The Steven Spielberg movie ruined because of George Lucas
When thinking of the most significant blockbuster movie directors, it’s hard to look beyond the impressive works of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. Between the iconic cinema pair, audiences across the world have been treated to some of the most mesmerising moments ever delivered on the screen.
But back in the early days of their respective careers, Spielberg had actually admitted to being somewhat jealous of his fellow filmmaker when his movie THX-1138 was screened at the University of California film festival. He admired the film, but it showed him that he needed to up his game in order to compete with those coming out of film school.
“I realised that there was an entire generation coming out of NYU, USC and UCLA. THX-1138 made me jealous to the marrow of my bones. I was eighteen years old and had directed fifteen short films by that time, and this little movie was better than all of my movies combined,” he once told The Bearded Trio.
Eventually, the two directors became friends and two of the biggest names in blockbuster cinema of all time, and they worked together behind the scenes on the likes of Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List and Indiana Jones, the latter of which saw Spielberg direct and Lucas write the story.
Still, some of the collaborative efforts, or even moments of advice, did not go as planned, as proven by Spielberg in a version of his 1982 science fiction film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Lucas had once decided to digitally update the original Star Wars films, but when Spielberg tried to do the same, the results were pretty awful.
In an interview with Collider, the director noted: “So, there’s a really bad version of E.T., where I took my cue from Star Wars and all of the digital enhancements for A New Hope that George put in. I went ahead because the marketing at Universal thought we needed something to get an audience back in to see the movie, so I did a few touch-ups in the film.”
He added: “In those days, social media wasn’t as profound as it is today, but what was just beginning erupted in a loud negative voice saying, ‘How could you ruin our favourite childhood film?’” Sometimes, the best films are best left untouched.
The experience was not something that Spielberg would repeat in a hurry, and it’s fair to say that it wasn’t exactly Lucas’ fault that his friend decided to follow suit, even if he did admit that he “got into trouble” because of his newer efforts.
