The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

92 Brian Herzlinger
in theaters because it promoted the hell out of the new special effects, these
new scenes that no one had ever seen but had heard rumors they existed.
For example, Jabba the Hutt and Han Solo in a room together, that’s worth
my ten dollars. For E.T., yes, it was modified with the visual effects, which I
don’t think it should have been. I think that the scenes that were cut out of
the movie should have stayed out.
The biggest changes: The word terrorist was traded out for hippie. Most
famously, the agents’ guns were replaced by walkie-talkies—leading some
people to say the film hasn’t aged well because it was not allowed to age.
Herzlinger: But Spielberg gives you the option. When it came out on
DVD, you could own the new version or the original version. And I will
always respect him immensely for that. I also respect him as a filmmaker for
wanting to make the touch-ups.
I went to the premiere of it, which was amazing just for one reason only:
to see E.T. on the big screen again and being accompanied by a live orchestra
which John Williams was conducting. One of the best experiences I’ve
ever had. I will never watch the new version again; I’ve seen it. The original
was always the best—it’s the same reason why Spielberg said he would never
make a sequel of E.T.
How has your experience with the film changed over time?
Herzlinger: I can watch E.T. and feel and get emotionally as involved as
I did as a six-year-old. Is there a little more to the movie now that I see it
as an adult? Absolutely. When I watched it as a teenager I could identify
with his older brother. As a thirty-two-year-old guy in a relationship, I can
identify with how hurt the mother is and how hard it must be to be a single
mother and support three kids and a mortgage, and her kids are harboring
an alien.
Now I can understand why she is pulling Elliott away from E.T. at the
end—she’s scared for her child’s safety. Does that change the way the movie
works for me? Absolutely not, because I think it is the best movie ever made,
because it works on every level, every demographic. It really is that universal
appeal/theme/approach that anybody—whatever your age is—can grasp
and enjoy it to the utmost.