The Jackal

The Jackal

By Gavin Salkeld

 

In this edition of Cutting Edge, we'll be examining some cuts made to the 1997 action thriller, The Jackal, directed by Michael Caton-Jones. The film stars Richard Gere as former IRA terrorist Declan Mulqueen, who is brought out of prison by the FBI to try and stop an anonymous international assassin known only as the Jackal, played with a steely cold indifference by Bruce Willis.

 

The Jackal is the kind of thriller that is largely no longer made in Hollywood today; one made for mature audiences that is not willing to compromise its content to accommodate or appease a PG-13 audience. The bad language is strong, and the violence bloody and brutal at times, but it is arguably one of the action thrillers from the late 1990s that is predominantly a dead breed. You can count films like Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Rock, Ransom, and Con Air as members of that same club.

The screenplay of The Jackal was based on the novel, The Day of the Jackal written by Frederick Forsyth, which was made into a 1973 film directed by Fred Zinnemann, with Michael Caton-Jones' film being more of a reinterpretation of the story as opposed to a straight-up remake.
 

Director Michael Caton-Jones

 

Strong language at the MPAA

In the United States, The Jackal was submitted to the MPAA in 1997 and passed uncut by the ratings board with an 'R' rating for: Strong violence and language.

 

Coarse language at the BBFC

This same version of the film was seen by the BBFC in the UK for its initial theatrical release, and was passed uncut with an '18' rating two days after its American release on November 16th 1997, for: Strong violence and coarse language.

It should be noted that during the 1990s, the BBFC generally used the word 'coarse' when referring to bad language in their ratings information to denote the words 'cunt' and 'motherfucker'. These two sexual swear words were both deemed the most offensive at the time, although depending on the context and the frequency in which they were used, they were sometimes deemed acceptable in '15'-rated films even during the 1980s. Two such examples from that period are An Officer and a Gentlemen (1982) and Withnail & I (1987), which were passed uncut with '15' ratings with both films containing uses of the word 'cunt'.

 

 

UK VHS	UK DVD

At the time this Cutting Edge article was written, The Jackal had been passed '18' for home video in the UK twice; once in 1998 for its full screen VHS release, and again in 2001 for its DVD release. It had not been resubmitted for a contemporary BBFC certificate as of mid-2024.

Additionally, the term 'coarse' was later dropped by the BBFC sometime in the 2000s and was replaced by the terms 'strong' and 'very strong'. This brought the BBFC's ratings information about bad language in-line with the terms used for sex and violence. The BBFC now use 'very strong' for the word 'cunt', and 'strong'  for variations of the word 'fuck'.

 

Medium level coarse language at the OFLC

The Jackal was submitted to the Australian ratings board, which was then known as the OFLC (Office of Film and Literature Classification) in 1997 for its initial cinema release, a month or so after its classification in Britain. However, the version of the film that was submitted by the distributor had been precut to reduce or remove the film's strongest language and violence in the hope of attaining an 'M' rating in Australia.

As we've previously discussed on Cutting Edge, the 'M' rating is an advisory one, denoting that a film with an 'M' rating has:

Content [that] is moderate in impact. Films classified M (Mature) are not recommended for children under the age of 15. They can have content such as violence and themes that requires a mature outlook. Children under the age of 15 may legally access this content. Parents and guardians may need to find out more about the content in a film before deciding whether it is suitable for a child in their care.

In other words, the Australian 'M' rating is broadly equivalent to a hypothetical 'PG-15' rating, meaning that the content is considered suitable for viewers aged 15 and older, although younger viewers are permitted.

 

On December 18th 1997, a precut version of The Jackal was viewed by three examiners at the Australian ratings board, with the verdict being that the film should be classified 'M' in its submitted version for: Medium Level Violence, Medium Level Coarse Language.

Another report dated January 12th 1998, confirmed the 'M' rating, which was ratified by a Senior Classifier. These two board reports included the following remarks, which we have condensed and edited for clarity:

In my opinion this film should be classified M for violence and coarse language. Generally depictions of violence do not contain a lot of detail and are not prolonged. These depictions of violence are infrequent in a lengthy film which focuses on suspense rather than action. They do not have a high impact and are not gratuitous.

The focus for the most part is on The Jackal's methodical preparations, and his detached and unflinching personality. Stronger scenes of violence are infrequent, do not have a high impact (particularly within the genre) and are integral to the plot.

Three humorous uses of 'motherfucker' and occasional naturalistic use of 'fuck' language contribute to this film's M classification.

 

As a result, The Jackal was later released in Australian cinemas on January 8th 1998, with an 'M' rating in a precut version. Let's look at what scenes were edited by the distributor before The Jackal was released in Australian cinemas.

 

OFLC cuts for an M rating

In the absence of a distributor cuts list, Cutting Edge has recreated clips of the 'M'-rated versions of the affected scenes based on detailed examination of the Australian ratings board examiner reports from the late 1990s onwards. These recreations may not be precisely the same as the distributor precuts made in 1997, but we are confident that the clips are akin to what Australian audiences would have seen in cinemas in the late 1990s. These comparisons can be seen in the video at the end of this article, but we'll be discussing these changes in the written form below.

 

Cut Scenes: Nightclub confrontation   The first distributor cut for a theatrical 'M' rating in Australia occurred during the raid on a nightclub after the main titles sequence, where the Deputy Director of the FBI, Carter Preston, and Russian Major Koslova confront bad guy Ghazzi Murad, and a scuffle ensues, which results in Murad's death. In the uncut version, the aggressive use of the word 'cunt' directed at Major Koslova was cut from the Australian theatrical version. The missing dialogue from the Australian 'M' version is highlighted in red: MURAD: I swear, I will kill you and your fucking whore mothers if you don't get out-- KOSLOVA: I repeat, you are advised not to-- MURAD: Fuck you, fuck you! You scar-faced cunt! Fuck you! PRESTON: All right, that's enough! Incidentally, this scene alone was one of the reasons for The Jackal's '18' rating in the UK.

 

Cut Scenes: Axed   A short while later, Ghazzi's brother, Terek, murders one of his henchmen in cold blood by driving an axe into his skull as punishment for not having killed anyone in retaliation for Ghazzi's death. The original uncut version is slightly extended in comparison to the censored 'M' version, which showed blood running from the man's mouth.

 

Cut Scenes: Disarmed   The next cut made for Australian cinema audiences was the death of the contractor Lamont at the hands of the Jackal. Lamont has previously demanded a bonus payment from the Jackal after he's designed a mount for the assassin's massive custom-made machinegun, which is intended to kill the First Lady. However, the Jackal has no intention of paying Lamont, and under the ruse of a trial run to test out the gun's sighting capabilities the Jackal decides to sever this loose end. In a particularly sadistic scene, the Jackal shoots off Lamont's right arm, before pulverizing him with the machinegun. For the 'M' rated version, the explicit sight of Lamont's arm being blown off was removed, along with the initial shot of him clutching his bloody stump in agony. However, the later sight of this same injury was deemed acceptable for an 'M' rating, as the Australian classification reports note that the injury is subsequently seen only briefly in black and white through the Jackal's gun sight.

 

Cut Scenes: Killing Koslova   Another cut to violence was made later in the film, during the scene where Major Koslova and two FBI agents stake out the home of Isabella; the former lover of Richard Gere's Mulqueen character. Unbeknownst to our heroes, the Jackal is already hiding in the house and proceeds to kill the FBI agents before inflicting a fatal wound on Koslova. This whole sequence was cited by the Australian ratings board as being one of the strongest scenes in the 'M' rated version, partly because the Jackal shoots Koslova in her liver and taunts her about the time it will take for her to perish, before sadistically drawing a heart on her cheek in her own blood and leaving her to die. However, examination of the classification reports suggests her death was unaltered, with one of the Australian film examiner reports noting that the scene was "dim lit", which lessened the impact of the sight of her wounds. However, the earlier part of the scene, in its cut form, removed the explicit sight of Agent Witherspoon being shot in the head by the Jackal.

 

Cut Scenes: Death of the Jackal   The last scene cut for the Australian theatrical release was the death of the Jackal on a subway platform at the hands of Mulqueen. After Isabella appears and fires a bullet into the Jackal's neck, the assassin appears to be dead before subsequently reviving. Mulqueen quickly shoots him repeatedly, and the Jackal is no more. In the uncut version, the death of the Jackal at the hands of Mulqueen is a little more graphic in comparison, with clear sight of bloody impacts shots on the Jackal's convulsing body.

 

Uncut for Australian video

The precut theatrical version of The Jackal was also passed 'M' for home video on April 8th 1998, but it appears to have never been released in Australia. Instead, a compilation video tape containing the uncut version of film and a 10-minute 'behind-the-scenes' featurette (which was also released in the UK) was submitted to the Australian classification board and was passed with 'MA' rating almost three weeks later on April 28th for: Medium Level Violence, Medium Level Coarse Language.

The Australian 'MA' (Mature Accompanied) classification is a step above the advisory 'M' rating, as the Australian ratings board today note:

Films classified MA 15+  are legally restricted to people aged 15 and over. They can contain content that may have a strong impact on the viewer.

The 'MA' rating is broadly equivalent to a hypothetical '15A' rating in that younger viewers are still permitted, but only if accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.

As a result, The Jackal was released in full screen on VHS in Australia in its uncut version. This same uncut version was later classified in widescreen for a DVD release, and was again passed with an 'MA' rating on August 24th 2001 for: High Level Violence, Medium Level Coarse Language.

 

The ratings board at the time noted that Lamont's death, Witherspoon's death, the Jackal's death, and the singular aggressive use of the word 'cunt' were the defining factors in awarding an 'MA' rating.

As of 2024, Australian buyers can safely buy any home video releases of The Jackal that sport an 'MA' rating, confident in the knowledge that they are getting the uncut version of the film. Buyers in the United States and the UK have no cause for concern, as all home video releases in both territories have always featured the original uncut theatrical version.

 

 

Cutting Edge Video, Season 7, Episode 63: The Jackal