BBFC decisions you agree/disagree with...

[Craig666]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

Starship Troopers was 15 in the cinema 18 on video
There was another at the same time, I can't for the life of me remember also
I agree with cutting actual animal violence, I don't agree with cutting anything in an 18, it's 18 leave it alone

I think it was Con Air.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by drush9999

The Eraser cuts were annoying because they cut the villains getting hit by the train and ruined the end. I remember being disappointed after seeing it at the cinema which got a cut 18 and then the completely butchered 15 rated vhs.

I have never understood why that final scene was cut out. It's a while since I last saw the film, but I don't recall the scene showing any graphic violence or anything. It was simply a train crashing into a car, which I hardly think is adult-only material. But that's the censors for you.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by CV19

I have never understood why that final scene was cut out. It's a while since I last saw the film, but I don't recall the scene showing any graphic violence or anything. It was simply a train crashing into a car, which I hardly think is adult-only material. But that's the censors for you.

Wasn't Eraser re-cut by the studio in an attempt to re-market it after it sank at the box office? I thought, for the first few years at least, all home video releases except a USA laserdisc where the cut version?

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Wasn't Eraser re-cut by the studio in an attempt to re-market it after it sank at the box office? I thought, for the first few years at least, all home video releases except a USA laserdisc where the cut version?

In all honesty I don't know how well the film did at the box office. The first time I saw it was on DVD (rated as '15'), but I do recall Sky Movies showing both versions. They'd show the cut edition if it was on early in the evening, and the '18' version for a late night screening, and this would have been the first time I'd seen the full uncut film.

I thought maybe the Blu-ray release would also be cut, but luckily it isn't. Don't know if the German version is uncut or not - this is also available on Amazon UK.

[chuffster]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Wasn't Eraser re-cut by the studio in an attempt to re-market it after it sank at the box office? I thought, for the first few years at least, all home video releases except a USA laserdisc where the cut version?

It was a decent sized hit , the BBFC insisted on cuts to the cinema version, just to get it to an 18.Then, for the home release,for some reason, Warner Bros wanted a 15 and over 3 mins was cut out!

PS-Let's not forget Jingle All The Way being cut because of the 'nunchucks' in this scene!

Jingle All the Way (2/5) Movie CLIP - Santa Smackdown (1996) HD - YouTube

[CV19]

Originally Posted by chuffster

It was a decent sized hit , the BBFC insisted on cuts to the cinema version, just to get it to an 18.Then, for the home release,for some reason, Warner Bros wanted a 15 and over 3 mins was cut out!

I never knew the film had to be cut to get an '18' rating as well. Sounds like a good excuse to release a 'completely uncut' version on Blu-ray at some point.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by chuffster

PS-Let's not forget Jingle All The Way being cut because of the 'nunchucks' in this scene! Jingle All the Way (2/5) Movie CLIP - Santa Smackdown (1996) HD - YouTube

James Ferman, what a massive knobhead.

[chuffster]

Originally Posted by CV19

I never knew the film had to be cut to get an '18' rating as well. Sounds like a good excuse to release a 'completely uncut' version on Blu-ray at some point.

It's on and uncut 15 Blu now!

This is worth a look!

http://melonfarmers.co.uk/bbfc_cuts_eraser.htm

[CV19]

Originally Posted by chuffster

It's on and uncut 15 Blu now!

This is worth a look!

http://melonfarmers.co.uk/bbfc_cuts_eraser.htm

This is the Blu-ray I have:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eraser-Arno...eywords=eraser

Without re-watching the whole film to refresh my memory, I'm certain it contains all the scenes that were listed as being cut for the '15' version. And it most definitely includes the train crash scene at the end. I don't know whether the US disc is the same or not.

By the way, thanks for that melonfarmers link. Very interesting comparisons.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by CV19

I never knew the film had to be cut to get an '18' rating as well. Sounds like a good excuse to release a 'completely uncut' version on Blu-ray at some point.

A huge chunk of genre movies from the '80s were cut to get an 18 certificate. Many have been restored now, but quite a few haven't.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

James Ferman, what a massive knobhead.

He sure was. Reminds me of Mary Whitehouse - another one who thought she knew what was best for the rest of us.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by CV19

He sure was. Reminds me of Mary Whitehouse - another one who thought she knew what was best for the rest of us.

It's one thing keeping material out of the hands of kids who might be influenced by it, but adults got a raw deal from those two. Just look at all the crap poor punters had to buy that was R18 that should have ended up on a landfill (it would make it less dirty) instead of a brown paper bag, when they wanted to see adult entertainment.

Everyone was getting screwed apart from ...

[CV19]

Originally Posted by chip75

A huge chunk of genre movies from the '80s were cut to get an 18 certificate. Many have been restored now, but quite a few haven't.

Yes you're right. I can't think of any specific film titles off the top of my head right now, but I have seen a number of them where you wondered why they were given an '18' rating. They just seemed so tame compared to what passes for even '15' today.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by CV19

He sure was. Reminds me of Mary Whitehouse - another one who thought she knew what was best for the rest of us.

I read a collection of correspondence from her archive and was absolutely fascinated and surprised that on the whole she came across as a decent nice person wanting to do the right thing by her faith and her country, yet utterly misguided and clueless about how to go about it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ban-This-Fi...ban+this+filth

It was great fun and having ploughed through it in a couple of evenings I promptly invested in cheap hardback editions of two of he autobiographies. Big mistake. Using her very own words to judge her it turns out after all she was a below average intelligence, arrogant, judgmental, condescending holier-than-thou old windbag with a massively inflated opinion of her importance and place in history. Bit like my late grandmother (mother's side)

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by chuffster

Lots of Arnie films have been cut to ribbons.Eraser being one of the worst instances, with the whole train hitting the car scene being cut!I can't understand why Last Action Hero is rated 15, either!

For me, that Eraser cut was the most insane decision the BBFC ever made. The complete banning of nunchukas was a close second. Subjective nannying decisions at their very worst.

There isn’t enough room for me to list what I disagreed with the BBFC about in the 80s and 90s.

As for the BBFC of recent times, I’ve mentioned elsewhere on this site that I don’t believe that animal cruelty should be cut from likes of Cannibal Holocaust; ditto horse falls from westerns. Someone mentioned that the BBFC is obliged by law to cut horse falls, but is the law that specific? Some cuts were made for video releases of films that played uncut in cinemas.

One of the Human Caterpillar films was banned a couple of years ago. That also was stupid.

As for their recent leniency, I was surprised that Terminator 3 got a 12a. The violence and language made it an obvious 15 to me. I bet the distributors were surprised, too.

And going back, I disagree with them changing the classifications in 1982. An X certificate sounds way more exciting than an 18. And I preferred the A and AA ratings too. PG just sounds unpleasant: pee gee. Yuk!

What censorship of theirs do I agree with? Not much, but it’s hard to disagree with their decision to edit the underage sex scene in Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, especially as the director lied about the age of the young actor (his own son).

[DeathlyGeneral]

Manhunter has always been an 18. Never understood why, and I'm not convinced Fargo is 18 material either. Manhunter isn't even a very strong 15 IMO.

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by CV19

He sure was. Reminds me of Mary Whitehouse - another one who thought she knew what was best for the rest of us.

The difference is that Ferman had genuine autonomous power; Mrs Whitehouse had influence but only because people in power listened to her (or used her).

I’m old enough to remember when the calls for film (and video game) censorship came mostly from the right. Now it seems to come exclusively from the left.

I never read the papers now. Do they still call for the banning of films? The last time I noticed them doing this was around the time of Natural Born Killers. I think the public cottoned on that these moral panics never delivered what the promised. The video nasties, the Exorcist, Straw Dogs, Child’s Play etc were all released on home video and nothing happened.

I remember seeing an Arrow sale in HMV and thinking how some of the titles - Contamination and Zombie Flesh Eaters to name but two - were once the subject of police seizures and obscenity trials. And now here they were, sitting on shelves waiting to be purchased, and the World wasn’t ending. Watching them, I thought they were great horrors, but why did they attract such a fuss? Maybe the head of the CPS had an irrational hatred of Ian McCulloch.

And lastly, on the subject of knobheads, let’s not forget David Alton.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

I read a collection of correspondence from her archive and was absolutely fascinated and surprised that on the whole she came across as a decent nice person wanting to do the right thing by her faith and her country, yet utterly misguided and clueless about how to go about it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ban-This-Fi...ban+this+filth

It was great fun and having ploughed through it in a couple of evenings I promptly invested in cheap hardback editions of two of he autobiographies. Big mistake. Using her very own words to judge her it turns out after all she was a below average intelligence, arrogant, judgmental, condescending holier-than-thou old windbag with a massively inflated opinion of her importance and place in history. Bit like my late grandmother (mother's side)

I haven't come across that book before, but I've always had the impression she was just an interfering busybody. Didn't she even try to get Tom & Jerry cartoons banned from the BBC - I seem to recall something like that, as she objected to the violence depicted.

[RossyG]

I think she wanted them banned but never succeeded.

Alas, they’re now sometimes censored, two seem to be outright banned, not for violence but for being un-PC.

The left succeeded where the right failed.

[CV19]

Originally Posted by RossyG

The difference is that Ferman had genuine autonomous power; Mrs Whitehouse had influence but only because people in power listened to her (or used her).

I’m old enough to remember when the calls for film (and video game) censorship came mostly from the right. Now it seems to come exclusively from the left.

I never read the papers now. Do they still call for the banning of films? The last time I noticed them doing this was around the time of Natural Born Killers. I think the public cottoned on that these moral panics never delivered what the promised. The video nasties, the Exorcist, Straw Dogs, Child’s Play etc were all released on home video and nothing happened.

I remember seeing an Arrow sale in HMV and thinking how some of the titles - Contamination and Zombie Flesh Eaters to name but two - were once the subject of police seizures and obscenity trials. And now here they were, sitting on shelves waiting to be purchased, and the World wasn’t ending. Watching them, I thought they were great horrors, but why did they attract such a fuss? Maybe the head of the CPS had an irrational hatred of Ian McCulloch.

Mary Whitehouse was president of the so-called National Viewers And Listeners Association, and yes you're right, I don't think she actually had any power as such, but merely just created a fuss until somebody listened.

She certainly spoke out (or rather the NVLA did) against video nasties back in the early days of video, and as you say they are now readily available to buy. Credit to companies like Arrow for releasing so many titles that were hugely controversial back in the 1980's.

I'm just guessing here, but I'm wondering if the artwork on the covers of these "video nasties" may have contributed to them getting banned. The Driller Killer video is a good example of a graphic cover which I'm sure would have horrified the likes of Mrs Whitehouse, even if the films themselves might not have been as violent or as graphic as the cover would suggest.