Bond Reclassified – 50th Anniversary Blu Ray Update.

As the 50th Anniversary Blu Ray Collection is due to hit shelves next month, some news has come to light regarding some classifications. It has been confirmed that Diamonds Are Forever and Casino Royale will be reclassified with a 12 and 15 certificate respectively, with the latter being passed as uncut.

A fellow Bond fan recieved an email regarding Diamonds Are Forevers classification a few days ago, the email read.

“As you may know, our classification decisions are based on our Guidelines (available on our main website). These Guidelines are a product of extensive and regular public consultations. The most recent revision of the Guidelines was in 2009. It is not unusual, therefore, for older category decisions to change when a work is resubmitted under a different set of Guidelines. A category can be downgraded or upgraded. For example, JAWS was recently resubmitted for a modern classification and was upgraded from ‘PG’ to ’12A’.

With the recent resubmission of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, under the current classification criteria, we judged the scene in which Bond tears off a woman’s bikini top and throttles her with it was now no longer appropriate at ‘PG’. (This scene is usually removed when the film is broadcast on TV.) Furthermore, under the current Guidelines an aggressive use of ‘bitch’ and the negative comic stereotyping of homosexual characters were elements also judged more appropriate at a higher category than ‘PG’. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER was subsequently reclassified at ’12’.”

Regarding Casino Royale, it is thought that this edition will include a few added shots to some action sequences, as well as Le Chiffres cut line about Bonds body being “Such a waste” during the torture scene.