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Theatrical version versus VHS/DVD version

posted 15 years ago by joan_of_arc1930
5 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone see Body Heat in the theaters years ago? If so, does anyone remember if the sex scenes were steamer? I am only asking because my boyfriend saw Body Heat in the theaters in 1981, and he remembers some of the love scenes being very explicit. He told me he rented it at Blockbuster on VHS a few years later, and the movie had definitely been edited.

Well, we watched the movie on DVD this weekend, and he pointed out to me some scenes that he is certain were edited for DVD/VHS. I'm just wondering if anyone else remembers it that way.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] rhinocerosfive-1 15 years ago

Blockbuster used to force the studios to edit their movies before it'd carry them. Wayne Huizenga, its original CEO, is famous for kowtowing to the Christian Right. It's a family friendly, institutionalized sanitization organization. So your boyfriend may be right in terms of the copy or copies he got at that particular chain - before 1994, anyway, when Viacom bought the company.

I have a regular old Warner Brothers DVD of BODY HEAT that's definitely the same as the 35 mm print I saw at a revival house a few years back. This is not conclusive, however, since it's possible that the print I saw was an edited version used to make the video transfer.

[–] cookiela2001 14 years ago

<< Blockbuster used to force the studios to edit their movies before it'd carry them. Wayne Huizenga, its original CEO, is famous for kowtowing to the Christian Right. It's a family friendly, institutionalized sanitization organization. So your boyfriend may be right in terms of the copy or copies he got at that particular chain - before 1994, anyway, when Viacom bought the company. >>

I went to Blockbuster in around 1994, and they didn't stock Mommie Dearest.

I knew they were family-oriented, but.....!

[–] cmichaud 15 years ago

I saw it several times at the theater, and several times on VHS and never noticed a difference. That said, I did rent a handful of movies over the years at Blockbuster, and found scenes missing -- always of a suggestive or sexual nature. I've never rented from them since.

[–] kathy5353853 15 years ago

Yes, I saw it in the theater in 1984. I think the issue is not censoring, but the full theatrical size screen just did show more of their full bodies in the sex scenes that were there.