Banned DVDs

[AlecWest]

Offline touched on this in another thread. Perhaps I've led a sheltered life but, while I know of DVDs (or certain versions) that were not marketed by choice of the film production company, I can't think of any DVD (in the U.S.) that was banned from being sold altogether. Is there such a thing as a "banned" DVD in the U.S.??? If so, what authority banned the DVD and why was it banned?

And, in other countries, what authorities are in charge of banning DVDs ... and what DVDs have been banned by them?

[lumis]

i dont think there is such a thing as a "banned dvd".. there might be dvd's that company recall for some reason or another and impose some kind of "internal ban".

unless the dvd contains some kind of illegal content, i cant see why anyone would have legal authority to ban a dvd.. that would be censorship.

[HatchetMan]

I thought Cannibal Holocaust was banned.

[lumis]

http://search.ebay.co.uk/Cannibal-Holocaust

[AlecWest]

According to IMDB.com, it's available on VHS and DVD in Britain (but only used copies). And, these may not be the uncut versions. Of course, eBay sellers have them.

The question is, "who" banned it? Is there an actual authority that views films and decides to ban them?

[BJ_M]

http://www.horrorvideo.com/home.asp

anyway -- films have ben banned and censored in the usa - but depends on which era you are talking about.

a LOT of movies were "pre-censored" at the script stage from the 30's - 70's .. and cuts were still made to some of them before release ...

also depends if you are talking mainstream hollywood or not -- a lot of was also made , not censored , but wasnt mainstream either ..

[Conquest10]

I know Titicut Follies was banned by a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling because it was shot in a hospital and it violated patients' rights.

[HatchetMan]

http://search.ebay.co.uk/Cannibal-Holocaust

According to IMDB.com, it's available on VHS and DVD in Britain (but only used copies). And, these may not be the uncut versions. Of course, eBay sellers have them.

The question is, "who" banned it? Is there an actual authority that views films and decides to ban them?

I've had two copies of them on DVD for years, one in PAL and one in NTSC. Just saying it was banned because you said "I can't think of any DVD (in the U.S.) that was banned from being sold altogether." Was probably banned by the MPAA. If you've seen it, you could probably see why. Maybe not. Might of been the animal killings. I saw drastically cut versions or "fogged" versions in the US several years ago. Can't even find those anymore, not that I would have wanted one of them.

I have come across others in the past that have said "previously banned" and stuff like that. Can't remember the titles off the top of my head right now though.

[AlecWest]

I was just curious because offline made this post:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=258976&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlig...ralia&start=35

indicating that films were banned in Australia. Just wondered if any country had any kind of "official" authority that passed judgments on films, rendering them unavailable on DVD.

[HatchetMan]

Oh, and the 2 Live Crew was almost Banned in the USA for being As Nasty As They Wanna Be

[housepig]

many municipalities had their own Film Board that would review films and give them a seal of approval (or ban them). there was also the Legion of Decency and Catholic churches which had film review boards, and would come out against films they found inappropriate.

"ban" is a weird word - if something is not illegal for me to sell, yet no theater or store will buy it due to pressure from some third party, is it banned?

for some good info on the state of censorship in film distribution, check out "A Youth In Babylon", by Dave Friedman, or the documentaries "Schlock! A Secret History of American Films" or "Mau Mau Sex Sex", both of which feature interviews with Friedman.

[BJ_M]

you can buy new copies of Cannibal Holocaust here:



http://www.horrorvideo.com/movies/cannibal_holocaust.asp





trailer:
http://www.horrorvideo.com/clips/cannibal.asf

[AlecWest]

Years ago in Portland, Oregon, a lady on the city council refused to allow a Ted Nugent concert unless he agreed not to sing "Wang Dang." Ted gave her a piece of his mind and the concert never happened. Kinda stupid, actually. He should have said, "Sure, whatever you want, ma'am..." and immediately started working on an extended version of the song (grin) to close the show with (or at least, until the plugs were pulled).

[Conquest10]

Don't know if it is possible in this day and age for a dvd to be completely unavailable in a country. Malaysia seems to ban alot of movies. Zoolander and Bruce Almighty are some that come to mind. Anna and the King is banned in Thailand. And I know you all remember Matrix Reloaded being banned in Egypt.

[Conquest10]

China also bans movies that are presented to any foreign film festivals without approval.

[BJ_M]

china bans a LOT of movies - so does many middle east countries ..

[HatchetMan]

Freaks (1932)... from the imdb...

In the UK this film was banned for 30 years after it was first released.

Still banned in Sweden.

In the United States, this film was banned in a number of states and cities. Although no longer enforced, some of the laws were never officially repealed. Therefore, it is still technically illegal for this film to be shown some areas of the USA.

[offline]

All countries AFAIK restrict films. In Australia a film
is often submitted in full for review and classification.
By refusing classification, the film cannot be viewed
in Australia. It is then considered "banned".

The US is worse in a way. Films are often not
submitted in their full length, but rather cut to fit
a particular rating where the owners think they
can make the most profit. I'm sketchy on the
exact details but I have a friend who knows and
he has often remarked poorly on the US system.

In Australia, a "banned" film is readily available
on the black market within days of it being banned.
Original copies too - mostly Dutch versions.
HOwever the police do turn up if you attempt to
make a public showing - this happened with
Ken Park.

ps: Most "banned" films are trash anyway. Cannibal Holocaust is a good example of a banned
film that otherwise would have been forgotten.

I can't believe, AlecWest, that you have forgotten
the whole so called "Video Nasty" censorships of the 70ies in the US and UK.

[AlecWest]

All countries AFAIK restrict films. In Australia a film
is often submitted in full for review and classification.

Submitted to whom? Is there a specific government agency or some kind of film-industry review board in Australia?

I can't believe, AlecWest, that you have forgotten
the whole so called "Video Nasty" censorships of
the 70ies in the US and UK.

I can't believe that you've already forgotten my thread-opening post. While the thread has drifted a bit, I was primarily referring to banned "DVDs." Are you suggesting there were DVDs in the 70s???

P.S. BJ_M is laughing now because this "gotcha" just made up for the species gotcha in the rabbit thread.

[JohnnyCNote]

I found a lot of Region 1 copies on eBay. I'm tempted to get one. If nothing else, I know my brother would like it....

[Rookie64]

A lot of movies have different cuts for the markets they are made for.

Like, there were many made for TV movies in the U.S. that cut nudity or sexual content for American viewers, but they released the movies without any cuts for Overseas audiences.

The Sex Symbol featured lots of nudity with Connie Stevens
Death Of A Centerfold featured some topless shots of Jamie Lee Curtis
The Executioner's Song had a bunch of nudity and sex scenes with Rosanna Arquette, including full frontal...and a full frontal shot of Tommy Lee Jones.
Money On The Side had a brief topless scene with Karen Valentine.
Girls of the White Orchid had some nudity and a rape scene with Jennifer Jason Leigh
Nightmare in Badham County had nudity and rape scenes.
For Ladies Only featured male nudity, including some more exposure for Gregory Harrison than what was shown in the U.S.
From Here To Eternity had some nudity with Natalie Wood.
Captains and the Kings had some nudity with Beverly D'Angelo.

Some of these would air on cable TV or video unedited, but some were only released in the U.S. in edited versions.

Then there was a made for TV movie, Born Innocent with a controversial rape scene shown on primetime network television in '74.
A then 15 year old Linda Blair being gang raped by a bunch of teen girls.
Very daring for a TV movie and that caused trouble when a girl was raped in a similar way shortly after the movie aired, and blamed the movie for instigating the crime.
The scene had to be cut from the movie...and later reissued for video and DVD with the scene toned down. Some of the audio track was removed.
To this day, you'll be very lucky to ever find the original version.

Then there are many Hollywood movies that had lots of nudity, sex and violence cut just to either avoid an R rating (if the producers were aiming for a PG) or avoid an X rating (NC-17) (if the producers were aiming for an R rating).

But a lot of these movies were released with all the nudity and violence in Foreign markets, since many of those countries aren't easily offended by the content in a movie aimed for a younger audience.

Some of these scenes were later restored in American DVD releases, like Adrienne Barbeau's topless scene in, Swamp Thing and Tanya Roberts' additional nudity in The Beastmaster.

Everything that was gonna earn Dressed To Kill an X-rating that was cut from it's original release was restored in the DVD version.

And movies like An Officer And A Gentleman and Endless Love were given X ratings until certain scenes were cut or toned down...but the original versions never were released.

Some movies were cut due to their running times, like Apocalypse Now...which was restored for DVD.

Then you have a few movies that are Director's cuts vs Studio cuts (some are released in both versions and some only get released with the studio cut)

Some Foreign movies are released for American audiences with scenes edited or toned down...simply because the distributors don't think American audiences can handle such content.
An example of this is, Monica Bellucci's rape scene with religious images in Malèna
So if you want to see the movie uncut, you have to get an imported copy sold only in other countries.


Porn films are another story -
Many X-rated films from the '70s have either been banned in the U.S. (years after their release here) because of graphic violent sex scenes or things that are just too taboo (involving animals, under aged actors, water sports or even worse...anything a little too kinky, perverse or considered obscene)
What may have once been allowed is no longer allowed...so yes, those films are either banned altogether or certain scenes are banned.

For some, it just depends on what parts of the country you're in - some states don't allow any of it while some do.

[BJ_M]

good site for comparisons of releases (plus where to get them):

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/compare.htm

[offline]

@ AlecWest

Best out of three?

Is there a specific government agency or some kind of film-industry review board in Australia?

Sure..

http://www.oflc.gov.au/content.html?n=119&p=58

Censorship:

http://www.refused-classification.com/Links.htm

Our classifications
are a bit different:

http://www.oflc.gov.au/content.html?n=129&p=74

A then 15 year old Linda Blair being gang raped by a bunch of teen girls.

Yeah.. that was a bit much.. like Hunt for Jimmy Blacksmith. A friend has both originals btw.
Graphic stuff even today.

[AlecWest]

http://www.refused-classification.com/Links.htm

Scary. I visited the "Chopping List" page. The thought of an actual Federal entity being able to tell me what I can't watch is scary. But, I know there are certain people in the USA who would love to clone Australia's classification board. On it's face, it appears to be a rather even-handed setup. From the board's site:

The members of the Board are chosen to be broadly representative of the Australian community. This means they are drawn from diverse areas, age groups and backgrounds.

But, they're all appointed by one person ... a "Governor-General." All you'd need to have is one stuck-up sticky-beak Governor-General, picking "diverse" people who are hypersensitive clones of him/herself ... and the domestic DVD industry could be crippled for years.

Very sad indeed. But, I guess that's what region-free DVD players and offshore sellers are for.

[AlecWest]

Yeah.. that was a bit much.. like Hunt for Jimmy Blacksmith. A friend has both originals btw.
Graphic stuff even today.

Oh, oh. If it's banned down under, there's a naughty Australian person out there selling it (but under the title, Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith ... unless that's a different film):

http://users.bigpond.net.au/videodog/

[BJ_M]

there is a odd thing in Ontario - is that films go before the Ontario Film Board (which are fairly liberal- but still) , but films shown on tv do not go before a review board. some films edited for the theater are shown unedited on tv.... and not just cable ...

[offline]

I meant Chant... and no it was never banned.. just graphic like Linda's shower scene.

I have the full version of Wake in Fright - even more
'disturbing'.

I had no idea Dressed To Kill was orig X rated.
I must get a copy.. and no its not just to see Michael
Cain in a dress

[BJ_M]

Dressed To Kill was never cut in canada - i dint realize they had redubbed a lot of the movie and edited and reshot scenes only for usa till i just looked it up on IMDB

[BJ_M]

Trivia for
Wake in Fright (1971)

* The movie had been out of circulation for decades because the negative went missing, sparking an international search. Veteran Australian producer Anthony Buckley finally tracked it down in mid-2004 after a ten year search in a Pittsburgh warehouse, inside a shipping container marked "For Destruction".


the UNEDITED version (114 minutes was never released on video (and in fact - they only just found it) , the edited 99 min version was what was released ..


if you have the 114 minute version -- you must share it

[BJ_M]

À ma soeur! (FAT GIRL)

is an example of some weird ratings around the world .

(it has somewhat explicit sex scenes - including the rape of a 12 year old)

Roxane Mesquida (she is not the 12 year old, the 12 year old is the "fat girl") looks quite good in these film.

In the UK - theater , uncut but dvd version was edited (both rated UK 18)

Australia - uncut R

USA - unrated, not really distrubuted either, playing only on 14 screens max at any one time.

France:-12 rating

canada (this is really weird)
Canada:14 rating in Nova Scotia
Canada:12 in quebec (PG)
Canada: Ontario - Banned at first, then given a R 2 years later (R is the highest rating in Ontario - there is no X per say)
Rest of canada gave it a R right away ...