Mac and Me (1988)

The Worst Film Ever

Overrated and overhyped

A Masterpiece!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"Mac and Me" was one of the more infamous box office duds of its time. While this would dissuade normal folks from watching it, bad movie buffs like me naturally gravitate to it because it is such a legendary flop. The biggest reason it failed--the public quickly saw it for what it really was--a blatant rip-off of "E.T.". And, this time even MORE corporate references are thrown in the viewer's face...with McDonald's and Coke references galore!! Instead of Reese's Pieces, they feed this god-awful corporate shill Skittles! And, to revive Mac's family who are on the edge of death, they feed them Coke!!!The film begins with an incredibly ugly family of aliens mysteriously getting sucked into a US space probe. They are then deposited on Earth and their baby, Mac, is lost and must find its way home. In the process it meets a nice disabled kid and makes his life complete. But, when it's no longer safe, he and Elliot, I mean Eric, go on a cross- country race to find his parents and get him home--and evade capture. And to do this, they dress him up in a Halloween-type costume! Need I continue?!So is the film any good? Well, if "ET" had never been made, sure it would have been reasonably entertaining to very young kids who didn't notice that the film was a giant commercial and who wouldn't notice the bad dialog and abounding clichés. But "ET" HAD BEEN ALREADY MADE several years earlier...so the film has zip when it comes to originality. You wonder how the folks associated with the film felt--they must have been really embarrassed at how blatant this was. And, at just about every turn it seems to do it worse than "ET"...and often MUCH worse. It's a vacuous, soul-sucking corporate mess of a film in so many ways.When I saw this film tonight, it was decades after its original release and I was startled how ugly and expressionless Mac was. However, I had to remind myself that ET also looks pretty crappy when you see him today because we are used to much better special effects in 2015--though Mac is definitely crappier. The worst is when the dead, expressionless doll is riding on Eric's lap during the big chase! As for the outer space scene, however, I watched it on a very big screen TV and I was surprised because it looked so nice. This space scene along with actually hiring a disabled kid to play a disabled kid are about the only things that impressed me about the film. Otherwise, a pointless rip-off from start to finish---and not even bad enough to make bad movie buffs laugh. But enough overt corporate references to make this a GREAT film to use as a drinking game--taking a shot every time you saw these blatant ads! Believe me, you would get stinking drunk if you tried this!!By the way, the kid calls the hideous little alien 'Mac'--an acronym for Mysterious Alien Creature. In no way was this meant to be like 'ET' for the Extra-Terrestrial....yeah, right! Also, perhaps it's just me, but this might just be the most whitebread, corporate and uncool film ever made--especially during the god-awful McDonald's dance scene.

This movie is seems to be described as an E.T. rip off however there are some plot holes in comparison.The movie kicks off with Nasa extracting matter from planet IpediusEric cruise (jade calegory) and is Mother (christin ebersole) and brother move from Illinois to their new exiting home to discover that a baby alien is stalking jade calegoryThe product placement in this movie is truly insane (coca cola and MacDonald's)Tina caspary was stunning in the film It was a good movie when i was 7 but wouldn't watch this again The soundtrack in this was not terrible with some good artists (debbie lytton, marcy levy)watch the MacDonald's dance scene and you will die of laughter

First off I'd like to state that haven't seen this film since 1990 on HBO. But even the trailers warned of doom. When the trailer isn't narrated by Don LaFontaine but by Ronald McDonald (not kidding) you know this film isn't even trying to be taken seriously! 'Mac and Me' was obviously trying to exploit the phenomenal success of 'E.T.' which remained playing in theaters for over 3 years into 1984! But it was only available on VHS in bootleg format until 1989. Hence, in 1988 there was a void that needed to be filled. America was E.T.less until 'Mac and Me.' Well first off this film isn't nearly as bad as everyone says. It's just rightfully one of the most hated films of all time because it's such an obvious rip off of 'E.T.'!!! Right down to scene by scene! Not kidding, some scenes are identical to 'E.T.' like the G men chasing the school kids.It's pointless to describe the plot because it's exactly like 'E.T.'!!! I can't stress this enough! From how the boy meets the alien to how the single mom finds out her sons have been hiding it, it's exactly like 'E.T.' Except not good. But not really that bad.Imagine if the Lifetime network was given the screenplay for 'E.T.' rather than Steven Spielberg.The cartoonish action violence is also WAY over done. Sure E.T. himself took some Tom & Jerry style blows but here poor Mac gets the full Ren & Stimpy treatment. Getting sucked through vacuum cleaners more than once and getting bounced off car windshields.If all this is supposed to be comical, it's NOT. Poor Mac is like the Wiley Coyote of cute aliens.The only other difference is that this time Elliot is in a wheelchair. This way McDonald's which produced the film can boast about how the Ronald McDonald House helps the families of crippled kids.In conclusion I can think of no reason to watch this film other than the fact that 'E.T.'s Blue Ray release has been totally bastardized by new shoddy CGI FX and reedited to be more friendly. Such as removing the G men's hand guns and changing some dialogue. WHY? 'E.T.' was perfect! Just leave it the fxxx alone! Once again the clear solution to this problem is to simply watch a bootleg VHS of 'E.T.'

This movie was rated as the worst ever, but I thought is was done quite well. You'd have to think of the target audience: Eighties kids, teenagers. They didn't mind the clumsy muppet play, it's a compelling story at a nice pace. A family of aliens gets taken from god knows where, could be a moon of Saturn by the looks of it, back to Earth by an automated NASA explorer spacecraft. They get into a big turmoil at the NASA base, but escape in the confusion. The youngest one gets separated and lands with a family which is just moving in the state. After that, things indeed look somewhat like E.T. There are folks here saying it is all stolen from E.T., well that must be true, though there wasn't anything really reminding me of ET - it is only when I consciously compare the scripts, certain things look similar. There were some really weird things yes like the obvious referring to McDonalds (must be a sponsor), Coca Cola as the beverage of choice for the aliens - it even brought them back to life. the McDonalds scene is pretty weird but hey - nobody said this movie shouldn't be. Dancers all around, even on the parking lot, freaking out on a kids party - Ronald McDonald is there too. The funniest goof is when the waitress hands out empty cups with straws, one falls on the ground, the younger girl picks it up - they didn't even bother to redo that scene, probably because it was a ridiculous scene anyway. Finally, all ends brilliantly, the aliens adept really well, and become true Americans!The acting, screenplay, music and general production were of genuine B- movie quality. Only the special effects were not as good as one would expect in production with a reasonable budget like this one. Bud kids, in the time of the release, weren't that picky like they are now in this 3d animated era. Did I find this movie entertaining? Surprisingly, yes I did!