Skyfall: Chinese audiences have never seen James Bond like you!

Each country has its own morals, customs and culture. The same goes for movies. Between altered endings, scenes shot specifically for certain audiences, over the decades the same film has managed to offer different versions depending on the country it’s from, sometimes for purely political reasons, elsewhere. Here are 10 examples.

Allow

The American version of the film, released on August 4, 2006, differs significantly from the original (i.e. released in France) as it ends with Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) seeing a bloodied Juno (Natalie Jackson Mendoza) in a car. It has the last minute of the original version removed.

However, he was clearly stronger as he saw Sara lose her mind and ultimately be killed by the underground creatures… This different American ending is the result of a decision made by the film’s North American distributor. The movie Lions Gatewho thought the original ending was too dark and hopeless for American audiences.

Crystal Trap

We won’t offend you by explaining again who John McClane is and how the Crystal Trap is in the history of 80’s action movies. But did you know that, to the dismay of the German public, the nationality of the hostages was changed in order to be exploited in Germany? Then it was a group of Irishmen and Alan Rickman’s character became Jack Gruber instead of Hans Gruber. This caused some difficulty for the translators of Hell Day to explain the existence of the German brother (played by Jeremy Irons) to the latter.

big blue

There are at least three versions of Luc Besson’s film. The version released in French cinemas was 132 minutes. A major public success, the film was released in an extended version, increasing its running time to 168 minutes. In the United States, released under the title big blue, it’s the happy ending that’s chosen, as opposed to the one we know, in which we see Jacques Mayol return to the surface and play with the dolphins… It’s also the alternate ending that makes up the movie’s poster. Still, it’s significantly weaker than the original ending.

Below, an alternate US ending…

Iron man 3

The co-production of Chinese-American blockbusters has been around for several years now; Especially for superhero movies. What about Iron Man 3, for example, between co-productions Marvel Studios and China Investment Fund DMG Entertainment. In fact, the Chinese public was even given preferential treatment with a little more than 3 minutes of extra footage from the American version.

Thus, the character of Dr. Wu (Wang Chuek), introduced at the beginning of the film, benefits from longer scenes in the Chinese version. His nurse, played by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, appears in this version, while we see Tony Stark on the operating table.

There is even product placement, in this case Chinese, at the beginning of the sequence. This is Gu Li DuoA very popular milk brand in China.

Lincoln

If the Civil War in the United States is a well-known and studied episode (and also called War Between the States), this is not necessarily the case in many foreign countries.

That’s why Steven Spielberg, with his screenwriter Tony Kushner and the blessing of Twentieth Century Fox, decided to open the film in international release with an explanatory sequence based on black-and-white images, accompanied by texts to allow for historical context. Placed in 1865. This sequence lasts for a minute, with John Williams’ music playing over the top.

You can find these pictures on the Hollywood Reporter website.

cold sweat

An additional final scene was filmed to satisfy the demands of certain European countries (particularly Scandinavians) in which no bad deed should go unpunished…

Marjorie “Midge” Wood (Barbara Bell Geddes) listens to the radio announcing that Gavin Elster – the person responsible for the whole scheme – is about to be extradited to the US. Scott then returns to Midge’s house, where, while she serves him a drink, he stares out the window at the horizon without exchanging a word with his friend…

However, it seems that this ending was ordered not only by the film’s foreign exhibition, but also by the manager working in the film’s production department, Geoffrey Shurlock. Production Code Administration, responsible for enforcing the infamous Hayes Code. Although by the time the film was released (1959), its application had already declined.

Below is an alternate ending to the question…

Fall of the sky

We know that the Chinese authorities are particularly sensitive to the country’s image in foreign production. Suffice it to say, if a Western work is released in Chinese territory, it’s best not to upset the Middle Kingdom’s censors…

A good example is Skyfall. Images of a dying Chinese character were cut out, as were references to torture and prostitution. A completely cut scene involved an assassin (Ola Rapace) executing Chinese guards.

In another scene, James Bond questions a French woman, Severine (Bérénice Marlohe), about her tattoo, which suggests she was forced into prostitution as a child. If the words remain in the original version (in English), the Chinese subtitles explain that he was a victim of the Triads.

Another small pair of scissors for the road? When Javier Bardem, aka Raul Silva, explains to 007 that he was captured in Hong Kong and then tortured, the Chinese subtitles simply missed part of the story…

Red Dawn

Let’s say: the 2012 remake of the 1984 film John Milius It’s a disaster. The remake, packaged by Dan Bradley and produced by MGM, was originally slated for a 2011 release. But shortly before the premiere of the film, a decision was made to change the origin of the villains: goodbye to the Chinese invaders and welcome to North Korea. .

Reason ? Changing the geographic origin of the film’s villains made the work exploitable in Chinese territory, with the prospect of recovering a few dollars. MGM spent $1 million digitally replacing all Chinese flags with North Korean flags in post-production, re-editing certain scenes and reworking the film’s opening, rejecting the original idea of ​​a Chinese invasion of the United States. Debtors of the Middle Kingdom…

Red Dawn Released in the US in November 2012. Despite all these modifications, it was a fiasco at the box office.

Captain America, The Winter Soldier

In the film by the Russo brothers, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) has to adjust a bit to modern life after being stuck in the 1940s. As a result, he carries it with him to do list works. This famous list was actually written by Marvel Studios in ten copies, each time with a different entry, just to adapt to the tastes of the countries where the film was shown.

If all versions of this list include “Thai cuisine, watching Star Trek and Star Wars and listening to Nirvana”, South Korea has the right to, for example, the violent drama Old Boy (!) and also the obligation to test the video. game Dance Dance RevolutionVery popular in South Korea!

For the British public, watching Sherlock was part of Steve Rogers’ To Do list, while in the US it was the TV show I Love Lucy!

Zootopia

As you can see in the montage above (from here Twitter account), Zootopia’s star TV host character, admittedly minor, but which connects several scenes in the film, is not the same depending on whether you are in France, China, England… Disney chose to adapt. Different regions of the world and their cultures with this friendly wink.

In France, as well as in North America, the wet was chosen – however, it disappeared from France for several centuries – and it is the koala that represents Australia and New Zealand; Panda in China; Jaguar in Brazil; Welsh corgi dog in England; Tanuki in Japan…