OVERALL: R2

The UK Imperial Edition includes an extra version of the film. Otherwise, it's the same as the Dutch release, and both then only differ from the US release by their inclusion of the North American Bonus Footage. Note however that the Dutch release doesn't include the DVD-ROM features.

R2 French-releases could have one additional featurette.

GENERAL NOTES:
The film exists in a number of versions:
- the original X-rated theatrical cut (156 minutes);
- an R-rated version (105 minutes) with alternate angles for some scenes;
- the R-rated version (102 minutes) on the DVDs which is cut down from the X-rated version with repeated shots to fill in continuity gaps;
- the 1984 Italian version edited by Enzo Micarelli that ran 133 minutes before being cut down to 87 minutes and then back to 123 minutes after censor battle. This version featured the classical music selections but replaced Bruno Nicolai's original music with a new score by Renzo Rossellini;
- a pre-release version (152 minutes) reconstructed for the Imperial Edition DVD and Blu-ray that removed much of the hardcore material and moved around some scenes to the way they were intended by the director;
- the "ultimate cut" supervised by Thomas Negovan assembled from over ninety hours of negative material, adding animation and text panels as well as previously unseen shots, removing hardcore material, and restoring some of the original voices of the actors from production audio (~178 minutes). Like the release cuts, this version does not have the approval of director Tinto Brass.

CUTS:

• R0 Imperial Edition America- Penthouse Video - No cuts, 2 versions of the film:
  - Unrated theatrical release version (155:55 NTSC)
  - Pre-Release version; never-before-seen edit, that eliminates the Guccione footage, restructures to film to conform with the shooting script, and contains alternate Brass-filmed footage, different edit rhythms and previously unseen deleted material (info from Bruce Holecheck) (152:52 NTSC)
• R0 R-rated America- Penthouse Video - No cuts - R-rated version (~102:00 NTSC)
• R0 Unrated America- Penthouse Video - No cuts - Unrated version (155:48 NTSC)
• R0 Imperial Edition Holland- Video/Film Express - No cuts - Includes US Unrated Theatrical Release (155:58 NTSC > PAL)and Alternate Pre-Release Version (152:58 NTSC > PAL)
• R0 Spain- S.A.V. - No cuts - Unrated version (~150:00 PAL)
• R2 Imperial Edition Denmark- On Air - No cuts - Includes US unrated theatrical release (156:01 NTSC > PAL) and alternate pre-release version (152:57 NTSC > PAL)
• R2 R-rated - Special Edition France- M6 Vidéo - No cuts - R-rated version (~98:00 PAL)
• R2 Unrated - Collector's Edition France- Metropolitan Film - No cuts - Unrated version (~150:00 PAL)
• R2 Holland- Dutch Filmworks - No cuts - Unrated version (~150:00 PAL)
• R2 Scandinavia- Svensk Filmindustri - No cuts - Unrated version (~150:00 PAL)
• R2 Collector's Edition Scandinavia- Svensk Filmindustri - No cuts - Unrated version (149:36 PAL)
• R2 Imperial Edition Scandinavia- Star Media - No cuts - Includes US unrated theatrical Release (156:01 NTSC > PAL) and the alternate pre-release version (152:57 NTSC > PAL)
• R2 United Kingdom- Penthouse Video - No cuts - R-rated version (~98:00 PAL)
• R2 Imperial Edition United Kingdom- Arrow Films - No cuts - Includes US unrated theatrical release (155:58 NTSC > PAL), alternate pre-release version (152:58 NTSC > PAL) and UK theatrical release (101:47 NTSC > PAL)

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Comparison added by Adrian_Busby on 27/01/02
Comparison last updated by Eric_Cotenas on 04/04/24

UPDATE LOG:

08/03/10: Modified verdict regarding differences in the Imperial releases.
31/10/16: Added Danish/Scandinavian Imperial Editions.
29/06/22: DVDBeaver.