Versions Of Favorite Films You've Never Seen

Film is arguably the last common cultural language—largely because when a film is a big hit, the experience of watching it is shared by audiences around the world. That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that everyone who shows up to theaters sees the same version of a movie. Whether it's because of edits made for international markets, post-release tinkering, or simply good old-fashioned gimmickry, audiences saw different versions of these films.

While filming Casino Royale, producers approached British Airways about the possibility of borrowing one of their planes for a couple shots. Apparently negotiations faltered late in production, and out of frustration producers instead asked British Airway's rival, Virgin Atlantic, to provide a plane on short notice—which they did, free of charge. As a thank you, Virgin's CEO Richard Branson was given a brief cameo.

This irked British Airways who, after acquiring the rights to air the film on their flights, hastily set about removing Branson's cameo and any scenes involving Virgin planes. Problem was, planes sporting Virgin's distinctive livery were present in scenes necessary to the plot, prompting British Airways' in-flight entertainment team to resort to digitally painting over the Virgin branding in scenes they couldn't cut for continuity reasons.

When asked why they were acting like spiteful children, British Airways rather lamely pointed out that it's standard procedure to edit films "to ensure they contain no material that might upset our customers."

Some of the most profitable films in recent memory owe their success to being a hit with Chinese audiences. Transformers 4, for example, became one of the highest-grossing films of all time thanks almost entirely to Chinese moviegoers.

However, China only allows a set number of western films to air in Chinese cinemas each year, in order to promote the burgeoning Chinese movie industry. As a result, some films pander to Chinese censors by shoehorning Chinese products, actors, and even China itself into the plot. One of the most egregious examples is Iron Man 3.

The Chinese version of the film contains about four minutes of additional scenes, all set in China, and an awkward cameo from Chinese actor Wang Xueqi. Xueqi plays Dr. Wu who, in the Chinese version, has Iron Man's personal cell phone number and calls to tell him he doesn't have to remove the shrapnel from his chest alone because "China can help." 

The film also features a gratuitous brand shot of a Chinese milk drink, another awkward cameo from Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, and a scene in which Xueqi explains that Chinese doctors are just the best. The scenes were widely panned by Chinese critics, one of whom summed up the pointlessness of their inclusion by pointing out "No one comes to China for medical care."

Disney and Pixar love filling their films with blink-and-you'll-miss-them Easter eggs and inside jokes. The studios are also keenly aware of international audiences, and have made small but nonetheless notable changes to cater to specific regions.

Disney's 2016 hit Zootopia, for example, changes the news anchors who briefly appear midway through the movie. The anchor working opposite the female leopard is an animal normally associated with whatever region the film is airing in, so in the American and Canadian versions it's a friendly moose, whereas in China it's a panda, and in Australia, a small koala.

As for Pixar, international versions of Inside Out feature a couple of changes. One of the more subtle is the food being fed to an uncooperative child who doesn't want to eat their greens. In most versions, the child is shown refusing to eat broccoli; in Japan, however, it's replaced with a bell pepper. The father in the film, meanwhile, daydreams about soccer instead of hockey in most international versions since the sport is more popular globally.

The Star Wars series is infamous for the numerous edits, changes and additions it's undergone over the years through re-releases and special editions. Creator George Lucas made a number of occasionally baffling changes, and audiences who caught those movies the first time around watched versions it's now impossible for fans to obtain or see today. (Well, not legally, anyway.) 

In fact, Lucas was so dissatisfied with his original cuts that he made changes to the movies while they were still in theaters—two versions of Empire Strikes Back were sent out, one on 35mm film and another on 70mm, shown almost exclusively in the States, that featured numerous tweaks to the dialogue and sound. Even audiences who saw Empire Strikes Back at the same time still potentially saw subtly different versions without ever realizing it. It's no surprise that Star Wars fans have a reputation for being excessively detail-obsessed.

Pulp Fiction's non-linear narrative is part of its appeal, but it's understandably a little confusing for some viewers the first time around, and in the years since its release, some fans have put together edited versions that play in chronological order—which definitely makes for a different viewing experience.

There were a number of theaters in Lebanon, in fact, that originally aired the movie in chronological order. According to legend, the film's European distribution company assumed that the film reels they'd been sent had been mixed up by mistake, and helpfully re-arranged the cut, leaving blissfully ignorant local audiences to watch a linear edit of a movie famous for its non-linear narrative. This presents one of two possible scenarios: either Tarantino is such a skilled filmmaker that he created a film you can enjoy in any order, or every theater in the world got a mixed-up film reel, and only the ones in Lebanon noticed.