James Bond - The Ultimate Edition DVDs - 17/7/06

[MarkH]

I picked up the Dutch VHS in 1991 in Amsterdam in a ---ahem---video shop, and it had all the scenes that are mentioned above except the exploding head.

[Richard Crowther]

Originally posted by MarkH@1 Feb 2005, 3:13 PM
I picked up the Dutch VHS in 1991 in Amsterdam in a ---ahem---video shop, and it had all the scenes that are mentioned above except the exploding head.

It's a very quick shot, but most countries considered it a no-no for a Bond flick. The shot itself is merely a continuation of the current last shot you see of Krest's expanding head. The explosion, as I recall, is so fast that, bascially, one minute his head is there, the next there is a big splat of blood on the porthole - a bit like that shot in Pulp Fiction, but without the skull and brain matter. Very quick and not dwelt upon.

[Richard Crowther]

It's also worth noting that, whilst the cuts for Goldeneye and TND are both "cuts for catagory" meaing they can be overturned at any time the BBFC wish, their "requested" cut to Never Say Never Again is compulsory, since it involves a horse falling into an expanse of water on its back and is therefore considered to be an illegal act of cruelty to an animal. That will probably never be put back in for the UK.

The cuts to Goldeneye, should anyone care basically surround the removal of Onatop's headbutting of Natalia and quite a bit of the punching and headbutting that goes on between Bond and (spoiler)006 (spoiler) towards the end of the film.

Tomorrow Never Dies suffered the following interference:

(Information taken and amended from melonfarmers.co.uk)

Cut for cinema release and suffered an additional 6s of cuts for video. In addition, there have been further sound pre-cuts throughout the video.

Reduced impact sounds during the sequence where Bond is being held in a secret room at Carver's (Jonathon Price's) studio party.

During the same sequnece Bond gets hit by a baseball bat twice instead of four times.

Reduced impact sounds in Chakra torture scene.

Reduced impact sounds in fight in bike shop.

Reduced impact sounds of Wai Lin's (Michelle Yeoh's) kung-fu kicks.

Reduced sound of hiss and man screaming as he is being scalded by steam.

Reduced sound of Carver being hit by an engine and then his death scream.

Reduced impact sounds of Bond's (Pierce Brosnan's) climatic fight scenes.

Removed shot of Michelle Yeoh taking throwing star from a hidden compartment in her shoe.

Cuts to shot where Michelle Yeoh dispatches one of the bad guys by means of a throwing star. It now appears that Bond simply shoots the bad guys and congratulates Wai Lin for no reason at all.

Cuts to scene where Bond stamps on a man's face. This is actually the shot of Bond kicking the guard who is laid on the floor and has just started recovering. His groans attract Bond and he kicks the man in the head. Oddly, the sound of the impact is still there, even though the footage isn't. Sloppy.

[Andrew F]

It's also worth noting that, whilst the cuts for Goldeneye and TND are both "cuts for catagory" meaing they can be overturned at any time the BBFC wish, their "requested" cut to Never Say Never Again is compulsory, since it involves a horse falling into an expanse of water on its back and is therefore considered to be an illegal act of cruelty to an animal. That will probably never be put back in for the UK.

That's mental.

[Andrew F]

I should clarify that, for the record, it's not the issue of being concerned about animal cruelty that I think is a bit mental ( even though I hate horses, ugly graceless bloody things that they are ), but the rather perculiar way the BBFC seems to view these things. So a horse falling into water on its side would be acceptable, then?

[Charles Gunn]

Originally posted by Andrew Foxley@1 Feb 2005, 11:26 PM
I should clarify that, for the record, it's not the issue of being concerned about animal cruelty that I think is a bit mental ( even though I hate horses, ugly graceless bloody things that they are ), but the rather perculiar way the BBFC seems to view these things. So a horse falling into water on its side would be acceptable, then?

Animal cruelty is animal cruelty. The director of NSNA should have been hung for allowing it to happen.

[richardyardley]

Originally posted by David B@1 Feb 2005, 11:41 PM
Animal cruelty is animal cruelty. The director of NSNA should have been hung for allowing it to happen.

Animal cruelty is indeed animal cruelty and there is no excuse for it. At least we have CGI now that will prevent any risk of this in the future.

rich

[Sean Brady]

I don't have a copy of NSNA at hand, but wasn't it a fake horse that went for a tumble?

[maninasuitcase]

Originally posted by Sean Brady@2 Feb 2005, 12:13 AM
I don't have a copy of NSNA at hand, but wasn't it a fake horse that went for a tumble?

I remember seeing the "uncut" version of 'Never Say Never Again', in the cinema when it was originally released in late 1983, and I always believed it to be a "fake horse".

I also most strongly concur with the posts condemning animal cruelty, there is simply no real reason for it.

[Richard Crowther]

Originally posted by Sean Brady@2 Feb 2005, 12:13 AM
I don't have a copy of NSNA at hand, but wasn't it a fake horse that went for a tumble?

I think the actual shot of the horse as it enters the water is a real horse. of course, most of that stunt was achieved via effects and cheats, but that one shot is real.

[Minigiles]

A little like the situation with Licence to Kill. Itv when they first premiered Never showed it uncut complete with"horse fall". Since I've got the r1 disc I can confirm that it is clearly a real horse that is seen landing in the water. It is from offscreen and nothing that you probably haven't seen in a half decent western!

Curious to read that early pressings of Never are missing a 4 minute sequence. Anyone know what this sequence is?

I also still have an official Swedish version of Licence to Kill that I bought in the mid nineties which has all the cut scenes intact. Ironically the "uncut" version that ITV mistakenly showed is in fact cut. The scene with Bond and Pam on the boat having escaped the bar has the end snipped. The reason - when ITV went thru all the Bond films one after the other, they were asked by MGM to snip them so that people would still buy the DVD/videos to get them uncut.

[Richard Crowther]

Curious to read that early pressings of Never are missing a 4 minute sequence. Anyone know what this sequence is?

Yes, it is, believe it or not, the first time Bond meets Largo in the casino, just before he plays the computer game. I think from the moment he arrives at the club, through the "bomb" sequence with the doorman, and up to the point where Bond enters the gaming room, all this is gone. So, in short, Bond never actually "meets" Largo, they just start playing the game - the missing section also contains the last time Connery ever says "Bond, James Bond" , so it's loss was especially annoying from a historical point of view.

The scene with Bond and Pam on the boat having escaped the bar has the end snipped.

You are absolutely right, of course.

Ironically, MGMs stance on this is questionable to say the least, since those who are bothered enough to want an unedited version of the film would also likely want it in uncropped widescreen, which the broadcast wouldn't have been, and those who don't care about such things would not have even noticed that a section was missing in the first place.

[Richard Crowther]

With all the general talk of that programme over the last few days, it would appear to have gone unnoticed that ITV have shown the uncut version (at least in terms of violence) of Licence To Kill again!


What a treat - whether this was 1) an indication that MGM are going to allow the uncut version to be put on disc when the new discs are released or 2) someone just got the wrong version off the shelf, I don't know, but what a difference 10 seconds make.

OK, in more detail (and with more accuracy than my memory provided in an earlier post), the cuts are (restored footage in bold):

1)During Leiter's torture-by-teeth, between the shots of Dario looking to his left and grinning and Krest looking disgusted, there is a shot seen from under the water of the shark moving off and revealing Felix's bloody stump as it flails enticingly in the water.

2) Krest's demise now contains the following footage - Krest's head expands still further and is seen to explode in full view of the camera, spraying blood and brain matter all over the porthole. We then cut to the reaction shots seen in all versions. It's brief but it's very effective.

3) The sequence where Dario is fed into the grinder has an extension to the shot of his entrails as they fly from the blades - the shot continues until bloody, fleshy matter virtually covers the screen.

4) Sanchez's death is now depicted as follows:

1. Close-up of Sanchez's waist as Bond sets light to Sanchez's midriff.

2. Close-up of Sanchez screaming as flames rise.

3. Two-shot of Bond and the now engulfed Shanchez as Bond rolls away.

4. Sanchez flails about for a moment, then falls to his knees, still screaming and writhing, finally keeling over to be completely consumed by flames.

5. Shot of Bond running from the tanker as the vehicle ignites. He turns to look as it explodes, and races off to the left of the screen. He turns to look again and staggers now to the right of the screen.

6. Long shot - Tanker is annihilated and Bond pegs it.

7. Bond hides behind a rock as the fireball grows.

Here's the sequence as seen in the 15/PG13 rated version:

1. Same.

2. Same.

3. Same.

4. Second half of shot 5 in the un-cut version (as Bond staggers to the right of the shot).

5. Second half of shot 4 in the uncut version, as Sanchez keels over into the fire.

6. First half of shot 5 in the uncut version, as Bond runs away from the tanker and staggers over to the left of the shot, at which point we cut to:

7. Shot 6 of the un-cut version. The rest of the scene is the same in both versions.

Basically, to remove the shot of Sanchez burning to a crisp and flailing about in agony, a later shot is chopped in two, and the two halves are reversed and separated by another shot. This leads to an awkward edit between the 3rd and 4th shots and the 6th and 7th shots in the cut version, since none of these match up too well - Bond is suddenly quite a distance from the tanker as a result of the first edit and has changed position and direction as a result of the second . Very sloppy all round.

Wow - how's that for sad detail? :rolleyes:

[Nathan]

Oooh I saw this too, but didn't know enough detail to know if it was unedited.

As it was ITV I thought "must be edited, how gruesome must the original be!!!!"

[ben mott]

I'd like to see more expansive making of documentaries (narrated by Patrick Macnee naturally) for GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, rather than the standard marketing fluff on the present DVDs.

Also, does anyone know if Octopussy is being remastered with a new 5.1 audio track along with the earlier films? The current release only has 2.0 sound.