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

[Vince Maskeeper]

Didn't Jeff Goldblum's character ask that very question in Spielberg's Jurassic Park?

See, and they say irony is lost on americans.
Glad I wasn't being too subtle.
Doctor Ian Malcolm's Quote in JP is actually
"your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
My exact thoughts on modern CGI reworkings of older films.
-Vince

 

[Derek Miner]

In the article that Peter Kline linked to, they mentioned that the LA premiere featured John Williams conducting the orchestra LIVE for the score...

That would have been amazing to attend!

 

[Ed Vandeweerd]

Hi

Chalk up one for the Original "ET" Sans Changes I'll Probably get a nice label made for the Special Edition side of the disc!...Yes I am a purist!

 

[Dave H]

I am sure they will at least remaster the original 1982 cut for anamorphic widescreen presentation.

So, do you think there is a chance the original's video quality will not be as good as the Special Edition because they may not have fully restored the original?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I am as big an 'E.T.' fan as they come, I saw three times in the theater when I was only 9, and I grew up with it and know the film back to front, and I will go on record and say that I approve of the changes!
I love what he's doing to polish the film, particularly the new sequence in the beginning of the film where E.T. is running through the woods from the agents, in the 82 cut, you can see that he's just being pulled through the woods on a track, the new "running E.T." looks great IMO. I also love how he spiffied up E.T.'s ship, it looks more like chrome now and he added more fire to the thrusters.
IMO, these changes do not radically alter the film, their is no "Greedo shoots first" type of change to the movie at all. Now, if they showed E.T.'s ship being blown out of the sky by fighter jets after takeoff, that would be different.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

John,

I didn't make any posts in your ET thread in movies, out of respect for your request that such posts remain elsewhere. However, I think it would be fair to say that I disagree with you.

If what you were saying was the full extent of the changes- it might be tolerable (although, not IMHO preferable). However- the clips that I had seen greatly altered the feel of the movie- giving ET mobility he didn't originally have and creating a hyper-reality akin to JarJar.

I assume I'm in a minority- but I simply dislike the majority of CGI- and it often takes me out of the movie. It is even more obvious with these revision type approaches, when mixing real models and puppetry with CGI- it makes the unreality of CGI scream out even more clearly.

I personally think the running ET chasing the ship shot shown in the trailer is cartoonish and out of place in the film (ET's movements were more stiff, but certainly believeable given he was an alien- so we have nothing to compare it to).

And the can opening explosion in the bathroom in the trailer is also horrible looking- the movement of ET nowhere close to matches the movement of the established puppet (and again harkens very very strongly to JarJar movements, most likely motion captures from a human actor). The lighting is way off in that shot- and I'd hope that it is actually a rough version (but since I've seen it in every trailer, my guess is that it is not).

Bottom line, models create reality while CGI creates fantasy. The strong sense that ET was a real thing in 1982 came from the brilliant use of excellent puppetry. I think those who actually watch film (not just this one, film in general) with a serious eye know that CGI offers some improved movement and certainly flexibility- but is simply lacking in the REALITY department.

It also sounds, from the pieces I've seen, like they tweaked some of the voice clips of ET as well.

This movie touched people greatly in 1982, and I don't think that it needed revision to touch people in 2002. The point of the film was always the relationship between elliot and ET- and no amount of CG will enhance that. The only thing you could possibly do is make it worse!

-Vince

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Vince,

I understand your point to a certain extent, I too think that the new bathroom scene looks the worst of everything i've seen, however I know that once i'm in the theater and get swept up in the film, I won't be looking for the changes, i'll just let the film carry me along. Most of the stuff Speilberg changed was with E.T.'s face and won't intefere with the storytelling in anyway IMO.

Besides, I figured if I come out of the theater not caring for the changes, i'll have the 82 cut on the dvd to look forward to in a few months anyway. But so far I don't mind the changes, so far.

 

[Gruson]

I am right there with you Vince!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rutger_s]

On the television special,

Kathleen Kennedy reveals that Drew Barrymore used to converse with the puppet in between takes. Steven Spielberg confirmed this and added that some of the puppeteers animated E.T. just for Barrymore. She would have these amazing dialogues with a puppet.

That was back in 1982 so obviously the puppet did the job of creating reality just fine. Why replace the puppet with CGI shots in most of the scenes?

Like Vince said, leave it the f*ck alone. I saw E.T. in theaters when I was four years old. I believed that E.T. was real without any fancy shmanzy computer effects.

Heck, Universal Studios Hollywood used to show how the "flying bike" sequence was created back in 1982. The new 2002 version replaces this great shot with a blue-screened version.

I love Citizen Kane, I love the Wizard of Oz, and I love The Muppet Movie.

None of these films got CGI updates or blue-screened replacements.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Rutger,

For the record, the flying bike sequence in the 82 cut was also done with blue screen, they used miniatures in front of it filmed with a motion control camera.

As a supplement to my post above, I guess i'm just indifferent about this whole thing. I'm just going to go in, sit down, and just take the journey without thinking about this stuff.

 

[Ryan L B]

If anyone is intrested in seeing the new scenes early, tonight at 8:00pm et on the WB, I think they will be running some of the new scenes for E.T during 7th Heaven.

 

[Ricardo C]

Although I'm pretty sure the original cut will be the one I'll watch ythe most when the DVD is out, I'm still jazzed about the updated cut. Folks, at least Spielberg didn't insert a "Greedo shoots first" type of storyline-altering scene Whether the agents are holding guns or walkie-talkies doesn't make much of a difference: They're still government operatives chasing our hero.

 

[paul o'donnell]

For my thoughts on the upcoming ET please refer to Mr Maskeeper's post above.
Could not agree more.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

E.T. moves around like Jar Jar Binks now.

Meesa gonna phone home now, oke day!

I haven't seen the new scenes yet. For most of them, if it's just improvements in the quality, I'm fine with that. But changing guns to walkie-talkies, IMHO, IS akin to "Greedo shoots first". Like the SW SE's, things like fixing the transparent nature of the snow scenes was great, making Greedo shoot first, or changing Vader's dialogue in ESB sucks big time.

 

[paul o'donnell]

Don't know if this has already been mentioned elsewhere.

This morning (well, about 5 minutes ago) on Sky Premier (movie channel over here) there was a little 30 minute documentary about the re-issue directed and produced by Laurent Bouzereau.

It was quite entertaining, although not information packed. It had interviews with all the cast and crew filmed just before Xmas.

I'm guessing this will be on the dvd for sure. Whether it is the new doc or merely one segment of it is another question.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

From this week's Onion, a piece on changes made in E.T.-The Extra Material: Walkie talkie replaces bottle of Jack Daniels in Drew Barrymore's hand.

 

[Chuck C]

well shoot, it look like i'll be watching the newer version exclusively now! (hint, I just saw it in theaters)

 

[Rain]

But Steven could have simply avoided the issue by leave the film the fuck alone. ET was/is an important film to many of my generation-- and seeing it "CG'd" is absolutely heart wrenching.

Perfectly stated. Why "fix" what isn't broken in the first place?
Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I don't care much for CGI effects in general. I think a well made puppet looks infinitely more lifelike than some computer effect.
From the clips I've seen of that film that is passing itself off as "E.T.," the CGI effects look absolutely terrible in comparison to the original.
I don't know what that thing is that is currently playing in a theatre near you, but it's NOT E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and I have no interest in seeing it.
Hopefully I will have the opportunity to see E.T. again soon on DVD. And if this other thing is on the same DVD, I assure you I will not be watching it then either.

 

[Patrick McCart]

About this gun issue. It really makes me sad. I mean what has happened to you Steven? Of course that it’s bad that they used guns, who said it’s good? Have you forgotten what movies are about? Heeellooooo! They show both the good and the bad. That’s the whole point in E.T. that the grown ups and the government are some silly people who do anything without thinking. Have you forgotten that they almost killed E.T.? So does that mean that you should go back and change it so that the government welcomes E.T. with candy bars and a surprise party? By the way dear Steven, in case you don’t know, occupying and killing others is not good so why don’t you go and change Schindler’s List to show that the Nazi never killed people and where peaceful. It was just a big misunderstanding, they just thought that the world and people belonged to them. for the gun change.

What are you trying to compare? Films which were never changed by the director and one that was?

Kane has a few shots that could be fixed, but Orson Welles isn't around to do it. He was happy with the final cut. Wizard of Oz actually was altered on DVD. Try to look for the shot. The Muppet Movie relied on fantasy, so none of the stuff E.T. needed had to be added.

E.T. was made when special effects were still clumsy and were hit and miss. From the looks of many opinions, many are very against directors doing more work on their own films. Star Wars Trilogy: SE, Apoc. Now Redux, Superman: Extended Edition, Close Encounters, and pretty much any revised film have gotten bad marks.

Too many have forgotten that film is an art form. Sure, I think the DVD for E.T. should have both versions, but Speilberg knows his films much more than any of us since he directed it himself.

 

[ScottR]

Did anyone notice the weird matting during the final scene..every other shot or so was cropped at the bottom of the screen...I popped in my letterboxed vhs and the same matting can be seen...were these shots taken from a cropped 70mm version? What gives?