Going back and changing movies - ET next!!!

[Creamstick]

From Creators.com

HOLLYWOOD'S NEW REALITY: Talk about being vigilant! Dee Wallace Stone has been called in to change a line in "E.T." because of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks. Steven Spielberg's classic tale of a lovable extraterrestrial is being rereleased next year for its 20th anniversary. Stone, who plays the mother figure in the feature, explains, "There was some reference to one of the Halloween characters in the film looking like a terrorist, so we're going in to reloop that line." She says the re-release of "E.T." will have "new footage, from what I understand." It will also have a major push. "They already have the "Oprah" show and several big things planned that they've asked me to participate in."

This defies belief. :(

[Kit_Taylor]

Next someone's going to tell me that the rumour they've digitally removed all the guns is true...

[Deaks]

I'd heard that they're going to digitally annimate ET's face?

Deaks.

[Michael Brooke]

So when are they going to re-edit films that glamourise Irish terrorism, then? :D

[rezabelady]

i definitely heard a while back that Spielberg planned to add extra CGI footage for a theatrical re-release in April 2002 (hasn't the DVD been announced for an August release also?)

[Bapapapa]

Can they edit out the bit where he's lying in the bathroom covered in talc, 'cos it made me cwy..?

:(

[DeadKenny]

Originally posted by Kit_Taylor
Next someone's going to tell me that the rumour they've digitally removed all the guns is true...

http://www.dvdsewer.com/news/reports/et_edit.htm

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Silent Bob]

Originally posted by Bapapapa
Can they edit out the bit where he's lying in the bathroom covered in talc, 'cos it made me cwy..?

:(

Sad bit indeed m8, it always starts for me from the part where they find him in the brook....usually time for a toilet break when the film reaches that part, give myself a minute to pull myself together. :(

[Michael Brooke]

<B>it always starts for me from the part where they find him in the brook</B>

No, they've removed that bit - I threatened to sue, and they realised they wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

In fact, this is all my fault! :D

[Drel]

Isn't ET going to be replaced by Jar Jar Binks?

"Mesa thinkin' people gonna fone"

[Paul490]

This is terrible. Absolutely terrible.

So the United States goes back and changes movies that have already been made and released because of a major attack?

This is terrible, and they are ruining our films!

The World Trade Centre stuff must stay in the films - for new films that haven't been released yet, they must change it or it won't be relevant.

Of course they should show respect to the families of the people who died in this incident, but they are now being over-sensitive. Everyone should try and get back to normal. If we censor all our forms of entertainment, the terrorists will have won. That's not what we want.

[Michael Brooke]

So when are we getting the five-minute version of <I>Mars Attacks</I>? :D

[adamvbarker]

I'm rather uneasy about all this CGI updating. Not the terrorism stuff (tho' I think it's stupid to change that too) but the insertion of new special effects into old movies.

Already we see enough people, even on these erudite boards, who don't like, or won't watch films, just because they are old. This updating seems to say that old films are bad, simply because they are not technically sophisticated enough. So, a select few films will be taken and digitally altered to make them acceptable to a modern young audience that will see anything that doesn't have CGI plastered all over it as necessarily inferior.

It also messes with the audience's understanding of film history, without which they will always have difficulty appreciating older films.
Are we going to digitally update Metropolis, Things to Come, Solaris ?

It seems to me a bit like colorisation, except that was so visually unpleasant and inept that it never really took off in a big way. But digital updating is subtle, skillfully done and could mess with all our understanding of film history.

[Lex Luthor]

Originally posted by Creamstick
This defies belief. :( It's sick, sad and I want no part of it. I urge you all to boycott these 'new' versions of old movies.

[Kevin Harper]

This is a worrying trend. By editing all references of Terrorists from films does Hollywood think that will end all acts of Terrorism? I think not.
On the subject of re-edits and new versions of old films these really fall into two categories.
1. The Director's Cuts of prereleased films which are now presented in their fullest approved versions as in the case of THE WILD BUNCH, TOUCH OF EVIL etc and to a certain extent the new version of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (although this is a dodgy one as it was never Robert Wise's intention to have a lot of CGI even though it may be very well done). These are OK as they present the movie as the director originally wanted and not butchered by the censors/studios of the day.
2. Updating older films to cater for the audience that can't accept i.e. B/W, poor special effects and removing references to buildings that have been destroyed by terrorists since the film was made.

The second catagory is the one that should be avoided (Thank god they never got their hands on JAWS and created a whole new shark. OK these films aren't perfect but that is the way they made given the budget and special effects constraints of the time. In a way they are historical documents - products of their time.
There is a saying :"If it's not broken, don't fix it " this should apply to movies too.

[DeadKenny]

Think I better buy A.I. as soon as possible before the towers are gone from it.

There's a (thankfully) dispelled rumour about Escape From New York edits, here (http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=2313&mode=threaded&order=0&thold=0) (original here (http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=2310&mode=threaded&order=0&thold=0)). Although at the moment it's being treated as a false rumour, I bet someone will think it's worth doing.


"Damn them all to hell" (thank god they didn't hit the Statue of Liberty though - imagine how many films that would affect!).

[Creamstick]

Place your bets....

COMING SOON to a revisionist cinema near you.....

D.W. Griffifths 'Birth of a Nation'... 95% Klan free!!!

[Michael Brooke]

<B>There's a (thankfully) dispelled rumour about Escape From New York edits, here (original here). Although at the moment it's being treated as a false rumour, I bet someone will think it's worth doing. </B>

In which case that someone is an idiot, since the film is set four years before the WTC terrorist attacks!

[KeithHx]

New James Bond DVD due out soon...

The Man with the Golden Walkie Talkie

And the 1960's War classic...

The Walkie Talkies of Navarone!!

etc...

[Arch Stanton]

It's not all bad though, a version of The Fifth Element with Chris Tucker digitaly removed would be good.

[gZa]

Make that...

It's not all bad though, a version of [insert any Chris Tucker movie] with Chris Tucker digitally removed would be even better. :rolleyes:

[Cap'n Al]

On a more 'serious' note, I continue to be intrigued by what Michael Bay's doing to Pearl Harbor; the last I heard was that the 4-month delay is so that Bay can completely re-edit and re-shoot parts of the film.

[Sneeka]

hmm, think it's gonna be a loooong time till we see Die Hard or Armageddon on the box again (although Die Hard's usually cut to ribbons, so it's probably a good thing).

oh, and while we're on the subject... anyone who's got Armageddon... fast forward to the bit after the first meteor attack. When they do a pan across the skyline you see both Trade Center towers smoking. All a bit eerily familiar to me.

No doubt the next dvd edition will have that cut out. :rolleyes:

[whitty]

THE SIEGE.

Man this film will never be shown on Telly EEEVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRR.

[sampath]

I somehow fail to see the connection between terrorism and law enforcement officers holding guns....

Maybe it's me being stoopid. :confused:

I'm sure the good folks responsible for these alterations are much cleverer than I am. :rolleyes:

[Creamstick]

The problem is, might makes right in the eyes of the US, and anyone who doesn't agree, is, to quote the man, Bill Hicks, "a fool and a communist".

[Creamstick]

Is it just me, or is my last post kind of out of place in this thread.. oh well..