SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Good concept, poorly executed.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"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.

Don't let that 8 rating fool you; "Mac and Me" is an awful movie. A blatant (nay, shameless) ripoff of "E.T." - right down to the broken home and identical neighborhood - it's hard to believe such crap was earnestly marketed to kids. But viewed in the right context (with friends, beer flowing), this movie makes for a night of comic hilarity. It's not just the terrible product placement (Coca-Cola, Skittles and Valvoline are all in your face . . . also there's the random dance party at McDonald's that grinds the movie to a halt), but the low-rent makeup effects on the aliens, who have only one facial expression: surprise! Add to that the really bad white family we have to side with, the token bad-guy Feds, and the quality of acting that's just a shade above "Troll 2" that make "Mac and Me" so unbelievably shoddy. It's just not a movie you can take seriously. So I can't give this flick a bad rating because I had way too many mean-spirited laughs during the entire ride. That dummy going off the cliff in the wheelchair (in a serious drama moment . . . that's what you can expect here) is priceless. And what blows my mind is that the guy who directed this movie also wrote it! You have to believe in this nonsense pretty hard to put that much work into it. I'm not sure there's a better example of something so bad that it comes out the other end smelling of ironic roses.8/10

1. The drinking game I played for every product placement I saw in Mac and Me was over within 20 minutes when I nearly died of alcohol poisoning.2. If the Special Olympics were as hilarious as when wheelchair-bound Eric rolled uncontrollably down a hill, off a cliff and into a body of water, I'd be someone's sponsor just so I can see it for myself in person.3. No, no, McDonald's. The line "Why don't you stop by for a Big Mac?" was completely subtle.4. As were: "You know what I feel like?" – "A Big Mac?"5. Nice touch on the Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter overtones in the score…despite being a kid's movie.6. Jennifer Anniston's acting debut was Mac and Me. Later, she starred in Marley & Me. Is Murdering Me coming soon?7. It shouldn't have taken two times for Mac to be sucked hard for us to get the hint the writers were trying to tell us something.8. I usually try to avoid spoiling movies, but… E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. There you go.9. Mac gets stuck in a tree, dogs threaten to rip him apart and they cue the heart-felt music. I haven't laughed that hard since wheelchair-bound Eric plunged 50 feet into the water.10. Ironically, it does take a lot of coke to enjoy a feature like this.11. Code name: "One Hundred X-Ray?" Really?12. I waited the whole movie for the dance party inside and out of McDonald's and it was so worth it. Everyone was having a blast and I want my next birthday party there, too!13. Sometimes Mac can fly and sometimes he can control electrical objects, but when running from the suits, Mac chooses to ride on Eric's lap down another hill in his speeding wheelchair. ?? 14. Oh, and try not to be in tears from laughter after that chase scene's over.15. Skittles? Seriously? Stop.16. "How long have you been in lingerie?" might not be the best question to ask the most blatantly obvious sex offender working at Sears.17. There were more discounts in this movie than on McDonald's value menu. Like Discount Drew Barrymore, Discount Dee Wallace, Discount Henry Thomas….18. I'm probably taking the lines "I sucked him up…and then we blew him" way out of context.19. Traveling billions of miles for a three-minute rock collecting experiment might sound like a waste of NASA's talent and money.20. And how they missed the straws the aliens used for mud slurping should get at least one of them fired.21. But, the genius of getting the spacecraft across the galaxy in less time than it takes the Enterprise, would probably get someone a raise.22. Maybe Joe Arpaio saw this movie and that's why he is the way he is.23. The end taught me three things: Ronald McDonald is a real person, aliens can reanimate life but not fix dead legs and the MacFamily will be back. Or…so they promised before anyone actually saw this.24. The moral of the story is simple: You better be rooting for either the Chicago Bears (on WGN) or the Chicago Cubs while having a Coke. Only the weird neighbor roots for the Dodgers, but he probably eats at Burger King, anyways.

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!