Film Modification - Background

Background

Early cases of this practice go back to the Nazis, who regularly stole prints of American movies from European countries during their Blitzkrieg raids. They would then either cheaply reanimate the movie (see Hochzeit im Korallenmeer), or they would change the names in the credits (as with Max and David Fleischer's cartoons).

As theatrical movies began to air on television, networks successfully sought permission to air shortened versions of movies. These TV version of theatrical films had scenes or sections of movies cut out, in order to provide a length short enough to fit in fixed number normal television half-hour-based time slots (often 4 half-hour slots). This also allowed scenes unsuitable for television to be cut or trimmed such as those with sex or graphic violence. On the other hand, networks would also often add footage deleted from a film's theatrical release to pad out a certain running time (3 to 4 hours).

At the end of the 1990s, some small companies began selling copies of movies, without the violent, indecent or foul language parts, to appeal to the family audience. By 2003, Hollywood reacted against these unauthorized modifications, as it considered them to be a destruction of the filmmakers work, and a violation of the controls an author has over his or her works. Famous directors and producers, such as Steven Spielberg, have publicly criticised this practice in magazines.

Less controversial than external bodies editing movies were the rise of director's cut editions of movies, which flourished with the advent of DVDs. These restore (and occasionally also shorten or omit, as in the case of Alien) scenes or footage from movies which had been shortened for whatever reason (including studio interference with the directors creative vision, inability to finish what was intended due to technology, or even the reactions of test audiences).