Stewart Stern later said the film was ruined by improvisation saying "That script wasn't taken out of my hands so much as put aside. It's still perfectly serviceable." Stern did not go on location but says at Hopper's request he went to look at a rough cut in Taos. Stern says "Mainly, what I felt was very disappointed, not only that he didn't use the scenes as they were written in the screenplay and that he chose to improvise with people who were not up to that kind of improvisation, but also that he hadn't shot scenes that were essential. Including the ending of the picture." Stern says he asked Hopper to shoot the scenes as written by that Hopper would not do it. "He acknowledges the value of the screenplay, but feels that that wasn't the picture that he had in mind then, and that he certainly isn't ashamed of having done what he did. I absolutely respect him for that."