I can tell you this (and I am probably one of the ONLY people who can tell you this) : "E.T." is a MUCH better movie, if you have no idea what ET looks like, or anything about him. I just happened to see that movie before any of the publicity came out. The suspense of the first half hour or so is just GONE, if you know beforehand what he looks like. My point is, a spoiler doesn't always have to give away a "twist" to change the way you see the movie.
As a kid, all I knew was the look of his finger. It was on all the posters. I recently talked with mk about E.T and he mentioned how beautiful the lightening and use of color are throughout. It's a badass movie. I recently watched it.
It was the first movie I saw D&D portrayed in. Also the first that I remember seeing product-placement in - that movie launched "Reese's pieces". And a very very young Drew Barrymore.