Worst censored Films? (1 Viewer)

[JonZ]

Eyes Wide Shut,Robocop and Re-Animator come to mind.

 

[Dave Barth]

Quote:



This is an exception





...which is all I wanted to hear, since your statement is no longer absolute.

This, after all, is what you said:


Quote:



Unless the filmmaker(s) supervise the editing (Like Speilberg's new cut of E.T. and the TV version of The Godfather supervised by Francis Coppola), it's 100% destroyed.

Film shouldn't make you think about censorship.

If the intended version of a film isn't availible on video, it might as well be off the market completely.





If your point is that the first version of a film that should be made available is the director's, and other versions should come after that, then I can see the value in your statement. Is this what you mean?

It certainly is not what you have said above, which would seem to warrant the non-release of The Magnificent Ambersons and American History X, to take an old and a recent example.

For what it's worth, my own position is the following. I don't find value in generally making things unavailable. Would it be better if Disney never released Fantasia instead of releasing a version that zoomed in a little to hide parts of an offensive shot or two? I say no. Should The Magnificent Ambersons never be released again because Welles last cut is lost, and the studio mandated a number of significant changes? I say no.

Also, I wouldn't call it censorship when the studio that pays the film's costs insists that the final product they have paid for meets their specifications. (You might make the argument that Edward Norton was one of the "filmmakers" for American History X, but then you run into the problem that anyone who does anything to the film might be considered a filmmaker.)

My position, however, is irrelevant. My issues are with your opinion. Do you actually mean what you've written? Consider these two questions. (1) If no intended version exists, do you feel the film should not be released? (2) When the intended version does exist but has no commercial viability, do you prefer the studio not release the film at all? I would guess your answers will not be (1) Always and (2) Always, given that you've already equivocated on Greed. However, your position as you stated it first is (1) Always and (2) Always.

Perhaps if you were not to take such a hard, inflexible position, or you were to specify certain specific circumstances it applies to (rather than stating it as a general policy for all times and circumstances), you might be better able represent your opinion in writing.

I hope you can at least see my point of view, which was that your unqualified statment would mean you are indifferent if a number of movies never saw the light of day again, such as an unrestored Greed, The Magnificent Ambersons, American History X, etc.

 

[Raymond Johnson]

Lots of good picks everyone!
Tonight i just rented the R rated version of The Toxic Avenger(Free rental) & then compared it with my Unrated dvd.
First off..the movies a camp classic & one of Troma's best,wildest & funniest films....+ i've never been a huge Troma fan,since most of there movies are just bad & not in a good way...but they do deliver every so often & this film is one of them.
Of course this contains spoilers.....so beware,but this is to give you a idea of how bad the major cuts hurt the film & just how much is missing from various scenes. btw.....the movies a ultra-dark comedy in case some people may be offended by the stuff mentioned below. The violence isn't funny,but is so outragous in that low budget Troma way,that you can't take it to seriously and on a one through four star rating i give it a...
****
The infamous/controversal hit & run scene....was the first majorly censored scene.
R version-you see the kid get hit & fly off his bike,cuts to gang driving off...driver "I wanna do it again" then another guy states he can't since he has to get up early,they ask why..he says " i have to go to church"...they oh say ok & thats it....very dark humor.
Unrated-kid gets hit,flys off his bike..theres a shot of him flying over the car..more lines from the gang in the car,driver asks how many points he got..girl says none,since he's still moving....shots of the kid on the ground crawling...driver puts car in reverse & floors it...runs over the kids head,shots of the body shaking,girls get out & take pictures of him,lots of dialogue throughout the entire scene...then hop back in the car & the rest mentioned in the R version plays out.
The Fast Food Holdup is another heavily censored scene.
R versions- customer gets shot,flys back through wall,is dead
The fight between Toxie & the robbers......is missing alot of stuff & all of a sudden the building is empty,aside from a couple people who work there hiding in the kitchen & the blind girl.
It's missing so much stuff that i can't begin to tell you where the cuts are as it's so incoherent.
Unrated- customer gets shot...up close shot of the bullet hit..very bloody wound explodes,alot of blood flys out of his mouth & he flys back through the wall & is seen having spasms then dies.
The fight with the robbers.......guy gets his arm ripped off,shots of him not realizing it for a moment...then starts screaming,blood pouring out,some up-close shots...+ shows Toxie with his arm,customers screaming & then running out of the building!
The main robber gets his head pushed through a blender,some blood flys..though it's not "that" graphic....theres more shots of the aftermath,lots of blood.
Another guy Toxie puts his hands in the deep fryer & then wrapped pipes around his head,so he can't escape,shots of bubbling grease,guy screaming in pain & then dies. All shots of the bubbling grease + him finnally dieing are complety cut from the R version & it's not "that" graphic to boot!
Then finnaly....the guy who got his arm ripped off is still alive..and Toxie puts him in the oven & they show him scream for a minute as he's being carried over Toxies shoulder to the oven & tossed inside(R version..seems like he's unconsious after the fight as he's last seen knocked out by the wall).The only hint of what happen durring that scene is later when the cops are there & theres a shot of the guys feet sticking out of the oven & they make a joke. Then theres one last shot of the guy after going through the blender after Toxie does what he does with his mop...usualy shoves it in there faces ect(gross!!)
Another huge cut is the little old lady scene.
R version-The hit & run guys from the begining(well only 2 left now) are wondering where ones girl with the car is & he's getting pissed. It then cuts to them driving off with someones car & a lady lieing on the road can be seen in the background briefly
Unrated-talk about getting a fancy import car...shows old lady walking to her car with groceries....they agree good idea,ask the lady if they can help.."sure"...then they punch her a few times & one hits her with her cane or crowbar,most of thats off-screen and is only hinted at..then the guy hops in the car & they drive off.
Finnaly at the end.....when the corrupt mayor gets his guts ripped out.
R version-completely cut out...& goes to Toxie making his way through the crowd yelling out his girlfriends name(the blind girl btw) as shes yelling for him & so on.
Unrated-shots of him ripping his guts out,mayor still alive,starts fumbling with his wound,trying to hold the stuff in,then falls to the ground dead,Toxie says a heroic oneliner to the police officer,his girlfriend starts yelling for him,another shot of the Mayor dead...then Toxie worries abouthis girlfriend...some more dialogue..then starts going through the crowd to her as above....and all is well in Tromaville(for now).

 

[Raymond Johnson]

Speaking of bad TV cuts.
Once Upon A Time In America gets shown on some stations in both a "short" version & a "long" version.
I have'nt seen the entire film by the way...though would lvoe to,but only in it's complete form(is a dvd ever being released?).
Anyway...A&E showed "short" version once,only it was all in one 2 hour time slot! So with commercials the film itself must have been 90mn or less!. It was really weird...everyone seemed to age every few minutes,they're kids one minute,much older the next & then by the end..very old.
The Doors is also cut down to probably 90mn at the very least or less...to fit it in a 2 hour time slot with commercials & the film is completly destroyed. All the sex/nudity.completly cut,every drug reference/use..language & so on. It does'nt make any sense at all...like when Jim is arrested for supposedly exposing himself...well half of that concert is cut out,you don't know what happened & then it just coasts on through the trial & then to the next scene. I remember that one scene in the desert,the first one is also removed,probably for time?...but still this is TV editing at it's worst..& why they should just let films be!

 

[Bill J]

I hated the television version of Predator.

 

[Shawn C]

Smokey and the Bandit has some AWFUL dialogue changed for T.V.
Instead of Gleason yelling, "You SUMBITCH", they changed it to "You SCUMBUM!" There are plenty others, but it's really, really, bad.
They even edited out, "There is NO WAY, NO WAY, that you could come from my loins". I forgot what it was changed to, but I'm sure it was bad.

 

[Patrick McCart]

If your point is that the first version of a film that should be made available is the director's, and other versions should come after that, then I can see the value in your statement. Is this what you mean?
It certainly is not what you have said above, which would seem to warrant the non-release of The Magnificent Ambersons and American History X, to take an old and a recent example.
For what it's worth, my own position is the following. I don't find value in generally making things unavailable. Would it be better if Disney never released Fantasia instead of releasing a version that zoomed in a little to hide parts of an offensive shot or two? I say no. Should The Magnificent Ambersons never be released again because Welles last cut is lost, and the studio mandated a number of significant changes? I say no.
Also, I wouldn't call it censorship when the studio that pays the film's costs insists that the final product they have paid for meets their specifications. (You might make the argument that Edward Norton was one of the "filmmakers" for American History X, but then you run into the problem that anyone who does anything to the film might be considered a filmmaker.)
My position, however, is irrelevant. My issues are with your opinion. Do you actually mean what you've written? Consider these two questions. (1) If no intended version exists, do you feel the film should not be released? (2) When the intended version does exist but has no commercial viability, do you prefer the studio not release the film at all? I would guess your answers will not be (1) Always and (2) Always, given that you've already equivocated on Greed. However, your position as you stated it first is (1) Always and (2) Always.
Perhaps if you were not to take such a hard, inflexible position, or you were to specify certain specific circumstances it applies to (rather than stating it as a general policy for all times and circumstances), you might be better able represent your opinion in writing.
I hope you can at least see my point of view, which was that your unqualified statment would mean you are indifferent if a number of movies never saw the light of day again, such as an unrestored Greed, The Magnificent Ambersons, American History X, etc.

Ok, I apologize for not EXPLAINING enough. Disney's censorship ruined the Pastoral Symphony segment for me. It would have been better to 1. show it uncut (as intended) or 2. replace it with "Clair De Lune" which is on the supplemental disc. Fantasia's oft-censored scenes are products of their time, thus they should be kept the way they are. Disney was pig-headed on this...Columbia kept the blackface scene in one of their Three Stooges DVD's, WB's TCM shows stuff like Mr. Wong and even a blackface minstrel show between a movie (in prime time).
Instead of censorship, why not simply put the scene in historical perspective like it should be? We do that for A Birth of a Nation, don't we?
Greed wasn't even censored, it was shortened. The Magnificent Ambersons can have the ending restored through stills and even film if WB looks around Paramount's vaults(according to David Cook).
Both of these two films were edited before release and were not censored, but rather changed to reflect the tastes of the inflated egos of the studios of that time.
I intended my simple post to just go for home viewing versions.

 

[Dave Barth]

I intended my simple post to just go for home viewing versions....[relative to what is available on film]

I see. Thank you for the clarification regarding the scope of your comments. I agree that studios should release the film as its director intended when such a version exists or restore the film (a la Lost Horizon or Greed) when no such version exists.

I also feel the theatrical release should be made available (preferably on the same disc/in the same set for home video) whether or not it is the director's cut.

 

[Sean Conklin]

Sorry I can't add anything constructive to the post, but one of my best friend's name is Raymond Johnson.

 

[Grant B]

Once Upon A Time In America gets shown on some stations in both a "short" version & a "long" version.

CDBrazil.com has a version that works on US DVD players ....not a bootleg but a Brazalian release of the film?!?

How they come up with these ideas I will never know....I am very tempted but I have the LD which looks great

The R rated version of Caligula was one of the only times I thought the censored version was better. The effects in the unrated version looked real fake ...the R version you get the suspense without the cheap blood...but the naked Roman Babes make up for it ...it's a wash...welllllllll