Maybe it takes concentration that is harder while running (not to mention the mindless fear). Sitting in a basket, on the other hand, doesn't tire one out nearly as much, and by then he was more used to the idea of being chased, leaving him with a clear enough mind to pull it off. The novelization claims his growing telekinetic powers are a side-effect of the same process that is killing him.

Maybe they did it before. Many times, indeed. But this time, they wanted to inspect the flora in that specific area. One that just grew close to the Californians. Perhaps some kind of polluted plant that you cannot find in wild nature, or something like that.

Space suits are designed to allow survivability in the harshest environment we've been to, other than the deep ocean. The first agents that go into the house had no idea what sort of alien technology E.T. could have been packing. The suits seem more a precaution to protect him from them. When the doctors figure they've failed and ET is dead, everyone takes off his and her surgical masks, suggesting they figure they don't need them to protect him from them anymore.

E.T.'s people are a race of empaths. The farther away from each other they are, the sicker they get, because their bonds are weakening. He'd been away from them for some time, and their apparently not receiving his "phone home" only made him reach the despair event horizon that much faster. When they finally got his signal and responded, he was barely clinging to the last fibers of the last thread.

An alternate possibility: those six nucleotides in his DNA the researchers discovered (two more beyond the four that are standard to the DNA of every living thing on Earth) mean he wasn't able to get enough nourishment from our food. Apart from the junk food Elliot was bringing him not being all that nutritious anyway, he'd be suffering from his species' version of scurvy due to being unable to get the right chemicals from any of our food to give his cells all the building blocks they need to make more of those other two nucleotides (whatever they might be). He was able to draw life from Elliot and then his own people to slow his degeneration, but he really needed some of his own food to put an end to the "rabbit starvation" from which he was suffering.

The government agents are unnamed and are identified only generally, such as "Medical Unit" or "Federal agent in car chase". Most of them are uncredited in the film.

The government agents are unnamed and are identified only generally, such as "Medical Unit" or "Federal agent in car chase". Most of them are uncredited in the film.

The government agents are unnamed and are identified only generally, such as "Medical Unit" or "Federal agent in car chase". Some were real doctors, because Steven Spielberg felt that they would give more authentic performances vs. actors. Most of them are uncredited in the film.

The song was featured only in the movie and has never been released ... even on soundtrack albums from the movie. Therefore, we doubt you will find it anywhere.

The song was featured only in the movie and has never been released ... even on soundtrack albums from the movie. Therefore, we doubt you will find it anywhere.

The movie does not say or show them. So, their families are anyone's guess. They are playing a role-playing game at the beginning, which suggests that they have been friends for quite some time and know each other well. Since they are Michael's friends, their families are probably similar to Michael's.

His name is never mentioned in the movie. A plausible reason could be that the government's attempt to retrieve E.T. is a highly classified operation. Therefore, the participants do not reveal their real names to protect the mission.

He is identified as "Keys" in the closing credits, because of the keys on his belt. So, his real name is anyone's guess.

The movie does not reveal their backstories. Since they are playing a role-playing game at the beginning, they probably have been friends for quite some time and know each other well. Maybe they met in school or through chance encounters by living in the same neighborhood.

The movie shows cars and technology from the early 1980s. Therefore, we can infer that the movie takes place in the early 1980s.

The government agents are unnamed and are identified only generally, such as "Medical Unit" or "Federal agent in car chase". Most of them are uncredited in the film.

While collecting plant specimens in a wooded area in California, an extraterrestrial (E.T.) is accidentally stranded when his spaceship takes off without him. Totally alone on the strange planet, the alien makes his way down an embarkment and into a housing development where he is befriended by 10-year-old Elliott (), with whom he forms a special mental bond. When E.T. gets the idea of making a communication device so that he can "phone home", Elliott, his 16-year-old brother Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and their 5-year-old sister Gert (Drew Barrymore) attempt to help. Things get critical when E.T. gets seriously ill and appears to be dying. Meanwhile, a group of government agents have tracked E.T. to Elliott's house, sealed off the house, and sent in a medical unit to examine and treat Elliott and the alien.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is based on a concept by director Steven Spielberg and a script written by American screenwriter Melissa Mathison. Spielberg's idea came from an imaginary friend he created after his parents' divorce.

The movie is The Quiet Man (1952), starring John Wayne.

E.T. doesn't give a reason, but viewers take it to mean that it was his way of showing Elliott that he meant no harm and wanted to be friends. It might also have been a way of requesting more.

Probably not. "B...good" were the first words in English that he learned from Gert when she was trying to teach him to talk by repeating "B...B..." from Sesame Street. She then added "...good", when E.T. mimicked her. It was more likely E.T.'s way of sharing a significant moment he had with Gert, whether or not he really understood the meaning of "be good" and her reply of "I will."

As the task force prepares to load E.T.'s body into a truck to be carried away for examination, Elliott and Michael hijack the truck. On their way down the driveway, Michael yells to his friends to meet them on their bicycles at the playground at the top of the hill. After a mad chase scene that leads them into a road block, the bicycles are lifted into the air, landing in the spot where a spaceship is landing to pick up E.T. Knowing that E.T. is going to leave them, Gert and Michael make their goodbyes. When it comes to Elliott's turn, E.T. asks him to 'come' but Elliott replies 'stay' 'I'll be right here,' E.T. says while pointing his finger at Elliott's head. In the final scene, the spaceship takes off, leaving a rainbow behind in its wake.

E.T. 's catchphrase throughout the movie is "E.T. home phone." The version of the phrase that became popularized was Elliott's inversion, "E.T. phone home."

On its 20th anniversary, Spielberg re-released the movie in theaters in a new edition. To make the film more interesting, Spielberg changed several details. First of all, the sound and picture were digitally remastered. Furthermore, two new scenes were added. In the first new scene, Elliott's mother searches for her children in the town on Halloween. In the other one, the relationship between E.T. and Elliott is shown in more detail. In the scene in the bathroom, Elliott explains many things about his world and the viewer is shown that E.T's race seems to prefer water as habitat. Spielberg had removed that scene in the original version because E.T. puppet looked too stiff to him. Moreover, E.T. is digitally animated in several shots now, which, at some points, is very apparent. He has also been remodeled digitally. This can be seen at the beginning of the movie when he is fleeing from the hunters and jumps through the forest like a kangaroo. Later it becomes apparent that E.T's facial expressions have also changed, probably to show more emotions than the puppet was able to. Having said that, the changes only occur in 1/4 of the movie.

After September 11th, 2001, one conversation between Michael and his mother was also changed. In the original version, she told him that he wasn't allowed to go out dressed like a terrorist. In the Special Edition, the word "terrorist" was replaced by the word "hippie". Furthermore, the weapons that were worn by the security guards when they were following the children have been replaced with walkie talkies. Spielberg, looking back, found it simply inappropriate to have men with guns follow the children. Years later, Spielberg revealed that he regretted making the changes and now prefers the film the way it originally was. The Special Edition DVD has since gone out of print as the original cut is the only version available on video, though the former still receives some TV airplay.

While the film offers no explanation there are several possibilities: (1) There was no point in keeping E.T. on Earth seeing how he was dying after being separated from his species and he realized it was best that he returned home , (2) He realized how strong Elliott's connection was to E.T. and he learned the error of his ways and no longer saw E.T. as a science experiment but as a living thing with feelings, and (3) There really wasn't much he could do, the police weren't with him and if he tried to capture E.T. again Michael and his friends would have stopped him, plus for all he knew the other Extra Terrestrials in the ship could have had deadly weapons.

It contains the original 1982 "gun" version. There is also a bonus DVD which is also the original "gun" version. Spielberg has since disowned the 2002 "walkie-talkie" version.

Could be that she's used to hearing her siblings do it along with adults who refer to her as Mary instead of mom because her brothers do it too. Micheal calls her Mary when asking if he can back the car out of the driveway and Elliot does it on one occasion.