MovieChat Forums > E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Discussion > Question regarding the Communicator

Question regarding the Communicator

posted 9 years ago by losindigo
3 replies | jump to latest

I liked the movie overall but was really confused and disappointed in the realistic aspect of the Communicator's long yellow wire that was actually connected from Elliott's house.

How did Elliott and E.T. go out and put the Communicating device in the forest FAR from home with the wire STILL ATTACHED??? The wire cannot be that miles long and even if it did, we don't see it being attached to them when he is riding the bike to go to the forest.

It just seemed very unrealistic to me. Did I miss something or can anyone please explain?

[–] virgiltx 9 years ago

There is a yellow wire connecting the Speak & Spell arrangement to the umbrella-antenna. The S & S was battery powered.
There was a phonograph turntable, but it appeared to be rotated manually, pulled by a rope as I recall, to adjust a radio frequency modulator (I'm guessing). So it looks to me like there was no need to plug in for power.
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[–] losindigo 9 years ago

Now I kind of see, thank you. It was confusing to watch for the first time...

[–] craigevans2 8 years ago

Virgiltx is indeed correct. Also the other yellow wire, which you see on the landing of the house on Halloween Night, was actually the power cord for the Geiger Counter which was being used by Keys's science team in Elliott's bedroom in their search for ET.