Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - uncut in UK for 1st time

[Udvarnoky]

Don't be pedantic and try to claim I was saying they're the same thing: they are, however, similar in so far as they are both instances in which a small amount of people have missed something.

Don't be a bald-face liar and claimed that's what I was claiming. The issue I raised was with the relevance of your comparison. The issue stands, as far as I'm concerned.

Exactly: in the UK version it's easy to perceive what's intended, just as with the US.

I would be curious to know how you'd intend to parse that gospel for the quite non-theoretical folks who perceived differently without coming across as patronizing or antagonistic.

You're right that editing is part of the filmmaking process, but just because it happens after the film is released in one market doesn't make it not acceptable.

It is at the very least a horse of a different color, and I don't think you'll have to look far to find fans who do consider it not acceptable.

What's this about, then? Unless you're being pedantic and think I wasn't conceiving the common sense reality that atmosphere and tension aren't something I'm including as qualities an audience need to follow.

It's "about" nothing more than responding to your point. "Easy to follow" suggests something very different to me than "difficult to misinterpret," and if you think of that as splitting hairs then get used to calling me a pedant.

What speculation about the US film are you saying I'm making?

I attributed the speculation to myself. Here is what I described as your judgment:

"I've seen both versions; they both do the same thing."

Evidently, this was true for you. Evidently, this was not true for other people. All I'm sayin'.. My entrance into this discussion was to ponder how I might have come away from Temple differently had the censored version been my first exposure. Your claim that both versions do the same thing does not reach the lofty heights of speculation - it's just wrong, because at this point we have no less than four people who've stated that the censored version gave them a different impression than the uncensored version.

Don't be so antagonistic and patronising. I don't want to continue with a conversation where you converse in such an unfriendly manner: there's no point to it.

Look, I like to think of myself as the sort of guy who doesn't take take the first shot. That said, there are some things sugar doesn't go on. I do not believe it's that hard to understand why you inspired me to get ugly, but perhaps in doing so I'm falling victim to that whole perception thing I've been on about. Let me just aks this: for what relevant and constructive purpose was there for invoking Spielberg's opinion on the matter? (And by the way, if you think there was even a hint of sarcasm in wanting you to produce the quote, you are wrong. The more points I have, the better the fascinating J curve that is Spielberg's regret for Temple of Doom will graph.)

Just accept that someone disagrees with you without having to pretend to be 'sorry' that you think you've 'confused' them. Being patronising won't make anyone want to talk to you.

There is a certain desperation to accusing me of being unable to accept someone else's opinion. The fact that it flies in the face of everything I've written in this thread might irritate me more if I wasn't so disarmed by the aggressive irony of that last sentence.

Good point - Indy usually puts forward the cautious, skeptical viewpoint. Yet, in this case, he's convinced.

And it's a key moment for that, hence my comparison to the ark-opening.

 

[Henry W Jones]

His heart is still ripped out, everything plays as it does in the US version; just less graphically and in a less harrowing manner. And without a crap special effect.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4aDFeFwxymA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Harrison says about the scene...
"I think it eh, very realistic... and very dramatic"

 

[Mickiana]

"Unreal!" 'ken oath, it's unreal. Makes me wanna put Raiders on again right now. In fact....

 

[Rocket Surgeon]

TOD is full of magical elements.

Exempli gratia:

 

[Montana Smith]

Exempli gratia:

"Mola Ram successfuly removes the heart bone without sounding the buzzer which would have stirred his minions from their zombie state..."

 

[Darth Vile]

I have to say, having grown up on the UK cut, I always assumed Mola Ram was simply 'faking it' like a 2nd rate Scooby Doo villain. The drop into the lava was simply a cover up by Mola Ram to stop anyone sussing the ruse/trick.

Having now seen the US version of that scene (only about 18 months ago), clearly the intention is to show that some real black magic is occurring. It's one thing to rip a heart out... it's another thing for the wound to heal over in secons and for the victim to still be alive. That's some serious voodoo sh*t...

However, I have to say that I actually like the ambiguity of not seeing Mola Ram actually rip the heart out. I like the fact that his powers are dubious and that ultimately, for his sacrilege, he suffers the rage of the true Gods.... some poetic irony. Either way Mola's still a nasty son of a b*tch.

 

[Rocket Surgeon]

"Mola Ram successfuly removes the heart bone without sounding the buzzer which would have stirred his minions from their zombie state..."

Ah! Yes, would have been "game over"...

 

[Montana Smith]

I have to say, having grown up on the UK cut, I always assumed Mola Ram was simply 'faking it' like a 2nd rate Scooby Doo villain. The drop into the lava was simply a cover up by Mola Ram to stop anyone sussing the ruse/trick.

Having now seen the US version of that scene (only about 18 months ago), clearly the intention is to show that some real black magic is occurring. It's one thing to rip a heart out... it's another thing for the wound to heal over in secons and for the victim to still be alive. That's some serious voodoo sh*t...

However, I have to say that I actually like the ambiguity of not seeing Mola Ram actually rip the heart out. I like the fact that his powers are dubious and that ultimately, for his sacrilege, he suffers the rage of the true Gods.... some poetic irony. Either way Mola's still a nasty son of a b*tch.

It leaves him bested by the effeminate Maharajah, though. The kid knew how to get some action out of his Indy doll!

 

[Stoo]

I just saw the heart-ripping scene from the uncut American version for the first time...

No question about it, the US cut is infinitely better.

...everything plays as it does in the US version;
---
What speculation about the US film are you saying I'm making?
---
Seeing the UK version confirms that what's seen in the US version is unnecessary.

Having now seen the US version of that scene...

Folks, the uncut film wasn't specific to the just the U.S. so there is no "US version/American version".

@Mods: The thread title should be changed. (Unless there is an existing version which shows an American heart getting ripped out.)

 

[Henry W Jones]

Folks, the uncut film wasn't specific to the just the U.S. so there is no "US version/American version".

@Mods: The thread title should be changed. (Unless there is an existing version which shows an American heart getting ripped out.)

Come on Stoo. You haven't seen the version where Mola Ram rips out the guy heart, holds it above his head and starts chanting... "USA.....USA......USA.....USA"? Always found it weird since they are supposed to be in India.

 

[Crack that whip]

I just posted this in the Blu-ray thread, but it seems to me important enough to warrant a thread of its own (especially given that it involves not just the Blu-rays but also a theatrical exhibition), so for all our UK members...

It turns out that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is about to finally get its first official releases in the UK in uncensored form - not just on the Blu-ray set, but also in theaters, as part of a special BFI series marking the 100th anniversary of the BBFC; the series runs throughout November, and features a number of movies, previously cut or banned outright in the UK, in their uncensored glory for the first times ever. The program features a number of noteworthy movies aside from Temple of Doom (many of which I'd love to be there for myself - not because I can't see the uncut versions here in the US, but simply to see them on the big screen at all; I'll envy any of you folks across the pond who manage to catch them).

__________________________​

Incidentally, one thing really jumped out at me from the page in the first link, re: the Blu-ray release; according to it, the ToD cuts mandated by the BBFC included:

Deletion of the Chinese Kid burning a guard?s stomach with a flaming torch (and hence discovering an ability to heal)

Bwaaahh?

 

[Udvarnoky]

The program features a number of noteworthy movies aside from Temple of Doom (many of which I'd love to be there for myself - not because I can't see the uncut versions here in the US, but simply to see them on the big screen at all; I'll envy any of you folks across the pond who manage to catch them).

What are your plans Saturday? All four movies are being presented back-to-back at AMC theaters across the country.

 

[Crack that whip]

What are your plans Saturday? All four movies are being presented back-to-back at AMC theaters across the country.

I bought my ticket for the AMC marathon within hours of it being announced (I live in the US), so yeah, I'll see each of the four movies again (in addition to having already caught each one on the big screen when it was new). When I spoke of envying people in the UK, I was talking about all those non-Indy movies (Cape Fear, Pink Flamingos, The Evil Dead, etc.) being shown in the BFI / BBFC series.

 

[Dr.Jonesy]

I bought my ticket for the AMC marathon within hours of it being announced (I live in the US), so yeah, I'll see each of the four movies

Me too. Going with a friend of mine, he's excited indeed. His favorite's KOTCS but he's more looking forward to seeing 'Raiders' on the big screen more than that one or TOD/TLC. Can't say I blame him!

Day after tomorrow...

 

[russds]

Incidentally, one thing really jumped out at me from the page in the first link, re: the Blu-ray release; according to it, the ToD cuts mandated by the BBFC included:

Deletion of the Chinese Kid burning a guard?s stomach with a flaming torch (and hence discovering an ability to heal)

Bwaaahh?

Wow, that is interesting. Sure would be sweet if tht scene were included on the bluray!

 

[Montana Smith]

Wow, that is interesting. Sure would be sweet if tht scene were included on the bluray!

It will be.

...for the first time ever on Blu-ray, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is presented in its uncut format, 28 years after it was first released in cinemas. The original release was cut in 1984 in the UK to obtain a PG rating, however fans can now witness all the gory cut extras in all their glory.

The BBFC cuts were:

1. Cuts to a close-up of a heart being ripped from the chest and the subsequent self healing of the chest wound.

2. The deletion of the line ?Leave him alone you bastards? when the Chinese kid is about to be whipped

3. Deletion of the Chinese Kid burning a guard?s stomach with a flaming torch (and hence discovering an ability to heal)

4. The sequence in which a sacrifice victim is being lowered into the fiery pit has been shortened and set to different music.

5. Cut to the first 1s or 2s from the shot of his fall in order to delete the image of his head hitting the side of the cliff.

 

[Dr Bones]

__________________________​

Incidentally, one thing really jumped out at me from the page in the first link, re: the Blu-ray release; according to it, the ToD cuts mandated by the BBFC included:


Deletion of the Chinese Kid burning a guard’s stomach with a flaming torch (and hence discovering an ability to heal)

Bwaaahh?

Hmm, thought that was always in there, as how would I have already seen it?

Might have to go check......

 

[AndyLGR]

Looking forward to seeing this version. Equally I hope it gets a more nationwide release on UK cinemas too. I never saw TOD on the big screen.

 

[russds]

It will be.

I'm not so sure. The website is a little unclear. Is he saying:

a) the scene was cut only in the UK in order to obtain a PG rating in the UK, and would now be a part of the bluray release? - if so this isn't really correct as the scene was cut in all versions. (at least that i've ever seen)

b) the scene was cut in all releases in order to get a PG rating, and would now be included? - if this is what he's saying then sweet, can't wait to see it. However it kind of sounds like he's saying 'a', which leads me to believe the site is just plain incorrect, at least on this particular scene reference.

Oh well, either way, i'm crossing my fingers!

 

[Rocket Surgeon]

Looking forward to seeing this version. Equally I hope it gets a more nationwide release on UK cinemas too. I never saw TOD on the big screen.

Did no one go to Film4 Summer Screen at The Somerset House?