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DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES






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Casino Royale

Comparison:

  • Chinese DVD
  • Uncensored Version
Release: Jul 06, 2020 - Author: Sun Wukong - Translator: Mike Lowrey - external link: IMDB

The  censored Chinese DVD (without age restriction) was compared to the German DVD second edition (FSK 12).

Daniel Craig's first assignment as 007 was not exactly easy for the censors worldwide. Casino Royale, directed by GoldenEye director Martin Campbell, came up with a gruffness that has not been seen in this form in the Bond series since the Timothy Dalton thriller License to Kill. Accordingly, Casino Royale has been censored differently in several markets, such as Germany, the UK and the US.

But also in another market, the 21st Bond adventure was censored: In the People's Republic of China. Traditionally, the series did not have an easy time there; the older Bond films only came onto the market in the form of black market copies. Casino Royale, on the other hand, was the first 007 film to be officially released in Chinese cinemas - albeit with some editing requirements. The official Chinese DVD presented here is based on the completely uncut version. The cuts in the torture scene - especially the absence of Mikkelsen's sentence "Such a waste! - allow the conclusion that the Chinese theatrical version is based on the British version that was already censored due to the BBFC's advice in favour of a lower BBFC 12 rating. Since the uncensored version served as the master here, this DVD is probably a kind of hybrid version that no longer corresponds 100% to the old Chinese theatrical version.

5 cuts = 162,3 sec.

It should also be mentioned that a statement by Judi Dench can be found on the Internet, in which she refers to dialogue censorship in the Chinese version:

In this year's "Casino Royale," Dench gets to poke fun at the anachronistic nature of the James Bond franchise itself, declaring, "[Expletive], I miss the Cold War." "Yes, I wasn't allowed to say that for China," Dench remarked. "I had to re-dub it. It was: 'God, I miss the old times.' Not quite the same thing."

On the English audio track of the DVD, however, the original "cold war" line by Dench is included. It's interesting to note that the DVD contains two Chinese subtitle tracks: one is a translation of the English dialogue, the other reproduces the dialogues of the Mandarin soundtrack. And indeed: While the subtitles on the English audio track translate the sentence faithfully, the sentence on the Mandarin audio track has been replaced by a sentence that roughly translates as "God, times have changed."



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0:37:25
Bond seduces Dimitrio's wife Solange. The two talk about why Solange is always attracted to "bad guys" like Bond.
73 sec



1:20:09
Very bumpy cut: Bond strangles the assassin while Vesper watches. After that, the bloodied Bond straightens up and gives Vesper some instructions. The Chinese version resumes with the words, "Go, go, go!"
17 sec



1:20:18
The scene in which Bond gets drunk while cleaning his wounds is completely missing.
39 sec



1:46:30
One of Le Chiffre's henchmen removes the seating of the chair. Afterwards, Bond is stripped and tied to the chair, while Le Chiffre is occasionally seen.
FETT]18 sec[/FETT



1:47:08
Another bumpy cut: Le Chiffre's sentence "Such a waste!" was shortened. Also missing is how Le Chiffre takes a few steps away from Bond, while briefly letting the knot swing threatfully in Bond's direction.
15 sec