Came across this earlier and thought it was quite interesting.

Clicky clicky clicky (http://www.lovefilm.com/community/view_list.html?page=1&customer_list_id=4285)

Its a list of a number of films that have been cut to enable them to be passed by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to be released in the UK.

Can you believe that a scene in Shrek 2 had to be changed to satisfy the BBFC?

Face Off also had to be cut, now, this film is an 18 and, lets face it (no pun intended), a pretty violent movie. The back of the DVD box even says the following;

Language - Frequent, strong
Violence - Frequent, strong.

But can you guess what had to be removed to allow it to be released over here? John Travolta showing someone how to use a knife.

Heres a few I've picked out that I find quite ridiculous;

Shrek 2
A scene in which Cameron Diaz' character headbutts Prince charming, has been changed to a neck chop in the U.K version at the behest of the BBFC, incase children imitate it (surely a neck chop would be more easy for children to copy than a headbutt?). Also a joke towards British people was altered, and two minor characters' voices have been changed to British voices - why i have no idea. UNCUT DVD: U.S Region 1 only. All other region dvds are the altered U.K version.

The Matrix
Quite a number of headbutts have been chopped out of the U.K dvd - mainly in a fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith. UNCUT DVD: Any Region but U.K

Face Off
John Travolta shows a teenage girl how to use a butterfly knife in this film - you wont see it in the U.K dvd however as it glamorises the use of weaponary (on the BBFC list of no-no's). UNCUT DVD: Any Region but U.K and Australian Region 4. This film has been released on Blu-ray in the U.K (which is also cut), and on HD-DVD in the U.S (the film has different distributors in the two countries, and hence the different formats). The U.S HD-DVD is fully uncut, and not region coded

Peter Pan
Captain Hook headbutting Peter Pan doesn't make it into the U.K version, thanks to our beloved film butcherers...i mean censors...er, classifiers. UNCUT DVD: Any Region but U.K


Some of the cuts are understandable but most of them are a bit of a joke really.

Also a joke towards British people was altered, and two minor characters' voices have been changed to British voices - why i have no idea. UNCUT DVD: U.S Region 1 only. All other region dvds are the altered U.K version.[/I]

One of those was Joan Rivers becoming Davina Mccall (I think). That change had nothing to do with the BBFC, it was done by the film makers. The scene is where they have a character talking to camera about celebrities arriving at the red carpet - a job that Joan Rivers has done in the US on Oscar Night. I think they changed it to Davina because the youngsters don't know who Joan Rivers is so that minor joke doesn't work whereas they'd know who Davina Mccall is because of Big Brother.

was actually kate thornton

There are also situations where the reverse is true, such as Dodgeball in which one use of the word f**k was removed in the US, but the BBFC were happy to keep it in. There are also many times when a film is cut to avoid the NC-17 rating in the US (seen as a killer to the box office). These films tend to be released generally uncut in the UK as 18 rated films. Check out the BBFC website for all films passed, and look for notes on any cuts made. It makes interesting reading (well, for some people anyway). www.bbfc.co.uk

The changes to Shrek 2 were made before post production was finished. The distributor wanted a U cert (not a PG) and were advised to change the headbutt for this. All other differences were already set up as the film had many differences (cast list etc) from country to country.

Most of the time changes to films are made before the BBFC get involved, and the BBFC are not as swift with the knife as they used to be. Indeed, a current release (There Will Be Blood) was passed uncut as a 12A. Thankfully the distributor argued this and got the BBFC to up it to a 15 (no reason aside from the under 15s are not the target audience for the film).

One of those was Joan Rivers becoming Davina Mccall (I think). That change had nothing to do with the BBFC, it was done by the film makers. The scene is where they have a character talking to camera about celebrities arriving at the red carpet - a job that Joan Rivers has done in the US on Oscar Night. I think they changed it to Davina because the youngsters don't know who Joan Rivers is so that minor joke doesn't work whereas they'd know who Davina Mccall is because of Big Brother.

This wasn't due to censorship or for the audience, I think it was just the makers of Shrek doing something fun for the UK release. Kate Thornton plays Joan Rivers' role, and Jonathon Ross plays the barmaid which is Larry Kings voice originally

I've been saying for years that the BBFC are outdated and need to get a clue.. For instance, way back in 1984 I sneaked Gremlins out of the video shop, I was 8 at the time and it was 15 rated, and it was more funny than scary, the scary bits would've warranted nothing more than PG IMO, even by mid 80s standards.

They also gave the original Robocop an 18 rating, a 15 rating would've sufficed IMO, despite the frequent use of bad words (swearing) and OTT violence in the movie, they made Robocop 3 a 12, and it sucked for it because most of the violence had been removed, the violence was part of the storyline for goodness sake! That's what made the first one good, even now 20 years on from its original release.

they made Robocop 3 a 12, and it sucked for it because most of the violence had been removed, the violence was part of the storyline for goodness sake! That's what made the first one good, even now 20 years on from its original release.


Rich, Robocop 3 was made to be a lower rating. The lack of violence had nothing to do with the BBFC - it was a decision of the film-makers. BBFC cut a total of 5 seconds from the film.

Plus it was rated 15 by the BBFC...not 12.

If you check the BBFC website you will see that they make very few cuts or suggestions these days. Over the past 10 years they have restructured what each of the classifications mean. If film makers whose films were rated under the old regime wish to get a different rating (such as Robocop be reclassified, or Gremlins) then they can re-submit the film now and have it re-assessed (such as Gremlins 2 which was classified as 15 on initial video release - 12 didn't exist for the home market at that time - and was dropped from a 15 to a 12 when reissued for DVD market)

I've been saying for years that the BBFC are outdated and need to get a clue.. For instance, way back in 1984 I sneaked Gremlins out of the video shop, I was 8 at the time and it was 15 rated, and it was more funny than scary, the scary bits would've warranted nothing more than PG IMO, even by mid 80s standards.

They also gave the original Robocop an 18 rating, a 15 rating would've sufficed IMO, despite the frequent use of bad words (swearing) and OTT violence in the movie, they made Robocop 3 a 12, and it sucked for it because most of the violence had been removed, the violence was part of the storyline for goodness sake! That's what made the first one good, even now 20 years on from its original release.
I think Robocop, despite being one of my favourite films is very violent and the dark subject matter of taking a man and turning him into a machine against his will suffices for it to be an 18. (Despite the fact i was 16 when i saw it!)

I think Robocop, despite being one of my favourite films is very violent and the dark subject matter of taking a man and turning him into a machine against his will suffices for it to be an 18. (Despite the fact i was 16 when i saw it!)

Have you seen the extended cut on DVD? Now that definitely deserves an 18! Brutal and bloody and brilliant. I love Robocop :)

I guess the BBFC just don't like headbutting.

I guess the BBFC just don't like headbutting.

They do have a problem with it in kids (or family) films. Star Wars Ep 2 would have been a 12 if the headbutt was kept in, but Lucas said that Star Wars shouldn't be 12 rating, and should be a family friendly film so agreed to the cut.


Then he made the 12A rated Episode 3....kind of a contradictory beast isn't he?


Anyhoo...the problem with the headbutt that the BBFC have is the danger of kids copying it in the schooyard, and potentially causing major damage, or even death, from it. It is easy to copy...but you gotta wonder why they were happy to keep "Noggin (thud) Dude!" in Finding Nemo?!

Have you seen the extended cut on DVD? Now that definitely deserves an 18! Brutal and bloody and brilliant. I love Robocop :)

I don't think I have! Not watched it for ages and it was repeated on the telly and even though i've got it on video, I was entranced by it (although i was dog tired) It's a brilliant film that i never tire of watching.

I don't think I have! Not watched it for ages and it was repeated on the telly and even though i've got it on video, I was entranced by it (although i was dog tired) It's a brilliant film that i never tire of watching.


If you like it as much as I do, I recommend the extended cut. Can pick it up cheap on DVD if you look around. Quite a few segments extended in it.

Here you go...£9.99 on play for the triogy.... http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/98482/Robocop-Trilogy-Box-Set/Product.html

(and in looking for that I ended up ordering the bluray version at the same time)

If you like it as much as I do, I recommend the extended cut. Can pick it up cheap on DVD if you look around. Quite a few segments extended in it.

Here you go...£9.99 on play for the triogy.... http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/98482/Robocop-Trilogy-Box-Set/Product.html

(and in looking for that I ended up ordering the bluray version at the same time)

Cool! i'll stick it on my burfday list!

Have you seen the extended cut on DVD? Now that definitely deserves an 18! Brutal and bloody and brilliant. I love Robocop

Do you mean the scene where Murphy is effectively "crucified" as Paul Verhoeven puts it. That scene is particularly disturbing. The whole film is about Murphy's struggle for identity. Is he Murphy or is he Robocop. Identity is a recurring theme in all Verhoevens work.

There endeth the Film Studies lecture.


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