James Bond Censor Cuts

BBFC showing Thrust

In a turnaround for the Bond movies, 2002's Die Another Day was passed '12A' uncut (and later '12' uncut on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray) in the UK, whilst a slightly edited version went out in the US, courtesy of the MPAA.

Shortly after it's release, producer Michael G. Wilson -- perhaps aware of Bond's tough censorship history in the UK -- laughed and remarked, People have to buy the British version to see the whole thing!

MPAA Lacking Thrust

In order to secure a PG-13 rating in the US, the Jinx/James sex scene had to be trimmed by a few seconds, removing some thrusting and Jinx's moaning as she apparently climaxes. The rest of the world got the uncut version, including the UK. Director Lee Tamahori wanted to do things a little differently in this Bond film, as he explained:

We pulled out all the stops on this. You don't normally see Bond in the act of lovemaking in these movies. After Bond being incarcerated 14 months, I kept saying, 'Look, couldn't he get out and have the best bonk of his life?'. And we all agreed with that, but we still had to shoot it in a fairly restrained manner. But of course there's two versions; America having this kind of strange, quasi-puritanical attitude towards sex, we had to cut the love scene. The rest of the world didn't mind. But in the States, you're not allowed to moan, thrust, or look like you're enjoying yourself.

See What the MPAA Were Moaning About?

This short video shows the cut that was made to the original theatrical, VHS and DVD releases in the Region 1 territories:

 

MPAA find their thrust

In 2006, with the Ultimate Edition DVDs being rolled out worldwide, Die Another Day was resubmitted for MPAA approval who passed the worldwide unrated version uncut, whilst still allowing the filmmakers to keep their PG-13 rating. They also revised their rating information, which is far more informative than the original:

• 2002 Rating: Rated PG-13 for action violence and sexuality
• 2006 Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action violence, and sexual content including innuendo

For comparison the BBFC equivalent rating information was:

• Passed 12A for moderate action violence and one sex scene