OVERALL: Draw

R1 and R2/R4 UEs, for the new transfer, DTS, and extras. They are also now fully uncut (including all the previously cut MPAA and BBFC footage).

General notes (source: "James Bond DVD Guide" by Richard Crowther - Zetaminor):
-Older SEs were a direct port of the American PG-13 rated version. This restored most of the sounds and footage once removed by the BBFC, except for four short shots.

-The fully uncut version, available on the UE, now contains the four shots removed from the SE. These are as follows:
*An underwater shot at 21:05 min, showing Felix Leiter's bloody stump has been reinstated near the end of the sequence where Sanchez lowers Leiter into the jaws of a shark.
*Believing that Milton Krest has betrayed him, Sanchez locks Krest into a decompression chamber, pressurizes it, and then severs a feed pipe with an axe. Whilst previous versions showed Krest’s head swell up, the end of the shot, where it explodes, spattering the porthole with blood, has been reinstated at 94:18 min.
*During the sequence in which Dario is dragged into the grinding machine, and is minced alive, the shot seen from underneath the blades, showing bits of diced Dario hitting the camera lens has been lengthened at 109:15 min.
*A lingering shot of Sanchez on fire, flailing in desperation before falling to his knees, has been reinstated to his final confrontation in the desert with Bond at 122:06 min.

-"Sanchez's death":
*In the uncut version, Sanchez's death is depicted as follows:
1. Close-up of Sanchez's waist as Bond sets light to Sanchez's midriff.
2. Close-up of Sanchez screaming as flames rise.
3. Two-shot of Bond and the now engulfed Shanchez as Bond rolls away.
4. Sanchez flails about for a moment, then falls to his knees, still screaming and writhing, finally keeling over to be completely consumed by flames.
5. Shot of Bond running from the tanker as the vehicle ignites. He turns to look as it explodes, and races off to the left of the screen. He turns to look again and staggers now to the right of the screen.
6. Long shot - Tanker is annihilated and Bond pegs it.
7. Bond hides behind a rock as the fireball grows.
*Here's the sequence as seen in the previous UK 15/PG13 rated version:
1. Same.
2. Same.
3. Same.
4. Second half of shot 5 in the un-cut version (as Bond staggers to the right of the shot).
5. Second half of shot 4 in the uncut version, as Sanchez keels over into the fire.
6. First half of shot 5 in the uncut version, as Bond runs away from the tanker and staggers over to the left of the shot, at which point we cut to:
7. Shot 6 of the un-cut version. The rest of the scene is the same in both versions.
In other words, to remove the shot of Sanchez burning to a crisp and flailing about in agony, a later shot is chopped in two, and the two halves are reversed and separated by another shot. This leads to an awkward edit between the 3rd and 4th shots and the 6th and 7th shots in the cut version, since none of these match up too well - Bond is suddenly quite a distance from the tanker as a result of the first edit and has changed position and direction as a result of the second. John Glen was doubtless particularly distressed by this edit since this alteration harmed the otherwise exquisitely handled finale of the film.

Subtitle issues:
-The one caption in this film, “Ishtmus City”, is burnt-in, as it should be.

CUTS:

• R1 Special Edition America- MGM Home Entertainment - US Theatrical Cut - The MPAA and BBFC trimmed a few scenes before Theatrical release.
• R1 Ultimate Edition America- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - Fully uncut
• R2 Special Edition United Kingdom- MGM Home Entertainment - US Theatrical Cut - The MPAA and BBFC trimmed a few scenes before Theatrical release.
• R2 Ultimate Edition United Kingdom- Sony/MGM - Fully uncut (127:41 min - PAL).
• R4 Special Edition Australia- MGM Home Entertainment - US Theatrical Cut - The MPAA and BBFC trimmed a few scenes before Theatrical release.
• R4 Ultimate Edition Australia- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment - Fully uncut (127:41 min - PAL).

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Comparison added by Craig on 18/07/01
Comparison last updated by Goran_Andersson on 28/12/06

UPDATE LOG: