SPECTRE rating: BBFC advised cuts in post-production to achieve a 12A in the UK.
SPECTRE rating could have been a 15, according to the BBFC
Last night, we posted a rather positive review of SPECTRE. It’s a film that stays with you long after the credits roll, and should age really quite well. One thing that did strike us with the film, and we didn’t really post it in our review, is that it’s a pretty extreme movie for the 12A certificate in the UK (the equivalent of a PG-13 from the MPAA). There is one particular scene that is really quite tough to watch, and it looks like the British censors – the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) gave some advice during post-production to check whether they were on track for the more audience friendly 12A SPECTRE rating, which is the same as Skyfall.
The 15 rating, which is technically the R-rating in the US, though the BBFC does have the more extreme 18 rating, would have really affected box-office revenues in the UK, so the 12A was the target for filmmakers and the studio.
Here’s what the BBFC had to say about their SPECTRE rating:
“This film was originally seen for advice in an unfinished version. The company was advised it was likely to be classified 15 but that their preferred 12A could be obtained by making reductions in a scene of violence and in another scene showing the aftermath of a violent act. When the film was submitted for formal classification, acceptable reductions had been made in both scenes and the film was classified 12A.”
We kind of get what they are referring to, and while we don’t want to post any spoilers here, it does get pretty intense towards the end of the film.
Check out our review of SPECTRE at the end of the link above. The 24th Bond movie opens across the UK on Monday 26th October, and the US on November 6th. It will received its world premiere at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday.
