I wonder what it would have been like if he had done the changes back during 78-82, since the movie was being re-released every year anyway, it must have crossed his mind. Especially since Spielberg did exactly that with Close Encounters, right down to the "special edition" tag. He even had access to the still age-appropriate actors (Spielberg brought back Dreyfuss and Bob Balaban 3 years later) and was apparently so tortured and emo about the shots that didn't work, he might have done something interesting.