I just bought Brave Heart from videocds.com. Is the movie edited and what am I missing. I also bought GoodWill Hunting and I was wondering if it was cut too. Also how long does it take for Videocds.com to mail the VCDs.

Michael

-- Nickodemis (vollm001@bama.ua.edu), June 25, 1999

Answers

I own the Braveheart Malaysian Version. You may want to read number eight first.

WARNING: SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN IT!!!

A total of seven minutes are cut from the film.

First: The opening sequence with the hanging bodies and William's father is shortened.

Second: The nudity during the love making session after William's marriage is cut.

Third: William's wife's murder is re-framed, similar to English TV and UK versions, in that same respect the execution of the first lord is also edited out. He falls on William and we do not see the line on his throat.

Fourth: The first battle: Stirling/Sterling is shortened by nearly three minutes, you do not see the old man get his hand chopped off.

Fifth: The infamous "mooning joke" is gone but the flashing still can be scene.

Sixth: Again the final battle where William is betrayed also is shortened.

Seventh: William's execution is shortened, we do not him being hanged. We do see him pulled up then immediately dropped.

Eighth: THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE!!! NO SUBTITLES WHEN THE ACTORS SPEAK ANOTHER LANGAUGE. PARTICULARLY ANNOYING WHEN THE PRINCESS AND HER ROYAL ASSISTANT HAVE A THREE MINUTE CONVERSATION. ALSO THE SUBTITLES FOR THE BATTLES ARE ALSO GONE, MEANING YOU WON'T KNOW WHICH ONE THEY ARE FIGHTING UNLESS YOU SEE THE ORIGINAL VERSION.

There are more cuts but less noticiable than the above eight. I do not own Good Will Hunting but when you get it, inform us about the cuts if any. Also many Malaysian Video CDs omit/cut the subtitles on the bottom. Soldier does this after the first subtitle there are no more. Oddly enough Air Force One Malaysian Version keeps the subtitles for the non-english parts.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), June 25, 1999.

Lone Ranger, I sent a e-mail to videocds.com about my order. I asked them if the Brave Heart and Good Will Hunting movies were edited. Hopefully the have not sent out my order yet, I can cancel Brave Heart. I really enjoyed the movie the first time, but it sounds like they cut out a few key parts. Is this a frequent problem with VCDs? Are there uncut versions out there? And if so, how do you tell?

Thanks Again, Nickodemis

-- Nickodemis (vollm001@bama.ua.edu), June 26, 1999.

Edited versions appear a lot in Malaysia and Singapore. Singapore, if it can not be edited it gets banned. Malaysia rarely bans films but if it is too religiously oriented or violent, it is banned. So far Blade, The Prince of Egypt, Shindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan are the only movies you will never get on VCD from Malaysia or Singapore but can get from Hong Kong. The only way to tell a movie is uncut is if it comes from Hong Kong. 99% of all movies from Hong Kong are uncut. For some films such as Braveheart a red box on the back appears that says "Original Uncut English Version With Chinese Subtitles". Braveheart Hong Kong Version is uncut and contains all the scenes but all Video CD versions of Braveheart are 1.33:1(Full Frame to fit your TV without black bars on the top or bottom) aspect ratio so dialogues become monologues and the battles look less stunning and shocking(I own the Widescreen VHS copy). You can order it from www.cdmovies.com but it is expensive: 31.88 without shipping. Just go to CDMovies and Click on Import Movies to find a bunch. Some films in Hong Kong, Blade and 95% of all Universal Pictures titles are in Widescreen 2.35:1(Black Bars on the top and bottom to retain the original look of the film). Universe Laser(the distributor for Blade) always does all its the film in widescreen(Universe Laser leaves the film uncut) and the distributor CIC(Distributor for Universal Pictures) does 90% of them in widescreen. All the films in Malaysia and Singapore are 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Although CIC may have released a few Widescreen(2.35:1)test releases in Malaysia but I am not too sure. Also Video CDs unlike DVD are not enchanced for HDTV (Widescreen Televisions) nor is the aspect ratio changed. Many new DVD films have the aspect ratio changed from 2.25:1 to 1.85:1[Nothing is changed or clipped from the film this way. What you saw in theaters is the same in this ratio(1.85:1).] to fit HDTV. By the way Titanic Malaysian Version is also edited by about ten minutes, I do not own the original tape so I do not know what is missing but definetely the nudity is gone(except in the drawing at the beginning of the film).

Here is what Malaysia always cuts(in order of impact/offensiveness)

1. Nudity. All nude scenes on Video CD are cut, sex scenes get shortened or edited out.

2. Violence. The scene is shortened or as in the case of Braveheart's second throat cutting scene...edited out.

3. Lanqauge. Not as much but my Craft Video CD from Malaysia dubbed out the "F" word.

Malaysia does have a stamped mark for their movies 18SG probably is equal to an R rating. The U I believe is just a G rating or Everyone.

As for Singapore:

Always nudity, violence, and other offensive things get cut or shortened.

Hong Kong:

Thanks to a ratings system, not much gets cut. So far as I know Showgirls in Hong Kong is the R-Rated version not the NC-17 Version. Of course Showgirls could be uncut, I do not own it nor could I find a place to buy it. Other films stay the same. The ratings in Hong Kong- III: Adults Only, equal to NC-17/X IIB: Not for Young Persons or Children, equal to R IIA: Not for Children, equal to PG-13 II: Never seen this one but I think it exists equal to PG I: Again never seen but probably equal to G

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), June 26, 1999.

I am sorry for another email but an error is in one of my sentences. I meant to say newer DVD films have the aspect ratio changed from 2.35:1 not 2.25:1 to 1.85:1 to fit HDTV screens. As for your last question, if you are a loyal customer VideoCDs.com will upgrade you to FedEx for free and it takes about a week, otherwise it would take about ten days. They email you when they ship it.

-- The Lone Ranger (rutger_s@hotmail.com), June 26, 1999.