Censorship is a tricky thing.
The line between artistic freedom of speech and the need to protect the “common good”
are at odds every day.
But some people have begun to question the agenda of some behind the scenes experts.
Do the ideas on screen match up with the story they’re supposed to tell?
This isn’t meant to be a discussion on politics or the state of the world.
But rather, the behind the scenes decision-making that goes in to some Hollywood movies.
Everyone wants to look good on the big screen, and the government is no exception.
Here are 10 Famous Movies That Were Altered By The Government.
Goldeneye Whenever an actor debuts as the new James
Bond, fans of the franchise always wonder if the’ve got what it takes to embody the
iconic super-spy.
And after Timothy Dalton passed the torch to Pierce Brosnan, people got excited.
His first appearance as 007 was in 1995’s Goldeneye.
The movie spawned one of the most iconic video games of all time, and contains some of the
best moments in the character’s big-screen history.
But there was one scene that stood out to some members of the United States military.
An unfortunate encounter with Xenia Onatopp leaves one Admiral dead.
And in the original script the character was American, but was later changed to Canadian
for the final cut.
Django Unchained Quentin Tarantino is not exactly a subtle
guy, and his movies have a unique style.
Usually his vision includes troves of well-crafted dialogue mixed with a few bloodbaths.
Needless to say, audiences have come to expect a certain level of violence and gore when
heading to the theater to see his latest work.
Except in China, where the government’s strict film regulations clashed with the release
of Django Unchained in 2012.
The authorities pulled it from rotation on the same day it was released, and made some
changes.
The censored final cut is about three minutes shorter than the original, and is missing
some of its nudity and violence.
Iron Man 3 Robert Downey Jr’s take on Tony Stark is
officially legendary, and expanded the character’s fan base tenfold.
He’s been in a ton of movies over the last decade, and Iron Man 3 was one of the most
successful.
Legions of fans think the film is perfect just the way it is, but before it was released
in China, the authorities did a little editing.
Usually censors remove footage, but in this case they actually added a couple of minutes
to the movie.
And the way they used their time was kind of odd.
There were a few changes, but the most obvious one is a scene where they advertise a real-world
drink as the reason for Iron Man’s stamina.
Zero Dark Thirty Oftentimes when filmmakers take on delicate
or complex subject matter, they consult with an expert.
It’s a lot of pressure and they have a responsibility to be accurate when handling real-life events.
But some argue that a line was crossed during the making of Zero Dark Thirty.
And there are opponents on both sides of the line.
The movie follows a team looking for Osama Bin Laden.
Consulting with a team of CIA agents, the film was guided by their expertise in some
spots, and has been criticized for it’s use of “enhanced interrogation”.
After it’s release, some audience members felt that the story was swayed to be pro-torture
because of the CIA’s involvement.
While some fans saw the scenes as finally exposing a hidden truth.
World War Z With China being the fastest growing market
for movies, filmmakers are doing their part to make sure their work is up to code.
Since their industry only accepts a finite amount of foreign films every year, the competition
is fierce.
After Brad Pitt got the rights to make the movie World War Z, he’s had his eye on the
ball.
Any movie about zombies always gives an explanation about how and where the outbreak began.
And in this case, it was supposed to be China.
So to be safe, they just nixed the conversation.
It wasn’t enough, and executives were still butting heads over if it would be released.
Based on Max Brooks’ book of the same name, the film turned out to be the most successful
zombie movie ever made.
Pearl Harbor Michael Bay was given all kinds of military
support when he announced he’d be making a movie about Pearl Harbor.
And as we mentioned earlier, filmmakers often rely on the expert knowledge of real world
people who know a thing or two about the subject matter.
Since wartime history is not exactly Bay’s specialty, he was advised on more than one
plot point.
One of his experts even had him change an entire character so the audience would like
him more.
Too bad it didn’t work, since the movie is considered by many to be a low point in
movie making.
The Hunger Games The Chinese box office process is heavily
regulated, and officials have the right to pick and choose what movies are released.
They knew audiences were eagerly anticipating one installment in The Hunger Games franchise,
Mockingjay Part 1, but worried that it’s release would knock the entire entertainment
economy off it’s axis.
So in an effort to encourage citizens to see domestic movies, the government stalled the
films release by a few months until the new year.
Thankfully audiences didn’t have to wait too long, and Mockingjay was eventually released
in 2015.
Black Hawk Down Knowledge can be expensive, and many people
believe that director Ridley Scott traded his integrity for access during the making
of Black Hawk Down.
While working with officials on the film, the director allegedly agreed to give the
insiders a first look at the film and final say about what could and couldn’t be included.
Many felt like the result was a glorification of Americas military.
Instead of seizing the opportunity to tell the story they were “supposed” to, dissenters
argued that the advisors were over-involved in tailoring the final product.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Here he is again.
This time Michael Bay was called out for his super militarized vision in Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen.
Yes, obviously if giant robots began attacking the planet, the military would get involved,
but some people argue their overwhelming presence throughout the movie is secretly a recruiting
tactic.
When asked about it in an interview, deputy director in the public affairs department
of the United States Air Force didn’t deny it.
But stated that the primary goal of working on the film was to assist with the finer points
of military life.
If they get some new recruits out of it, that’s fine too.
Pixels Okay, the premise that video game characters
could someday attack the world and we’d be given three lives to defeat them sounds
really cool, right?
Nobody could ruin that, right?
Wrong.
Adam Sandler can, and did, in the 2015 flop Pixels.
Aliens battle earth in the form of iconic gaming characters, destroying huge chunks
of it in the process.
But when it came time for the aliens to blow up the Great Wall of China, the executives
came to a screeching halt.
Obviously the movie was going to be at least a little crass, it is Sandler after all.
But they didn’t want to completely eliminate themselves from the competition for a Chinese
release date.
So what do you think of our list?
Do you know of any other movies that were altered by the government?
Tell us about them in the comments, and subscribe to out YouTube channel for more of our videos.