Latest Cuts: BBFC and MPA

Ken Russell's The Devils: Standard Edition is a 1971 UK historical biography by Ken Russell
Starring Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed and Dudley Sutton  

Cut by Warner Brothers and the BBFC for X rated cinema release in 1971. The BBFC X rating was overruled and banned by 17 local councils.

In the US the film was further cut for an R rating. The UK cinema version was later released in the US with an X rating and misleadingly labelled as a Director's Cut.

The best available version, with some cuts restored, is held by Warner Brothers. It was first released for a screening at the 100 years of the BBFC cinema event and is finally set release on 4K Blu-ray in Apri; 2027

Summary Notes

In 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.

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

• 2027 Bfi Collector's Edition [Director's Cut + cut US R rated Cut + cut UK X rated cut] R0 4K Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 20th April 2027
• 2027 Bfi Standard Edition [Director's Cut] R0 4K Blu-ray at UK Amazon #ad released on 20th April 2027

Promotional Material

An enduring masterpiece of cinema starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, KEN RUSSELLS THE DEVILS is a prescient epic of obsession and corruption -- and a defining work of art from seminal filmmaker Ken Russell. KEN RUSSELLS THE DEVILS is the uncut and unfiltered theatrical experience that Russell always envisioned -- and the first time the film will be presented restored and in 4K.

Blu-Ray Collector's Edition Features:

• The first ever 4K UHD presentation of Ken Russells The Devils -- the uncensored, definitive directors cut -- encoded by Fidelity In Motion with a newly restored monaural soundtrack
• The first ever official Blu-Ray presentations of Ken Russells The Devils , the uncensored, definitive directors cut (114 mins); the UK X-Rated version (111 mins); and the US R-Rated version (108 mins), with a newly restored monaural soundtrack
• Unedited 2004 audio commentary with Ken Russell, Michael Bradsell, Mark Kermode & Paul Joyce
• Never-before-seen extended scene
• New extended version of the documentary Hell on Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of The Devils (2002) featuring additional interview footage with Ken Russell
• New 4K remaster of the short film Amelia and the Angel (1958) directed by Ken Russell
• New compilation of camera slates
• New interview with Guillermo del Toro on The Devils and the legacy of Ken Russell
• New introduction by Kleber Mendonça Filho at the first ever screening of Ken Russells The Devils in Brazil
• New extended interview with Mark Kermode on The Devils and the reconstruction of the definitive directors cut
• New behind-the-scenes featurette on the picture and sound restoration of Ken Russells The Devils
• Never-before-seen archival interviews with Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed
• Never-before-heard archival audio interviews with critic Richard Crouse and cast/crew
• Never-before-seen costume sketches by Shirley Russell with audio commentary by Victoria Russell
• Excerpt of Rupert Russells documentary Mad Dad , featuring never-before-seen Russell family photos
• 2004 Q&A with Ken Russell and Mark Kermode following the first ever screening of Ken Russells The Devils at the BFI Southbank NFT1
• 2010 Film at Lincoln Center Q&A with Ken Russell and Vanessa Redgrave
• Behind-the-scenes footage with commentary by Michael Bradsell
• Director of Devils (1971) featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and a Ken Russell interview
• Archival Trailers
• 2026 Theatrical Trailer
• 96-page book with never-before-seen photography and production materials, excerpts of the original continuity script, new essays by Mark Kermode and Linda Ruth Williams, and newly unearthed archival crew interviews
• and more...

All: 4K UHD Features:

• The first ever 4K UHD presentation of Ken Russells The Devils -- the uncensored, definitive directors cut -- encoded by Fidelity In Motion with a newly restored monaural soundtrack
• Unedited 2004 audio commentary with Ken Russell, Michael Bradsell, Mark Kermode & Paul Joyce
• New interview with Guillermo del Toro on The Devils and the legacy of Ken Russell
• 2004 Q&A with Ken Russell and Mark Kermode following the first ever screening of Ken Russells The Devils at the BFI Southbank NFT1
• Behind-the-scenes footage with commentary by Michael Bradsell
• Director of Devils (1971) featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and a Ken Russell interview
• Archival Trailers
• 2026 Theatrical Trailer

Disc Breakdown:

• 1 UHD disc featuring the Directors Cut and special features
• Collector's Edition only: 1 Blu-ray disc featuring the Directors Cut, US R-Rated Cut, UK X-Rated Cut
• An 8-panel 1-disc digipak with slipcase

Ali G: Who Iz I? is a 2026 UK/US comedy by Sacha Baron Cohen
Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Morgana Robinson and Stewart Rodeheaver

BBFC cuts were required for 2026 cinema release. The BBFC cited the Protection of Children Act 1978 as the undetailed reason for the cuts.

Summary Notes

Hip-hop journalist Ali G returns after 20 years to make a documentary with real people. Cameras follow him for over a year as he takes classes, walks the streets, and appears on shows, often with his pregnant girlfriend.

Versions

cut:   run: 88:45s pal: 85:12s		UK: BBFC 15 rated with a trigger warning for strong sex references, crude humour, language, discrimination after BBFC cuts: 2026 Amazon Digital UK cinema release (rated 16/10/2026) The BBFC commented: A cut was made in accordance with BBFC Guidelines, policy, and the Protection of Children Act 1978. Ali vs AI The Daily Mail reported on an AI assisted campaign trying to prevent Ali G: Who Iz I? from being shown at cinemas. In the hours that following the release of the movie trailer, a most peculiar series of events played out. It involved a short-lived but apparently extremely high-profile campaign to have Ali G: Who Iz I? banned from worldwide cinemas. This campaign claimed that the entire film, along with its central character, is somehow racist. Out of nowhere, people who appeared to be offended by Baron Cohens trailer had launched a letter-writing campaign. Before long, more than 50,000 messages were sent to cinema chains, calling for the film to be blacklisted. The social media accounts of firms such as Odeon were similarly bombarded. Each of 50,000 complaint emails was different. Some were written in the local language, they had a variety of subject lines and, while none were exactly the same length, many were extremely detailed. The attempt to cancel Baron Cohen was in fact a highly organised Ai assisted campaign. It was also very well financed. The campaign was apparently orchestrated via an internet platform named NewsCord, which devotes most of its resources to opposing Israel. A NewsCord user wishing to join the campaign against Sacha Baron Cohen needs only to enter their own email address in a box. The website will then create 20 unique complaint AI assisted emails in their name and send them out to cinema chains and the BBFC. The BBFC commented in board meeting minutes: The BBFC Board was briefed about emails received from members of the public concerned about elements of discrimination in the forthcoming comedy sequel Ali G: Who Iz I?. The BBFC has received a high volume of emails urging that we assess the film in line with our Classification Guidelines, issue cuts or refuse classification if necessary, or, if such intervention is not necessary, publish content advice outlining the issues present in the film. We have responded that if/when the film is submitted for classification, we will assess its content in accordance with our Guidelines, as we do all films submitted to us.
uncut run: 88:58s pal: 85:24s		Ireland: Uncut and IFCO 16 rated with a trigger warning for strong sexual content, language and discriminatory terms, crude humour throughout: 2026 Amazon MGM Studios cinema release

Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 UK/US erotic mystery thriller by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Todd Field

Cut for an MPAA R rating in the US. Uncut in the UK, bar a religious recitation that offended the easily offended

Summary Notes

A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.

US: Uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• 2025 The Criterion Collection R0 4K Blu-ray at US Amazon #ad released on 25th November 2025
• 2025 The Criterion Collection (RA) Blu-ray via US Amazon #ad released on 25th November 2025

Promotional Material

Stanley Kubricks career-capping Eyes Wide Shut unfolds in a dreamscape vision of New York City, where doctor Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), confront the unconscious desires, jealousies, and fears threatening their marriage. A Christmastime odyssey into a surreal sexual underworld whose hidden power structures are laid frighteningly bare, the film marks the fulfillment of the directors decades-long desire to adapt Arthur Schnitzlers novella Traumnovelle ( Dream Story ) and the culmination of his obsessive interest in the relationship between institutional authority and the individual. Released in 1999, the film also serves as a fitting coda to a century of cinema, by one of its greatest visionaries--an endlessly tantalizing labyrinth whose myriad symbols, mysteries, and meanings are still being unraveled.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New 4K digital restoration of the international version of the film, supervised and approved by director of photography Larry Smith, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
• New interviews with Smith, set decorator and second-unit director Lisa Leone, and archivist Georgina Orgill
• Archival interview with Christiane Kubrick, director Stanley Kubricks wife
• Never Just a Dream (2019), featuring interviews with producer Jan Harlan; Katharina Kubrick, Stanley Kubricks daughter; and Anthony Frewin, Kubricks personal assistant
• Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007)
• Kubrick Remembered (2014), featuring interviews with actors Todd Field and Leelee Sobieski and filmmaker Steven Spielberg
• Kubricks 1998 acceptance speech for the Directors Guild of Americas D. W. Griffith Award
• Press conference from 1999, featuring Harlan and actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
• Teaser, trailer, and promos
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author Megan Abbott and a 1999 interview with filmmaker and actor Sydney Pollack

Scars Of Dracula is a 1970 UK horror by Roy Ward Baker.
Starring Christopher Lee and Dennis Waterman and Jenny Hanley.

Originally cut by the BBFC for an 18 rated 1970 cinema release. The cuts have persisted ever since but the the BBFC rating was reduced to 15 for DVD. The same cut version is MPAA R rated in the US.

Summary Notes

A young man, Paul Carlson, is on a trip and spends the night at count Dracula's castle. Needless to say, he is murdered. After some time has passed, the young man's brother Simon comes to the small town where all the traces end to look for him.

UK: Passed Suitable for 15 years and over uncut for:

• 2025 Studiocanal Collector's Edition R0 4K Blu-ray/RB Blu-ray Combo at UK Amazon #ad released on 24th November 2025

Promotional Material

Christopher Lee returned to his most famous role for the fifth time in Roy Ward Bakers (Quatermass and the Pit) SCARS OF DRACULA, the bloodiest entry in the entire series.

Resurrected after a bat dribbles fresh blood over his mouldering remains, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) unleashes a new reign of terror.

When Paul (Christopher Matthews) goes missing, his brother Simon (Dennis Waterman) and Simons girlfriend (Jenny Hanley) set off in search of him, inevitably leading them to the Prince of Darkness castle...

EXTRAS

• Brand New 4K Restoration
• Brand new artwork by Johnny Dombrowski
• 64 page perfect-bound booklet with new essays and original press kit
• 2 posters
• On-disc extras:
• NEW "Fangs Out: Dracula, Desire & Disruption": Clarisse Loughrey and Isaura Barbé-Brown in conversation
• NEW Legacy of the Vampire -- An interview with Dacre Stoker
• Hammers Bite: Chris Matthews on Scars of Dracula
• Audio Commentary with Christopher Lee and director Roy Ward Baker
• Blood Rites: Inside Scars of Dracula
• Stills Gallery
• Original trailer

Casino Royale is a 2006 US/UK/Czech/Germany/Bahamas spy film by Martin Campbell.
With Daniel Craig, Eva Green and Judi Dench.  

Originally cut according to BBFC for a 12 rating. The film was also cut in the US but differently for a PG-13 rating. The uncut version was later released on Blu-ray with a 15 rating in the UK and MPAA Unrated in the US. The uncut version was downrated to BBFC 12A for 2026 cinema release.

Summary Notes

James Bond goes on his first ever mission as a 00. Le Chiffre is a banker to the world's terrorists. He is participating in a poker game at Montenegro, where he must win back his money, in order to stay safe among the terrorist market. The boss of MI6, known simply as M sends Bond, along with Vesper Lynd to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. Bond, using help from Felix Leiter, Mathis and having Vesper pose as his wife, enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career. But if Bond defeats Le Chiffre, will he and Vesper Lynd remain safe?

Cutting Edge

A video and detailed description of the BBFC and MPAA cuts in
Gavin Salkeld's Cutting Edge 11: Casino Royale
See more from Cutting Edge

Versions

uncut run: 144:21s pal: 138:35s		UK: Uncut and BBFC 12A rated for moderate violence, threat, injury detail, language, sex: 2026 Park Circus cinema release (rated 22/09/2026) titled Casino Royale (20th Anniversary Edition) The BBFC commented (with thanks to Joseph): Over the two decades since the film's original release, audience familiarity with the James Bond series' darker, more grounded tone in the Daniel Craig films has grown. Contemporary viewers expect a higher degree of threat and intensity in modern action cinema compared to the expectations of 2006 or 2012. Re-assessing the torture scene under current guidelines revealed that while the extended cut contains a small number of additional close-ups and reaction shots, it does not contain explicit bloodiness, gory detail or sexualised violence. The core elements causing impact, psychological threat and implied pain, remain substantially similar in tone to the theatrical 12A cut from 2006. The violence occurs within a fantastical spy-thriller setting rather than a realistic domestic or real-world context. Crucially, the scene relies heavily on dialogue and actor performance rather than graphic visual harm, and the protagonist ultimately survives and prevails, reducing the overall sense of lingering trauma. Under BBFC Classification Guidelines, the restored footage does not cross the threshold into sustained visual cruelty or graphic injury detail that would require a mandatory 15 rating. Consequently, the 20th anniversary complete international version is classified 12A for moderate violence, threat, injury detail, language, and sex, bringing it into alignment with the original theatrical release. UK: Passed 15 uncut for one scene of torture and strong action violence for: 2020 MGM (RB) 4K Blu-ray at UK Amazon titled Casino Royale (Extended Version) 2020 MGM Amazon Prime VoD [UK only] at UK Amazon 2015 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon 2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon 2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon 2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon 2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] R0 Blu-ray at UK Amazon 2012 MGM R0 Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon 2012 MGM R0 Blu-ray at UK Amazon titled Casino Royale (Extended Version) The BBFC noted: Additional material in torture scene The BBFC later commented that not all the cut material was restored. Some material seen during the rough cut stage did not make the final cut, but the UK 15 rated release is now the definitive worldwide version. US: Casino Royale is uncut and MPAA Unrated: 2019 MGM [007 The Daniel Craig Collection] R0 4K Blu-ray at US Amazon US: Uncut for VoD streaming at Vudu (thanks to Neil)
advised category cuts cut: run: 144:08s pal: 138:22s		UK: Passed 12A/12 after BBFC advised category cuts were implemented for: 2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon 2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] R2 DVD 2012 MGM [22 Film Collection] R2 DVD 2007 Sony R0 Blu-ray 2007 Sony R2 DVD 2006 cinema release The BBFC commented: Cut on BBFC advice in 2006: This film was originally seen by the BBFC in an unfinished version, for advice as to the film's suitability at '12A'. The BBFC advised the company that the torture scene placed too much emphasis on both the infliction of pain and the sadism of the villain for the requested '12A' category. When the completed version of the film was submitted for classification, reductions to the torture sequence had been made, including the removal of lingering shots of the rope, close shots of Bond's facial reaction and the substitution of a more distant shot of the beating compared to the original version. This re-edited version of the scene was considered acceptable at '12A', where the Guidelines permit violence provided there is no dwelling on detail or emphasis on injuries. Thanks to Floyd: The Region 3 DVD is uncut, but there's nothing graphic in the torture scene. There are a couple of lingering shots, most notably where Le Chiffre lands the rope gently on Bond's shoulder. In the cut version when there is a distant shot of him walking around Bond he says 'you've taken care of your body', and then in the next shot he's swinging the rope before hitting Bond. In the uncut version however, he lands the rope on his shoulder, and he leans over to him and says, 'such a waste'. The sound seems to be cut down as well of Chiffre swinging the rope before striking Bond, but nothing really shocking. It seems that the hopes of an uncut US release are premature. The Irish 15A is the same version as the UK release. It appears that the German version has suffered even more cuts than the US/UK versions to achieve a 12 rating. Perhaps the uncut version may have to wait on the (inevitable) Directors Cut.
cut cut: run: 144:10s pal: 138:24s		US: The PG-13 rated US region 1 release was cut. Through the use of numerous techniques including small snips, the shifting of edit points and alternative footage, Campbell re-edited the film's opening bathroom fight and the later stairwell fight to secure a PG-13 rating in the United States.