Johnny Be Good dvd edited PG-13 version!!!
10-11-03, 01:09 PM
#1
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Johnny Be Good dvd edited PG-13 version!!!
Bad news for fans of this film. The dvd despite the R rating on the packaging is really the PG-13 version which cuts out the nudity & quite a few other things
A thread on HomeTheaterforum.com as well as imdb.com(shown below) confirms this. So if you have not bought the dvd,but were planning to(like myself),avoid at all costs!
HTF: Got it last night, it's edited. I'm keeping my laserdisc version. The whole 'old tex' scenes (strip club) is heavily edited, and the scene after they stop to pick up more beer (and run into the old football player, can't remember his name) is completely cut (where they're all drunk with girls back at a frat house).
IMBD: I just bought the new Johnny Be Good DVD yesterday and was very excited when I put it in this morning...until I noticed that it is not the same VHS edition that I had grown to love in past years. Tons of scenes have either been altered or completely edited out. Very dispointing!!!
Strange that the R rated version was recently on cable quite a few times. So if you have the old R rated VHS or Laserdisc. Hold onto them!
A thread on HomeTheaterforum.com as well as imdb.com(shown below) confirms this. So if you have not bought the dvd,but were planning to(like myself),avoid at all costs!
HTF: Got it last night, it's edited. I'm keeping my laserdisc version. The whole 'old tex' scenes (strip club) is heavily edited, and the scene after they stop to pick up more beer (and run into the old football player, can't remember his name) is completely cut (where they're all drunk with girls back at a frat house).
IMBD: I just bought the new Johnny Be Good DVD yesterday and was very excited when I put it in this morning...until I noticed that it is not the same VHS edition that I had grown to love in past years. Tons of scenes have either been altered or completely edited out. Very dispointing!!!
Strange that the R rated version was recently on cable quite a few times. So if you have the old R rated VHS or Laserdisc. Hold onto them!
Last edited by Julie Walker; 10-11-03 at 01:47 PM.
10-11-03, 01:25 PM
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Re: Johnny Be Good dvd edited PG-13 version!!!
Originally posted by Julie Walker
Bad news for fans of this film. The dvd despite the R rating on the packaging is really the PG-13 version which cuts out the nudity & quite a few other things
A thread on HomeTheaterforum.com as well as imdb.com confirms this. So if you have not bought the dvd,but were planning to(like myself),avoid at all costs!
Strange that the R rated version was recently on cable quite a few times. So if you have the old R rated VHS or Laserdisc. Hold onto them!
Bad news for fans of this film. The dvd despite the R rating on the packaging is really the PG-13 version which cuts out the nudity & quite a few other things
A thread on HomeTheaterforum.com as well as imdb.com confirms this. So if you have not bought the dvd,but were planning to(like myself),avoid at all costs!
Strange that the R rated version was recently on cable quite a few times. So if you have the old R rated VHS or Laserdisc. Hold onto them!
10-12-03, 03:08 PM
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I doubt footage was filmed after production/theatrical release just to make it R rated.
Since the film bombed. A studio would not bother risking more money on the film by filming addiotional footage for video release.
More than likely. It was originaly R rated,then the studio wanting to cash in & get as many people as possible into the theater(teens etc),cut it down to get a PG-13. Then since that verion bombed as I don't think it was widely released. They decided to put the footage back into the film & sell it as R rated to get more people interested in it.
Since the film bombed. A studio would not bother risking more money on the film by filming addiotional footage for video release.
More than likely. It was originaly R rated,then the studio wanting to cash in & get as many people as possible into the theater(teens etc),cut it down to get a PG-13. Then since that verion bombed as I don't think it was widely released. They decided to put the footage back into the film & sell it as R rated to get more people interested in it.
10-12-03, 05:52 PM
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FYI, anybody who does thier research will find that the rated pg-13 version is the correct released version as in theaters. according to leonard maltin, in any edition of his video guide. he confirms that the film is pg-13,and that it was re-edited to get an R release.and that r rated scenes were added for videocasette.
10-12-03, 06:17 PM
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According imdb, it was PG-13 theatrically and R video release: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0095409/
10-12-03, 07:00 PM
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Here's the original theatrical poster, it's hard to see but that's definitely a "PG-13" in the lower left corner:
http://www.impawards.com/1988/johnny_be_good.html
Furthermore, Ebert's review from 1988 gives the rating as PG-13. So until we hear more information we should treat both cuts as equally valid.
http://www.impawards.com/1988/johnny_be_good.html
Furthermore, Ebert's review from 1988 gives the rating as PG-13. So until we hear more information we should treat both cuts as equally valid.
10-12-03, 11:10 PM
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Of course the 'R' rated scenes were added for the VHS release. Yet they were most likely cut to get a lower rating in the first place.
A good recent example would be Miramaxes Get Over It which is a teen comedy that was originally rated R & then cut to get a PG-13. The deleted scenes that would have given it an R are included on the dvd(not sure if all of them are there though). Watching that film,it felt very compromised to tone down various sexual inuendoes & possible nudity..& it felt like it should be R rated,yet was an edited down PG-13 version tease. The film is ok,has some amusing moments,but could have been just a tad better if left intact.
Besides alittle nudity is always a good thing
So just because it was released in theaters with a PG-13. Does not mean it is the 'correct' version. I'm sure most fans of the films prefer the uncut R rated version & not the compromised PG-13 version.
Since Saturday Night Fever was also released in theaters with an R & PG rating. Should the PG cut be made available on dvd when it's not the directors intended version? Again the PG version of that was a compromise to get more kids into the theaters.
I'm pretty sure that is also the case with Johnny Be Good. Rather than risk theaters not letting under 17 year olds into the film. They choise the PG-13 route via editing,then restored the footage for home video. Neither worked to huge success(movie quality is debateable),yet it has developed a small cult following over the years...& of course the R rated version is what people are seeing.
So you can understand why those who grew up with the film on video may be upset that it's an edited down version.
Of course you may say "Well what about those who saw it in theaters & want that version?". Frankly some additional nudity & other material is not going to 'ruin' the film in a revisionism way & I'm sure most people would be exicted to see a more explicit version.
If Kill Bill is released unrated only(doubtful unless Miramax splits from Disney). I would have NO complaints at all of "I want the censored version I saw in theaters!".
There is a huge difference between cuts for ratings & complete & totel destruction(aka revisionism) of a film years after the fact.
Johnny Be Good is a case of studio politics taking adult material & attempting to tone it down for the kids only to then attempt to cash in on video with a more explicit & most likely originally intended version.
A good recent example would be Miramaxes Get Over It which is a teen comedy that was originally rated R & then cut to get a PG-13. The deleted scenes that would have given it an R are included on the dvd(not sure if all of them are there though). Watching that film,it felt very compromised to tone down various sexual inuendoes & possible nudity..& it felt like it should be R rated,yet was an edited down PG-13 version tease. The film is ok,has some amusing moments,but could have been just a tad better if left intact.
Besides alittle nudity is always a good thing
So just because it was released in theaters with a PG-13. Does not mean it is the 'correct' version. I'm sure most fans of the films prefer the uncut R rated version & not the compromised PG-13 version.
Since Saturday Night Fever was also released in theaters with an R & PG rating. Should the PG cut be made available on dvd when it's not the directors intended version? Again the PG version of that was a compromise to get more kids into the theaters.
I'm pretty sure that is also the case with Johnny Be Good. Rather than risk theaters not letting under 17 year olds into the film. They choise the PG-13 route via editing,then restored the footage for home video. Neither worked to huge success(movie quality is debateable),yet it has developed a small cult following over the years...& of course the R rated version is what people are seeing.
So you can understand why those who grew up with the film on video may be upset that it's an edited down version.
Of course you may say "Well what about those who saw it in theaters & want that version?". Frankly some additional nudity & other material is not going to 'ruin' the film in a revisionism way & I'm sure most people would be exicted to see a more explicit version.
If Kill Bill is released unrated only(doubtful unless Miramax splits from Disney). I would have NO complaints at all of "I want the censored version I saw in theaters!".
There is a huge difference between cuts for ratings & complete & totel destruction(aka revisionism) of a film years after the fact.
Johnny Be Good is a case of studio politics taking adult material & attempting to tone it down for the kids only to then attempt to cash in on video with a more explicit & most likely originally intended version.
10-12-03, 11:18 PM
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Pearl Harbor is another good example. It was compromised via cutting to get a PG-13 for theaters,then thankfully restored to R rated form on dvd. Which is the better version or the one the director always intended? Why the R rated version of course.
Also just because a film is not listed as being originally X or NC-17 on the MPAA site & then edited to get an R rating or lower does not mean the films were 'not' cut at all.
You have to remember the MPAA threatens filmmakers with a rating ahead of time before the final decision is made & a file is made on the films rating. They may say "This is edging into NC-17 territory,now if you wnt an R,you are going to have to take stuff out"..& leaves the studio deciding whatr to cut & what will hopefully then give it a lower rating.
Yet as for directors cuts. They are usually the first version submitted for a rating(unless studio decided to cut it beforehand just to be safe) for a rating & then compromised,hacked & re-edited to get a 'acceptable' for the studio rating.
Yet the majority of films that they threaten with NC-17s are never listed on the site.
Look up the Friday the 13th films..& they all say rated R with no hint that they were all originally given an X before cuts were made.
Or An Officer & a Gentlemen which also suffered cuts to a sex scene to avoid an X...& the same for Don't Look Now.
You won't find a mention of Dead Alive originally being NC-17 before being massacred to get an R. The listing for that makes it sound like a very gruesome film in R rated form,when in fact all the gore is cut down to G rated levels!
So you can not always trust the MPAA website with your ratings information whn dealing with films cut for ratings reasons
Also just because a film is not listed as being originally X or NC-17 on the MPAA site & then edited to get an R rating or lower does not mean the films were 'not' cut at all.
You have to remember the MPAA threatens filmmakers with a rating ahead of time before the final decision is made & a file is made on the films rating. They may say "This is edging into NC-17 territory,now if you wnt an R,you are going to have to take stuff out"..& leaves the studio deciding whatr to cut & what will hopefully then give it a lower rating.
Yet as for directors cuts. They are usually the first version submitted for a rating(unless studio decided to cut it beforehand just to be safe) for a rating & then compromised,hacked & re-edited to get a 'acceptable' for the studio rating.
Yet the majority of films that they threaten with NC-17s are never listed on the site.
Look up the Friday the 13th films..& they all say rated R with no hint that they were all originally given an X before cuts were made.
Or An Officer & a Gentlemen which also suffered cuts to a sex scene to avoid an X...& the same for Don't Look Now.
You won't find a mention of Dead Alive originally being NC-17 before being massacred to get an R. The listing for that makes it sound like a very gruesome film in R rated form,when in fact all the gore is cut down to G rated levels!
So you can not always trust the MPAA website with your ratings information whn dealing with films cut for ratings reasons
