Director: Spielberg

[Gemini Cricket]

I think it was right of him to disavow Jaws. White sharks are still being hunted today because some people were so affected by the film.

Yeah, walkie-talkies replace guns. So very lame of him.

See Gunga Din. It's fun! I also think Spielberg got some inspiration for TOD from The Perils of Nyoka.

[innerSpaceman]

When did he disavow Jaws? Oh pulease, I don't even believe it.

Of course, he was the a-hole who not only changed CE3K, he purposely put in a scene he hated at the time to make the stupid changes he really wanted (which were beyond lame in the first place).

So yeah, he blows like the wind. But if he made Last Crusade to apologize for Temple of Doom, I applaud that move.


* * * * *


Also ... he didn't exactly replace guns with walkies ... he offered an option where there are walkes instead of guns, and left available the option where guns are still guns.


Considering he permanently deleted scenes from other movies, I consider this compromise in E.T. acceptable. The change was not rammed down the world's throat.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

When did he disavow Jaws? Oh pulease, I don't even believe it.

I'm having difficulty finding it, but a couple years ago he said something to the effect of, "Given the chance, I woudln't make Jaws again. It was too terrifying for people."

Considering he permanently deleted scenes from other movies, I consider this compromise in E.T. acceptable. The change was not rammed down the world's throat.

It's one small step above permanent editing, but it's still a case of caving to the "Won't somebody please think of the children!" crowd and just proves he has no spine when it comes to defending his own work.

[innerSpaceman]

Oh, he proved that in 1980, while he was still a fairly young man. That he demonstrates it as a senior citizen comes as zero surprise.


BUT, and not to defend him ... rather human nature ... how many artists truly defend their own work in their later years? How many get the opportunity to defend it or not? Changes aren't asked of works that are not phenomenally successful, so we don't get too many tests of which artists will defend their art.

How many would pass that test?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Other than Lucas, I can't think of anyone else who has gone to as great lengths to actively bad-mouth their own prior work. It's one thing to never be satisfied with what you've done, it's another to devalue its importance.

I much prefer the likes of Kevin Smith who will go toe to toe and argue that Jersey Girl is a good movie (though to be fair I haven't seen it, but popular consensus is otherwise).

[blueerica]

I also appreciate Smith's generally unapologetic nature. Even when the whole thing went down with Joel Siegel, he didn't apologize, and I don't think he had to. But that's just me, and way off topic.

[innerSpaceman]

Perhaps if Hitchcock had the technology to digitally insert Doris Day in the film, he wouldn't have re-made The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Who can say?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Now, I'm not a filmmaker. Well, I am but I'm not being paid by a studio. But when I go back to my earlier work - watching my student films or plays, reading my fiction or poetry or screenplays or plays - I'm almost always...

1) astonished that some of it came from me; I can't believe I once had the ideas I'd since forgotten - ideas I loved then and still love now, that have aged well and are truly interesting.

2) annoyed that some of it came from me; my perspective, wisdom, skill-set has matured over time. What once appealed to me may still not be as appealing. What once seemed well-done seems pitiful with the knowledge I've acquired in ensuing years.

Still, I hope that, given the opportunity to do this professionally, I will learn the lesson from watching Spielberg and Lucas' mistakes. Films age. We age. The way you appreciate your work now may not be the way you appreciate it later, but when considering "fixing" those things: hands off.

[innerSpaceman]

I think the temptation must be great for works that are, quite wrongly in my opinion, considered Kid-Stuff, like Star Wars and E.T., which thus never "age" but are perpetually brand-new to new generations of children (whom we must then "think of").



Oh, btw, Walt Disney stood by while things were ripped-out of Fantasia for subsequent releases.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Oh, btw, Walt Disney stood by while things were ripped-out of Fantasia for subsequent releases.

And I'm not a fan of that decision. It still isn't a demonstration of the consistent second guessing and kowtowing that Spielberg has done, as you said, since the 80s. After a while, I might just start agreeing with him that all his work sucks.