| nudity |
3/10
A boy kisses a girl (it looks like it's on the mouth.)
A man kisses a woman in a movie playing on TV.
A boy reaches out to touch a woman's buttocks (she is bent over a dishwasher and wearing a bathrobe).
A boy is seen laying in a bed shirtless.
A boy calls another "penis-breath." |
| violence |
5/10
E.T. is chased through woods by men with flashlights and he runs through the trees screaming.
Men walk through a house with equipment and flashlights.
Boys grab kitchen knives when they go to investigate noises in a shed.
There are many jump scenes, especially before we meet E.T.
A boy goes toward a shed from where he hears noises and rustling, and when he throws his ball into the shed something throws it back out at him.
A boy walks through high grass and comes upon E.T. (they both see each other at the same time and both scream and panic.)
E.T. screams frequently: when a dog comes into a room, when a young girl comes into a room and screams at him, when an umbrella pops open, and he falls down after a flashbulb goes off.
There are tense moments when a woman nearly discovers E.T., E.T. walks toward a boy sitting on a chair, and the boy is very nervous.
A boy cuts his finger on a saw blade and blood drips on his finger and the blade.
We see several scenes where E.T. is presumably dying and looks sickly and ashen; when he stops breathing, a medical team uses CPR and a defibrillator to start his heart.
A boy drives an ambulance very fast; a large plastic tube containing two men in environmental suits is pulled by the ambulance until a boy detaches it and the two men roll down a street (they seem uninjured).
E.T. is hit in the face by a refrigerator door, he falls on the floor, and a boy backs into hanging bookshelves and knocks them off the wall.
People are dressed for Halloween: one has a fake knife through his head, some are dressed like zombies, most with fake blood dripping from some body part, and a boy talks about E.T. being given a lobotomy. |
| profanity |
4/10
2 Uses of "Bitch" (One Being "Son of a Bitch")
2 uses of "Douche bag"
2 uses of "Shit"
1 use of "Damn"
1 use of "Hell"
A few uses of "Oh my God"
A boy calls another boy "Penis breath"
|
| alcohol |
3/10
E.T. is shown drinking many cans of beer and he and a young boy are shown to be intoxicated.
A cigarette burns in an ashtray while several boys are the only ones around. |
| frightening |
6/10
Though not overtly scary, the film has many moments that could be considered frightening and intense.
The opening scene is quite intense. E.T. is chased through the woods by government agents, screaming the entire way. Intense music plays throughout.
Elliot's first encounter with E.T. is a bit of a jump scare. Elliot is searching through corn stalks, following E.T.'s tracks. When he finally finds him, both scream at each other and E.T. runs away. That scene might startle young viewers.
Elliot later waits in a lawn chair outside of his house's tool shed, knowing E.T. is inside. After falling asleep, Elliot hears shuffling and sees E.T. slowly coming out of the tool shed towards him. E.T. continuously stops and then suddenly walks closer and closer. Although E.T. obviously doesn't harm Elliot, this scene is quite frightening and could possibly be the scariest in the entire film.
After Elliot introduces E.T. to Michael, Gertie suddenly walks into the room and screams at the sight of the alien. E.T. screams in return, and pretty soon everyone is yelling. Although mostly played for laughs, this scene could possible startle younger viewers.
The second half of the film is much darker and intense than the first half.
After being on Earth for too long, E.T. starts getting sick. He is found laying in a stream, half-dead and pale. The image is both very disturbing and very sad.
When Mary, the mother of the children, is introduced to E.T., she takes the children away, not knowing that E.T. is harmless. The children yell not to be taken away, and E.T. begins screaming. Very sad and intense.
A group of government agents wearing space suits suddenly invade Elliot's home. Quite scary.
Despite the best efforts of the medical team, E.T. succumbs to his illness and dies. They try to use defibrillator, but it only causes his body to be thrown up and down. Even though E.T. survives, this is widely considered to be the saddest and most intense part of the film.
The tearful goodbye between Elliott and E.T. is extremely emotional and sad.
TOTAL: 21/50
MPAA/USA - Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements.
BBFC/UK - Rated U (mild bad language, very mild threat).
As with most Spielberg movies at around the same time this more than likely would have received a PG-13 rating if released today (back then it was either PG or R) |
