
Movies that feel likeE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
If you loved E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the closest films we have are Flight of the Navigator (1986), Fly Away Home (1996) and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). All three share E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial's epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Escape to Witch Mountain (1975).
Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.
If E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hit the spot, these will too

A lost kid, a NASA hunt and the ache of trying to get back home
The difference: The wonder outruns the emotion — a lighter film with a smaller heart

One thread runs through both: grief
The difference: Lighter on ideas

A child's total, unguarded love for something not human
The difference: Far colder and sadder, and it does not comfort you

Spielberg wonder — children's eyes widening at the impossible
The difference: Predatory terror takes over; no tenderness at its center

Epic where it counts, warm underneath
The difference: Goes its own way on the ideas

Cerebral and cozy in the same breath
The difference: Played as fantasy first

A small hero far from home, grieving loss and leaning on new friends
The difference: Straight animation for younger kids, with a heavier opening loss

Steven Spielberg working the same nerve twice
The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

Sentiment aimed straight at you, unashamed about the tears
The difference: Bombastic and macho — awe traded for countdown adrenaline

Kids build their way to the stars from bedrooms full of sci-fi dreams
The difference: Shaggier and stranger — it drifts where E.T. lands every beat

Family with a pulse of melancholy, in both cases
The difference: Made in the 2000s, in a different era of the craft

Epic adventure, and it commits to that
In the mood for more epic?
all epic movies →The best-reviewed films that share E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’s defining feeling.









