E.T. Book

Nyhet

New Perspectives on the Classic 1980s Blockbuster

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

2 399 kr

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This edited collection explores Steven Spielberg’s film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial in detail for the first time to explore the film's legacy and impact on contemporary culture, as well as the role it played in consolidating Spielberg’s legacy and authorial identity. E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) was, until the release of Jurassic Park in 1993, Stephen Spielberg’s most successful film taking $792 million at the box office. The film was a global phenomenon and established the Spielberg "brand" going forward. As with both Jaws and Jurassic Park, its popularity was also catalyzed by an aggressive and widespread marketing and merchandising campaign.This book follows the author's books The Jaws Book and The Jurassic Park Book to complete a trilogy dealing with Spielberg’s three major blockbusters and their legacies as landmarks of popular cinema and culture. Through a logical progression of chapters, the book considers E.T. from a number of different critical, contextual, and historical perspectives, including its production history; its (trans) cultural contexts; and its (transmedial) cultural legacy and impact. The book interrogates not only the film’s engagement with the politics of 1980s America, but also how E.T. has embedded itself in and across global popular culture and how it is resonant today in a contemporary cultural moment mobilized by a nostalgia for the popular cinema and culture of the 1980s and the experience of childhood in that decade. Moreover, it incorporates wider discussions of the representation of "otherness" and the Alien across Spielberg’s work, drawing on a range of UFO-centric texts, while engaging across the chapters with discourses of and cultural preoccupations with UFO-ology.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-09-03
Mått152 x 229 x 25 mm
Vikt454 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor288
FörlagBloomsbury Publishing Plc
ISBN9798765134931

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IntroductionPart 1: Production and Reception1. Spielberg's Cinematic Evolution: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial as a Pinnacle of Style, Tropes, and CharacterizationSteve Davies (Liverpool Institute of Creative Arts, UK)2. Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner: The Formula for Box Office Success/Failure Circa 1982William Gombash (Valencia College, USA)3. It’s A Wonderful Light: Special Effects and the Politics of Awe in E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third KindJudy Harris (Independent Scholar)4. Practical Magic: The Cinematography of E.T.: The Extra-TerrestrialIan Freer (Freelance, Empire Magazine)5. “Without John Williams, Bikes Don’t Really Fly”: Spielberg, Williams, and the Music of the Extra-Terrestrial Matt Lawson (Oxford Brookes University, UK)6. How E.T. Set the Gold Standard for Merchandising and Product Placement Alexander Ross (Oxford University, UK)Part 2: Critical Perspectives and Interpretation7. Ambivalence and the Alien: Patterns of Continuity and Change in Spielberg’s Filmic Treatment of Extra-Terrestrial BeingsSteve Woodbridge (Kingston University, UK)8. Spaceships and Creatures: UFO Myths and Alien Forms in Spielberg’s E.T. and Close Encounters (1972-1982)Marco-Benoît Carbone (Brunel University, UK)9. “There’s Something in the Toolshed” Fantasy and the Secret Child Life in E.T.: The Extra-TerrestrialJane Batkin (University of Lincoln, UK)10. “The Child and the Alien: E.T. and Screen Performance” Neil Archer (Keele University, UK)11. “Accessing the Ineffable: Going Beyond Difference in E.T. through Intuition, Empathy, and Compassion” Julie Hawkins (Independent Scholar, Australia)12. Reading E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial as Response to Environmental CrisisBen Crawford (University of Alabama, USA)13. E.T. – the “Greatest Jewish Movie Ever Made” Nathan Abrams (Bangor University, UK)Part 3: Beyond E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial14. Monstrous Mosaics: Bollywood’s Cultural Dialogue with Spielberg’s E.T. UniversePriyanka Das (Kolkata University, India) 15. “Nocturnal Fears”: The 1982 E.T. Sequel Treatment, Steven Spielberg, and the UFO ControversyPeter Kramer (De Montfort University, UK)16. Unmade E.T: Satyajit Ray’s The Alien and John Sayle’s Night Skies Brian Hoyle (Dundee University, UK) and Matt Melia (Kingston University, UK)17. Reese’s Piecing Together E.T. for the Atari: From Promotional Space, to Transmedial Space, to Outer SpaceChristopher McMahon (Liverpool University, UK) and Ed Vollans (University of Leicester, UK) 18. Extraterrestrial Things: The Retro-1980s Legacy of E.T. in Netflix’s Stranger ThingsSorcha Ni Fhlaînn (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) Index