A disturbing DVD trend

L

luvinlife2525

New member
This has actually been happening for a few years, but it's got to the point where I'm tearing my hair out over the issue.

Basically, classic films are being rereleased on DVD but they have footage cut out so that they can fit with the new guidance rating they've been given upon the rerelease.

Examples of DVRAB that suffer cuts due to re-ratings: Edward ScissorhanRAB, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Batman Returns. I think there was stuff edited on the DVD episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer as well.

I know there are more but can't remember off the top of my head.

Still, this practice is forcing me to import region 1 DVRAB of my favourite movies in from the USA, as I like my movies to be intact and unedited, thank you very much.

It's obvious that they are lowering the ratings from 15 to 12 or 12 to PG to reel in the kiddie fans, because I can't see what else the reason is. But for those of us above age limits, it's incredibly insulting and frustrating to have to suffer this kind of pointless censorship. I wish it would stop, but I feel it might just get worse. Sigh.
 
Footage from the final fight scene of ES was removed, I read it on a website somewhere (possibly the IMDB). I don't think it was very much, but still...
 
www.imdb.com tells you all the differences between releases.


go to your film and its down the left hand side, i cant remember what its called, and if i click on imdb now, i will go over my daily 10mb allowance (im at work) and not be able to RAB any more!
 
That was never in the UK version anyway. In order for it to get a PG theatrical release the heart scene had to be edited, otherwise it would have got a 15 rating. Although i do agree that the footage should have been re-inserted for the most recent R2 DVD release, it would have probably only received a 12 certificate now.

I just wish we could get the full uncut version of 'Die Hard With a Vengeance' on R2, just watching the elevator scene makes me shudder :/
 
"In order to secure a PG certificate in the UK the cinema version was cut by 8 secs to edit some violence during the climactic fight. A shot of Edward being kicked in the stomach was removed and his beating with the crowbar was reduced from 8 blows to 2."
 
taken from the melonfarmers site

1990 US film by Tim Burton
Both cinema and video versions have same cuts

The climactic fight between Edward (Johnny Depp) and Jim (Anthony Michael Hall) has been trimmed to get a PG certificate.
 
You know on the original R1 release of DH3, the TV edited version was accidentally used, where they'd dub over minor swearing with a sound-alike's voice. They rectified it later. I have the nice 6-Disc edition of the trilogy on R1. It's much prettier than R2.
 
The first UK dvd release of Die Hard 3 was accidentally mastered from a butchered version.

The next dvd release added some of the cuts back (possibly for a 15).

But IIRC it came out again as an uncut 18.

This happended with the VHS of Die Hard 2 and T2.

Both were cut for 15 on VHS but the UK laserdiscs had the cuts reinstated for an 18,which was odd because BBFC policy back then (around 1995) said that alternate cuts with different certificates were not allowed.

Temple of Doom: there was a lot more than 2 seconRAB cut from the heart scene.
There were numerous cuts through out the entire film.
The heart scene is the most famous,but shots were missing when one of the people were lowered into the pit and their screams were reduced,a later scene of Short Round getting whipped was cut and Indie used the word "bastard" which was also cut.

Most of the violent scenes were trimmed in the UK,sometimes by seconRAB ,sometimes only by a few frames.

But the UK is the only country with the cut version so Paramount did themselves no favours by not bothering to get it resubmitted.

Had Sony not resubmitted Goldeneye,Tomorrow Never Dies and Licence To Kill to the BBFC again last year I dread to think how many of those 007 suitcases would still be sitting on the shelves.

Mine would for a start.

The BBFC do not always clearly state whats cut although they may mention the type of thing that is cut and which BBFC rule it breaks
 
To my knowledge, none of the cuts between R1 and R2 were not present in the cinema/TV releases.

BTW - and I'd be intrigued to hear what cuts are in the Buffy R2 release.
 
I don't think it's a case of breaking BBFC rules.

The studios and distributors are the ones that make edits to the film when they realise that the uncut rating from the BBFC would effectively kill the film at the box office.
 
Hots Shots 1 & 2 were really hacked to bits when they came to DVD.
in 1 they removed most of the swearing and redone the swearing subtitles, where the chief in the tent asks for his batteries.
in 2 they completely removed the Topper and Hayley scene, where they are in the back of the Limo and the bed scene/Basic Instinct spoof was also cut.
why can't we have the option buy the originla versions, intead of what is imposed on us.
does any one know if the R1 Hots Shots 1 & 2 are cut as well ?
 
Someone said BFFC should state the cuts, I don't think they do I could be wrong though.

However the best site to use is IMDB and then go onto alternate versions. It tells you what was cut.

And it says for that temple of doom, the actual thetre release did not contain the heart scene
 
The 4:3 fullscreen VHS of Die Hard 2 was,as you say,a 15 but there was also a widescreen VHS which was an 18. I've got both versions,along with the widescreen VHS of DH1 and the region one dvd box of all three films.
 
It's always best to import films from the US if you're a buff, as you tend to get the full uncut film by doing that and also some extras as well.

It's also one hell of a lot easier to obtain US DVRAB now too, with the likes of Amazon.com very happy to ship them to the UK :)
 
I have the old Die Hard 3 release on DVD what is the cuts on the elevator scene? I'm sure I rented a dvd of it ages ago which had the scene cut completely.
 
Basically, on the cut version Bruce Willis enters the elevator and you see him get into a struggle with the henchmen, then it cuts away and the elevator doors open and he's covered in blood with all the bad guys dead at his feet. In the R1 version it is a LOT more graphic, with a few close up death shots of Bruce executing some of the bad guys and the blood splattering all over his face. The R2 version also had quite a lot of swearing edited out or replaced with other worRAB in order to get a 15 certificate. Still, it's not as bad as the American TV version where they replace "motherf*cker" with "melonfarmer", lol.
 
I think the process is as follows:

- If the distributor submits a film that they have already edited, hoping for it to get, say, a 12 rating, and it does, the BBFC website will say, "The work was passed with no cuts made." Because the film was edited in advance, we don't get to know what was cut.

- If the distributor submits the film uncut and the BBFC decide it's a 15 rating, then the BBFC will give advice as to what neeRAB editing in order to reduce the rating to a 12. In this scenario, we can get some idea of what has been edited out.

A good example can be found here:

http://www.bbfc.org.uk/website/Classified.nsf/0/2806A70C2A361C9980256D3B002CD89B?OpenDocument

I remember it causing some furore at the time. A 'double ear clap' was removed so that the film would get a 12A rating. A 15 rating would have been disastrous for box office.
 
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