Steven Spielberg’s 'E.T.' regret

Steven Spielberg regrets making changes to 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' DVD that softened it for family viewing, and has apparently bowed to fan pressure for the Blu-ray release.

In the original film officials hunting the alien carried guns, but these were digitally altered to walkie-talkies for the 20th anniversary DVD version. Spielberg said this was because of complaints from parents groups.

[See also: Scorsese pays tribute to "fearless" Ken Russell]

He was heavily cricitised by fans for the changes, which mirror those made by George Lucas to the original 'Star Wars' films, such as the infamous ‘Greedo shoots first' scene.

However, he now regrets the decision, and reportedly said that for the film’s 30th anniversary Blu-ray he would re-release the original 1982 version and the updated, gun-less film.

“A lot of kids only know 'E.T.' from the digitally enhanced version,” he told The Daily Mail.

Speaking in Richmond, Virginia, where he is shooting biopic 'Lincoln', he apparently said: “So, in order not to traumatise that entire generation, I’ll probably come out with the old version and the enhanced version but sell both at the same time, for the same price, so you can make your choice."

We contacted the studio for confirmation on this, but they were unavailable for comment.

Selling two different versions is a slight back-track for Spielberg. Back in September at an LA screening of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’, he said he realised he was “robbing the people of their memories of the movie” and implied that the Blu-ray would be the theatrical cut only.

He went on: "I got overly sensitive to [some of the reaction] to 'E.T.,' and I thought if technology evolved. It was OK for a while, but I realized what I had done was I had robbed people who loved 'E.T.' of their memories of 'E.T.”

The director also vowed to never again go back and meddle with his films.

Steven Spielberg’s new film ‘War Horse’ will be released in the UK on 13 January.