Steven Spielberg Finally Admits the Walkie-Talkies Were a Mistake

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Will Leitch
·Editor
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

A couple of days ago, Steven Spielberg talked to a packed audience after a screening of a new print of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which, somewhat quietly, turned 30 this year. (Most of our friends make a big fuss about it when they turn 30.) A few news items popped up out of this, from Harrison Ford turning down "Jurassic Park" to Spielberg sort of admitting "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" kinda stunk. But we were far more interested in something Spielberg said about another classic with an anniversary coming up.

Next year, "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" will turn 30. (Oh, and seriously: Steven Spielberg made "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "E.T." in consecutive years. Like, in the span of a few months.) That'll be its own new Blu-Ray DVD, and what's most noteworthy is a change that Spielberg won't be making. Or, more accurately, changing back. He is, thank heavens, getting rid of the walkie-talkies he digitally inserted in the hands of the government baddies, and giving them their guns back.

As evidenced by the image above from the 20th anniversary edition of "E.T.," for reasons even Spielberg himself doesn't seem to understand -- likely sensitivity to criticism by parents' groups, who didn't like some of the language he used, and objected to the use of guns, period -- he swapped out the guns carried by the agents pursuing Eliot and his extraterrestrial friend:

"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."

Purists never like it when people tinker with their favorite films, but this change seemed to be a disproportionate consolation to the outcry from parents' groups, which itself was probably out of proportion to the influence on the audience of such fleeting gun imagery -- especially in comparison to the larger message of the film (aliens are peaceful creatures, Reese's Pieces are yummy, etc.).

Regardless, we still think the "South Park" parody of this is the best one. And we're ecstatic that "E.T." -- which, at the end of the day, might still be our favorite Spielberg film -- is getting back to normal. Now, can Spielberg do something about the video game?

Steven Spielberg Regrets Altering 'E.T.;' Will Release 'E.T.' and 'Raiders' on Blu-ray in Original Forms [/film]

Recommended Stories

  • Eddie Murphy says Ryan Coogler tried to make a 'Coming to America' sequel starring Michael B. Jordan - but he didn't like the idea

    Eddie Murphy said that Ryan Coogler's idea had Michael B. Jordan playing his son, "looking for a wife."

  • Federal Judge Indefinitely Blocks Biden Administration’s 100-Day Deportation Moratorium

    A federal judge on Tuesday indefinitely banned the Biden administration from enforcing a 100-day pause on deportations of most illegal immigrants in response to a lawsuit from Texas, which argued that the moratorium violated federal law and could saddle the state with additional costs. U.S. district judge Drew Tipton issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday, dealing a blow to President Biden’s efforts to follow through on his campaign promise to pause most deportations. The pause would not have applied to those who have engaged in terrorism or espionage or who pose a danger to national security. It would also have excluded those who were not present in the U.S. before November 1, 2020, those who agreed to waive the right to remain, and those whom the ICE director individually determined need to be removed by law. Tipton first ruled on January 26 that the pause violated federal law on administrative procedure and that the U.S. failed to show why a deportation pause was justified. He issued a temporary two-week restraining order, which was set to expire Tuesday. Texas attorney general Ken Paxton argued that Biden’s January 20 memorandum violated federal law and an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security that Texas be consulted before reducing immigration enforcement or pausing deportations. As part of the agreement, DHS must give Texas 180 days notice of any proposed change on any matter that would reduce enforcement or increase the number of “removable or inadmissible aliens” in the United States. However, the ruling does not require deportations to resume at their previous pace and immigration agencies have broad discretion in enforcing removals and processing cases. In the wake of the first ruling, authorities deported hundreds of people to Central America and 15 people to Jamaica. The administration has also continued deportations that began under the Trump administration due to a public-health law in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Meghan Markle and Prince Harry never intended to leave the royal family

    The Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they will continue to support their royal patronages despite not being allowed to do so as royals.

  • Federal judge allows California to finally enforce net neutrality. Other states may follow suit.

    A few months after the Trump administration scrapped the Obama administration's robust net neutrality rules in 2018, California passed its own open-internet law. The Justice Department immediately sued to block California's net neutrality law, and it was in limbo until President Biden's administration dropped the lawsuit last month. A federal judge in California on Tuesday dismissed the last legal hurdle, a lawsuit by four telecom industry groups, opening the door to enforcement of the nation's first mandate that internet service providers treat all web traffic equally. The four telecom lobbying groups — America's Communications Association, Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, the the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, and USTelecom — said Tuesday they "will review the court's opinion before deciding on next steps," suggesting they could appeal U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez's ruling. The broadband industry has successfully fought open-internet regulations for decades, but the industry groups said Tuesday that faced with a muddled "state-by-state approach," they think "Congress should codify rules for an open internet." Other states have been watching the California case for years, "hoping a legal resolution in the state's favor might open the door for them to try to craft their own open-Internet rules without facing a similar legal threat," The Washington Post reports. Congressional action is theoretically possible, but it's more likely Biden's FCC will act, once the Senate confirms his nominee, breaking the 2-2 gridlock. Net neutrality laws like the one in California prohibit internet service providers from slowing down traffic to certain sites or providing special fast access to sites that pay extra for the boost. Broadband companies and other opponents argue such rules will stifle innovation and curb investment in faster internet speeds. More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial

  • Hyundai to replace 82,000 electric-vehicle batteries over fire risk

    The South Korean carmaker is replacing batteries for huge numbers of Kona electric cars.

  • Republican leaders want to avoid a party civil war. Trump might have other ideas.

    In a two-page memo addressed to GOP donors, voters, leaders, and activists, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) declared: "The Republican Civil War is now canceled." It isn't clear if his fellow Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, are listening. Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and in the memo, first obtained by Fox News, he writes that Democrats control the White House, Senate, and House, but Republicans have a path to victory in 2022. To win, the GOP must move on from the "impeachment show" and stop with the infighting, he said, adding that a Republican Civil War "does not need to be true, should not be true, and will not be true." While Scott wants unity, not all Republicans are on the same page. After Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 House Republican, voted to impeach Trump last month, she was censured by the Wyoming Republican Party and asked to resign. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted to acquit Trump, but still said there is "no question that former President Trump bears responsibility" for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. This remark roused Trump, who had been flying under the radar during the trial. He called McConnell a "dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack," and said if Republican senators "are going to stay with him, they will not win again. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again." Three GOP senators are retiring in 2022 — Richard Burr (N.C.), Pat Toomey (Pa.), and Rob Portman (Ohio) — and Scott has said the NRSC will support the remaining incumbents from primary challenges. Trump is letting people know he isn't done with McConnell, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted Tuesday. Last week, Trump and former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) met for golf and dinner, and people briefed on the day told Haberman "it did not go well." Trump reportedly had "retribution" on his mind, and was focused on McConnell and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who did not go along with Trump's plot to overturn Georgia's election results. Perdue had been contemplating running again in 2022, but said Tuesday he won't. Although no longer in office, Trump still has the support of a majority of Republicans. A Suffolk University/USA Today poll of 1,000 Trump supporters conducted last week found that 46 percent would ditch the Republican Party and join a Trump party if he started one, with 27 percent saying they wouldn't and the rest undecided. A majority said they had more loyalty to Trump than the GOP, and 50 percent said the Republican Party should become "more loyal to Trump." More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial

  • Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher are one of Hollywood's most private couples. Here's a timeline of their 20-year relationship.

    Fisher has said being with Cohen is like "winning the lottery" ... even if she has to deal with his many shenanigans.

  • David Perdue decides against 2022 Senate run

    Former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) won't be pursuing a 2022 Senate comeback bid after all. Perdue, who lost his Senate seat to Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) during Georgia's runoff elections in January, announced Tuesday that "after much prayer and reflection," he has decided not to run for Senate in Georgia in 2022. "This is a personal decision, not a political one," Perdue said, adding that he will "do everything I can" to ensure the eventual Republican candidate wins the seat. The former Georgia senator had been considering challenging Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who in 2022 would be running for a full six-year term after completing the term of Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). In fact, Perdue recently filed paperwork to run, and a senior adviser confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he was "leaning heavily toward" running. Former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) have also been considering running for the Senate seat, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted, but they had reportedly been waiting to see what Perdue would do before making a decision. More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial

  • Instagram Influencer Sparks Outrage After Posing Naked on Top of Endangered Elephant in Bali

    A 22-year-old Russian social media influencer is facing heavy criticism online for posing naked on top of an endangered elephant in Bali, Indonesia for her 553,000 Instagram followers. Alesya Kafelnikova received backlash for the short video she posted on Feb. 13, where she was filmed lying naked on top of a “critically endangered” Sumatran elephant, according to The Sun. In a follow-up post, Kafelnikova shared an image presumably with the same elephant and said in the caption, “To love nature is human nature.”

  • Mitt Romney and Tom Cotton divide conservatives over their new minimum wage plan

    Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on Tuesday unveiled a plan to gradually raise the minimum wage to $10, rather than the $15 their Democratic colleagues are targeting. The reaction among conservatives was mixed. Brad Polumbo, writing in The Washington Examiner, called the plan an "abandonment" of fiscal conservatism, likening it to "something out of" Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) office. The plan, Polumbo continues, "ignores everything conservatives are supposed to understand about economics and the perils of big government," asserting that while both Romney and Cotton market themselves as "pro-family social conservatives," their plan "would hurt working families if implemented." At The National Review, however, John McCormack writes that research has shown the plan wouldn't cost any jobs at its median estimates, and high-end estimates point to around 100,000 losses. McCormack's colleague Robert VerBruggen thinks it will "resonate with the public" as a middle ground policy that comes attached to an immigration enforcement measure — in addition to the gradual wage increase, the Romney-Cotton plan would require businesses to use the "E-verify system" to ensure their employees are in the country legally and eligible to work. At Bloomberg, Michael Strain, the director of of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, praised the Romney-Cotton plan for its patience, noting that it would delay the increase until after the coronavirus pandemic "is in the rear-view mirror," whereas the Democratic proposal backed by President Biden would start churning in June. But he doesn't believe it will prevent Democrats from continuing to lobby for further raises, and ultimately doesn't solve the fact that "Republicans would still be on the losing side of a popular issue." He is also skeptical of the immigration enforcement tradeoff. He described it as a "politically interesting pairing," but explained he'd "rather see a modest minimum wage increase paired with policies that would improve employment and skills." More stories from theweek.comThe MyPillow guy might be Trump's ultimate chumpLate night hosts laugh at Rudy Giuliani literally running from his $1.3 billion lawsuit, tie in CPACFDA confirms Johnson & Johnson vaccine prevented all deaths and hospitalizations in trial

  • Tiger Woods accident: Justin Thomas, Lindsey Vonn, Jack Nicklaus and more send good wishes

    After Tiger Woods' car crash Tuesday, celebs and sports figures such as Alex Rodriguez, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cher and Magic Johnson tweeted their well wishes.

  • US closer to its 3rd COVID vaccine — and this one only needs one shot. What to know

    The FDA said the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective.

  • ‘Zero respect’: Ted Cruz pictured scrolling through phone during harrowing opening testimony into Capitol riot

    Senator caused controversy last week after he flew to Mexico while a winter storm battered Texas

  • Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Rudy Giuliani Over Silly Dominion Lawsuit-Dodging

    ABCOn Tuesday night, The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert dragged the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for branding this year’s edition “America Uncanceled” and then canceling a speaker over his history of anti-Semitic comments. And Jimmy Kimmel joined in on the fun—but also set his sights on someone who’s become such a colossal embarrassment he won’t be speaking at CPAC: Rudy Giuliani, the president’s ex-attorney who once married his cousin. “Rudy Giuliani isn’t on the list at CPAC. He is no longer representing Donald Trump, and his next client could be himself,” cracked Kimmel. “Last month, Rudy got hit with a $1.3 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems. They’re suing him for spreading misinformation about their machines, and apparently, they had a heck of a time serving him with papers.”Yes, Dominion filed a whopping $1.3 billion lawsuit against Giuliani—citing 50 “demonstrably false” (Dominion’s words) claims he made that their voting machines flipped votes from Trump to Biden—and even tied Giuliani’s baseless claims about rigged Dominion machines to the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, referencing a speech that Giuliani gave earlier that day in the lawsuit.“Having been deceived by Giuliani and his allies into thinking that they were not criminals — but patriots ‘Defend[ing] the Republic’ from Dominion and its co-conspirators — they then bragged about their involvement in the crime on social media,” the lawsuit read.And Giuliani—of Borat 2, Four Seasons Total Landscaping, leaking head, and courtroom-farting fame—has continued to embarrass himself during the Dominion saga. According to a report in the New York Daily News, Dominion struggled to serve Giuliani with the 107-page lawsuit. First, he refused to receive it by email, and it took them a week to try to serve Giuliani in person.Stephen Colbert Hammers ‘America Uncanceled’ CPAC for Canceling Speaker“A doorman, knowing process servers were looking for Giuliani, locked the door to the building whenever the former mayor entered the lobby,” reported the Daily News. “On Feb. 7, a pair of process servers and Giuliani got into an awkward standoff during a nasty winter storm. That morning, the doorman to the building waved to a Ford Explorer SUV parked down the street. Giuliani got in the passenger seat and closed the SUV door as a process server lunged forward with a bag full of documents.”Then, as Kimmel elaborated, something truly ridiculous happened: “At one point, the server jammed the lawsuit into the door of an SUV Giuliani got into, but Rudy’s doorman grabbed an umbrella and pried it out onto the ground,” Kimmel explained, adding, “You know, if they really want to get those papers to Rudy, they should’ve just had Borat’s daughter stuff them in his pants.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

  • China court orders man to pay wife for housework in landmark case

    The landmark case has sparked debate as it shines a spotlight on housewives' unpaid labour.

  • 'Superman & Lois' showrunner and star paid homage to the superhero's first comic appearance in the series premiere

    Showrunner Todd Helbing and star Tyler Hoechlin tell Insider what it was like paying homage to Superman's early days in the comics and cartoons.

  • Defying court order, Malaysia deports more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals

    Malaysia sent more than 1,000 Myanmar nationals back to their strife-torn homeland on Tuesday despite a court order to halt the deportation, a move rights groups said could endanger the deportees' lives. The 1,086 Myanmar citizens were sent back on three navy ships sent by Myanmar's military, which seized power in a Feb. 1 coup, sparking weeks of protests from pro-democracy activists. Malaysia had initially said it would deport 1,200.

  • Mohammad Hafeez declines PCB central contract offer

    Twenty20 specialist Mohammad Hafeez has declined a central contract offer from the Pakistan Cricket Board. The allrounder “politely turned down” a contract offer in category C for 2020-21, the cricket board said Wednesday. “While I am disappointed, I fully respect his decision,” PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said in a statement.

  • Perdue ditches Senate run after Trump Mar-a-Lago meeting

    Reports suggest meeting with former president last week ‘did not go well’

  • Imran Khan invites Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit Pakistan

    Visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has proclaimed his Muslim-majority nation a choice destination for religious tourism by Sri Lankans, most of whom are Buddhists. In talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday, Khan highlighted Buddhist heritage sites in Pakistan and stressed the building of cultural ties, the Pakistan Embassy said in a statement.