Continuity mistake: In the scene where Elliott is grieving over E.T., he suddenly rests his head on the casing's circular glass window between shots. This happens a moment before he starts talking. (01:32:05)
Continuity mistake: In the first shot of Mike barreling downhill with the van, he passes by a group of three onlookers. But after Elliott figures out how to disconnect the plastic tube and lose the two men struggling within it, an overhead shot of the neighborhood shows Mike driving past the same group of people yet again (note the orange winter hat and black & white striped jacket worn by the kids). (01:37:15)
Continuity mistake: When Mike reaches the playground in a stolen van, his friends are there waiting with bikes. On the right we see Greg wearing sunglasses, a red cap and headphones. But in the next shot where they approach the van's rear doors, Greg is suddenly missing his sunglasses. (01:38:55)
Continuity mistake: After the van skids into the playground, Steve's hand jumps to a different position on the bike he's holding. He starts off by gripping the handlebar, but then suddenly he's holding onto the steel frame between both handlebars instead. (01:39:00)
Visible crew/equipment: When the two government agents are about to cut off Elliott and his friends at the bottom of the hill, a film crew's vehicle is reflected on their car's passenger side. (01:40:35)
Revealing mistake: Right before the government agent car skids out at the bottom of the hill, tire tracks from a previous take can be seen on the pavement. (01:40:45)
Continuity mistake: When the boys are trying to get away from the government agents on their bicycles, riding and maneuvering through their neighborhood, the stunt double for Elliot (extremely identifiable due to the red hooded sweatshirt) visibly wipes out. The next shot, meant to be continuous, shows Elliot upright and riding with the other boys. The mistake occurs in a long shot, when the boys start riding behind the first house under construction, and are followed closely by the blue station wagon. (01:41:15)
Continuity mistake: In the final scene of E.T., where E.T. is saying goodbye to Elliot, E.T. rubs Elliot's shoulders, then removes his hands from Elliot's shoulders. The shot then changes angles from behind Elliot to behind E.T. Upon changing the angle, E.T.'s hands can be seen back on Elliot's shoulder. When the shot alternates between the two angles (for about ten seconds) so does E.T.'s hands alternate being on or off of Elliot's shoulders. (01:51:20)
Continuity mistake: In the exterior front shots of Elliott's house there are some significant changes to the landscape in different shots. For instance, the two lampposts at the bottom of the driveway change to an entirely different style in some shots, and the huge garden boulders repeatedly vanish and reappear. Also, note when Michael takes off on Elliott's bike to go search for ET, the in-ground lamppost that should be beside the mailbox has vanished, but it reappears when all the government agents are setting things up outside the house.
Other mistake: In all the shots of ET wearing the white sheet the two eye holes are about a foot apart, so he could see out of the holes properly, but when Michael finds the white sheet ET had been wearing he lifts the material and we see that the two eye holes are only about two inches apart, which makes no sense. (It was Gertie's sheet that had eye holes so close together).
Continuity mistake: When the boys are riding their bikes trying to escape with ET, all the bikes have single brake levers on the right side of their handlebars, but after Elliott shouts that they should follow him to the forest, there's a shot from the POV of one of the bike riders (we know it's not Greg or Elliott) and he has two brake levers on his handlebar.
Continuity mistake: While Elliott and ET are saying goodbye, in the original 1982 version in the shot facing Elliott, ET lifts his right hand to point his finger at Elliott's forehead and ET's finger glows (note the weird angle of ET's raised right hand), but in the next shot facing ET when he says the iconic words, "I'll be right here," it's actually ET's left hand up by Elliott's face. This was digitally corrected in the 2002 version, so that in the first shot ET lifts up his left hand.
Other mistake: When ET launches all the bicycles into the air, first there's a closeup of Michael, then in the next closeup of Steve as they climb higher he leans back with his arms outstretched, as if he's balancing himself on his bike, and we see Steve's right hand making a fist pretending to grip his handlebar, though he's not actually gripping anything at all, it's an empty fist. (This shot has nothing to do with CGI disappearing issues).
Visible crew/equipment: When one of the government cars drives alongside the boys on their bikes as they're nearing the bottom of the hill, in the closeup of the car the reflection of a crew member wearing a cap can be seen on the back passenger window, just as the driver speaks into his radio mic and says, "We got 'em," at the start of the shot.
Deliberate mistake: When Elliott and ET are on the bike heading to the forest on Halloween night, ET is covered with the white sheet, but in the closeup of ET's face right before the bike flies he's covered with the white blanket (note the material), which is from the scene later in the movie.
Continuity mistake: While Mary is reading Peter Pan to Gertie, when Elliott shows ET the box with everything he collected from the garage, the front of the Kromedge blade faces Elliott, note the writing and the direction of the blade's teeth pointing to Elliott's right, but in the next closeup the blade faces the opposite way.
Continuity mistake: When Elliott's on the phone with his mother telling her even though he's sick he doesn't need a doctor, Elliott's holding the telephone receiver up to his ear with his left hand and the telephone base with his right hand, but in the next shot the two have suddenly switched hands.
Visible crew/equipment: When the two government agents pull over at the bottom of the hill one of the agents remains in the vehicle, and in the shot from inside the car just as Greg rides his bike over it, the crew member's (presumably cameraman) hand can be seen behind the agent's head in the rearview mirror's reflection. (It can't be the driver's hand since it gets blocked from view by the driver's head, within the reflection).
Visible crew/equipment: Near the start, while the agents are chasing ET, after the last closeup of the jangling keys it cuts to a shot of ET moving fast through the forest and the equipment used to help him move can be seen. This is only visible in the original 1982 unaltered version (such as on Netflix), because ET has been digitally altered in the 2002 version. Interesting to point out that the 2002 2-disc DVD set, which includes the 1982 version, has also been digitally altered in this shot.
Continuity mistake: When Elliott is kneeling near the bathtub explaining to ET where the faucet water comes from, there's a can of Coke beside him, and in the wideshot it's the "Coca Cola" logo facing out, but in Elliott's closeup it's the "Coke" logo facing out.
Answer: The BMX stunt riders were aged between 15 and 20, so older than the kids in the film who were about 10.
Sierra1 ★