matome

I finally got around to watching the R1 disc of Bend It Like Beckham and noticed that several scenes have been edited and "curse" words removed when compared to my R3 disc. Was this edited for release in the U.S. (I never saw the U.S. version till now)? All "bitch" references were cut out as well as one "shit." Doesn't make much sense since they say shit about 3-4 times in other places without being cut.

• as Jess' sister leaves the boutique at the beginning of the movie she calls one of the three girls a bitch for wearing the same contacts as her is cut out
  
• one of the girls on the park bench call Jess a bitch when she calls them "slags" is cut out
  
• the shot of the car rocking back and forth at the airport while Pinky and her beau are fooling around is shortened
  
• Pinky calls Jess a bitch after her fiance's parents call off the wedding is cut
  
• the dance club scene in Germany is inexplicably shortened
  
• when Jess & Joe are outside the club a shot of Jess saying "I only had a couple of wines" and holding her head is cut
  
• When Jules tell Joe that Jess won't be coming to the final his remark of "Shit!" is cut out
  
• the final shot of the movie where the ice cream trick drives by is inexplicably shortened

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TheKing

They probably had to make some of these cuts to get a PG-13 rating.

The rule of thumb is that to get a PG-13, you're usually allowed only one "big" profanity. So you can say shit once, but say it again and you're gonna get an R...

metaridley

Oddly enough, I just watched this movie today for the first time (on DVD, of course). I thought it was great, but since I haven't seen any other "editions" of it, I really can't comment. I'd hate to hear it's been edited down for North American audiences though, since I plan on buying the DVD eventually.

JonTurner

Yeah, uh, you're right, but that word isn't shit, it's f___. I've seen plenty of PG-13 movies with numerous uses of shit... none of these supposed edits (I haven't seen any version but the DVD, so I dunno) seem at all necessary for a PG-13. Strange.

matome

Maybe there is a limit to the # of times you can say shit before you get the R-rating? Like I said, they do say shit a few times in the U.S. cut, but why cut out just one and let the other three go? The total removing of "bitch" is even stranger. I don't remember any f-bombs in any version.

Rypro 525

actually, i spy and hardball both have around 50 shits.
and also another edit, the credits are bleeped when they are uncut in the british version. and also, since you mentioned the movie was region 3, that would not be in britian, so maybe you got an unofficial version.

Groucho

IBTC16

DonnachaOne

My r2 has all those bits...

Nierfacon

Crazy thing is, I just bought this yesterday. If I had visited sooner and knew this, I might not have bought it.


Ah...shit.

Qui Gon Jim

Because they edited out a couple curses? Sheesh!

DonnachaOne

Nier has a right to be disappointed. If you buy something under the assumption that it was the definitive version (which is one of the reasons we get DVDs in the first place), finding out you've just bought an edited version is a nasty surprise.

Minor dialogue changes can have a large effect on how characters are supposed to be perceived. It's not just cursing - there's referring to youth drinking and an implied sex scenes. The fact that it's only an IMPLIED sex scene makes the edit even more ludicrous.

bishop2knight

The big question was whether the film was edited for the DVD or at the theatre. I'm willing to bet the DVD version is the exact same as the one shown at the cineplexes.

Still, it does suck to know that the MPAA is so strict on these "minor issues" while killing is so readily acceptable.

matome

I would imagine that the R1 DVD was most likely the same version as the U.S. theatrical cut, which I was trying to verify. Granted the edits were pretty small and would've been hard to notice in the theater even if someone had seen a non-R1 version previously. The cuts in no way stopped the movie from being a great little flick, but it's just weird how these seemingly minor "infractions" warranted editing out here in the U.S., especially since it was rated PG-13 and not PG anyway.

moviezzz

But this is the definitive version of the US release, the same way it played theatres. Films (and dialogue) are often changed when "Americanized".

I've got the R2 version and just bought the R1 version. I'll have to compare.

Still, these are pretty minor changes. Nothing to get worked up about or enough to boycott the release.

DonnachaOne

Um... yeah.
I know this. This goes beyond changing "football" to "soccer" though.

zerotl

Wow, I'm suprised, good thing I still have my r3 that came with the soundtrack. Did the r1 also come with the soundtrack?

Purple X

Did anyone here get the Hong Kong Region 3 DVD of Bend It Like Beckham released by Panorama?

I'm sure it's the same cut as other International DVDs, but how is the quality, the same as the Korean release?

matome

That's the version I have and no, the R1 didn't come with the soundtrack CD. It also looks 100% better than the R1 disc which looks like it has no color comparatively speaking.


This was the original version I had picked up before the Korean 2-disc R3. It is unedited, but it's also non-anamorphic and you can't get rid of the subtitles (no "Subtitle Off" menu option) unless you do some serious menu hacking. the picture was pretty good for a non 16x9 transfer though.

calhoun07

Can you tell me if there is a good reason to buy the region two version when you already have the region one version? Aside from being uncut, does it have any other bonus features not available on the R1 version?

I rented it first to check it out and to see if they removied "football" and replaced it with "soccer." When I rented it and heard the dialogue with "football" intact, I assumed it was the original UK cut, and bought the DVD shortly thereafter. I was hinging on buying the R2 version, but decided the R1 version would be fine based on that. I had no idea about these other edits.

The MPAA just makes no sense, and we all know that.

mr_jbloggs

So this means you can shoot three "Bitches" on screen but can't shout "Die bitch!" "Die bitch!" "Die Bitch"

matome

The R1 & R2 have the same extras. The R3 is also the same with the exception of the music video. R3 has the Victoria Beckham "I Wish" song as the video while the R1&R2 have the "Hot, Hot, Hot" song (both themed to the movie shots). The end of the R1-2 video, however, includes set footage of Victoria & David Beckham impersonators (the guy looks like he's stoned or something), Keira & the Jess girl recording shots for the video.