E.T. DVD - 1 SKU, 2 Versions! (1 Viewer)

[Chuck C]

On tonight's NBC special, Steven Spielberg said he's going to have the original 1982 version on DVD as well as the new CG enhanced version.

Great news for the "purists" !

 

[David Lambert]

NBC is right this second running a special about the 20th anniversary of E.T.

Spielberg himself was just speaking to the changeover from guns to walkie-talkies, and was blunt that he regreted "brandishing heavy artillery at kids" (his exact words) all along.

He stated that there are afficianados (his word again) that would protest against any alteration, and for these people the DVD would contain both versions of the film.

"In the same package". His EXACT words!

 

[Ryan L B]

Will we have the terrisim line or anything else in the dvd, also, will we have to buy them seperate or are they together. Knowing Spielberg, there will be 4 versions, widescreen dc and original and full screen dc nad original.

 

[Gui A]

Just saw it too.
Good news!!!

 

[John Stone]

Whew!

 

[Greg_S_H]

Cool, Dave. I'll actually see the SE, then! If they were to be released separately, I would only buy the original. This way, I get both options.

Heh. And, no offense for responding to David, Chuck. I misread your subject line as saying there would be two separate versions, and thought that David was correcting you. :b

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

This is great news, it will be nice having both versions on the disc.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

This was a title I was buying regardless, but it is good news to hear that the original version will still be available...and in the same package, you can't beat that.

Bruce

 

[Ricardo C]

Ah, thank God Glad to have confirmation from Spielbergo himself.

 

[Patrick Mirza]

That''s good news... but I wouldn't be surprised if Universal changed it to 2 different releases come time for announcements.

that or an "Ultimate Edition".

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Hey George! Look whate Steven's doing! Gotta top him!
I'm pretty sure that they'll just seamless branch the disc, I don't think there are THAT many changes

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

I'm pretty sure that they'll just seamless branch the disc, I don't think there are THAT many changes.

Um... it will be impossible to seamless branch E.T. You're not dealing with more footage, you're dealing with SFX being added to scenes already in the movie (and 100 shots having SFX to them for that matter).

 

[Chuck C]

And, no offense for responding to David, Chuck. I misread your subject line as saying there would be two separate versions, and thought that David was correcting you

Ha! It's okay. Actually, Dave and I posted at the same time (well, I posted it in the movies section). The administrator(s) did a good job of giving us both credit for this great great annoncement...his title, my first post.

I hope the CG enhanced version is just as powerful as the original. Like Speilberg said "give it a chance," After all, I bet he's pleased with the results, or else why would he bring it to theaters? One question though...Were people upset when Lucus enhanced the Star Wars re-releases in 1997?

 

[rutger_s]

Matthew is correct.

The television special showcased a few scenes which were altered via computers.

I really wanted to see E.T. in theaters despite the "guns" change and added scene with a CGI E.T. but...

After I learned all about the major changes to the film. I.E. The puppet gets replaced with CGI in most shots and the original "bike jump" sequence has been replaced with a blue-screened "update," I'll wait for the original 1982 cut on DVD.

I can deal with a CGI E.T. for a few minutes and the "guns" change. I won't deal, however, with CGI happy alterations and 2002 technology updates.

The visual effects won an Academy Award. Why change them?

Its like Jaws, the soundtrack won an Academy Award but the DVDs have 5.1 remixes made from re-recorded foley effects and a re-recorded score.

 

[Dave H]

Its like Jaws, the soundtrack won an Academy Award but the DVDs have 5.1 remixes made from re-recorded foley effects and a re-recorded score.

I agree. But, it could have been worse. At least Spielberg didn't create a CGI shark to replace the original one.

 

[Josh_Hill]

Thats great news. I cant wait for this release!

 

[paul o'donnell]

Happy News for everyone there.

 

[Rob Cooper]

I just saw the new version. I didn't think the changes were bad at all. The walkie Talkie thing looked a little silly i guess, but if you didnt know about the change you wouldnt notice. Mostly i think the new effects blended in extremly well.

I need to rewatch my Laserdisc Special Edition version to refresh my memory of how it was originally.

 

[Sam Davatchi]

for releasing both versions.

 

[David Lambert]

I admit I *was* a tad surprised to see that Chuck C's name was now on "my" thread ( ), but I suppose I'll survive without any hurt feelings. The time index indicates we both posted at the same minute. Since his note was shorter, he probably beat me by 30 seconds or somthing like that. And you can't blame the mods for combining threads, either! No problemo.
The fact is that I wouldn't mind seeing the updated version out of curiousity for the "improvements" (E.T.'s more fluid running movement during the initial chase scene, for instance). But I'd never pay money to go to a theater to see it, nor buy a separate DVD for it. Not when the changes include the censoring of guns and so forth.
It just goes back to show you that changes - even by the original creator of the material - aren't kosher because the man Speilberg was 20 years ago is NOT the man he is today. Attitudes change, but Oscar-winning material doesn't.
I'll take the 2-movie DVD set - if Universal doesn't force a change later, that's true - and watch the updated version once out of curiousity. But what I plan to enjoy with my entire family is the ORIGINAL version.