TedStixon

31st Jul 2018

Men in Black (1997)

Question: I loaded the film up on Netflix, and it seems that the dialogue in one scene was edited. In the standard cut of the film, Jeebs says "You insensitive prick!" to K, but in the version I saw on Netflix, Jeebs says "You insensitive jerk!" What's the deal with the Netflix version changing this one single line? The original "prick" line appears to be on both the VHS and Blu-Ray edition I own.

TedStixon

Answer: After a little research, I discovered that the line was changed in the UK release from "prick" to "jerk." So the most likely explanation I can find is that the Netflix version is taken from a UK master of the film. As mentioned in other comments, Netflix doesn't censor their films, so the other answer regarding the film being edited like movies shown on airplanes isn't accurate. (Not to mention, it'd make no sense for Netflix to edit this one profanity while leaving all the others intact if they were editing it for content).

TedStixon

I agree it's the UK version. I don't know if it's a licensing thing or cheaper, but I've notice Netflix will use the UK release version on a number of films. I'm not familiar with "prick" as a UK slang but I believe it's more graphic than US slang, similar to the word "fanny", and edited for the UK release.

Bishop73

Answer: In fact, it's done twice. When talking about Frank the pug, the standard edit has K saying "I just hope the little prick hasn't skipped town." The streaming version doesn't. I say streaming version because I just discovered that the Amazon version of this film edited out the word "prick," and I didn't realise the Netflix version had too. I'm in the US, so what's going on here?

Generally the changes people notice in films when watching Netflix or other services come from the fact that they're airing the UK release version (for whatever reason). I remember the first time people really noticed this was when Scooby-Doo 2 changed the product placement from Burger King to KFC (which I commented on).

Bishop73

Answer: As more films become available online and are accessible to a wider audience, the studios edit mature content that is unacceptable to under-aged viewers. It's the same as movies that are shown on airplanes where the adult content is edited or removed altogether.

raywest

Netflix doesn't censor their movies, though... So this explanation makes no sense.

It just seems odd, as Netflix basically never censors content in other films they host (since they're supposed to be hosting the officially released versions anyways), and the rest of the profanity/violence in this particular film is unedited.

TedStixon

Question: Bubbles dies because she was wounded in battle... yet nowhere in the scene could I see her actually get hit or hurt. Am I missing something, or do we just not see the moment where she's mortally wounded?

TedStixon

Answer: In the end they charge the Boulan-Bathors head on before they fall through the grid but before they fall they do make contact with the aliens and their weapons. Bubbles was also the last of them to fall through so she was exposed the longest to the Boulan-Bathor onslaught and was hurt. Its not specifically seen, nor do we know exactly how they were able to wound her flexible body.

lionhead

Question: Is the original cut of the film available in Region One territories on either DVD or Blu-Ray? I have the standard DVD and Blu-Ray editions, but they are pretty sparse on content and only seem to have the cut US version of the film, which is missing some plot and comedy beats.

TedStixon

Question: Do we know that Michael is dead for sure? It seems way too abrupt, against character and anti-climactic for him to have died in the manner alluded to in the film. Or should we assume that not seeing his corpse or hearing 100% confirmation of his death means he might still be alive?

TedStixon

Chosen answer: Selena herself said, that Michael was dead. The actor who played him really didn't want to return to the role.

2nd May 2018

Silent Hill (2006)

Question: Before the sequel went into production, the writer of the first film (Roger Avery) was supposed to return to write it, and even worked out a plan to write it from prison after he was jailed for vehicular manslaughter. But he ended up getting dropped. I'm just curious... did he actually ever write a draft for the sequel? And if so, is it available online? The second movie wasn't very good (in fact it pretty much sucked), so I'd be interested to see what he originally had planned before being dropped from the project.

TedStixon

Answer: In an interview Roger Avary said he only started working on a basic outline of the 2nd film which he did not complete. He did not comment on the content of the outline and it is not available online anywhere.

BaconIsMyBFF

1st Aug 2009

Ghostbusters 2 (1989)

Question: It seems like the character of Winston (the fourth Ghostbuster) has very little screen time in this movie. He was in a few scenes in the beginning, then kind of disappears for a while, then shows up again after the court room incident. Was there a reason why his character wasn't in the movie more?

TedStixon

Chosen answer: Winston was an employee of the other Ghostbusters, not a "professional paranormal investigator" like the other three. When they're looking into Dana's problem, they're doing it not in a professional ghostbusting capacity, but as a favor to a friend. Once the judge lifted the restraining order and they were back in business, they were able to hire him back.

Captain Defenestrator

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