Steven Spielberg wishes he never edited The Guns Out Of E.T.

Once Steven Spielberg realized he had made a mistake with the adjustments, he worked with Universal Pictures to release a two-movie DVD set of "E.T." which would contain both cuts of the film. However, over time, the 2002 Special Edition cut became harder to find, with the theatrical cut becoming more widely available, especially at the time of its Blu-ray release. Perhaps that's why most people remember the gun chase scene vividly, where kids on BMXs are followed by menacing federal agents with loaded firearms, which makes the scene definitely scarier than the modified version of the 2002 Special Edition.

Furthermore, Spielberg elaborated on his position on the changes during the Time's 100 Summit, stating that he should have "never toyed with the archive of his own works", despite the evolution of his views over the years:

"'E.T.' is a product of its time. No film should be edited for the purposes we are now, either willingly or forced to look through. [...] 'E.T.' was a movie that I was sensitive about federal agents approaching kids with guns on display and I thought I'd change the guns to walkie-talkies [...] I should never have touched to the archive of my own work, and I do not recommend anyone to do so."

Spielberg went on to explain that all films are markers of a creator's state of mind at the time they are made, where many aspects of a visual/narrative language of a film are mainly shaped by the trends of the time. Stories are molded through multiple lenses, including personal, cultural and societal, and the result is a fusion of these factors, which always remain ever-changing. According to Spielberg, a work of art is sacrosanct and should not be changed retroactively for any reason.