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Attack of the Clones Cut in UK 481
MartyJG writes "The British Board of Film Classification has demanded a cut in Ep2 AOTC for a head-butt. I don't know which is more extreme: UK viewers insisting on viewing the US version for 1 second of extra film, or that a 1 second cut means the difference between a '12' (~PG-13) and a 'PG' certificate. For some reason the distributors must think fewer people would see the film if it was a '12'. The film report is on the BBFC website."
PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:5, Funny)
My daughter is four, and she's looking forward to the new Star Wars film. So that's one.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Informative)
It's kind of interesting that cutting bits off people is OK, but headbutts are out....
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't really have a problem with the BBFC's decision. The film makers are perfectly entitled to say "Fuck you, the headbutt stays". It's just that they have to accept a 12 certificate. Which means lower revenue (gee, a whole $20m less that $5b) in the UK.
Now we get to see whether artistic integrity will triumph over filthy lucre...
--Ng
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Funny)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Funny)
> In the UK a 12 means that a kid under 12 cannot go in whether accompanied by an adult or not. So it does matter.
Is this legistlated? I could just see the problems in the US...whether pregant mothers could see a movie or not would come down to a court decision as to when a fetus becomes a child.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Informative)
In response to someone around here who said PG is is for accompanied by adult, thats not true, PG is only an advisory in that its recomended that the parent be aware of the film before letting their child watch it, but they can watch unattended.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:2, Informative)
It was setup (in 1912 ) by the Film Industry to bring some consistency to film censorship.
In the UK Cinemas are licenced by the Local Authority (Council). Each council has the final say about who can see which films with what cuts. In practice the BBFC classifications are routinely and almost universally accepted by all local councils - but they can and do overule the BBFC on occassion. The two most famous, recent examples are "Crash" (which was banned in some areas) and Mrs Doubtfire (which was rated by the BBFC as "12" but many councils reduced this to "PG").
Any cinema breaking the rules imposed by the Council could find its cinema licence withdrawn.
The BBFC has a quite seperate role for Videos and DVDs - where it is given authority by statue to censor these for the whole country. It is quite possible (and not uncommon) for the same film to have different certificates and different cuts for Cinema and Video release.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:5, Funny)
Seems that's how it used to work.
On the 5th of August 1974, Mark Forstater, a producer from Python (Monty) Pictures, wrote the following letter in respect of Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
He writes further:
I first read that letter 20 years ago. It amused me then and it still amuses me. You'd think it was something the Python team themselves had created, not something their producer had written in all seriousness. The thought of a group of people sitting 'round a conference table, heatedly negotiating these points, is quite bizarre. I mean, how many shits do you have to lose to keep castanets out of your testicles? Exactly how many Jesus Christs is fart in your general direction worth? Or is it a combination thereof? Maybe you can have oral sex for four shits, a Jesus Christ and a fuck-off.
I know it sounds very, very silly, but this type of negotiation is still going on today and will continue going on while we feel a need to classify films. Which I might add, is something I totally endorse in principle and by 'in principle', I mean except when it comes to my own films.
Source: Watch on Censorship [watchoncensorship.asn.au] (Australia)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Informative)
I also remember hearing once that some movies that are worried about getting an NC-17 intentionally put in scenes that are way over the top, so that they have things they can cut easily to bring down their ratings. It's a fairly corrupt system all around it seems.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:5, Funny)
Jesus, your daughter must be tough. Last time that happened to me I cried like a girl.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:2, Funny)
I know that Catholics have developed something of a "reputation" but I don't think even the Pope is that eager.
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:2)
Re:PG vs. 12 certificate (Score:2)
I don't have the choice. Under the UK's film classification system, if a film's rated '12' I can't take her to see it in a cinema.
Left to myself, I'd take her to see it anyway. And she'll certainly be watching it on DVD in a year or so. When she isn't helping me play 'Jedi Knight 2' (in non-dismemberment mode), 'Unreal Tournament' (with bots' verbal abuse turned off), 'Return to Castle Wolfenstein', etc.
Jaja Binks (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Jaja Binks (Score:2, Funny)
They cut out a head but, not a butt head.
Not the first time (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not the first time (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Not the first time (Score:5, Informative)
Local government has the absolute right to allow or disallow a film to be shown in local cinemas in the UK. To make things smoother, there's a policy that there will be little or no meddling in what films can be shown as long as the BBFC rates them and cinemas agree to restrict access according to the ratings. Cinemas who do not comply risk being unable to show films, either because the local council will withdraw their right to do so, or (more often) because the cinema chain will remove troublesome managers to prevent exactly this kind of showdown from happening.
Occasionally ratings are ignored and censorship goes ahead anyway: many local councils banned Life of Brian and also The Last Temptation of Christ, though generally the public doesn't stand for this kind of thing: bus tours were organised to neighbouring towns and counties where the films were being allowed to be shown. On the flip side, many art house cinemas are able to show films that aren't rated, if they have a liberal enough local council.
The BBFC ratings do have a legal mandate in one area, videos (and DVDs) where during the early eighties, the Thatcher regime responded to a "moral outrage" panic fanned a hysterical press about so-called slasher movies and passed a law making the ratings compulsory for video cassettes, and forcing sellers of video cassettes to abide by the certificates. There's at least one film, The Exorcist IIRC, that isn't available on video because the BBFC refuses to rate it.
Incidentally, on your rather specific definition of PG: PG is a voluntary code in more ways than one - there's no requirement that a parent accompany the child, and I recall seeing films when I was below that age without needing a parent to come with me. It was assumed that my parents had given me the necessary "guidance". This may have changed in the last 20 years, but I'm pretty sure I'd have heard if it had.
Re:Not the first time (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm involved in a student cinema, and as we show stuff just to the (student) members, we don't bother with ratings. OK, mainly this is because all our memebrs are >18, but we have certainly shown a number of independent films that are not rated...
Re:Not the first time (Score:2)
The Exorcist has been out on video and DVD for a couple of years now, and been shown on BBC TV at least once. The BBFC got much more relaxed in recent years, and now you can even nip down your local HMV and pick up a DVD of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salo. or 120 days of Sodom
Re:Not the first time (Score:2)
This [melonfarmers.co.uk] appears to be a good link on the subject. Certainly it was unavailable for a very long time because the BBFC refused to grant it a certificate. Thankfully they relented.
Re:Not the first time - The Matrix (Score:2)
Large hunting knife in the forehead, yes, headbutt, no.
Bob.
Re:Not the first time - The Matrix (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Not the first time (Score:5, Funny)
R80: Restricted 80. Basically you can't get in unless you're over 80, and accompanied by both parents.
Re:The real weird part for us crazy Americans (Score:5, Interesting)
Original: Pilots are discussing problems. One turns to other: "When McCruskie hears about this, the shit's really going to hit the fan!"
Cut to shot of fan. A large brown mass hits it and slops to the bottom.
Cut to McCruskie and rest of film.
Network TV version: Pilots are discussing problems. Then are silent for a few seconds.
Cut to shot of fan. Nothing happens. "WTF is the significance of the fan?" asks audience.
Cut to McCruskie and rest of film.
I recall watching this, open mouthed, wondering how anyone can be that conservative. Then I got to know my collegues better, and while most are as liberal as the people in the UK, it's not uncommon to find an extremist in their twenties who will refuse to watch a film because it has a rude word in it. It's even more bizarre when you consider the standards being set: Beat the crap out of someone, and it's standard TV. Show crap, or use the word "crap", and it's controvertial.
This is one of the potential benefits of the V-chip. As the V-chip becomes more prevalent, the censors will have no excuse. Network TV should be able to show what it wants, safe in the knowledge that those who would normally whine and complain can be answered with the line "Well, we tagged it, if you'd set your V-chip properly you wouldn't have seen it. You only have yourself to blame."
Here's hoping.
Re:The real weird part for us crazy Americans (Score:3, Interesting)
Not that weird, it's just that our film classifiers (recently anyway) have been much more bothered about violence than nudity/sex. They did a public survey a couple of years back which basically said that the vast majority of adults want to be able to watch whatever they like, and parents are far more worried about violence than sex.
In the UK (and europe to an even larger extent) nudity (particularly toplessness) is seen as nothing special. Full frontal is common on network TV, and as you say (some) tabloid newspapers have topless page 3 girls. In the summer you'll see girls in the park topless (more in europe than the UK, it rarely gets warm enough!), and on beaches it's derigeur.
As a non (but prospective!) parent, I would have no problem at all with my son/daughter checking out the naturist magazines at any age. I'd be a lot more concerned with them picking up the latest guns & ammo, or even worse, some WWF crap
No big deal (Score:2, Insightful)
Acc. to the site, run time is 2 hours, 22 minutes. A good long film... one second will likely not be missed.
How nitpicky can they get? (Score:3, Insightful)
But even on the other side, this is one of those things where ignorance is bliss. If this was never reported, no one would have complained, since one second is a trivial amount of footage.
I'd have to side with leaving the footage in. After all, there's much worse violence than a lousy head-butt.
Re:How nitpicky can they get? (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm just glad to be in the USA where movie ratings aren't enforced by law.
Re:How nitpicky can they get? (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe so. But perhaps it looks realistic in the film. :)
No Spoilers!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No Spoilers!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Kids are impressionable (Score:3, Funny)
I can just picture them reciting their twelve-times-tables in class...
Four times twelve, forty-eight is
Five times twelve, sixty is
This is a much more egregious assault on our children than a guy with a lightsabre quoting Ezekiel 25:17 as he pops a photon in a bot's ass.
Re:Kids are impressionable (Score:2)
Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:5, Insightful)
American censors and the film ratings boards seem to believe that it's OK for people to see violence because it won't affect them at all. Hey, the country was founded in a pit of blood during the Revolutionary War. But it's a hell of a lot better to have that on screen than it is to see two people who love each other show it intimately. Better that we have teenagers running into their school brandishing easily-purchased assault rifles than it is to have them falling in love with someone and spending time with them.
I'm just curious when the culture of violence and hate that the United States pushes on its citizens will finally become tiresome or offensive to them. Look at crime rates in Europe, where guns are near impossible to get hold of and where there are no restrictive anti-sex laws on television. Is it any wonder that their crime rates per capita are significantly lower than the US?
Let's keep producing more violent movies and glorifying war, like Platoon, Saving Private Ryan and all the Rambo movies do. That'll make everyone safer...
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2, Insightful)
and, BTW the reasons of our culture come from 2 points.
1)we are a country that has been born and defined by its conflicts over its young life
2) Puritans and other sexualy represive religions founded this nation back in the 1600's and stayed relevent in our country up until the 1960's, so we still have a lot of growing to do in the sexual realm. remember, Europe is the place that did not want the folks that first setteled the US, so we will be diffrent from them just because of that.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually what I find even more stupid is that (in the US) full frontal female nudity is perfectly okay for a R, but any full frontal male scenes and you are talking NC-17 or X. For the nearly all male movie executives and ratings board members, it's not like this should be anything they haven't seen before. Right?
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2, Insightful)
I think women are more willing to accept seeing other women naked, than guys are in seeing other guys (and who has the power?). Guys are just too easily intimidated by bigger dicks... so it's kept offscreen.
--
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
It is generally silly though, more movies that get an 'R' in the US for "Sexual Innuendo" or just "Sexuality" often get a 'G' in Canada, with the exact same comments. Just another reason to love the MPAA.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2, Funny)
Wow, the "Saving Private Ryan" movie I saw must have been a different one, because it certainly did not glorify war. Maybe you saw the UK version, with all the deaths cut out?
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:5, Insightful)
>glorifying war, like Platoon, Saving Private
>Ryan
Uh... You honestly think Platoon or Saving Private Ryan "glorif[y] war"?
Have you SEEN Saving Private Ryan? Have you actually WATCHED Platoon? There's nothing in either of those movies that glorifies war. They both attempt to portray war as the horrible nasty hellish nightmare that it is.
After the release of SPR, military recruiters all over America reported a drop in inquiries. This from a nation that was ALREADY largely apathetic about military service. This was almost exclusively in response to the opening D-Day scenes.
If you're looking for a movie that glorifies war, go find a copy of The Longest Day (B&W, please, none of that Turnerized colorized crap). Watch the Omaha Beach landing sequence. Compared to SPR's, it's about as violent as an episode of Seinfeld.
For a more modern movie (yet set in an older war...), go get Mel Gibson's "The Patriot".
Neither SPR nor Platoon try to be "feel good" movies. Neither is a chest-thumping rah rah "we kicked their sorry asses" movie.
Oh, and I can't let this one go...
>Look at crime rates in Europe, where guns are
>near impossible to get hold of
That kid in Germany sure seemed to have his share. I won't mention terrorist groups like the IRA, Red Brigade, ETA, 17 November, or any of a hundred splinter groups...
-l
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
Oh, please. It's been a long time since I've seen any more self-serving piece of crud. There were no characters in that movie; just a dozen or so similar looking, similar acting "hoo-ah" types. While that may be fairly realistic, it's dull, dull, dull. By the end of the movie, I didn't care who lived or who died. I just wanted to get out of the theater.
No, for "horror of war," I have to agree with everybody who said Saving Private Ryan. It's more melodramatic, certainly, but the melodrama is really effective in advancing the story.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:4, Insightful)
>behaviour of those of us who make the headlines
>across the pond.
And we Americans would appreciate the same courtesy.
-l
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2, Informative)
Actually, that would be a wonder since it is a commonly held (but innaccurate) perception as (for example) this graphic from the Telegraph shows
chart [telegraph.co.uk]
No question it is an amusing notion that crime is so much higher in the US because of its inherently violent movies but amusing != true. The truth is there has been a downward trend in crime in the US (and a corresponding upward trend in Europe) for more than the last decade - I'm not assigning any particular meaning to this statistic, just pointing out that perception in this case doesn't reflect reality.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not from Europe so correct me if I am wrong. I don't mean to troll but I might come off as one.
Look at crime rates in Europe, where guns are near impossible to get hold of and where there are no restrictive anti-sex laws on television. Is it any wonder that their crime rates per capita are significantly lower than the US?
I contend that most evidence points to the fact that the US, Europe, and Canada (western nations really) have the same crime rates across the board. However the homicide rate in the US is about 5 times greater than other western nations. I think the obvious conclusion we can all draw is that firearms are more easily obtainable in the US than elsewhere in the world. I think the school shooting in Germany proved however that Europeans are not immue from violent crime either.
The real problem I think with your argument is that the crime rate (all of them) in the US is dropping. See this DoJ site [usdoj.gov] for more details. On the other hand crime rates is Europe are slightly rising as reported by business week [businessweek.com].
Okay, so I haven't really shown any conclusive evidence about whether or not crime rates are really different, but I will say this. It is in my opinion that the perception of crime is what guides people to make conclusions above. I agree that homicides and other violent crimes are higher in the US than the rest of the western world, as reported [sciam.com] by Scientific American. But I think many people choose to ignore or forget that Europe has a rising non-violent crime rate. The American media does not help the situation. I can regularly see homicide reports on the local news, I don't think the newspapers in Paris document every Metro pickpocketing. People think crime (in general) in the US is much higher than it really is because it is perceived to be much more prevalent.
Now I don't want to say is that the situation in both regions on the world are okay and nothing needs to be done. The homicide rate in the US, the fact that US jails a tremendous number of its citizen (mostly young black males) as compared to the rest of the western world. There are certainly problems that need to be solved. But to make a sweeping conclusion that the violence in movies in the US and increase sex in the media in Europe is the cause for (untrue) lower European crime rates is a shaky argument.
If anyone has hard evidence on the crime rates in Europe, Canada, and US and their trends of the last decade, I would like to see them. Please feel free to refue my argument, but please remember I am expressing an opinion.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
I recently read that here (Sweden) you actually have a higher risk of getting into some form of trouble than you do in the US. Trouble being fights, robberies, theft, assaults etc etc. BUT, the risk of serious injury or death is magnitudes higher in the US.
Could it be that since firearms are so common there, the people out to make trouble think twice before doing something, not knowing if their victim is carrying a weapon. But when they indeed do, it's a larger chance that they or the victim are killed.
So basically, we have friendlier criminals here, neener :p
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
What was your point about violence in the US again?
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:3, Insightful)
American censors and the film ratings boards seem to believe that it's OK for people to see violence because it won't affect them at all.... But it's a hell of a lot better to have that on screen than it is to see two people who love each other show it intimately
Oh, lighten up!
Different cultures are going to have different taboos based on different experiences. You might find it difficult to sympathise with, but it's generally the Americans' problem to deal with, just as European hangups are for Europeans to deal with. British and Irish attitudes to sex are not that far removed from Victorian times, even today
It's only when people start visiting their hangups upon people whose culture doesn't share those hangups' bases, that we end up with serious problems
Oh, and Switzerland has a huge gun owning constituency, and very low firearms crime rates. Is it just possible that a nations culture dictates the scope and severity of anti-social behaviour, rather than how many weapons can be found?
--Ng
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
There were people who said that Trainspotting glorified drug use. Of course, those people hadn't actually seen the movie. I once read that 1984 was banned in some places for promoting communism (yes, you read that right).
Moral of the story: some people are very, very stupid.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:3, Insightful)
From "Spilling the Spanish Beans" (september 1937) "The logical end is a régime in which every opposition party and newspaper is suppressed and every dissentient of any importance is in jail. Of course, such a régime will be Fascism. It will not be the same Fascism Franco would impose, it will even be better than Franco's Fascism to the extent of being worth fighting for, but it will be Fascism. Only, being operated by Communists and Liberals, it will be called something different."
Orwell likens regimes like the USSR to a fascist regime with a different ideological mythology, run by people at least in name claiming to be communists.
1984 and Animal Farm are anti-fascist. They are also anti-USSR. But they are not anti-socialism, and only anti-communism to the extent that communist ideology and symbolism has been used (or abused, depending on your view) to legitimise a regime that for all intents and purposes share the traits of a fascist regime.
If anything, 1984 and also Animal Farm makes a strong point about societies divided by class, whether by default (the farmers in Animal Farm) or by a coup d'etat shrouded in symbolism drawn from socialist and communist ideology (the pigs in Animal Farm, or the ruling party in 1984).
This is really the core of why some people considers 1984 as a work promoting communism: It underscores Orwells position that class divide was bad regardless of what name was put on the regime it is found in. This is something even Marx argued
That is also what made many stalinists join the choir and complain about Orwell being anti-communist: He pointed out that class divide is class divide whether it is between the working class and the bourgeoisie or between the working class and a party claiming to work for the interests of the working class.
Socialism and "real" Marxist communism has at it's core the goal of abolishing the class divide, and with it the classes, and a major part of the stalinists hold on the left was that they pretended that what had happened in the USSR was somehow better than the class divide in capitalist countries.
Clearly the USSR and the stalinist "Communist" parties didn't do anything to get rid of the class divide, and Orwell was one of the extremely few well known socialists that had the guts to not only criticize the right but also criticize dangerous tendencies on the left.
To finish with another quote from Orwell himself: "Indeed, in my opinion, nothing has contributed so much to the corruption of the original idea of Socialism as the belief that Russia is a Socialist country. [...] And so for the past ten years I have been convinced that the destruction of the Soviet myth was essential if we wanted a revival of the Socialist movement." [CEJL vol. 3 p. 458]
(Note: The USSR claimed to be socialist, not communist, but with the goal of developing into a communist society)
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
But, for most of us alive today, our primary example of a totalitarian regime is the USSR. (Not that there aren't others; they abound. Just that the imagery (propaganda?) that we use comes from the long Cold War.) Therefore, images of a totalitarian state become correlated with images of Stalinist USSR.
'Kids' is an obvious parody (Score:2)
Re:'Kids' is an obvious parody (Score:2)
The Bible is one of the bloodiest books ever written (the body count is staggering--someone calculated it once, and the number of deaths tops hundreds of thousands), yet the Religious Right wants every US child to study it in school, if you can believe it.
Meanwhile, it's horribly bad for two unmarried adults to do more than hug, because that's against God's law. (I guess there were no mentions of sex in the Bible, eh?)
If the Religious Right gets its way, the entire young male population of the US would be chaste, celibate Soldiers of God, fighting against evil things like Muslims, or anything that is purported to be anti-Christian--you know, things like Islam, rock music and free speech.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:3, Insightful)
I always found All Quiet on the Western Front to be so much more terrifying and really helping me to realize what war is more than any movie. I think that being a book, plus written by someone who was there really made a big difference, and some of the scenes he describes and takes you through are much more horrendous than just severed limbs.
Re:Does anyone else find it interesting... (Score:2)
This country just seems so backwards, yet so many consider it the best nation in the world. I'm a Canadian citizen living in the US with my wife, BTW, and I miss the sanity of the old homeland...
Who cops it? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: Who cops it? (Score:2, Funny)
> If Jar-Jar is the one who gets headbutted, I'm flying to the states to see the full version, ooooh yeah.
Sorry, d00d, but you're confusing "head butt" with "butt head".
One second is a long time... (Score:2, Interesting)
Wasn't Episode 4 modified to get a "PG" ? (Score:2, Interesting)
I seem to recall that Episode 4 was originally going to get a "G" rating, but Lucas was worried it would be thought of as a "kid's movie" and wouldn't be as popular. As the story goes, the shots of Luke's family members' burnt bodies was inserted to bump it up to a PG.
Can anyone verify/debunk this?
Episode IV was "G" (Score:5, Informative)
It's in the cantina scene -- when Obi Wan shuts up the guy who'd been bugging Luke ("I'll be careful." "You'll be dead!"), we see a quick cutaway to a severed arm lying on the ground. In hindsight, it looks sorta out of place -- no characters in view, etc., just an arm on an unidentifiable floor.
At least, this is what I remember being told way back when...
Re:Episode IV was "G" (Score:3, Funny)
Hm. He wasn't certain, either. I like my take on it, 'cause the arm shot looks out of place.
Anyone know the real story?
Head-butt is a problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, there's plenty of "dirty moves" in "professional" wrestling (quotes mine,) perhaps we should label those as innapropriate for children under 13 as well? (The fact that I think it IS inappropriate is at my discretion as an adult, I wouldn't presume to stick a label on the show because I find it distasteful.)
Movie ratings are such a goof in this country and abroad. At least they made the cut over an act of violence, not sex. I mean, what's worse for a kid to know about? Everybody (at some point, hopefully) has sex. Everybody does NOT perpetrate violent crime on society. Yet shows like "Walker: Texas Ranger" are considered reasonable "family" viewing fare, despite long brutal hand to hand combat sequences in every show. Some of the moves Chuck Norris does in that show would kill a man if applied by an untrained person.
What's worse: Your kid seeing a breast, or your kid being given a video tutorial on how to kill somebody?
(FLAME OFF: The question is rhetorical for you to consider for your own lives and families...)
effect on continuity? (Score:2, Funny)
You're probably right - I'm tired! :) (Score:2, Interesting)
Afficionados of the film prefer this dub to the original.
A head butt of all things (Score:2)
I am surprised of all things in this film they could out for being violent they choose a head butt (it better be some impressive head butt). This film is ofcourse set during the clone wars so I thought there would be some more violent scenes they would cut out first. Hell I have even heard a major character gets killed.
Re:A head butt of all things (Score:2)
That's probably it. The ratings boards generally give the film owner a rating, and in some places tell them what things need to come out. If you had your choice between snipping some stupid head-butt, or dropping the scene where they show the major character getting killed, what would you get rid of?
Quoteth the article:
' Company chose to cut sight of a head butt to achieve a "PG". '
The list was probably like:
1) The scene where one guy shoots lightening at the other guy.
2) The lightsaber duel between those two guys
3) The Natalie Portman panty-shot
4) A headbutt
Seems like an easy choice.
Carry on cutting (Score:2)
(not a fan
You can see the clip in a TV spot (Score:5, Informative)
They got that all bass-ackward... (Score:2)
Headbutts vs Light sabres (Score:5, Informative)
To quote the BBFC rating for a 12
Imitable techniques
Dangerous techniques (examples include: combat, hanging, suicides) should contain no imitable detail. Realistic and contemporary weapons should not be glamorised.
and for a PG
Imitable techniques
No glamorisation of realistic, contemporary weapons. No detail of fighting or other dangerous techniques.
So I reckon this is why a head butt would be enough to get a PG and light sabres and laser guns don't make a big deal.
Re:Headbutts vs Light sabres (Score:2)
Re:Headbutts vs Light sabres (Score:2)
No glamorisation of realistic, contemporary weapons.
And I thought that worrying about head-butts in a movie that presumably will show masses of people being fried with lasers, chopped up with lightsabers, etc., was just insane!
Good thing they don't fight with artillery, big explosions _might_ be "imitable."
Just a little bit of peril... (Score:2)
"No, No, the headbutt is far too perilous"
Re:Just a little bit of peril... (Score:2)
Sounds Political (Score:2)
So, we (and every other post so far) have established that this isn't a logical move. We can move on to considering emotional or political.
Emotional: "People sliced in half by lightsabres doesn't bother me, but a headbut really upsets me." One could argue that the lightsaber is purely fictional, whereas the headbut is grounded in reality, so this might be a possibility. However, since the job of the censor is to protect the under 12 crowd, assuming a sophisticated, reasoned emotional response like this is asking too much.
Political: PHB Censor: "Ian[2], this movie is too violent, you need to make some cuts"
Ian the Censor: "Actually, I quite liked the movie and I didn't find any use of violence gratutious."
PHB Censor: "Dammit, Ian, I said make some cuts."
Ian: "OK Boss". Hmmm, what can I cut that won't actually make any difference in the movie?
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[1] assumed british spelling
[2] seem's like there's a 50/50 chance of the guy being called Ian
Moral Guardians? (Score:2, Insightful)
The whole censorship thingie has been flying around for years now, the BBFC class themselves as the moral guardians of modern british society...which frankly has annoyed more people over the years than our goverment has, and thats saying something.
Tbh, i dont think a 1 second cut will affect the film at all, but still its the principle of the matter...why do we have a legally binding orginisation that can tell us what we can and can't watch? Freedom of choice doesn't exist in all aspects of life it may seem.
Just my $0.02 on the subject, i did media studies at college and i think i have a good look on the system...but prove me wrong if u feel u want to :)
Extra DVDs? (Score:2)
I suppose that gives Lucas an extra reason to release a shitload of different versions onto DVD..
I can imagine the sticky label: NOW WITH AN EXTRA 1 SECOND OF NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE FOOTAGE!
The missing second (Score:2)
*THUNK*
The missing second... (Score:2)
Contains sci-fi action, violence and peril (Score:2, Funny)
No... It's too perilous.
Headbutts and ramifications (Score:2, Interesting)
star wars. the news program... (Score:2)
or better yet it's a scared strait program. this way kidswon't become evil overlords looking to take over the galexy
The first rule of being a projectionist... (Score:2, Funny)
Excuse me! (Score:4, Funny)
(RAISES HAND IN THE BACK)
SHORT GUY IN THE BACK: "Look, I understand that a headbutt might be a little violent for you raters out there... I UNDERSTAND. Real quick though, why is it you object to the headbutt, but wholesale chopping off of limbs with a lightsabre is totally okay?"
THE BOARD: "Oh, sit down! We judge the morals around here!"
Seems reasonable (Score:2)
Until that day comes, you can watch saber-duels, but not metal-helmet-adorned head cracking.
Lucas - most violent director in history (Score:4, Insightful)
Few objected, because it wasn't "graphic violence".
Re:that extra second. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:that extra second. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Hmmmmm (Score:2, Funny)
They used a keyword-based censor....the "head" was okay, but they objected to the "butt".
Re:Over a headbutt? (Score:3, Funny)
Turn the TV over or possibly off.
Re:UK Rules (Score:2)
Digital distribution is set to change that over the coming years though, in addition to revolutionize the ability of the theaters to adapt what they are showing to what people want to see much quicker and cheaper than today.
Re:UK Rules (Score:2)
its a European thing.
Films in Europe get release later so all the dubbing etc can be done - and believe it or not the UK is in Europe.
Yes, you are (Score:2)
How many kids have lightsabers? How many have heads?
Try to bear in mind that this cut is to allow really, really young children to watch the film.
TWW
Re:I totally agree (Score:3, Interesting)
Kintanon