The famed director of iconic films from the 70s, 80s, and 90’s finds it hard watching his own movies except for E.T., which he deems perfect.
There are actors who don’t like watching their own work, but it’s seldom that you hear about directors who don’t like to watch their own movies. If you have a resume as impressive as that of director Steven Spielberg and have been responsible for decades worth of culturally significant movies, it would be easy to assume that he would not have any problem revisiting his own films. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Spielberg revealed that he doesn’t usually like to watch his movies except E.T. : The Extra-terrestrial.In a clip posted on the Twitter account of
, Colbert lists off some of Spielberg’s work on TV, which consisted of a lot of older shows when he was at the beginning of his career, and asks what advice Spielberg would give to that younger version of himself. The Late Show with Stephen ColbertSpielberg begins to think about an answer. “I think there are always things that I…this explains why I don’t take a look at all my movies after they’ve been made. I’m not Gloria Swanson,
Sunset Blvd showing her silent movies for me. So I don’t go back very often. Every once in a while, we’ll go to a movie together. Because I want to be there with my kids when they see E.T.1010 for the first-time. I don’t want them seeing E.T.10 without their dad. Even the most frightening parts at the beginning. Sometimes I see things I didn’t intend to do. Sometimes, I see things that I wish I had done. And I am now seeing them all these years later. But for the most part, E.T. is a pretty perfect movie.”Colbert would agree with a humorously downplayed, “It’s pretty good. Pretty good film.”
Spielberg, then continues, “It’s one of the few movies that I’ve made that I can actually look at again and again. I’m not gonna name what they are besides E.T., but there are five or six films that I can watch again, but I don’t usually do that.”It is understandable from a director’s standpoint how one can be so critical of their movies that it’s difficult to watch. Spielberg had once made a special edition of [from his filmography]E.T.
. In which he replaced the puppet by a CGI version, and famously replaced the guns used by the FBI with walkie talkies, it was understandable from a director’s perspective. Then, even Spielberg had to backtrack and restore the original version when he realized that there is no messing with perfection.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6MlVxPJZw4
