Latest Cuts: BBFC and MPA

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italy / Spain / West Germany western adventure by Sergio Leone.
Starring Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach and Lee Van Cleef.  

Cut by the BBFC for 1968 cinema release and 1986 VHS. The shorter international Version was uncut since 2000 DVD. The Director's Cut/Extended Version was released uncut in 2008.

Summary Notes

A bounty-hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery.

UK: BBFC 18 rated for:

• 2025 Arrow Video [Extended Cut + International Cut] Limited Edition R0 4K Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 11th August 2025
• 2025 Arrow Video [Extended Cut + International Cut] Limited Edition (RB) Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 11th August 2025

Promotional Material

With the two preceding films in his 'Dollars' trilogy having unleashed a boom in Euro Western productions, Sergio Leone knew that his concluding chapter would have to top them all. Armed with his largest budget yet, Leone created what is, for many, the final word on the subject -- a violent, picaresque epic presented with operatic scope and intensity, with Clint Eastwood donning the iconic hat and poncho one last time.

A partnership between two scoundrels, Blondie (Eastwood) and Tuco (Eli Wallach) goes awry, only for fate to intervene in the form of information about a cache of stolen Confederate gold buried in a graveyard. Each possessing a different clue to its location, the pair are forced into a distrustful partnership. However, the gold is also sought by Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), a ruthless mercenary with his own twisted code of honour. Thus begins a desperate pursuit amidst the mass destruction and absurdity of the American Civil War, culminating in an iconic three-way standoff inside the graveyard.

Mythic, cynical and endlessly entertaining, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly brings Leones grand sense of dramatic scale to its apotheosis. Arrow Films is proud to present this landmark Western in the most comprehensive edition ever assembled, featuring multiple cuts of the film, all meticulously restored in glorious 4K, and a wealth of new and archival bonus materials.

4K ULTRA-HD SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

DISC 1 - INTERNATIONAL CUT (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

• New 4K restoration of the 162-minute International Cut using the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
• Optional newly remixed lossless English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by film critic and historian Tim Lucas
• Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots

DISC 2 - EXTENDED CUT (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)

• New 4K restoration of the 179-minute Extended Cut, using the original 2-perf Techniscope negative
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Newly restored original lossless English mono audio
• Optional newly remixed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by film historian and Leone biographer Sir Christopher Frayling
• Audio commentary by film historian and Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel
• Seamless branching options to watch the Extended Cut with the uncut torture scene (mono only) and/or without the 'grotto' scene originally removed after the premiere
• Deleted and alternate scenes

DISC 3 - EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

• A Circular Trilogy, a newly filmed interview with film historian and critic Fabio Melelli
• The Laughter Behind the Epic, a newly filmed interview with Giacomo Scarpelli, son of co-writer Furio Scarpelli
• Three Colors, a newly filmed interview with Stefano Delli Colli, son of cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli
• Sergio and Sergio, a newly filmed interview with camera assistant Sergio Salvati
• The Hand That Drew The West, a newly filmed interview with Giuditta Simi, daughter of set/costume designer Carlo Simi
• They Call Him Angel Eyes, a newly filmed interview with filmmaker and Lee Van Cleef biographer Mike Malloy
• From Falls to Fame, a newly filmed interview with stuntman Fabio Testi
• The Man, The Cut, The Masterpiece, a newly filmed interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso
• Frames of Glory, a newly filmed interview with post-production supervisor Enzo Ocone
• That Magic Sound, a newly filmed interview with guitarist Bruno Battisti D'Amario
• The Voice Behind the Gold, a newly filmed interview with singer Edda Dell'Orso
• Call of the Coyote, a newly filmed interview with Morricone biographer Alessandro de Rosa
• The Good, The Great and the Moody, a new visual essay exploring the film's iconic soundtrack by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
• Leone's West and The Leone Style, two archive featurettes with Eastwood, Wallach, Schickel, Alberto Grimaldi and Mickey Knox
• Reconstructing the Film, an archive featurette on the assembly of the Extended Cut
• Il Maestro Parts One and Two, two archive featurettes with film music historian Jon Burlingame
• The Socorro Sequence: A Reconstruction, a featurette on a deleted scene
• The Man Who Lost the Civil War, an archive featurette on the film's depiction of the Civil War
• Vignettes (Easter Eggs), four short interviews with Eastwood and Wallach
• Alternate credits sequences
• Four comprehensive image galleries
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

Neither the Sea Nor the Sand is a 1972 UK horror romance by Fred Burnley
Starring Susan Hampshire, Frank Finlay and Michael Petrovitch

BBFC cuts were required for an 'AA' rated cinema release in 1972. Uncut since 2008 BBFC 15 rated DVD.

Summary Notes

Wife on Isle of Jersey, meets pilot, they become lovers. Flee to Scotland. While making love on beach, lighthouse keeper dies. Incident triggers further events.

UK: Uncut and BBFC 15 rated for moderate sex and nudity.:

• 2025 88 Films (RB) Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 4th August 2025
• 2025 88 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon #ad released on 4th August 2025
• 2025 88 Films Amazon VoD [UK] at UK Amazon #ad

Promotional Material

When troubled Anna (Suzanne Hampshire) comes to Jersey in an attempt to bring some meaning to her life, she finds herself falling in love with a man called Hugh, much to his brothers repugnance. The pair flee to Scotland but when Hugh suddenly dies, Anna is left distraught. However, things get more complicated when Hugh appears to return from the grave...

Written by TVs Gordon Honeycomb (Mr. and Mrs.) this odd relic weaves in witchcraft, horror, and haunting into its subtly beguiling textures offering up a strange wind-swept mystery by the sea.

EXTRAS

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION IN 1.85:1 ASPECT RATIO ENGLISH MONO 2.0 AUDIO
• OPTIONAL ENGLISH SDH
• Audio Commentary by John Hamilton and Jasper Sharp
• Audio Commentary by Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw
• Both the Sea and the Sand - An Interview with Actress Susan Hampshire
• Jersey Journey - An Interview with Editor Norman Wanstall
• Where Credit is Due - An Interview with Standby Propertyman Brian Lofthouse
• Slight Return - Stephen Thrower on Neither the Sea Nor the Sand
• Image Gallery

I Am Frigid, Why? is a 1972 France drama by Max Pécas
Starring Sandra Julien, Marie-Georges Pascal and Jean-Luc Terrade  

Cut by the BBFC until uncut and 18 rated in 2025. Uncut and MPAA Unrated in the US.

Summary Notes

Doris, forcibly initiated into incest by brother Eric and sister-in-law Carla, seeks to overcome her trauma through diverse sexual encounters.

UK: Uncut and BBFC 18 rated for sexual violence, strong sex, nudity:

• 2025 88 Films (RB) Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 4th August 2025

Promotional Material

Traumatised by her first, ugly, sexual experience, young Doris is quite unable to take pleasure in physical intimacy with either men or women. Happily, psychiatry offers a way to understand her troubles, setting her on the path which will finally unlock her repressed desires...

From erotic auteur Max Pécas (I Am a Nymphomanic) and starring the stunning Sandra Julien (Jean Rollin's The Shiver of the Vampire) I Am Frigid. Why? is a revealing -- if not strictly clinically accurate -- study of sexual dysfunction and its cures

EXTRAS

• HIGH-DEFINITION BLU-RAY PRESENTATION IN 1.66:1 ASPECT RATIO
• ORIGINAL FRENCH MONO 2.0 AUDIO
• ENGLISH SUBTITLES
• The Indelible Sandra Julien - Visual Essay by Chris ONeill

Thriller: A Cruel Picture is a 1973 Sweden action thriller by Bo Arne Vibenius (as Alex Fridolinski).
Starring Christina Lindberg, Heinz Hopf and Despina Tomazani.

The Original/Festival Version including director approved hardcore inserts was banned by the Swedish films censors for cinema release and was subsequently significantly cut to obtain a cinema release. The film was also heavily cut in the US for an MPAA R rating. This US Version was banned by the BBFC from a 1974 cinema release. Heavy cuts were then made to obtain an X rated UK cinema release in 1976. The Original Version was submitted to the BBFC in 2026 but the BBFC cut the hardcore inserts for a cut 18 rated Blu-ray release. There are several other versions featuring a mix of material from the above versions.

UK: The Original Version was BBFC 18 rated for sexual violence for sexual violence after BBFC cuts:

• 2025 Screenbound Pictures Blu-ray (rated 28/07/2025)

The BBFC commented in board meeting minutes [pdf] from darkroom.bbfc.co.uk :

The Classifiers discussed Thriller: A Cruel Picture, a Swedish crime drama, from 1973, in which a woman is forced into prostitution and later seeks violent revenge against her abusers

The film was previously submitted to the BBFC, in a pre-cut version, for cinema release in 1974 and found unsuitable for classification. It was resubmitted in 1975 203 following a change in BBFC leadership 203 and classified X in 1976 after further cuts were made to scenes of violence and sexual violence. It has not previously been classified for home video release

The film has now been submitted for a video rating, in its original uncut version.

The Classifiers focused in particular on two scenes of sexual violence, which depict the protagonist participating in sex work with male and female clients while under the control of a pimp who has forcibly addicted her to heroin. The scenes include explicit images of unsimulated masturbation, vaginal and anal penetration, and ejaculation.

The BBFC supports adults' right to choose their own entertainment as long as it remains within the law and is not potentially harmful. However, where a film or video raises issues or concerns that cannot be addressed by classification at a particular category, we may require cuts or other changes as a condition of classification.

Our Classification Guidelines state that such cuts may be required to portrayals of sexual violence that make rape, other non-consensual sexually violent behaviour or sadistic violence look appealing.

The Classifiers noted that the volume and detail of the real sexual activity in Thriller: A Cruel Picture far exceeds previous, and very rare, precedents for unsimulated (or apparently unsimulated) sexual activity during scenes of sexual violence in films classified by the BBFC. They unanimously agreed that the nature and quantity of the explicit and unsimulated images, in the context of scenes of sexual violence, is such that their effect is to eroticise rape in a manner that poses a risk of harm to viewers under the Video Recordings Act 1984.

The Classifiers determined that the scenes breached the BBFC's Guidelines and policy on depictions of sexual violence, and that cuts were therefore required to remove all explicit imagery in order to make the film suitable for classification at 18.