"Go Out as a Hippie?"

Rating: Null/10 (27 October 2002)

What on earth was Spielberg thinking? They changed the scene where the mom is telling the oldest kid that he can't go out "looking like a terrorist" into "looking like a hippie" and then the kid walks in with a fake knife through his head! And wearing combat pants! I have no problem with fixing up special effects (the running through the forest scene is much better than the original) but the other stuff! The extreme silliness about the guns to walkee-talkees has been mentioned before. The removal of the guns destroys any threat that we felt during the original pursuit. Instead of looking terrified when the federal agent cocks a shotgun, Elliot is scared of two guys waving radios? Watch the original and toss the "updated" version. God help us when Lucas and Spielberg get their hands on the Indiana Jones Trilogy. Nazis carrying radios and Indiana Jones never shooting first. Sigh. Sad to see once-great directors lose touch with reality.