Turner Classic Movies: "No Cuts" my @!#%*!! (1 Viewer)

[Casey Neutron]

We've all seen their ads--on tv, in newspapers (today’s USA Today for example) and even little fliers in certain Warner dvds. They claim “no cuts,” yet they continue to cut many of the films they show.
About two months back I sat down to watch “Kramer vs. Kramer” on TCM. In his introduction, Robert Osborne warned of brief nudity but said TCM was proud to be showing this film without any cuts. Then they showed an edited version in which all the “goddamns” were changed to “damns.” The scene in which Dustin Hoffman makes breakfast for his son and ends up yelling “Goddamn her!” is changed to “Damn her!”. It was an important moment in the movie and the changing of the dialogue (Oscar-winning dialogue, in fact) muted the impact. Blake Edwards‘ “Wild Rovers” is another recent TCM airing that butchered the dialogue beyond comprehension.
Now I don’t mind if TCM edits their movies--that’s completely their decision. What makes me mad is when they claim otherwise. Someone seeing a film for the first time is given the impression they are seeing the director’s vision when it very well may have been altered to fit TCM’s standards and practices.
I see they’re showing “Raging Bull” tomorrow night (March 1). Think this one will get by without censorship?
I’ve seen many films on TCM that actually were uncut as claimed (including f-words and nudity), so I’m just a little confused as to why some are cut, some aren’t, but all are given the same “No Cuts” promise.
Turner Classic Movies still treats their films with more respect than the current AMC, but whenever I see “No Cuts” in their ads I can’t help but feel lied to.

 

[John Kilduff]

I think they mean "no cuts" as in they don't have commercial breaks...unlike AMC.

A cut isn't neccesarily an edit...it could mean a movie is cut off at a certain point for commercials.

A paralell would be TNN...they say they air movies like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Top Gun" uncut, but it doesn't mean uncensored. TNN edits the Hell out of Bueller (movie version: "If you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks, you'd have a diamond"...TNN version: "If you stuck a lump of coal IN HIS FIST, in two weeks, you'd have a diamond).

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

I hope I worded this coorectly.

 

[Will_B]

This has always puzzled me. Is the word "God" really so disgusting that they need to cut it? If something is going to be "damned," then wouldn't it be God that would be doing the damning?

I first noticed this bizarre cutting when David Bowie and Lou Reed were on some music awards show. Reed sang a song about a cop's head being bashed in and his blood running into the gutter. No censoring there. In a different song, David Bowie sang the casual line "God damn, you're looking old," and he was bleeped!

Personally, I don't think the word God is offensive, but apparently it is. We're living in a Bizzaro-world.

 

[Brian Lawrence]

It could just be that TCM got a edited print without knowing of it.

 

[John Kilduff]

Okay, this is where I come in again...

TCM has no control over what prints they get. If they get an edited print or a pan-and-scan print, TCM doesn't do it in house. It's what the studio (in this case, Columbia TriStar Televsion) provides them.

"Coal Miner's Daughter"? Universal gave TCM a pan-and-scan print. It isn't what they wanted, but it's what they got.

"Seems Like Old Times"? CTST again...they supplied TCM with a pan-and-scan edited print.

The network brass themselves say they have no control over what they get. It's plastered all over the official website.

Don't blame TCM...blame the studios providing the censored prints.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

And yes, panning-and-scanning counts as censoring, too...IMHO.

 

[TonyD]

i think they say uncut they mean that it is not a edited down version. one that has certain violent or naked scenes cut out.

but they dont say anything about not being censored for language.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

As John said, it's all what the studios give TCM.

All WB/MGM films that TCM will show will be uncut.

The few Buena Vista films I have watched on TCM (like Ed Wood) have been in widescreen and uncut. Don't know about Tron when it was on TCM (Tivo didn't mention anything about it being in widescreen).

 

[Greg_S_H]

TCM played the Exorcist a few months back, and it was uncut. Some of the language in that movie is rough even for premium cable, so it was somewhat shocking on regular cable.

BTW, a few months before that, AMC of all places broadcast An Officer and a Gentlemen uncut. And letterboxed. That was a Twilight Zone moment.

 

[Chucky P]

A paralell would be TNN...they say they air movies like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Top Gun" uncut, but it doesn't mean uncensored. TNN edits the Hell out of Bueller (movie version: "If you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, in two weeks, you'd have a diamond"...TNN version: "If you stuck a lump of coal IN HIS FIST, in two weeks, you'd have a diamond).

I watched Ferris Bueller for a couple minutes last night and they kept in all of the shits when Ferris describes Cameron's car.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

I missed Raging Bull last night. Was it cut or not?

 

[Christopher Bosley]

Oh no, kudos to TMC for leaving in ALL the rage of "Raging Bull" The f-bombs were flying fast and furious on basic cable around midnight!