Readers of UK-based FILMCLUB grab a tissue for Spielberg masterpiece's emotional goodbye...

[Spoilers for E.T., Bambi, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid]

After surveying over 2,000 movie fans, including such entertainment insiders as The King's Speech producer Gareth Unwin, actor Matt Lucas, and actress Ashley Jensen, UK educational website FILMCLUB has named the tearjerking parting scene at the end of E.T. as the most powerful moment in film history.

The 1982 Steven Spielberg science fiction classic told the tale of an extraterrestrial stranded on Earth who befriends a California suburban family's children while searching for a way back home. E.T. forms a psychic and emotional bond with Elliott, the family's middle child, which leads to their mutually-declining health when E.T. begins dying from homesickness. Eventually, they are both captured by government agents, escape, and E.T. is reunited with his people after his attempt to 'phone home' is successful. This leads to a gutwrenching goodbye between E.T. and Elliott's family, which garnered the top spot on FILMCLUB's survey.

Over 30% of respondents chose E.T.'s parting scene to top the list. Runner-up, with 16% of the vote, was the incinerator scene in Toy Story 3, where the toys hold hands while preparing for a possible fiery demise. Next was Rocky Balboa's fight with Apollo Creed in Rocky, which garnered 15%. Fourteen percent voted for Bambi, when the eponymous deer's mother is killed by the Hunter. Rounding out the top five was the suicidal final charge in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a scene that attracted 13% of the vote.

Toy Story 3's inclusion at #2 was the newest film in the list's top 10, released in 2010. The oldest was 1925's Battleship Potemkin, its famous 'Odessa Steps massacre' scene coming in at #7 with just over three percent of the vote.

FILMCLUB hosted the survey, in conjunction with film site LOVEFiLM, as part of their 'Power of Film' campaign. The UK service assists state schools in setting up film clubs for children, in order to teach students the value of film and its potential for profound imagery, messages, and values.

What are your thoughts on the poll results, Shadowlocked readers? Did the respondents get this one right, or was another film (or films) outrageously overlooked for the survey's top spot?

Daily Mail

See also:

Sir Christopher Lee's touching acceptance speech at the BAFTAs

Dead Island trailer awash with originality

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