Censored DVDs

[bigE]

Will & Grace The Complete Series has been severely edited throughout.

[SterlingBen]

Originally Posted by LickTheABCs

Takashi Miike did that a few times earlier in his career, also.

I believe that was to be compliant with Japanese Law (although I could be wrong on that one)

[HighSpeedOnIce]

The HBO series "1st & 10" was released as a War-Mart exclusive and was heavily edited.

Shame too, because I just saw the entire series in their five dollar dump bin.
That would've been a steal.

[TomOpus]

Originally Posted by HighSpeedOnIce

The HBO series "1st & 10" was released as a War-Mart exclusive and was heavily edited.

Shame too, because I just saw the entire series in their five dollar dump bin.
That would've been a steal.

It started at WM but the same version is available everywhere else. Some eps were from the HBO version, while others were from the syndicated version. I think that's the reason it was (and is) so cheap.

[CertifiedTHX]

Originally Posted by bigE

Will & Grace The Complete Series has been severely edited throughout.

What was edited?

--THX

[canaryfarmer]

Also, is W&G actually edited for content, or are the dvds just using the syndication edits?

[Julie Walker]

Wal-Mart and Blockbuster do carry some unrated dvds, but also still do carry rated only dvds on select titles. For example, many Dimension Extreme titles are only available in their R rated versions at these two places. In the case of Mother of Tears, it was released in theaters unrated.

As for Saving Silverman, I can't answer that since I haven't seen the entire film yet(in either version). However, it would help if the original poster would tell us what rating is listed on the dvd and what the running time is. But in case he's confused, there was a PG-13 theatrical release, and then on dvd a PG-13 and R rated edition released separately.

[Numes]

Originally Posted by neumanbuddyguy

This is going to add a lot of headache for me from now on. First, I always have to make sure I'm not buying the "fullscreen" versions. Now, I somehow have to make certain I am buying the original theatrical version or something more than the original. More is better, but less is unacceptable to me. Frustrating.

Well, as Mr. Salty said, you have come to the right place. DVDTalk is really the place to be so that you don't have to worry about getting headaches like this.

In addition, an absolutely great resource that I use before I purchase any DVD is http://www.dvdcompare.net. In general, I use it to make sure I'm getting the "best" version of a title, but I will use it to review the different versions of R1 DVDs too. Although I mention this site, I must note that on the Saving Silverman page it states that there are "no cuts" to the R-rated version. It gets tricky with purposefully different versions of movies because as someone mentioned before, a new cut of the movie may also remove scenes or snippets for continuity or flow. However, in this instance, it does not sound like that was the case.

[bigE]

According to the reviews on Amazon, the Will & Grace "Complete" Series are the syndicated episodes, not the original network episodes. They have been extensively edited for syndicated broadcasting. Also the episodes that were shot & aired in widescreen have been "formatted to your t.v." ~ ugh! The UK version was also edited for censorship ratings. The German release had an additional 480 minutes which doesn't appear on the R1 version, so I'm pretty sure some content was lost as well. For $180 you'd think they'd get it right! Not!!

[Dr Mabuse]

Let's get this thread back on to the important topic.

So there's no way to see that hot chick completely naked in 'Mulholland Dr.' now?

[Cheato]

Originally Posted by SterlingBen

I believe that was to be compliant with Japanese Law (although I could be wrong on that one)

You're probably right. No pubes. Believe me, I know.

[Mister Peepers]

Originally Posted by Cheato

You're probably right. No pubes. Believe me, I know.

Pubes are fine, no genitals.

[visitor Q]

Originally Posted by Mister Peepers

Pubes are fine, no genitals.

Damn, what a topic to be late on.

...and yes, all of Miike's works that are optically fogged/pixelated were done so to comply with Japanese laws regarding display of genitalia. Though that doesn't mean certain Japanese can't be found to show everything ......

... Japanese women are marvelous creatures!

[Torchur317]

Originally Posted by HighSpeedOnIce

The HBO series "1st & 10" was released as a War-Mart exclusive and was heavily edited.

Shame too, because I just saw the entire series in their five dollar dump bin.
That would've been a steal.

1 - 3 are basically the edited versions besides a few unrated ones....
4 - 6 is unrated besides a few edited ones.....
IMO It's still worth picking up & I'd consider that many seasons for $5 a steal....

[TheDuke]

Originally Posted by canaryfarmer

Wal-Mart and Blockbuster are filled to the brim with unrated releases. Also, which movies are rated R on dvd, but were unrated in theatres?.

Lust, Caution comes to mind.

[Giles]

Lust Caution actually had a NC-17 rating not 'unrated'

[mattysemo247]

Originally Posted by Giles

Lust Caution actually had a NC-17 rating not 'unrated'

You can get the NC-17 one from Netflix, that's where we rented it from

[canaryfarmer]

Originally Posted by TheDuke

Lust, Caution comes to mind.

The NC-17 cut is easily available on dvd as well. (L,C was never "unrated" in theaters, IIRC.)

edit: that's what I get for leaving this tab open so long.

[FILMCZY]

Here are a couple random examples..

From the dvd release of "Grizzly Man" according to IMdB:

The DVD from Lions Gate Home Entertainment opens with a disclaimer stating that the film has been changed from its theatrical version. The sole change is in the first ten minutes where Herzog explains that Treadwell had become a semi-celebrity. In the theatrical version a clip is shown of Treadwell on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman." Treadwell comes out and explains what he has been doing and Letterman quips, "We're not going to open a newspaper one day and read about you being eaten by a bear are we?" In the DVD version this exchange is omitted and replaced with a NBC news segment of Treadwell being interviewed. When the interviewer asks if he would ever want a gun to protect himself, Treadwell states that he "would never, ever kill a bear even in the defense of my own life."

From Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1994) according to IMdB:

The uncut version of the film contains a segment from "The Mickey Mouse Club" (1955) that is not available in any of the home-video releases.

[canaryfarmer]

I thought I read somewhere that Letterman himself asked that the interview be taken out.

[man*machine]

Originally Posted by canaryfarmer

I thought I read somewhere that Letterman himself asked that the interview be taken out.

The theatrical version with the Letterman sequence was definitely shown on cable tv (IFC or one of those) after the film was already on DVD. So maybe Letterman only objects to DVD's, but not tv-broadcast, if he's the reason for the alteration?

[FILMCZY]

According to IMdb, the following was added, deleted, or altered for "Saving Silverman":


R-Rated DVD/VHS release includes about 4 minutes of added footage, consisting mainly of two scenes, one in a Subway restaurant where JD is showing his trainees to his boss, and another in a laundromat where Darren and Sandy are drying their clothes after falling in the water. Also, 3 uses of the word "fuck" are added, among other dialogue, and the scene with the hookers playing ping-pong has them topless, rather than wearing the bras they had in the theatrical release.


In the trailer for the film, when Steve Zahn's character is doing "yoga" he has digitally added underwear, while in the film he is nude.

[Giles]

this isn't a case of being censored, but VHS video versions of 'Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense' had the songs 'I Zimbra/Cities' within the structure of the film. On the DVD, the songs are part of the disc's supplementary section.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by man*machine

The theatrical version with the Letterman sequence was definitely shown on cable tv (IFC or one of those) after the film was already on DVD. So maybe Letterman only objects to DVD's, but not tv-broadcast, if he's the reason for the alteration?

I thought it was simply an economic issue, that the distributor didn't have enough cash to secure all the rights to that clip, so only secured theatrical rights. When Discovery Channel aired it, they paid for the rights to use that clip in the TV version, as well as producing the 30-minute "follow up" special that aired after the film.

The video releases of The Wonder Boys removed a small mention of a real-life person a character references as a suicide. The family of the person sued the production company because that person's death was officially determined to not be a suicide.

As for the OP: it appears the scene did exist in the PG-13 theatrical cut:
http://jackandjill.tktv.net/news.html

1.26.01 - From Entertainment Weekly: The trailer for Saving Silverman, due February 16th, has been caught in a cover-up. Seems that two scenes in the PG-13 film, about two pals trying to rescue Jason Biggs from marrying the wrong woman, were deemed too risqué by the MPAA for a trailer aimed at general audiences. So a pair of blue briefs were digitally painted onto a naked, yoga-practicing Steve Zahn.

This site mentions it's a deleted scene on at least one of the DVDs:
http://mikesquickreviews.com/s.htm

[mcfly]

Although this was mainly done due to the nature of the joke, the Volume 1 set of Family Guy is cut. Road to Rhode Island is missing the bin Laden showtunes joke at the airport.

The uncut episode is in the Freakin' Sweet Collection, though.