Die Hard Films

Die Hard

See trailer from youtube.com

US 1988 action thriller by John McTiernan with Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. See IMDb

The US release featuring the Special Extended Version is MPAA R Rated for:

• US 2007 20th Century Fox R1 DVD via UK Amazon and at US Amazon

The Special Extended Version of Die Hard is implemented as an option via seamless branching. It is an uncontentious 62s extension to the scene where the FBI cutting off the power supply is expected to assist the terrorist in disabling the vault locks. This extra material better explains the power cut and reversion to an emergency supply. See pictorial version details from movie-censorship.com

The power shutdown scene is available on UK releases as a DVD extra

uncut
alternative

• UK 2007 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
• UK 2000 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
• UK 1989 Film and Video VHS
• UK 1988 cinema release

Die Hard 2

• Die Hard 2: Die Harder

See trailer from youtube.com
 

Uncut version is available at:

1990 US action film by Renny Harlin with Bruce Willis and William Atherton. See IMDb

Passed 18 uncut for:

• UK 2007 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
• UK 2003 20th Century Fox Special Edition R2 DVD
• UK 2000 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
• UK 1992 Fox Laserdisc

The US release is uncut and MPAA R Rated for:

• US 2007 20th Century Fox RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
• US 2007 20th Century Fox R1 DVD at US Amazon

Passed 15 after 28s of BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1991 CBS/Fox VHS
• UK 1990 CBS/Fox VHS
• UK 1990 cinema release

These releases were all cut similarly for violence in the fight scenes and for strong language

Many thanks to Gav Salkeld who has compiled a very extensive list of cuts derived from comparing this earlier 15 rated version with the later uncut 18 rated UK DVD

• The shooting of the old man in the church is trimmed very slightly to remove the beginning of the blood spurt from his body as he falls. Only the latter part of the shot remains, with the blood already spraying in the air.
• After McClane says he saw Elvis Presley in the airport, Vito’s dialogue to his colleague is missing: “Fucking tourists. Ought to be a law!”
• In the fight with the black terrorist in the luggage area, McClane’s strong headbutt to the terrorist after kneeing him has been cut
• As McClane fights with Cochrane on the conveyor belt, McClane’s headbutt to Cochrane after he punches him in the face is missing
• A close-up of Cochrane’s anguished face as his head is caught in the luggage roller is missing, resulting in the sound going out of sync as McClane jumps off the belt and grabs a nearby pipe
• Lorenzo’s dialogue in his heated conversation with McClane office has been redubbed, using the word ‘freaking’ to replace the strong language in the following lines:

“I got a fucking reindeer flying in from the fucking petting zoo!”
“Hell, let’s shutdown the whole fucking airport!”
“I’ll send your fucking captain in L.A. a fucking commendation”

• When McClane goes to get Cochrane’s fingerprints, his dialogue “Pretty gruesome fucking job” has been edited to remove the strong language
• When Lorenzo is complaining to Trudeau about the press, his dialogue of “They got it right in the fucking news” is cut to remove the strong language
• After McClane comes into the tower and tells Trudeau that they’re dealing with professionals, Barnes questions him. As McClane snatches the fax report back, his dialogue of “What the fuck do you think this is?” is cut and crossfaded crudely to remove the strong language.
• Lorenzo’s dialogue to McClane of “You’re the one who gave us that fucking body” uses ‘freaking’ to replace the strong language
• Shortly thereafter, McClane’s “Fuck Monday morning” speech has the sound dipped to cover the strong language
• As McClane becomes more angry in the tower, his shouted line of “You can’t fuck with these people, listen to me!” has had the sound badly masked by what sounds like a double dipped of the volume on the word ‘fuck’. The result is something that sounds like, “You can’t hup-hup with these people”.
• When Coleman and McClane are bundled into the lift, McClane saying “Take your fucking hands off me” to the security guys has been edited to remove the bad language
• Lorenzo’s radio call to lobby security with the dialogue, “two unauthorised personnel in the fucking tower” has the words ‘front tower’ used instead
• Coleman’s question in the lift to McClane where she asks, “Can’t fuck with what guy?” has had the swearing redubbed with the word ‘fool’
• As McClane gets into the ventilation duct, his line “I gotta crawl around in this motherfucking tin can!” has it’s strong language redubbed with a drawn-out use of ‘goddamn’
• In the standout skywalk shootout, the SWAT leader’s death has been trimmed to remove the front shot of the bloody hole appearing on his forehead
• The shot of Barnes’ bloody arm after the shards of glass fall onto it has been trimmed to remove the latter part of the shot, where we can more clearly see his bloodied arm
• The slow-motion sight of one terrorist being thrown back into a wall of telephones as blood pours from multiple wounds on his body is missing entirely
• The shooting of another SWAT member on the escalator has been cut to remove squib hits on his body. In the cut version, he simply falls to the ground, and we do not see any of the bloody impacts on his body
• Another SWAT member’s death has been shortened. Before he crashes backwards into a stack of cardboard boxes, we fail to see an extra shot of a terrorist unloading into him, as well as sight of the SWAT guys’ back as bloody exit wounds riddle his body.
• The slow motion, bullet-ridden death of the SWAT guy who crashes through the glass sheet has been cut to remove all sight of the bloody impacts on his body. He now simply falls into the glass when he is shot at.
• When McClane shoots Robert Patrick’s terrorist from the air vent, the close-up of a bloody squib going off on Patrick’s back is missing
• When the short-haired terrorist’s MP5 runs out, his angry shout of “Fuck!” has been virtually muted on the soundtrack
• Just before the paint tower falls on the prostrate terrorist, a close-up of his screaming face has been removed
• The short-haired terrorist from before has a line missing. His wry, “I’m gonna kick your fucking ass” has been removed, leaving just the tail end of the shot where he is briefly seen smirking.
• The gunning down of the same terrorist by McClane is heavily cut. We miss the second shot of the terrorist taking bullet impacts, along with blood spurts on his torso
• The third shot of the terrorist being shot is also missing, removing the slow-motion sight of him falling, along with a huge blood spurt from his shoulder
• After Barnes and McClane are reunited, McClane’s cry of “He’s gonna crash the fucking plane!” has been edited to remove the strong language
• After Colonel Stuart crashes the plane, McClane’s second exasperated use of “Motherfucker!” has been removed from the soundtrack as he stands up to survey the wreckage
• When Major Grant arrives with his mean, McClane’s line of “This is it? One fucking platoon?!” has had the strong language removed
• In the scene where McClane speaks to Marvin about the pilot’s briefing room, his dialogue of “I gotta put a fucking glass up to the wall” has been edited to remove the strong language
• When McClane and Major Grant argue, Grant’s dialogue of “We’re here to jerk off that cocksucker” has been redubbed with “service that hijacker”
• During McClane and Barnes’ map reading, McClane’s dialogue of “We looked at 12 fucking houses already” has been edited to remove the strong language
• As McClane and Barnes wait outside the church, McClane’s dialogue of “Who gives a fuck? Just be ready” has been atrociously tampered with. The offending language has been both redubbed with incoherent dialogue, and distorted by what sounds like damage to the actual sound on the film reel. The result is something that sounds like “Who gives a sieve?” along with crackles and pops on the sound. This is one of the worst cuts ever.
• In the icicle fight with McClane and the patrolling terrorist, the 15-version loses the side shot showing the terrorist’s bloody face with the icicle deep in his eye socket
• After McClane snaps the icicle off, we immediately cut away to the mid-shot of the terrorist falling to the floor. We do not see the terrorist hanging in the air momentarily with blood around his eye and mouth, nor do we see him fall backwards away from McClane.
• Shortly after, McClane’s point of view shot as he looks at the bloodied and eyeless dead terrorist is missing, resulting in the ‘ugh’ sound of McClane’s sickly reaction being completely out of sync
• When Grant’s men find the C4 in the church, the dialogue “Look’s like C4 and the motherfucker’s armed” has been badly cut to remove the use of ‘fucker’
• Grant’s dialogue to Stuart on the radio of “Check out your own fucking plane” has been dubbed with ‘freaking’ in place of the strong language
• Soon after, Grant’s line of “I will pull that detonator out of Stuart’s dead fucking hand” has been edited to remove the strong language
• Telford’s throat cutting has been drastically reduced. After Grant slices his neck, we immediately cut away to a shot of the other soldiers watching. In the cut version, we fail to see Telford’s head roll back, his hands grabbing at his neck, and the gory slash with blood running from it
• As Telford dies, we only briefly see his head fall forward, and some of the blood on his neck is seen partly in shadow. In the uncut version, we see his head fall forward out of the shadows completely, Telford’s hands soaked in blood, and more blood dripping and running from his throat.
• After Lorenzo’s collision outside the airport, his shouted line to Vito of “Get the fuck outta the car!” has been edited to remove the strong language
• Grant’s line on the plane of “I’ve seen enough fucking snow to last me a lifetime” has been dubbed with ‘freaking’
• In the fight between McClane and Stuart, McClane’s use of “motherfucker” has been cut
• Barnes’ exclamation of “They used the fucking fire to see!” in the tower has ‘freaking’ dubbed over the strong language

Die Hard with a Vengeance

See trailer from youtube.com
 

Uncut version is available at:

Cut scene in the lift

12s

best
available

R Rated

1995 US action film by John McTiernan with Bruce Willis and Jeremy Irons. See IMDb

The US Pre-cut Version was passed 15 uncut for strong language and violence with all BBFC cuts waived for:

• UK 2010 Buena Vista Online
• UK 2010 Buena Vista R2 DVD at UK Amazon

The US release featuring the US Pre-cut Version is R Rated for:

• US 2007 20th Century Fox RA Blu-ray via UK Amazon and at US Amazon
• US 2001 20th Century Fox Special Edition R1 DVD at US Amazon

From IMDB:

The film was pre-cut by 20th Century Fox in America before its release on DVD and VHS, and it was this cut that was released worldwide. The 12 seconds of cuts include some chain-whipping in the fight between McClane and Targo

Passed 15 after 12s of BBFC cuts for:

• UK 2002 Disney Collectors Edition R2 DVD
• UK 2002 Buena Vista R2 DVD
• UK 2000 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
• UK 1996 Buena Vista VHS
• UK 1995 cinema release

Cuts Summary:

The 12 seconds of BBFC cuts include some chain-whipping in the fight between McClane and Targo.

1. Killing of guard by the mute woman: entry & withdrawal of knife, blood spurt are all cut.
2. 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.
3. Chain fight between McClane & Russian: One chain-hit has been cut.
4. Dialogue cut for language eg "Fuck you Joe" becomes "Go away Joe"

Many thanks to Gav Salkeld who 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:

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!

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.

From IMDb:

The original release of the UK DVD version in 1999 was actually even more cut than the British video and cinema versions. This was apparently because a TV or airline version was erroneously used to master the DVD. Ironically, because the content does not exactly match the officially classified version, this much-sanitized release was effectively illegal to sell, and was withdrawn. The replacement, to be issued in mid-2000, will be the same as the less-censored UK video and cinema version.

Die Hard 4.0

• Live Free or Die Hard

See trailer from youtube.com
 

Uncut version is available at:

uncut

Unrated

2007 US action film by Len Wiseman with Bruce Willis and Justin Long. See IMDb

The UK release featuring the Unrated Version is absent from the BBFC database for:

• UK 2007 20th Century Fox Ultimate Action Edition at UK Amazon

The US release is uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• US 2007 20th Century Fox R1 DVD at US Amazon

cut

PG-13

• UK 2007 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray
• UK 2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
• UK 2007 cinema release

This Theatrical Version was cut in the US to achieve a PG-13:

• Profanity was deleted to leave just the one instance allowed in PG-13
• The much quoted line: Yippiee-ki-yay Motherfucker was obscured by out of place gunfire
• Removed blood spurts and used alternate footage/scenes

The BBFC commented on their 15 Rating as follows:

DIE HARD 4.0 is an action thriller about the subverting of computer networks throughout the USA in order to spread destruction and mayhem as a mask for the largest money theft ever. The film was passed ‘15’ for frequent action violence and one use of strong language.

The BBFC’s Guidelines at ‘12A’ state that ‘violence must not dwell on detail' and that 'there should be no emphasis on injuries or blood’. Throughout the film there are several moments where the violence does focus on injury and it was these moments, in combination with the sheer relentlessness of the film's frequent action violence, which placed DIE HARD 4.0 more appropriately at '15'. The film also contains one use of strong language (‘motherfucker’), which was clear even with the end of the word obscured by the sound of gunshots. BBFC policy regarding language at 12A states that ‘mouthed and bleeped uses of 'motherfucker' are allowed' and that 'mouthed language will usually be identifiable but inaudible’. With the term clearly audible in this case, the '15' certificate was required.

DIE HARD 4.0 also features some mild verbal sex references and a brief scene in which ads for websites offering sexual services are displayed on a computer screen.