Spielberg Corrects a Classic, He Restores the E.T. Blu-Ray Release Back to it’s Original 1982 Greatness.

When Spielberg re-released E.T. in theaters in 2002 he messed with a masterpiece.  He CG’d ET’s head, added in extra scenes and he took away the rifles that the cops had when they were chasing Elliot on the bike.

So! What’s the Big Deal?

You don’t think that makes a difference? Imagine you are a kid running from the cops with an alien in your bike basket.  The police are chasing you and whip out walkie talkies……Nothing.

What if they whip out rifles? Exactly.  Now you are peddling literally as your life depended on it.  Fast enough to make that f**kin’ bike fly!

Spielberg admitted he regretted the decision and during a packed audience at 30^th anniversary screening of “Raiders of the lost Ark” he admitted his mistake and said that the blu Ray release of E.T. would be untouched. In his own words,

For myself, I tried [changing a film] once and lived to regret it. Not because of fan outrage, but because I was disappointed in myself. I got overly sensitive to [some of the reaction] to E.T., and I thought if technology evolved, [I might go in and change some things]…it was OK for a while, but I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved E.T. of their memories of E.T. […] If I put just one cut of E.T. on Blu-ray and it was the 1982, would anyone object to that? [The crowd yells “NO!” in unison.] OK, so be it.”

Spielberg has kept his word.  The walkie talkies are gone and the rifles are back! 

The two scenes that were shown on the re-release will not be offered as bonuses as well as a “making of” mini documentary and a Spielberg interview gushing about his greatness.

The rifles are back!