Los Angeles, Apr 26 (IANS): Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has admitted that he made a mistake when he edited guns out of 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'.

Speaking at Time's 100 Summit, the director explained why he made the changes in the first place and why he now regrets it, reports 'Deadline'.

"That was a mistake. I never should have done that," Spielberg said.

"E.T. is a product of its era. No film should be revised based on the lenses we now are, either voluntarily, or being forced to peer through."

He continued: "E.T. was a film that I was sensitive to the fact that the federal agents were approaching kids with firearms exposed and I thought I would change the guns into walkie-talkies... Years went by and I changed my own views. I should have never messed with the archives of my own work, and I don't recommend anyone do that."

'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' was released in 1982 about an alien that gets left behind on Earth after the rest of his group gets chased away by US government vehicles. The alien befriends a 10-year-old boy who helps keep him safe until he finds his way back home.

"All our movies are a kind of a signpost of where we were when we made them, what the world was like and what the world was receiving when we got those stories out there," Spielberg added.

"So I really regret having that out there."

'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' was written by Melissa Mathison and the cast of the film included Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore.