Avengers DVD has been cut

S

Sparrowsabre7

Za Warudo
There's been posts on blu-ray.com showing that the scene where Coulson is stabbed has been edited to digitally remove most of the spear tip poking out the other side.

For once this may not be down to the BBFC though, since there's no evidence that they reviewed a censored version, only the cinema one, which could potentially mean this version of the Avengers is illegal as it has not been rated by them according to some posters.

Just something I thought I'd mention, since censorship is a very important issue round these parts.

evidence: http://www.movie-censorship.com/news_en.php?ID=4149
 
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Haha I thought I recognised your name! The blurry shot of the TV on there was from me :wink:

But yeah, it's a mess of a release, Ugh.
 
Ha! How 'bout that? :p

The bigger kicker for me though is the lack of commentary =/ I'm not usually one for commentaries but if it's a director who is as entertaining in interviews and to listen to as it is to see their work, then I love to have them included.

However, my biggest issue right now is that my DAMN BLU-RAY DIDN'T ARRIVE. First and last time I pre-order from Sainsburys...

Good thing I wasn't going to watch it today anyway (need to show Captain America to my parents before we can watch Avengers together)
 
Well that blew up quickly

So this is starting to really get some coverage on the net. Lots of people NOT very happy with Disney UK here.

They have now issued a response. Errrm...well see for yourself
'There’s been no censorship, no foul play,' declares Disney UK home entertainment spokesperson Lydia Rodrigues, 'the version of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble on Blu-ray disc in the UK is the same as the version shown theatrically. It really is.'
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Which is a load of rubbish. I saw it twice at the cinema, and it was uncut. Many other people have testified that it was uncut. The BBFC plainly state that the spear tip with blood is visible on their website for both cinema and home video releases! Clearly we've all been hallucinating, nice try Disney UK.

There's some choice quotes there about the missing special features as well:
So is the Whedon commentary ever going to surface in the UK, maybe as part of a special edition release? 'That’s been the subject of heated debate here (at Disney UK),' says Lydia Rodrigues, 'but we don’t think we can really ask fans who have bought this version to buy another just to obtain the commentary. So at the moment we are thinking it won’t be released. We also know that hardcore fans with Blu-ray players are probably going to end up buying the US release which has the commentary. The American Blu-ray is region-free.' The Disney spokesperson says she knows the UK will take a hit on sales, but it’s better than asking fans to double dip: 'We don’t think we can ask people to buy both versions.'
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So that's the lesson, import everything from America now, we have Disney's blessing! What an omnishambles.
 
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Even a company as large as Disney acknowledges openly that we're not in the worthy physical region (US). I'm glad this isn't a film I'm interested in as I'd have been returning this release immediately.

R
 
Wow Disney...really?

So let me get this straight...not only do you cut the home media release of one of the year's biggest films, thus breaking the Video Recordings Act, not only do you give HMV an exclusive steelbook and Sainsbury's an exclusive bonus disc forcing consumers to choose on over the other, but you also strip the UK release of special features...then just tell fans to import the release from the states, which will cost twice as much?

Until this is addressed, I won't be buying any more films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is a shame, because I was looking forward to buying the boxset (atm I only have Iron Man and Iron Man 2 on Blu-ray).
 
Wasn't The Incredible Hulk cut too when it was released on DVD? Theres a part in the movie where the Hulk smashes some guy knocking him into a tree. I remember that specifically at the cinema cause it was greeted with a 'Oooooow' from the audience. On the DVD I've got however that part seems to cut out the impact and is really noticeable. That always kinda bothered me since the cut always looked really rough.
 
Been some more updates on the situation today. The BBFC have chimed in after saying they'd investigate.
BBFC said:
The DVD/Blu-ray version of MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE is classified 12. It differs from the theatrical version submitted to the BBFC which is classified 12A.

In publishing the Extended Classification Information (ECI) for the DVD/Blu-ray MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, a technical error occurred and the theatrical ECI was published on the BBFC website instead of the DVD/Blu-ray ECI.

The theatrical ECI highlights a scene in the film where the tip of a spear is seen protruding from a man’s chest. This scene was absent from the DVD/Blu-ray MARVEL AVENGERS ASSEMBLE and does not appear in the DVD/Blu-ray ECI. The website error has now been rectified and the correct ECI for the DVD/Blu-ray is now available.
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Basically, Disney were at least competent enough to submit the cut version for video, so they haven't broken the VRA. Having said that, they still flat out lied when they claimed the cinema version was cut for a 12A, as the BBFC say outright that the bloody spear tip was there. Basically they've cut it for somewhere like Germany or Spain, and decided to use the cut master in the UK, presumably to save costs. Except that this is ridiculous because the UK needed it's own special print anyway, to have "Avengers Assemble" as the title! :evil: The BBFC clearly would have passed it as an uncut 12, so it's completely DisneyUK's cock up. It's not the first time they've pulled stuff like this and it clearly won't be the last, what a disgrace.
 
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There's a list here of the countries which have it uncut. But yeah, Italy is uncut, as is Spain and Australia.

Only the US release seems to have the commentary worldwide so far. The Japanese release will probably have it as well, since they only just got the film in the cinema! But it will probably be like £50 or something, they'll be reverse importing the American release for once :p
 
Received the HMV BD Steelbook version but after hearing about this I'm planning to return it and import (I'm also of a mind to email Disney UK and tell them I'm doing so as well).

I guess Disney UK are the new Manga UK.
 
Marvel have now issued a statement
MarvelUK said:
Thanks to those of you who have let us know about an issue on the Marvel Avengers Assemble UK Blu-ray and DVD release, which has a less graphic depiction of Agent Coulson's confrontation with Loki. Each country has its own compliance issues relative to depictions of violence. Unfortunately, another region’s elements were inadvertently used to create the UK in home release which minimally altered this scene in the film. We thank our fans for their vigilance in recognising this and apologise for the mix up.
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There were still people out there who thought it was the BBFC who ordered the cut, but this 100% confirms it was Disney's incompetence. Ideally we'd get a replacement with the missing features as a gesture of goodwill, but that's not going to happen unless DisneyUK surprise us all. Expect this to be norm for future releases from them, as they've ALWAYS pulled stuff like this.
 
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I would be very interested to know what they say in case any of it applies to other cases of the UK getting an inferior release of a home video product. That was quick, though; Avengers fans are impressive.

R
 
Absolutely nothing noteworthy :p They gave it 30 seconds at the end of the show where they summarised the missing stuff. Then a quick non-committal Disney statement followed by some poor Hulk joke.

Nothing about Disney's denial then subsequent U-turn nor any mention of the BBFC. Still, some coverage is better than no coverage.

Even Variety, one of the big trade magazines in America is getting in on the reporting.
 
Shame. I do hope Disney get their asses in gear and do something. I loved The Avengers in the cinema; in fact, it sparked new interest in Marvel comics for me. I hadn't seen any of the cinematic universe movies before, so I immediately purchased the 2 Iron Man films. I was look forward to buying the boxset, so I could get Captain America and Thor for cheap (Atm they're around £25 each! I'm not too interested in the Hulk tbh, as Ruffalo was only in The Avengers).

Although the cut is small and I probably wouldn't have watched the commentary track; I know a lot of people were looking forward to it, so I'm not buying any more cinematic universe films until it's sorted out.
 
Come to think of it, I'm still missing Captain America. Weird that neither it nor Thor have come down in price, then again I remember Iron Man 2 taking its sweet time to drop as well, I didnt pick that up for ages. I have Iron Man 1 and Incredible Hulk on DVD only, but they're in lovely steelbooks, I will upgrade them to Blu one day.

Minor cuts and superhero movies aren't new to me :p One of the very first DVDs I ever imported back in 2004 was Spider-Man 2 after the UK release was missing a headbutt along with the blooper reel (which would have upped the rating to 12). I remember begging my mum to use her credit card to let me get it! (I was 14).

Another one was Batman Returns, the special edition DVD from 2005. That was cut again to remove Catwoman putting an aerosol in a microwave. Because of that, the audio commentary got dropped! Just like with Avengers I complained to the BBFC about it (though unlike Avengers, it WAS their fault, and it was through email since there was no Twitter!). To be fair, they politely responded with their reasoning in great detail, but I was still miffed and imported the Australian DVD (the only one in my collection).

Both of them are now completely uncut on Blu-ray at least!
 
I didn't know Batman Returns was cut. I only have the DVD from the Batman-Batman and Robin collection that was released around the time when Batman Begins came out. I guess that one was probably cut too.

Also, I don't like how in the UK, we're forced to either get a steelbook from HMV, or a bonus disc from Sainsbury's.

Frankly though, the prices for Captain America and Thor are insane. I got Iron Man and Iron Man 2 together for what...£15? Just Captain America and Thor alone would cost more than the recently released boxset would (which was the main reason I wanted to get it, despite knowing that I would have 2 copies of Iron Man). I'm tempted to wait for the Italian boxset that's due out in November, but while that may have uncensored Avengers, it still won't have the commentary track.
 
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