| Die Hard with a Vengeance

Cut scene in the lift
 |
15s+ |
 |
122:53s |
1995 US film by John McTiernan
(Buena Vista)
The same cuts apply to both the cinema release of 1995 and the subsequent
video release.
The film was also pre-cut
by 20th Century Fox in America before it's release on DVD and VHS, and it
was this cut that was released worldwide.
Cuts Summary
The 12 seconds of BBFC cuts include
some chain-whipping in the fight between McClane and Targo.
- Killing of guard by the mute woman: entry & withdrawal of knife, blood spurt are all
cut.
- Lift scene at end: McClane shooting and the resulting blood sprays on his face are cut.
US version is graphically extended including one man getting his head blown off and his
body slumping on top of John. This is why John is on the floor when he crawls out of the
lift door and is soaked in blood. See left for montage of
this scene
- Chain fight between McClane & Russian: One chain-hit has been cut.
- Dialogue cut for language eg "Fuck you Joe" becomes "Go away Joe"
Thanks to Andrew:
It is worth noting that the cut mute woman knife attack
sequence is shown in full on the 2nd disk of the region 2 special edition,
yet cut significantly in the disk 1 film! Many thanks to Gav
Salkeld who personally compiled a detailed list of of cuts:
The BBFC gave the film a ‘15’ rating for the cinema
release after applying almost 15 seconds of cuts. These cuts apply to the
DVD version only; VHS and cinema cuts are slightly different. Its worth
noting that the DVD version has had some footage slyly reinstated without
the BBFC’s knowledge, so in theory it is an 18. This trend is seemingly
becoming more frequent as the years go on, and why this is I don’t know.
Another point is that the subtitles on the DVD are uncut 95% of the time, as
they are based on the uncut print! Also, if you listen carefully under the
commentary, all of the uncut dialogue can be heard too!
The BBFC did not implement all of the cuts, however. The distributors were
simply told to reduce the volume of the film’s bad language by removing the
more aggressive strong- and very strong language, and that which could not
be justified by context. The distributors were not told what individual
words to remove.
- When we first see McClane, Walter tells him how
far away the back up will be. In the uncut version, McClane responds with
“Ten blocks, you fucking kidding me?” In the UK print, the word “really”
replaces the strong language
- As McClane stands in Harlem wearing the racist
board, one of the black gang members shouts “What the fuck?!” In the UK
version however, he says, “What the hell is that?”
- When McClane and Zeus jump in the taxi, McClane
says, “Get the fuck outta here!” but the strong language has the word
‘hell’ replace it
- When McClane and Zeus are escaping in the taxi,
Zeus is holding his arm in pain. In the uncut version, he shouts “Oh
fuck!” but in the UK version he says, “Goddamn!"
- In the police plaza, McClane cheekily says “Fuck
you, Joe” to Lambert but in the UK version this is changed to “Go away,
Joe”
- Later on in this scene when the group are
discussing Bob Simons, McClane says he was “a fuck-up, not a psycho”. In
the cut version, he says Simons was a “flunky”
- During the sequence where McClane and Simon are
speaking on the phone, McClane says he understands that Simon is a
“fucking wacko” but in the UK version he says “freaky wacko”
- Just after Simon has set Zeus and McClane their
first riddle, Zeus asks McClane if he was listening. McClane says he
didn’t hear “every fucking thing” Simon said. This is changed to “every
single thing” in the UK version. Just after this, Zeus asks, “What the
fuck is wrong with you?” but because of the dubbing in the previous line
of dialogue, this is changed to “what the heck is wrong with you?”
- When Zeus realises the riddle is a trick and
says he “forgot about the man”. McClane anxiously replies, “Fuck the man,
we got 10 seconds left!” In the UK version he says “Forget the man”
- As McClane is driving the taxi recklessly around
New York with Zeus, he remarks about the distance they have travelled in
such a short time, saying “That’s gotta be a record” in the UK DVD. In the
uncut version, he really says “That’s gotta be a fucking record”
- On the subway train as McClane is carrying the
bomb down the aisle, he shouts, “Fuck!” as the liquids mix. This should
have been cut out as it was on video, but it is left in the DVD
- Zeus tells the man at the phone to “Get away
from the goddamn phone!” in the uncut print, but this is changed to just
“damn phone” in the UK version
- In the UK version when Zeus makes the Rodney
King joke, McClane retorts with “Very funny” but he is meant to say “Fuck
you” as he does in the uncut version
- When the guard in the Federal Reserve is killed
by Katya, the shot of her brutally slicing his throat a second time from
the front is cut from the UK version
- Also missing from this scene is the second stab
Katya gives the guard, where he is bent over and she stabs him in his
right kidney
- The spectacular lift shootout (see left) has
been ruined in the UK version, but the DVD cuts are nowhere near as bad as
the video cuts. To begin with, the shot of the second guard to McClane’s
rear right falling from his gunshot wound has been removed
- During this sequence, McClane shouting “Put that
fucking gun down!” twice has been reinstated in the DVD but it should have
been redubbed without the strong language as per the UK VHS version
- As McClane headbutts the guard behind him, the
second half of the shot as the camera pans back to McClane is missing from
the VHS but it has been restored in the DVD. We see McClane continuing to
headbutt the bloodied guard’s face, as he begins to slides down the wall
behind McClane. In the VHS edition, more gunshots from earlier in the
sequence have been replayed to try and smooth the cuts but this does not
apply to the DVD. In the VHS, this has resulted in the loss of dialogue
from McClane, as he shouts, “Put it down!” at Otto. In the UK version,
this now looks very stupid as McClane’s mouth is moving but instead of
speech we can hear gunshots. Again, this does not apply to the DVD release
- At the end of this sequence, McClane pressing
his gun against Otto’s head and blowing it clean off has been trimmed. In
the UK version, McClane moves in front of the camera and we hear a gunshot
as it cuts to the next scene. The gory sound effect has also been trimmed.
In the uncut version, Otto’s head explodes and a large amount of his blood
and chunks of his brain spray across the elevator walls and McClane’s face
- McClane falls out of the lift and brings himself
to his feet. He spies Zeus and shouts “Freeze… put your fucking hands up
now!” but the strong language has been cut from the UK version
- Just after this, McClane sees Ricky’s body and
angrily remarks, “Simon-fucking-Says!” but again the strong language is
cut from the UK version
- When Zeus has picked up the gold bar, the
dialogue should go like this:
Zeus: Damn, slow down, shit!
McClane: Put that shit down.
Zeus: No fucking way.
However, the UK version has been redubbed to remove even the word
“shit”(!) as follows:
Zeus: Damn, slow down, shoot!
McClane: Put that gold down.
Zeus: Ain’t no way.
- Just after this in the next scene, McClane asks
Zeus if he knows how to hotwire the car. In the UK prints he says, “it
takes too frigging long”. In the original version, he actually says “it
takes too fucking long”
- In the humorous scene where McClane commandeers
the businessman’s car, the businessman tells Zeus and McClane to “Go take
a hike!” in the UK version. In the uncut version, he actually says, “Go
fuck yourself!”
- Upon coming to the aqueduct, McClane speaks to
the foreman about his workers and the foreman says he is going to “write
those fucking clowns off”. In the UK version, the strong language has been
cut
- When McClane shoots the two Germans in the
truck, the second shot of the two bodies jerking as they are riddled with
bullets has been shortened in the UK version, so we now just see the two
bodies slumping in their seats
- In the scene where McClane calls Simon a
“fuck-head” on the radio in the tunnels, this is changed to “bone-head” in
the UK version
- Following the car chase in the rain, McClane and
Zeus end up upside down in their car. Zeus asks McClane, “what the fuck
happened?” but this is changed to “what the hell happened” in the UK
version
- When the man on the boat is sliced in half, the
gory sound effect has been dipped in volume to remove the initial slicing
sound as the wire makes contact with this midriff
- At the end of the Targo/McClane fight, McClane
picks up a chain and hits Targo twice as he says, “You ever see a show
called the Addams Family? They got a motherfucker on there called Lurch!”
In the VHS version, the second chain hit has been removed and the word
“motherfucker” has been redubbed with simply “mother”, but the DVD
reinstates the second chain hit. It is worth knowing that the
chain-whipping sequence was cut by 12 seconds in the US in order to secure
an ‘R’ rating. This footage is missing from all versions world-wide
- As McClane runs away from Targo, he shouts
“Fuck!” in the uncut version but this has been taken off the soundtrack on
the UK prints
- Towards the end of the film, McClane radios the
coastguard and tells them to look for “a fucking big black and white
fucking white boat” but the strong language in his dialogue has been cut
out
- When Simon has Zeus and McClane tied up on top
of his huge bomb, Zeus asks Simon, “Ain’t no riddle gonna stop this
motherfucker?” but this has been redubbed with “No riddle’s gonna diffuse
this thing?” in the UK cut
- As McClane is trying to grab the splinter in his
arm, Zeus asks “What the fuck are you doing?” but the strong language has
been cut from the UK version
- As McClane grips the splinter in his teeth, he
tells Zeus, “Don’t drop this motherfucker, all right?” but in the cut
version he simply says, “Don’t drop this, all right?” but the strong
language has been cut out badly and we still hear him partly say it
- During the sequence where McClane is telling
Zeus about Holly, Zeus asks him “What the fuck is sorta separated?” when
in the UK version he says, “What the hell’s sorta separated?”
- Moments later, Zeus says, “I bet you blame that
shit on your wife” but the word ‘shit’ has been mysteriously cut out. Yes,
this is a word that features extensively in the PG-rated comedy, Men In
Black.
- Zeus goes on to say, “Shit!” but the word ‘damn’
has been used instead in the DVD version
- As he looks for the splinter, McClane shouts “I
don’t fucking see it!” but the strong language is, again, cut from the UK
version
- When the bomb starts to make a noise, Zeus
screams, “What the fuck was that?!” but in the UK version he says “Why’s
it doing that?!” which sounds simply stupid
- McClane starts to look frantically for something
to free Zeus but Zeus tells him to “get the fuck out of here”. The strong
language is cut from the UK version.
- Zeus then says “Goddamnit McClane, listen to
me!” but this is changed to just ‘God’ in the cut version.
- McClane retorts with “We gotta fucking do
something!” but the strong language is missing from the UK prints
- Back on ground, McClane tells Walter and Lambert
that Simon wasn’t playing against them. Zeus overhears and shouts, “Fuck
that, McClane! You’re still alive, aren’t ya?” but in the UK version the
word “forget” has been dubbed over the strong language
- Finally, towards the film’s climax Zeus shouts
at the bad guys from the helicopter with the line, “Run motherfuckers, the
exterminators are here!” but the line has been redubbed with “Run suckers,
the exterminators are here!” in the UK cut
Thanks to Andrew:
If you are considering buying it, may I
recommend the Aussie region 4 2007 release, it might not be the 2 disk, but
its a PAL format, digitally re-mastered sound and visual, and uncut. stay
away from the region 1, I implore you, which has problems.
Thanks to Andrew re TV showing in March 2008
Well once again its happened, the BBFC's former
decision makers have made their successors look dumb. Tonight in a 9 PM slot
Die Hard with a Vengeance was shown uncut on UK Gold! You'd have expected
channel 4 or 5 to screen it in this version 10 years ago as an act of
independent rebellion, but UK Gold?
All swearing was intact and dub free (the guys a
flunky!), and the poorly edited lift sequence shown in all its brain
splattering glory. Making the Region 2 Buena Vista 2 disk special edition
look a lot less special. |