Steven Spielberg is reflecting on a particular “regret” regarding his cult film ET the Extra-Terrestrial.
Recently published by Time’s 100 peaksYears after its release, the famed director exclaimed his decision to cut guns from a scene from the film, calling the misjudgment a “mistake.”
“That was a mistake,” Spielberg admitted in a clip shared on youtube Tuesday. “I should never have done that because ET is a product of its time.”
The theatrical version of the 1982 science fiction film contains a scene in which police officers with guns chase a group of small children. Spielberg removed the guns from the scene for the film’s 20th anniversary release, replacing them with walkie-talkies.
Explaining his directorial decision, he explained, “‘ET’ was a movie I was sensitive to, that the federal agents would approach kids with guns bared, and I thought I’d convert the guns to walkie-talkies… Years went by, and I have changed my own views.”
Spielberg insisted he made the changes because of his evolving views, but said he eventually realized he should have left the film as it was. “I should never have messed with the archives of my own work, and I don’t recommend anyone do that,” he said.
Arguing that films should never be retrospectively edited for modern audiences, he added, “All our films are sort of a guide to where we were when we made them, what the world was like and what the world received when.” we they got stories out there. So I really regret having that out there.”
Spielberg’s admission comes a month after calling ET the Extra-Terrestrial a “perfect movie.” Interview with Stephen Colbert in The Late Show.
“It’s one of the few films I’ve made that I can actually look back on,” he told Colbert at the time.
From Jaws to Jurassic Park, Spielberg has directed some of pop culture’s most iconic films.
Most recently, the 76-year-old filmmaker shot his “first coming-of-age story”, Oscar nominated 2022 “The Fabelmans,‘ starring Michelle Williams and Paul Dano as characters based on his parents.