When Steven Spielberg released his classic ET: The Extra-Terrestrial on DVD in 2002, the film which was altered to remove one line of dialogue – where one of the kid’s calls another “penis breath” – and the guns in the hands of the federal agents in the last third of the film were digitally altered to walkie-talkies. The changes were made by Spielberg in response to pressure from parents groups, though fans of the film were equally unhappy that the alterations were made. Fortunately, those changes won’t be there when the film makes its way to blu-ray.
Over the weekend, Spielberg made an appearance at a screening of his classic Raiders Of The Lost Ark and during the question and answer session following the movie, took a few moments to address the inevitable blu-release of ET. Ain’t It Cool’s Quint was on hand and reported –
He asked us if there was anybody in the crowd that would be disappointed if the 2002 Special Edition was not included on the Blu, if it was only the original 1982 version. He was greeted with a roaring “No!” from the crowd and said, “Well, that settles it then.”
Spielberg also went on to say that although he bowed to pressure to make the changes afterwards he realized that making such alterations was “robbing the people of their memories of the movie” and has vowed he would do no more fiddling with this or any other of his films.
(So do you think there’s a chance we could get him to talk with his friend George Lucas?)
Unfortunately, the director didn’t give any indication as to when we would actually see a blu-ray release for ET, but it does appear as if there is some thought going on about what that disc will (and will not) consist of.
