euryan This movie will make you wish you'd never been born. Each minute that you continue to watch this movie you will find your will to live quickly being sucked out of you. If you haven't killed yourself by the time everyone busts out dancing in the McDonalds, that will surely send you into a hatred for life for which you may never recover. Unfortunately I don't own a gun or I would have taken my own life and saved myself from having to watch the second half. The scene where they drive Mac into the desert and he holds up his hands and does this stupid whistle to find his family which are almost dead in a cave made me start bashing my head against the wall in hopes that I would black out. Sadly I did not, and I now I must live the rest of my life with the nightmarish memories of this movie. I feel depressed and hopeless. I pray everyday that aliens really do exist and that they kill every last person on this planet. We don't deserve to survive as a species if we can make a movie like this.

chow913 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.'

matthronick I invite you now to share in my pain as I relive "Mac and Me: The Longest and Worst Skittles/Coke/McDonald's Commercial Ever Made", also known as, "E.T.: The Cheap Knock-off Version".Our crappy film opens on an alien planet as a family of poorly-designed alien creatures use straws to drink carbonated soft drinks from the soil of their planet (more on that later). The arrival of an American space rover prompts the curious alien family (mom, dad and baby) to investigate, whistling and over-acting demonstrably until they are vacuumed into the ship and carried back to earth. Upon arriving on earth, the baby - Mac - is quickly separated from his creepy family and, after a madcap chase, lands in the back seat of a van carrying our story's hero, Eric, and his family.Eric is a teenage boy in a wheelchair. It is never made clear what is wrong with Eric's legs, but it is likely that his growth was stunted by his exclusive diet of Skittles, McDonald's and Coca-Cola. Before I get negative, I must give credit where it's due: The filmmakers were extremely diligent in making sure all Skittles and Coke products were clearly facing the camera at all times.Quick back story: Eric, his mother and his older brother (Michael, just like in E.T. - they didn't even bother to come up with a different name. How about Jeff? Ronnie? Come on, that's just lazy. I swear I have spent more time writing this review than the screenwriters spent on this script) have just moved from Ohio into Elliot's E.T. neighborhood in California because Eric's mom took a job at Sears. A history lesson for the youngsters: back in the 80's a lot of people moved their families across the country to take minimum wage jobs at department stores (citation: Grapes of Wrath). They moved because Eric's dad died or something. (And I'm not making this up: At one point Eric looks somberly at a picture of his dad, and NOT ONLY does his dad straight-up look like The Most Interesting Man in the World, there's a Dos Equis umbrella in the background of the picture. Best part of the movie, hands down.)With that, let me pause to address the reason we're all here today: The scene in which Eric rolls off a steep cliff into a pond in the family's backyard. In context, Eric is searching for Mac, then Mac saves him after he plummets off the 50-foot cliff. What you haven't seen is the following scene in which Eric's mom and the doctor both assume he was trying to commit suicide and the doctor hands Eric a bottle of anti- depressants. For real.Anyway, Eric and his next-door neighbor (and token Drew Barrymore Stand- In) Debbie discover Mac and use Skittles and Coke to befriend him, then bring Michael in on the secret as they try to find a way to get Mac back to his family while evading NASA. Every time Mac gets hurt or knocked unconscious, the children scramble to get him a Coke because as Debbie says, "That must be what they drink on his planet!"About an 75 minutes into the movie, our heroes go to a McDonald's for a birthday party which morphs into an all-out dance competition (as was common in the 80's). Dozens of dance crews clog the parking lot, popping and locking all over the place. One crew is dressed like the San Francisco 49ers. The children have disguised their alien friend by putting him inside a teddy bear's skin and he gets in on the action by dancing Pee Wee Herman-style on the McDonald's counter. It is terrible and amazing.Having reached the point in the movie where it's time to recreate the chase scene from E.T., NASA thugs show up and McDonald's and chase Eric and Mac through the streets. And while Eric is on wheels, rolling full- speed down steep hills and skitching onto the back of speeding trucks, the NASA guys somehow manage to keep up on foot. I swear they run five miles at speeds upward of 50 miles an hour. They get to Sears, meet up with Michael and the family van and finally head into the desert to reunite with Mac's family. Debbie shamelessly drops another candy commercial, "Here, see if Mac likes these Skittles." *Passes the Skittles across the van, very slowly in front of the camera* Big shock, Mac likes Skittles. Already knew that. Sloppy writing. Anyway, the kids find the dessicated ruin of Mac's family near an abandoned mine shaft and revive them with jugs of cool water. Ha! Just kidding, they use Coke products. After dark, the kids' and aliens' luck finally runs out when the authorities catch up with them at a supermarket. In the ensuing mêlée, a fire is started and Eric is blown up and killed in an explosion. The alien family emerges from the fire and engage in a singsongy ritual that brings Eric back from the dead. It is unclear why they didn't give him a can of Coke. Missed opportunity.Our movie closes with a joyous courthouse scene as our alien friends are sworn in as US citizens. The dad alien never stops moving. He's constantly undulating like some kind of low-rent community theater mime. I wrote in my notes, "It freaks me out and I hate it." That goes for the whole movie.

gavin6942 A Mysterious Alien Creature (MAC) trying to escape from NASA is befriended by a young boy in a wheel chair (Jade Calegory).This is basically the same story as "E.T.", except instead of Reese's Pieces we have Skittles, and instead of a bike we have a wheelchair. Same alien being chased by NASA. Same older brother, with the sister now being a neighbor.The movie is notorious for its McDonalds product placement. I had heard that the movie was one big McDonalds commercial, and that is not really a fair statement. However, there is about a five-minute scene featuring Ronald McDonald, many choreographed dancers, and McDonalds food galore. It really serves no purpose other than to make McDonalds look like a fun place to be (which it generally is not).