Sony's ''Clean Version'' [Sanitized Movies]

[DigModiFicaTion]

In similar news, VidAngel apparently won their lawsuit just released a new streaming filtering system. I'd assume that they met with the companies (netflix, amazon, etc.) to get this to go through while they battle the mouse ears and other studios.
http://variety.com/2017/biz/news/vidange...202464295/



I know lots of people on here don't like the censoring approach, but honestly, I've turned off a few movies that had pointless content in them. I personally like this Burger King approach to media "have it your way"

[DigModiFicaTion]

Well I did a little more looking into it and it seems that VidAngel didn't get the permissions afterall. I like the idea, but they obviously don't get that they are fanediting and cannot sell such a product legally.

Im assuming they are using edl (edit decision list) files for their on the fly editing. I've created edl files before to create quick family friendly versions of my movies.

Back on topic, I wonder if the popularity of such services caught the attention of Sony and spurred on their decision to release their movies edited. Perhaps the other studios will follow?

[TomH1138]

This is a very interesting topic! I'm glad we're discussing it here. It's not fan editing, but it is editing of a sort.

I do hope the trend continues that Sony is starting (in a sense. As DigModiFicaTion aptly noted, this may be in response to the VidAngel kerfuffle).

I remember my frustration when the first live-action Transformers movie came out. I had been wanting to see a live-action TF movie since I was 9 and holding Optimus Prime in my hands for the first time. I had a nephew that was 7 at the time, and he would have loved to have seen it, too...but there were pornography and masturbation jokes in it. And these jokes didn't move the plot forward, so they could be easily excised. It bothered me that I couldn't bring my 7-year-old nephew to see a movie about big toy robots. (And I don't think I was fully aware of fan editing as a hobby at that point.)

Granted, not every film would work equally well for a family-film treatment. I'm sure that there are TV versions of the American Pie movies, but is there any point to having a version squeaky clean that little kids can watch? It would probably be two minutes long, and it wouldn't give the viewer any idea of what the movie was about or why people liked it. It's possible to have a slightly less violent version of Jaws that still includes the immortal line "We're gonna need a bigger boat," but there's no way to have a clean version of American Pie  that includes the infamous "band camp" line. 

And I appreciate the fact that the original films are packaged with the clean versions. As much as I get excited about having family-friendly versions, I also believe in freedom of expression (of course). This plan seems to hit the right balance of making multiple options available for viewing.

I've also been watching the VidAngel case unfold, and will continue to look for updates on this intriguing case. It sounds like they actually have some merits to their side of things, but if they've released another filter without waiting for the first case to finish and without the studios' approval, it seems like they're needlessly stirring up trouble. There are options such as ClearPlay that haven't riled up the studios like this. Anyway, it'll be fascinating to see how this all plays out.

[DigModiFicaTion]

Great thoughts Tom. I was under the impression that ClearPlay had gone under similar to the other editing services.

I remeber getting an edited version of the Last Samurai and it was edited phenomenally. The edits were seamless and akin to a fanfix edit. Basically the movie didn't show some of the impales, beheadings, and removed some blood from scenes. There was little to no impact to the movie. I destroyed the edit years ago, but I've fancied trying to emulate the effort as I love the story and the cinematography.

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/ju...ilm-makers

Looks like Sony wasn't as good about getting director consent as they stated. The title list on the home page has dwindled a bit. Kind of a shame; I wasn't so much looking to the censored aspect as much as a new trove of alt takes and even alt scenes (as these are the TV versions and not just cutting around objectionable material). 

That being said I've always wanted a clean version of Christmas Vacation (which I know is Warner)... But I have no idea what would come after "hallelujah...".  Anyone seen the TV version?

[iridium_ionizer]

Looks like Sony wasn't as good about getting director consent as they stated.

I kind of think its a bit hypocritical for directors to bash Sony offering an additional, alternative version, when they clearly signed off on the edits for TV and airline viewing. Also I never hear them complaining about the "Raunchy, Unrated Cut" even when it is a worse cut. 

They only sold Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy in the theatrical cut (letterbox) DVD in the U.S. for a few months, and then years went by without it being sold at all. You could by the full-frame version or the Uncalled For Version. Only with the Rich Mahogany Version did they finally make the theatrical available in blu-ray. It is still unavailable in DVD.

[Dr. Chim Richalds]

I kind of think its a bit hypocritical for directors to bash Sony offering an additional, alternative version, when they clearly signed off on the edits for TV and airline viewing. Also I never hear them complaining about the "Raunchy, Unrated Cut" even when it is a worse cut. 

They only sold Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy in the theatrical cut (letterbox) DVD in the U.S. for a few months, and then years went by without it being sold at all. You could by the full-frame version or the Uncalled For Version. Only with the Rich Mahogany Version did they finally make the theatrical available in blu-ray. It is still unavailable in DVD.

What I'd read seems to indicate that the DGA has some kind of approval rule for cuts that is per viewing format. 

That being said, I agree that as long as (as addiesin said) you can choose your version, offering a clean version just enhances your viewing options (sometimes the clean takes are actually funnier).   I wish more directors would get behind it.  And yeah, The anchorman theatrical cut is way better than the unrated, no doubt.