Movies Like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Frequently asked about E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Why was E.T. left behind on Earth?▾

  E.T.'s botanist crew was collecting plant specimens in a California forest when government agents approached and the ship departed in a panic, leaving E.T. behind. The alien was separated from his companions because he had wandered too far from the landing site while exploring. His abandonment is accidental rather than deliberate, which drives his desperate need to contact his home planet and return.

• How does the psychic link between E.T. and Elliott work?▾

  After Elliott feeds E.T. and they sleep in proximity, a mysterious empathic bond forms that causes them to share emotions and physical sensations — when E.T. gets drunk on beer, Elliott behaves drunkenly at school. The film treats the connection as a biological or metaphysical trait of E.T.'s species rather than something explained in scientific terms. The bond intensifies as E.T. weakens, ultimately causing Elliott to become gravely ill when E.T. appears to die.

• Does E.T. actually die, or is he only in a hibernation state?▾

  E.T. enters a death-like state caused by his inability to survive in Earth's environment and his separation from his ship's life-sustaining energy. When Elliott notices a flower blooming in the crate where E.T. is hidden, it signals that E.T.'s body has begun reviving — apparently triggered by the approaching return of his spacecraft. The film implies E.T.'s species can suspend vital signs and recover, though the mechanism is left deliberately ambiguous.

• What is the significance of the glowing finger and heart-light?▾

  E.T.'s ability to heal with his fingertip and his chest light that glows when he experiences strong emotion are visual symbols of his empathy and life-giving nature. The healing touch parallels imagery of divine or supernatural benevolence, and Spielberg has acknowledged the intentional Christ-like symbolism — E.T. dies, is resurrected, and ultimately ascends. The glowing heart also reinforces the film's central theme that emotional connection transcends species or origin.

• Why does E.T. need to 'phone home' and what device does he build?▾

  E.T. needs to send a distress signal to his crew so they can return to Earth and retrieve him; without them, he has no way off the planet and will eventually die. Using household objects — a Speak & Spell toy, an umbrella, a coffee can, and other electronics — he builds a makeshift communication device that transmits a signal on a frequency his people can detect. The exact mechanics are not explained, but the film treats E.T.'s technological intuition as an expression of his species' advanced intelligence applied to whatever materials are available.