away). We stopped at a small convenience store after the movie and got a couple packs of E.T trading cards. I still have them. I am going in October to meet the cast of this movie (minus Drew) in Richmond and being able to take my son with me after all this time is going to really be amazing, as he loves the movie also.

When ET goes home it makes me cry.

Just fantastic. love this channel !!

Ugh! Watched this in the theater when I was 8 with my 13 yr old older brother. I couldn't help projecting my brother and my relationship onto Elliot and Michael. First time I remember crying watching a movie. Vividly remember the scene when Michael finds ET in the canal, This 8 yr old was balling 😢

That ET sequel commercial was beautiful

I haven't re-watched it as an adult yet, but I loved it as a kid. I loved riding my bike, loved Reese's Pieces, and loved the ride too at Universal Studios (Hollywood) as others have expressed. I'll never forget way E.T. was able to say my name at the end of the ride.

This is one of those perfect movies for me. I was almost five when I first saw it. My parents had divorced a couple years earlier. I wanted a friend like ET. Everything just came together for me. The amazing acting by all the kids (Henry Thomas as Elliott is some of the best acting by a child actor ever). The brilliant director Steven Spielberg. And that score by the legendary John Williams! It's so perfect! My emotions in musical form. I even played that Atari ET game music over and over. The movie touched my soul. When I watched that movie, I was Elliott. I felt what he felt. Experienced what he experienced. Movies have a magical way of connecting us to these characters like.the way Elliott connected to ET. Even re-watching it, as a grown ass man....I still cry. "Ouch" I can imagine Elliott spending the rest of his life looking to the stars, missing his friend. I know because I do. There is still the kid in me wanting to see ET come back on that big screen, but it would never be the same. you cannot recapture that "first time" magic with a cash grab sequel. I have imagined ET coming back, dreamed of ET taking me on adventures. That's where ET belongs: in our memories and in our hearts. "I'll be right here"

I really love how much of a heart @DeepDiveNR has. The stories in this video about Eric’s siblings and the ones about him and his father in the jaws deep dive were really touching and I think they make these videos really special.

You are SO good at this and I APPRECIATE you SO MUCH!

I remember leaving the theater, and as I was walking up the aisle, there were people still sitting with tears in their eyes.

This was the first film I remember seeing in the cinema. It was magical.

I've watch a lot of your deep dives and your description of summer and coming of age made me emotional (in a good way). I love what you are doing, continue the great work!