Steven Spielberg regrets removing one of the most controversial elements of ‘ET’: “No movie should be reviewed by today’s standards”

“He was a product of his time,” shared Steven Spielberg, for a master class in Time 100 Summitwhen recalling a controversial scene from his mythical extraterrestrial film, ‘ET’, which was modified years after its premiere, to adapt it to the standards of the moment.

Some may wonder, controversial? ‘ET’? And the reality is that one of the scenes of this “classic Spielbergian“had to be revised during its 20th anniversarywhen the film was brought back to theaters.

In 1982, the director premiered a touching story about a boy and an alien, who meet by chance and forge a bond of eternal friendship. However, things go wrong when the government appears in the middle, and this is how the corrected scene in question originates. Some officers chase the children with guns to try to stop them.

In the reissue of the tape, in 2002, it was decided to change this and make policemen wear walkie talkieyes instead of weapons. Thus, violence against children was not so aggressive.

Now, another two decades later, the filmmaker seems to regret having made this change to the initial tape. “It was a mistake,“said Spielberg.”I never should have. ‘ET’ is a product of its time. No movie should be reviewed based on today’s standards. Either voluntarily or by force.“

“On ‘ET’ I was concerned about federal agents going after kids with visible firearms. So I thought we could trade guns for walkie talkies… Years have passed and I have changed my opinion about it,” continued the director.

“I should never have modified the files of my own work and I do not recommend anyone do so. All Our movies are kind of a reminder of where we were and when we made them. show what the world was like and what it received when our stories were released.“

“I really regret doing that.”

Steven Spielberg, who released his film in February “autobiographical“, ‘The Fabelmans’, has been dedicated to the craft of film directing for decades. With 19 Oscar nominations and 4 wins, he is responsible for some of the best films of the 21st century.

His movie, ‘Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark’, has spawned 4 sequels. The last of them, ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate’, It will hit theaters next May.. In it we will see the mythical adventurer of Harrison Ford embark on a new heroic feat of his.