From
Russia With Love is a 1963 UK James Bond film by Terence Young (MGM)
The BBFC cut the cinema release in 1963. Some footage was later
restored but most cuts persist in all prints worldwide.
Sexual dialogue early in the film about lovers and
physical enjoyment have been removed
The gypsy dance has been shortened, removing in particular almost
all shots of the dancer wriggling her stomach and bending right over
backwards
The fight that happens soon after between the two women has been
heavily cut
Tania walking nude towards the bed was cut for cinema release, but
has since been restored for all video releases
The reference to searching Tania has been cut soon after
Bond and Tania's kissing in bed has been trimmed
The footage of Bond and Tania being filmed and photographed by two
men through the mirror has been darkened and shortened through the
introduction of an early fade to black
When M and other's listen to the recording of Bond questioning
Tania, the line Was I as exciting as all those Western girls?
has 'was' changed to 'am', as it was considered less sexually
suggestive
On the train, Bond lowering the blind in his cabin and his quip of
Two hours should straighten this out has been cut
When Grant reveals the roll of film to Bond, his comment of
What a performance has been removed
The famous fight between Grant and Bond has been shortened
Kleb's death has been shorted, reducing the sight of her
protracted suffering, and her death cries have been partially muted on
the soundtrack
Bond's remark to Tania of What a performance has been cut
at the very end of the film, resulting in a particularly bad jump-cut
on the print, which affects the soundtrack particularly badly
For video and DVD releases the old cinema cut to Tania walking nude
towards the bed has been restored
Dr.
No is a 1962 UK James Bond film by Terence Young
Cuts were made for the 1962 cinema release. The cuts were presumably
to the negative, as was often the norm in the 60s, so cuts now persist
to all prints worldwide.
Bond's fight with the chauffeur has been trimmed, including the
removals of blows to the chauffeur when he is unable to defend
himself. A knee kick in this fight was also removed.
The killing of Dent has been trimmed to so Bond only fires one
fatal shot. Footage was removed of Bond shooting extra shots into
Dent's back as he lies on the floor dying.
Dr. No's line I'm sure she will amuse the guards was
considered too sexually suggestive, and has been redubbed instead to
The guards will amuse her
Shortly after, Dr. No's henchmen beating up Bond as he is sat at
the table has been trimmed, introducing a dissolve to the next scene
much earlier to cover the removal of violent footage
Casino
Royale is a 2006 US/UK/Czech James Bond film by Martin Campbell
The MPAA and BBFC asked for cuts to be made to the film in order to gain
a PG-13 and 12A rating respectively in the US and UK. The Hong Kong DVD
release is fully uncut, restoring all the MPAA and BBFC cuts, and has a
DTS soundtrack.
This document outlines the footage missing from the US and UK versions.
US Region 1
In the opening toilet fight, after Fisher falls back into the
toilet cubicle, Bond’s first punch to Fisher’s face has been toned
down by a change in edit point. In the uncut R3 disc, we see Bond in a
close-up as he pins Fisher to the wall. Then we cut to a rear shot of
Bond and Fisher, and we have six frames of Bond swinging his fist
before it makes contact with Fisher’s head on the seventh frame. In
the R1 version, the close-up of Bond is extended by six frames, and we
see him actually throw the punch from this angle, only cutting to the
rear shot of Bond and Fisher as the punch makes contact on the seventh
frame. This lessens the focus on the impact, as it’s almost as if we
don’t see the impact at all since it happens right on an edit point.
After Bond and Fisher crash through all the cubicles, Bond elbows
Fisher in the face and then smashes one of the stall doors into his
nose. In the R1 version, the door-smashing is cut.
As Bond and Fisher dive out of the cubicle and land on the floor,
Bond gets to his feet and violently kicks Fisher right in the face.
Fisher then picks up a bin and swings it at Bond just as Bond goes in
for another kick. In the R1 version, Bond’s first heavy kick is cut,
but the first half of his first kick to Fisher is spliced together
with Bond’s second kick to the bin Fisher uses to block it. The effect
in the cut version is that Bond goes in to kick Fisher, but his kick
is blocked by Fisher swinging the bin. This edit in particular is
quite jarring.
When Bond drags Fisher over to the sink in order to drown him, we
cut to a low shot of Fisher screaming and flailing his arms around
just before Bond forces his head forward towards the sink. In the R1
version, the first part of the shot has been removed, showing Fisher’s
screaming and choking as Bond holds him round the neck. All that
remains is a brief latter part of the shot, where Bond forces Fisher
forward. A second or two later, there is a rather nasty jump in the
musical score, whereby the soundtrack has had to be cut in order to
account for the missing footage.
As Bond forces Fisher’s head into the sink, the immediate two
shots after Bond smashes the mirror have been removed in the R1
version. We do not see a close-up of Bond’s face violently grimacing
as he forces Fisher’s head into the sink below frame, and we do not
see the next shot that follows of Fisher spluttering in the water.
After this shot in the uncut R3 disc, we cut back to a close-up of
Bond. This second shot of Bond is the first shot we see in the R1
version after the mirror is smashed. The sounds of Fisher dying have
also been reduced and crossfaded to mask the sound of him spluttering
underwater.
Fisher’s death has been further reduced in the R1 version. The
sole shot of Fisher’s head being held under the water in the and the
following lengthily shot of Bond continuing to hold Fisher’s head
under the water have both been shortened through the addition of
alternate footage that shows Fisher’s legs kicking. This is not seen
in the R3 disc. In the original uncut version, we have the following
sequence of shots:
a) Bond smashes the mirror
b) Close-up of Bond violently forcing Fisher’s head into the water
below frame
c) Close-up of Fisher spluttering in the water
d) Second close-up of Bond
e) Second shot of Fisher’s head in the water
f) Third close-up of Bond as Fisher dies off-screen and Bond lets go
However, in the cut R1 version we have the following:
a) Bond smashes the mirror
d) Second close-up of Bond holding Fisher under the water below frame
e) First part of the second shot of Fisher under the water
-) Shot of Fisher’s legs kicking on the floor
f) Latter part of the third close-up of Bond as Fisher dies off-screen
and Bond lets go
In other words, the new shot of Fisher’s legs kicking has been
inserted to cover the latter part of shot E and the first part of shot
F, in order to reduce the focus on Fisher’s drowning in the sink.
In the stairwell fight, after Obanno's bodyguard is kicked over
the staircase, the high shot of him hitting the ground below and dying
upon impact has been removed from the R1 disc. Instead, the preceding
shot of the fight on the stairs is held slightly longer to cover up
the missing footage. In the uncut version, this wide shot is split in
two, with the bodyguard hitting the floor breaking the shot. However,
due to the wide shot being held longer in the R1 version, it is now
ahead of the uncut print.
As a result of this, the R1 is slightly under running, so the
immediate next shot -- a brief close-up of Obanno kicking Bond in the
stomach -- has been replaced with a different, slightly longer take.
In the uncut version, the shot lasts around 30 frames. In the R1
version the alternate shot lasts around 35 frames.
After this, Bond throwing Obanno’s head through a glass window has
been removed from R1 version.
Immediately after, Obanno swiping at Bond with his machete has
also been removed. The R1 resumes with Bond throwing Obanno into a
wall. The first half of Bond throwing Obanno towards the window has
been edited together with this second throwing of Obanno towards the
wall (minus the first seven frames of the shot), so the PG-13 version
makes it look like Bond has simply grabbed Obanno and thrown him into
the wall.
After Obanno is flipped onto his back, Vesper makes a run for it
but Obanno grabs her leg and causes her to stumble. The R1 version
removes this, resuming on a close-up of Bond getting to his feet.
After Vesper tries to open the emergency exit, the R1 version
misses a brief wide-shot of Bond and Obanno struggling.
The next shot of Bond kicking Obanno in the thigh and striking him
hard in the face causing him to reel backwards is also missing.
Additionally, the next shot of Bond throwing himself at Obanno and
Obanno shoving Bond straight back into the wall behind him has also
been removed from the R1 version. This shot also shows Bond raising
his elbow up to strike Obanno in the back.
Immediately after this, the next close-up of Bond elbowing Obanno
hard in the back has been trimmed to remove the first of Bond’s two
heavy blows. The cut version goes from Vesper trying to open the door,
to the second part of the shot of Bond hitting Obanno a second time.
As a result, the R1 version makes it look like Bond only elbows Obanno
once.
Following the shot of Vesper turning around to look at Bond and
Obanno on the floor, the first five frames of Bond with his arm around
Obanno’s neck yanking him backwards have been cut from the R1 version.
Shortly after, the uncut version shows two shots of Obanno’s legs
kicking as Bond chokes him. The second of these shots has been cut
from the R1 version.
After we have cut back to Obanno’s face, the uncut version then
shows a shot of Obanno’s hand frantically trying to reach for the gun
on the floor. The R1 version removes this shot.
The immediate next shot of Bond and Obanno struggling has also
been cut from the R1 version.
Following on from this, a second shot of Obanno’s hand trying to
reach for the gun has been removed. The R1 version resumes on a
close-up of Bond’s face as he chokes Obanno.
After we see Obanno’s hands fall from around Bond’s face,
approximately 31 frames have been removed from the beginning of the
next shot of Obanno’s feet kicking on the floor in the R1 version.
Following that, we cut to Vesper looking on in fright. Right after
this shot, the uncut version cuts back to Obanno’s face as he breathes
his last breath and dies in Bond’s grip. The edited R1 version instead
cuts back to the shot of Obanno’s feet on the floor as they cease
kicking, resuming on the latter half of the close-up of Obanno’s face
after he has died.
As Bond gets to his feet, the uncut version cuts to a close-up of
Obanno’s dead and bloodied face, before cutting to a shot of Vesper.
In the R1 version, the close-up of Obanno is removed and we cut
straight to Vesper’s shot.
Following this shot, to fill in screen time lost by the last cut,
the proceeding shot of Bond is slightly extended in the R1 version to
show him standing looking at Vesper before walking over to her. It
looks to be footage shot before the director called ‘action’, as it
appears Daniel Craig is waiting for his cue and makes the editing
appear sloppy. In the film world, it makes Bond’s thought processes
appear slow, which of course is not the case. It also makes the
editing look a little sloppy.
(UK) Region 2
The BBFC published the following statement about the cinema release
Cut on BBFC
advice in 2006: This film was originally seen by the BBFC in an
unfinished version, for advice as to the film's suitability at '12A'. The
BBFC advised the company that the torture scene placed too much emphasis on
both the infliction of pain and the sadism of the villain for the requested
'12A' category.
When the completed version of the film was submitted for
classification, reductions to the torture sequence had been made, including
the removal of lingering shots of the rope, close shots of Bond's facial
reaction and the substitution of a more distant shot of the beating compared
to the original version.
This re-edited version of the scene was considered
acceptable at '12A', where the Guidelines permit violence provided there is
no dwelling on detail or emphasis on injuries.
Details of resulting cuts:
In the torture scene, right after LeChiffre says, “You’ve taken
good care of your body”, the UK version removes the following shot of
him draping the large, knotted end of the rope over Bond’s shoulder
and saying to him sadistically, “Such a waste”.
After LeChiffre moves to Bond’s side following the above shot, the
immediate next shot from beneath the chair of the rope swinging
backwards and forwards in Bond’s direction has been trimmed. We only
see the rope swing once towards Bond and back again, where as the
uncut R3 disc has two swings back and forth.
As LeChiffre takes his second swing at Bond (seen in a wide shot)
and strikes him, the close-up of Bond gritting his teeth and shouting
in pain on impact has been removed and the preceding wide shot is
instead held for the impact, which lessens the focus on Bond’s
suffering.
Thunderball
is a 1965 UK James Bond film by Terence Young (MGM)
Goldfinger
is a 1964 UK James Bond film by Guy Hamilton (MGM)
From
Russia With Love is a 1963 UK James Bond film by Terence Young (MGM)
Dr.
No is a 1962 UK James Bond film by Terence Young
Casino
Royale is a 2006 US/UK/Czech James Bond film by Martin Campbell
