Sweary Poppins

[Noodle Lizard]

I've just been reading about the BBFC's antics over the last ten years or so. It seems to be becoming more corporatised than it ought to be. The fact that Natasha Kaplinsky is the current President is a bit fucking mad, though I like the idea of her having to field angry letters from Tom Six about the artistic merits of The Onania Club.

[idunnosomename]

Apparently they did try to change the film title to Hero for UK release but the idea was vetoed. Also, the cartoon aired on CBBC so had to pretty much be Uc material only. They actually took the nunchakus out of the American show as well for later seasons and replaced them with a grappling hook since it was less hassle than making two versions for US and parts of Europe.

yeah it's funny they got rid of the nunchaku completely in the cartoon even though the BBC never showed those episodes. Sky of course showed all the seasons eventually, I don't know if they were airing them before the BBC though.

I could have told you in early 1990 (when I was 28 years old, etc) that the Turtles' signature weapons were katana, nunchucks, bo and sai though. Even though they rebranded the toys to say "Hero" they didn't change the weapons you got on a sprue of brown plastic.

I also remember from going in magasins de jouets in France they were branded as TORTUES NINJA, although I never saw the French dub while over there. even back then it seemed like a very silly concession for a very silly island.

[phantom_power]

Do films these days even get cut for violence? In the 80s and 90s it was a massive topic for horror fans that they never got to see the films intact but now it seems like pretty much anything goes and films are either released uncut or banned outright (A Serbian Film for instance). Do films in America still have to fight against the dreaded X certificate? Or have I just lost touch with that particular battle and films are still being chopped up to satisfy some Mary Whitehouse characters?

[Bad Ambassador]

The X certificate was abolished in the US more than 30 years ago.

[madhair60]

Do films these days even get cut for violence?

yes, but usually because studios/distributors get advised that they'll need xyz cuts to get a PG/12A rating, so they get the advice, go back and re-edit, then submit again

this isn't based on actual knowledge of the process btw, just what i've read elsewhere. there's probably at least one wrong thing there.

[idunnosomename]

In America the dreaded certificate is NC-17. There were plenty of mainstream X releases that weren't primarily pornographic up, until it was replaced by NC-17 in 1990 because X was becoming too associated with porn, XXX etc (hence how stupid Elon Musk's obsession with the letter seems).

Infamously Showgirls was the first attempt to do a wide release under the cert. And basically did so poorly at the box office ruined it forever.

Fuck knows why box office success is dependent on being able to take minors into a film. I think it's basically because America is fundamentally terrified of porn. Remember in 2004 when there was a boob on the Superbowl and it was like 9/11 had happened again

[El Unicornio, mang]

Do films these days even get cut for violence? In the 80s and 90s it was a massive topic for horror fans that they never got to see the films intact but now it seems like pretty much anything goes and films are either released uncut or banned outright (A Serbian Film for instance). Do films in America still have to fight against the dreaded X certificate? Or have I just lost touch with that particular battle and films are still being chopped up to satisfy some Mary Whitehouse characters?

X has gone but unlike in the UK, films in America don't have to be rated. But films which are unrated are generally not shown by the big chain cinemas so it means big profit loss. Even getting NC-17 is preferable. But also, the unrated versions of rated films can be popular on home media.

Although the movie ratings in the US are slightly pointless since anyone of any age is allowed into them unless it's an NC-17, as long as an adult is with them. I went to a few 18-cert (R-rated) films over there where there were little kids in the audience with their parents.

[phantom_power]

Of course, completely forgot about the NC-17 rating. I am currently reading old Fangorias where they are campaigning for a "V" rating that differentiates horror from porn.

Films do seem to be far more gory than they were in those days so I imagine there is a lot less pressure to cut films. Terrifier is far more violent than most of the notorious Italian zombie and cannibal films and that seemed to get an 18 here (though I see it was unrated in America)

[famethrowa]

the dreaded X certificate

Source of one of my favourite Goodies exchanges:

(Tim is all dressed up like disco John Travolta)

Graham: Well have you seen Saturday Night Fever?

Tim: Of course not, it's an X film!

Which doesn't work these days, because everyone thinks X means porn

[Noodle Lizard]

It's become more common for Unrated films (basically ones that the MPAA would slap an NC-17 on were they submitted) to get wide cinema releases in major chains. I saw Terrifier 2 at the AMC near me in a boring suburban town, for instance.

NC-17s are vanishingly rare, everyone edits to get it in theaters. But marketing an "unrated cut" on home video has basically become part of the sales cycle for certain types of movies.

[idunnosomename]

Yeah the no-cert thing is funny, it's like video games here. I remember when Perfect Dark came out in 2000, Nintendo UK submitted it to the BBFC hoping it would get a 15 to make it look cool next to the greystation and that the N64 wasnt all "big gay baby games", but it got a ridiculous OTT 18 rating, on certain technicalities on violence towards humans. Alas then they were stuck with it and it was reportedly a massive pain in the arse for retailers who had to ask for ID when selling it.

[Noodle Lizard]

Yeah the no-cert thing is funny, it's like video games here. I remember when Perfect Dark came out in 2000, Nintendo UK submitted it to the BBFC hoping it would get a 15 to make it look cool next to the greystation and that the N64 wasnt all "big gay baby games", but it got a ridiculous OTT 18 rating, on certain technicalities on violence towards humans. Alas then they were stuck with it and it was reportedly a massive pain in the arse for retailers who had to ask for ID when selling it.

Yes! 9 year old me had a nightmare trying to convince my parents it wasn't any worse than Goldeneye. The presence of an official BBFC 18 certificate made them assume it must be something like Evil Dead and Last Tango in Paris.

Speaking of which, didn't Resident Evil have a 15 rating, and I think I remember Goldeneye having a "12" title card on the loading screen? What's that all about.

[BJBMK2]

Yes! 9 year old me had a nightmare trying to convince my parents it wasn't any worse than Goldeneye.

Speaking of which, doesn't Goldeneye have a "15" BBFC title card on the loading screen? What's that all about.

I always assumed it was just a bit of funny, Rare-esque verisimilitude? Same daft logic behind the mission where you have to find a copy of Goldeneye on VHS.  The actual game sticks with the ESRB "T" rating.

[BJBMK2]

The Wikipedia entry on Ali G Indahouse, cos that's how I choose to spend my Friday afternoons.

The film was released via DVD in the UK on 11 November 2002, and in the US and Canada on 2 November 2004. The DVD version has been modified from the original UK cinema version. In the original cut, the film opens with Ali appearing over the BBFC Certificate and changes the categorisation from 15 to 18. He goes on to warn about the dangers of having sex in the back row of the cinema (coming into contact with other people's semen on the seats) and to suggest that the audience's enjoyment will be enhanced by smoking cannabis.[3] This 30-second introduction is missing from all international cinema releases and all current home video releases.

Has anyone ever seen this? I suppose it would be officially classed as lost media, there's not even any screengrabs of it.

I'm also not familiar with the BBFC allowing ANY other film to do that. In a trailer maybe or something like that, but during the SACRED certificate display, before the studio logos and everything?