Depends on whatever affect they have on the story, (which includes the level of distraction from said story), to me. Some are completely ridiculous mistakes made by one of the world's best fx companies. Other's really help make the movies perfect. So I agree.

Really all that needs to be done is release the originals for a decent price on dvd or show them on tv uncut in HD so someone can record it and... er...uh. breed it, make it grow... heh heh. Where I work, we're selling new ET dvds and I noticed that preview pictures on the back were from the special edition version. Now I haven't watched it, but I'll stilll assume the dvd isn't the original theatrical release, and that's cool. Since I own the theatrical version on dvd already, I can choose which one to watch, shotguns, or walkie-talkie guns. I have a c h o i c e. And that's a good feeling...