Spielberg Regrets Updated 'E.T.'
Vows to release only the original versions of it and 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' on Blu-ray
His inexplicably proclivity for following up portentous awards season fodder with seemingly junky genre fare notwithstanding, Steven Spielberg might be the Hollywood paradigm of artistic integrity. (Admittedly, that's not saying much.) Always ready to admit his mistakes, Spielberg exudes an admirable willingness to let past be past. George Lucas, are you taking notes?
After a (recent) special Los Angeles screening of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to commemorate that film's 30th anniversary, Spielberg (plus a special guest) took to the stage for an impromptu Q&A. All Things Fangirl has an extensive transcript for those interested in the full scope of the conversation, but for everyone else, the main takeaways were these: Spielberg counts George Lucas among his lifelong besties, and fully supports his friend's right to do whatever the heck he wants to "Star Wars" no matter how terrible it might be; Spielberg, for his part, fully regrets changing a single frame of "E.T." for that film's latest theatrical rerelease (when he caved to pressure to make it more "family-friendly" by, for example, digitally replacing every gun with a walkie-talkie); and, most important, Spielberg has learned from his mistakes and will release the original, unadulterated cuts of "E.T." and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" only on Blu-ray.
Should Spielberg be commended for such thoughtful consideration of our childhood memories? Is an honorary Oscar of some kind perhaps in order? Or does his producing work on the "Transformers" series obviate all that goodwill? As always, let us know in the comments!
Unlike the raping Lucas has given us on the original trilogy. Aside from the guns issue, which he should have left in. I like the added scenes he put in. Wish he would give us both versions on blu ray like with Close Encounters. It would be nice to have a director's cut of Jaws as well because some of the deleted scenes were good! Especially Quint in the music store!!
Speilberg is to be commended for realizing his error for caving to these groups and sanitizing his movies. I'm looking forward to the Blu-Ray releases of these movies in their original "unsanitized" form, and I hope Lucas will follow his lead.
What's with these family friendly groups anyway? Next, we'll hear they're demanding a family friendly version of Caligula. LOL.
Don't get me started on Jar-Jar or that kid who played Anakin in Episode 1. Awful.
Now, we are sanitizing ET. These "family" groups need to get a life and SHUT UP. When they aren't freaking out about "wardrobe malfunctions" they spend their time attacking my favorite childhood films.
ET is already a family-friendly movie. Leave it alone!
Frankly, I think the fact that the folks were armed and chasing after a benevolent creature like ET helped underscore how cruel and paranoid mankind can be.
Steven Spielberg took one of the greatest movies that he’s ever created and ruined it by trying to re-master the original, and for what, to make it more family friendly when the movie was already as family friendly as one can come by these days.
I don’t see how taking out a few guns and replacing them with radios is going to make much of a difference, except to destroy a film classic that has marveled generations after generations. It is sucha a shame that Mr. Spielberg would not do more to protect the legacy of his film work.
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