Movies & TVNews

Steven Spielberg Regrets Censoring E.T.

Steven Spielberg regrets censoring censor ET guns for walkie-talkies E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 20th anniversary DVD

In the pantheon of “fixing” films for modern-day audiences or “perfecting” them into a director’s true vision, there is no greater argument against doing this than “Maclunkey.” However, on a far smaller scale, though possibly more problematic, is the 2002 release of the 20th anniversary edition of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial: In that film, which was painstakingly remastered for re-release, director Steven Spielberg made the inexplicable decision to censor himself by removing all the guns from the film and replacing them with walkie-talkies. While a small controversy at the time, the move made little to no sense given that no one in the world complained about there being guns in E.T., let alone the fact that none of them are even fired.

Recommended Videos

It seems that Spielberg himself now realizes it was kind of a dumb move, saying that he regrets the decision. “That was a mistake,” he said at the recent Time100 Summit (cued up below). “I never should have done that because E.T. is a product of its era. No film should be revised based on the lenses we now are, either voluntarily, or being forced to peer through.”

“I should have never messed with the archives of my own work, and I don’t recommend anybody do that,” he said, staring straight through the camera into George Lucas’ soul. “All our movies are a kind of a signpost of where we were when we made them, what the world was like, and what the world was receiving when we got those stories out there. So I really regret having that out there.”

The topic of re-editing one’s own films into something different isn’t truly a major cause for concern as it doesn’t really happen all that often, but Spielberg’s comments came up at a time when the works of authors like Roald Dahl and Ian Flemming are being updated for modern sensibilities. Clearly, Spielberg thinks that’s crap now, but 20 years ago he didn’t… or maybe, to paraphrase another one of his films, he just got caught up in the fact that he could and never thought about whether or not he should.

In case you’re wondering, current copies of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on streaming platforms have the guns back in place, and Steven Spielberg is done censoring his own films.

About the author

Matthew Razak
Matthew Razak is a News Writer and film aficionado at Escapist. He has been writing for Escapist for nearly five years and has nearly 20 years of experience reviewing and talking about movies, TV shows, and video games for both print and online outlets. He has a degree in Film from Vassar College and a degree in gaming from growing up in the '80s and '90s. He runs the website Flixist.com and has written for The Washington Post, Destructoid, MTV, and more. He will gladly talk your ear off about horror, Marvel, Stallone, James Bond movies, Doctor Who, Zelda, and Star Trek.
Matthew Razak
Matthew Razak is a News Writer and film aficionado at Escapist. He has been writing for Escapist for nearly five years and has nearly 20 years of experience reviewing and talking about movies, TV shows, and video games for both print and online outlets. He has a degree in Film from Vassar College and a degree in gaming from growing up in the '80s and '90s. He runs the website Flixist.com and has written for The Washington Post, Destructoid, MTV, and more. He will gladly talk your ear off about horror, Marvel, Stallone, James Bond movies, Doctor Who, Zelda, and Star Trek.

Aliens: Dark Descent Gets More Tense Single-Player Gameplay as Preorders Go Live

Previous article

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Is a Bold and Important Failure

Next article