Monday Movie Moments: E.T.

Welcome to a new weekly feature here at Movies With Abe. There are great movies, and then there are great scenes. Ideally, the two come as a package deal, but sometimes there’s just a scene that’s memorable all by itself. Each week, I’ll be taking a look at a formative movie moment that may be notable for its style, content, technique, or something else altogether. Minor spoilers will be alluded to in each edition of the series, so please stop reading if you’ve somehow avoided seeing the movie in question.

This movie moment is split into two equally memorable scenes. In Steven Spielberg’s classic E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, little Elliott is riding his bike with E.T. when he experiences the unparalleled joy and excitement of flying in the air. The scene is helped enormously by the music of John Williams, and his passage by the moon has become an iconic image that also serves as the logo for Steven Spielberg’s production company, Amblin Entertainment. While that scene is moving, the one that really makes the movie is when all of the kids are fleeing on their bikes from the police and escape thanks to E.T.’s powers and fly off into the sky. The visual effects aren’t nearly as impressive now as they were then, but it’s still hard not to feel the thrill of flying as showcased in these two unforgettable scenes.