Your Daily Film!

Gladiator II is a 2024 US/UK/Morocco/Canada action adventure drama by Ridley Scott
Starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington and Pedro Pascal

There are no censorship issues with this release in the US and UK. The film was pre-cut in Australia for a distributor applied M rated cinema release. The Classification Board later overruled this, and the cut version was uprated to MA15+.

Summary Notes

After his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people.

Versions

uncut run: 147:43s pal: 141:48s		UK: Uncut and BBFC 15 rated for strong bloody violence, injury detail: 2024 Paramount Pictures UK cinema release (rated 09/10/2024) Ireland: Uncut and IFCO 15A rated for strong action violence throughout with gory scenes and graphic injury detail, scenes of severed bodies and body parts: 2024 Paramount cinema release (2024 rated 27/09/2024) titled Gladiator 2 US: Uncut and MPA R rated for for strong bloody violence.: 2024 release (rated 28/08/2024) titled Gladiator Ii
cut run: 148m pal: 142m		Australia: Pre-cut and ACB MA15+ (15A) rated for strong themes and violence: 2024 Paramount Pictures cinema release (rated 22/11/2024) titled Gladiator II Australia: Pre-cut and distributor M (PG-15) rated for animal cruelty, blood and gore, injury detail and violence: 2024 Paramount Pictures Australia cinema release (rated 16/10/2024) titled Gladiator II See article from refused-classification.com : On 16 October 2024, a 148-minute version of GLADIATOR II received an M (Animal cruelty, blood and gore, injury detail and violence). Paramount Pictures Australia rated the film themselves as an Accredited Classifier Decision. It was identified as precut, to avoid an MA15+, after opening on 14 November. What was censored in the M-rated version? Tom S. reports the cuts he spotted. There may be other, less obvious trims: Cut No. 1 203 Lucius (Paul Mescal) beheads his opponent at the first Roman games. The beginning is trimmed to remove the swords connecting with the head. It cuts into the shot midway to show the stump and a bit of blood spray. Cut No. 2 203 Macrinus (Denzel Washington) slashing at the neck of Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn). The initial long shot of the neck cutting and blood spray is missing. The following close-up is zoomed to the left to remove the continued neck slashing and blood spray on the right. Cut No. 3 203 Macrinus puts a spike into the ear of Emperor Caracalla (Fred Hechinger). The red blood flowing from his ear is now green/yellow. M to MA15+ after one week On 22 November, cinemas were informed that the Classification Board had increased it to MA15+ (Strong themes and violence). Advertising was updated to reflect the new rating. An Accredited Classifier Decision can be reviewed by the Board to ensure the guidelines are followed. It is unclear if this was a random check or triggered by complaints.

 

The British Board of Classification (BBFC) has published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2023, revealing unique insights into the UK's film and cinema industry. The latest report reveals an uplift in overall content submitted for cinema classification, marking a ten-year record number of submissions in the two most popular age rating categories.

2023 saw 1,114 cinema submissions to the BBFC, representing a 14% increase from submissions recorded in 2013. The 15 category remained the BBFC's most frequently issued age rating in 2023, totalling nearly 500 submissions 203 another record for the decade. Films classified 15 in 2023 include Oppenheimer, Saltburn, How To Have Sex, Cocaine Bear and Talk To Me . The 12A category also saw a ten-year record, with over 380 cinema films classified at the category in 2023, including Barbie, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Polite Society and The Boy and the Heron .

Last summer, the BBFC announced new advancements in exploring the power of AI to enhance content classification to further its core mission of helping audiences to make informed viewing decisions. Building on its extensive expertise, the BBFC is developing two new tools that utilise AI technology to help the industry adapt to evolving audience viewing habits while improving the efficiency of the human aspect of compliance, which will always remain imperative to the process.

The first of these tools will enable access to locally sensitive age ratings for use in over 100 territories globally, removing the cost and resource barriers currently limiting VoD services' adoption of BBFC ratings in the UK and other established rating systems worldwide. The second tool, currently in development, will use generative AI to identify and tag online content issues, offering large-scale efficiencies to content providers' compliance requirements.

In 2023, as part of its increasing collaboration with streaming platforms operating in the UK, the BBFC announced plans to strengthen its partnership with Prime Video. With a view to establishing a self-rating system similar to the BBFC's existing successful agreement with Netflix, the BBFC worked closely with Prime Video to refine the platform's internal rating processes ahead of the wider adoption of BBFC age ratings and content advice across the service, ultimately making it even easier for Prime Video customers to choose the right content for themselves and their families.

Smile is a 2022 US horror mystery thriller by Parker Finn
Starring Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher and Kyle Gallner

After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity.

Thanks to Daniel who comments:

Channel 4's screening of Smile on the 19th October was censored.

Despite the fact that the screening started twenty minutes after the watershed and detailed warnings about the content were given just prior, the opening suicide scene was edited to remove a shot of Caitlin Stasey's character impassively cutting her throat with a shard of broken vase. The scene is crucial in establishing the film's tone early on.

There may have been more cuts but I turned it off. I always understood that Channel 4 policy was to screen films intact after the watershed...guess that's no longer the case.

It is worth noting that the subsequent repeat broadcast on 4seven after 10:00pm was uncut. I did query Channel 4 as to why the film's initial broadcast was censored, and they cited Ofcom guidelines as the reason for the 16 second edit. As the film was shown after the watershed and has an 18 certificate, an uncut screening should have been possible.

As Film4 also cut the late night screening of Lords Of Chaos some time back for images relating to suicide despite the fact that it was also classified uncut at 18, I get the feeling that the cut made to Smile is part of a pattern in which images of suicide are being singled out specifically.

All that said, Channel 4 do deserve a bit of credit for correcting the much lower profile repeat. https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/falling-place
 

Update: There's no time left in the day for grown up viewing

9th November 2024. Thanks to Neil

There was a report commissioned by OFCOM in Oct 2023 which discussed research into attitudes towards sex and violence on UK TV - primarily using the watershed as a benchmark for when stronger content can be scheduled by broadcasters.

The broadcasting code, and the wider expectation of the general public as always been:

Whilst there were some initial calls to postpone the watershed to later in the evening to better reflect changing parenting styles, on greater reflection, participants decided a gradual transition from 9pm onwards and the use of clear warnings, was a better option.

In the instance of SMILE on Channel 4, the broadcaster deemed the expository explicit suicide as being too strong during the 9-10pm transition period, and hence why they decided to cut this scene to avoid reprimand from OFCOM.

I agree that Channel 4 should have scheduled this film later, given the 18 rating.

MAGNET is a 2024 UK action drama by Larry Bammeke
Starring Dion Marcos, Faith Kiggundu and Gerald Maliqi

BBFC category cuts were required for a 12A rated cinema release in 2024.

Summary Notes

Follow Kevin in this British drama - a charismatic and unshakeably confident young lad haunted by an unchangeable past and a future shaped by it. Scarred by his estranged father's abandonment and burdened by a broken mother, he turns to menacing ways far beyond redemption.

Versions

cut: run: 161:08s pal: 154:41s

UK: BBFC 12A rated for violence, threat, language, drug misuse, sexual violence references for violence, threat, language, drug misuse, sexual violence references after BBFC cuts: 2024 World Harvest Christian Centre (TNM Production) cinema release (rated 17/09/2024) The BBFC commented: The distributor chose to remove a scene of drug misuse in order to achieve their preferred 12A rating. An uncut 15 was available.