8. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Universal PicturesFew Hollywood directors have proven themselves to be such masters of children's movies as Steven Spielberg, and the 1980s was the decade in which he directed his best work in this field. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is a masterpiece of the genre, capturing the excitement and adventure of childhood and fusing it with a tale of a mysterious alien which reaches the level of modern day parable. It's easy to accuse Spielberg of being maudlin and a little too sickly sweet from time to time, but with E.T. this nostalgic feeling is a bonus - after all, there's nothing wrong with a slice of magical movie making, and few films are as well summed up by this expression. E.T. himself is still one of the cutest on-screen aliens of all time, and the laughter and tears his adventures on earth elicit come across as heartfelt rather than cheesy. That said, removing the guns from the government agents and replacing them with CGI walkie talkies in the remastered version was certainly taking political correctness one step too far.