• News One of the Greatest Sci-Fi Soundtracks Ever: Composed 43 Years Ago, It Had Millions of Viewers on the Edge of Their Seats A forgotten movie score from 1982 is quietly shaping everything from NASA broadcasts to Olympic ceremonies—and it’s not the film you think. Decades later, its emotional power still defines how Hollywood tells stories. Reddit E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Credit: Universal Pictures | Indian Defence Review In 1982, a boy on a bicycle lifted off the ground with an alien in his front basket—and film history changed forever. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg, became an instant classic, grossing nearly $800 million globally and embedding itself in the cultural memory of generations. But its most enduring legacy may not be the extraterrestrial itself. It is the soaring orchestral score by John Williams that continues to shape how film music is composed, understood, and deployed across media. Forty-three years later, that moment—when Elliott and E.T. arc across the sky against the full moon—remains one of cinema’s most iconic images. What lifts it into myth, however, is not the visual alone. It’s the music: a sweeping, string-heavy composition that elevates fantasy into emotional reality. The score won Williams his fourth Academy Award and has become a cornerstone of how emotional storytelling is scored in modern cinema. John Williams. Photo Credits: Chad Batka / NYT / Redux Today, Williams’ E.T. score is more than a soundtrack. It’s a case study in how music can amplify, and sometimes define, narrative. Its enduring emotional imprint has extended far beyond theaters—into Olympic ceremonies, NASA broadcasts, and global political events. The Sound That Shaped an Era The partnership between John Williams and Steven Spielberg has long been celebrated, but E.T. represented a peak in their collaboration. As Spielberg recalled in a behind-the-scenes bonus included with home video releases, Williams played him early themes on the piano, including the now-famous “flying” motif. Spielberg was reportedly so moved that he adjusted the film’s edit to match the score—a rare reversal of the standard film-scoring process. The iconic “flying bicycle” sequence, underscored by a rising orchestral swell, is considered one of the most emotionally effective audiovisual pairings in modern film. The moment where Elliott and E.T. lift into the night sky was transformed into cinematic legend not just by Spielberg’s direction, but by Williams’ orchestration, described as “a waltz of pure beauty”. The film went on to win four Academy Awards—including Best Original Score—cementing Williams’ role not just as a composer, but as a central storytelling force in American cinema. Data, Dollars, and Cultural Reach According to E.T.’s official IMDb page , the film grossed $439 million in the United States and Canada, with a worldwide box office total nearing $800 million. Its commercial success was amplified by its emotional power—much of it driven by music. The film maintains a strong 7.9/10 rating from over 460,000 IMDb users, with many citing the soundtrack as central to its impact. Reviews repeatedly highlight the emotional weight the score brings to the narrative. One top-rated viewer review describes how the music “still makes tears well up in my eyes” and calls it “heartbreakingly sad, yet phenomenally uplifting.” The theme has since been used beyond cinema. Williams was commissioned to compose Olympic themes for several Games, most famously in 1996. The emotional vocabulary developed in E.T.—hopeful crescendos, delicate motifs, sweeping finales—has influenced scores for everything from Harry Potter to The Mandalorian. Its music also left a mark on branding. The scene of the bike crossing the moon became the logo for Amblin Entertainment, Spielberg’s production company, symbolizing both wonder and emotional lift-off. That visual—and its music—remains globally recognizable. Redefining the Composer’s Role What distinguishes E.T. in scoring history is how its composer helped shape not just the emotion, but the editing and structure of the final film. Williams was given the freedom to create music that Spielberg then aligned his edit around —a collaboration that would become a template for future directors. This model—scoring as a structural input rather than post-production add-on—has become increasingly common in high-profile projects. Composers like Hans Zimmer and Hildur Guðnadóttir have credited Williams’ influence in shifting how early composers are brought into the production pipeline. The partnership between Spielberg and Williams continued across decades and projects, but E.T. remains the clearest instance of music dictating editorial rhythm. It’s one of the rare cases where a score quite literally rewrote the film’s final cut. Source: https://indiandefencereview.com/greatest-sci-fi-soundtracks-composed-43-years-ago-millions-viewers-edge-of-their-seats/