E.T. is the first movie I remember seeing in the theater. I remember it scaring me at the beginning when Eliot first discovers E.T. and then I remember crying near the end when E.T. seems to be dead. I was six years old, it left a huge impression on my life in movies. I hadn't even thought of showing it to my son yet, it seemed too far beyond him. But when my wife told me that he'd seen a part of it on TV and was really intrigued, I knew that I immediately had to show him this classic.

I decided to watch the new version, only because I hadn't seen it before and wanted to see how the changes had turned out. I thought that the computer generated E.T. was very distracting, it was quite obvious when it went from one to another. Movie geeks made a big deal out of Spielberg taking the guns out of the film, but I honestly didn't notice; it's not like Han shooting first. I only noticed one scene added in, where E.T. is playing in the bathtub, it's cute, but not necessary to the plot. I'll stick to the original from now on.

Watching E.T. made me feel like a kid again, it's one of those rare movies, that immediately puts me back in that mindset. Spielberg does an amazing job of putting you in the kid's shoes, the wonderment and excitement of it all. So that instead of questioning everything about E.T., you just want to be friends. There's somebody that wants to hurt your friend, so you must do everything you can to protect him. If that includes hiding him from your mother and contacting an alien species, so be it.

E.T. like almost no other family movie from the 80's stands the test of time. Because it's not about the special effects or that moment in history, it's about friendship. My son being only three immediately bought into this world; he fell in love with E.T. and felt concerned when the bad guys where trying to catch him. But he hasn't talked about it since, the true test is him asking to see it again. I think he's still a little too young to fully appreciate it, but give him time, and I bet it'll be one of his favorites. It'll be nice to sit down with him again and again, as he discovers this true masterpiece.