Cuts made to Bond films

Nicko1234

Hi,

Have many cuts been made to Bond films in the past when they have been released on video? I was thinking specifically in terms of things which now may appear racist, politicqally incorrect etc.

Any info appreciated.

Napoleon Plural

Can't think of any of those cuts. Mostly violence orientated I think. Not even Bond's gal slaps have been cut, though oddly Connery's slap of Indy in the Last Crusade at the crossroads leading to Berlin was cut out of my video off the telly...

Barbel

The Bond film which has had most controversy over cuts is LTK, which had some trouble with the censors over the increased level of violence when compared to earlier Bonds leading to it being given a 15 certificate. Such scenes as Sanchez whipping Lupe (with an offscreen scream from her boyfriend when Dario cuts his heart out), Krest in the decomression chamber, Dario falling into the crusher, and Sanchez going up in flames were all cut to different degrees in different countries (when the film came out on video, I had a friend send me the US version to compare with my UK one), for example. Re-releases on DVD have had varying cuts to these scenes as well, as have GE (eg, a headbutt from Xenia) and TND.

I can't think of any cuts being made for PC reasons but am prepared to stand corrected!

John Drake

The most notorious cut in Bond's history is from TLD, when Bond distracts Pushkin's bodyguard by ripping off Virginia Hey's top. In the cinema version you quite clearly saw Hey topless, but in the pan & scan video, and all subsequent DVD releases you only see Hey from the neck up. Shameful. Utterly shameful. X-( )

Prince Kamal Khan

Nicko1234 wrote:

Hi,

Have many cuts been made to Bond films in the past when they have been released on video? I was thinking specifically in terms of things which now may appear racist, politicqally incorrect etc.

Any info appreciated.

If they start editing the films for "political incorrectness", they'll be little left that remains. I'll admit, Bond's "fetch my shoes" line to Quarrel in the otherwise excellent DN makes me cringe, but we can't change or rewrite history. Leave the films as they are. Makes me wonder how audiences in 2062 will think of the films that are made today.

PoorMansJB

John Drake wrote:

In the cinema version you quite clearly saw Hey topless, but in the pan & scan video, and all subsequent DVD releases you only see Hey from the neck up./quote]

Curious, she's certainly topless on my DVD (the second to last US release). Odder still, I distinctly recall that on the first network telecast, she remained clothed (odder only because it meant two versions of the scene had been shot ... the first time I could recall that in a Bond film).

Napoleon Plural

Prince Kamal Khan wrote:

I'll admit, Bond's "fetch my shoes" line to Quarrel in the otherwise excellent DN makes me cringe, but we can't change or rewrite history.

I'm curious, is 'fetch my shoes' a racist phrase or one that has associations? It's gone over my head a bit, cos obviously he's not being nice exactly, but he's a bit disparaging to Leiter in TB and too a good few lackeys eg Tibbet. I'm missing something here, aren't I?