MovieChat Forums > Mandingo (1975) Discussion > DVD is (slightly) cut

DVD is (slightly) cut


I just got the DVD from Legend Films and I contend that this print is cut by about 1 or 2 seconds. After Mede has bitten the Jamaican fighter Topaz in the neck, Topaz gets up slowly and begins to turn around. A woman is heard to scream and then, on the DVD, the picture cuts to a medium-long shot of Topaz falling backwards with the blood running down his body. In the uncut print, after the woman screams and Topaz slowly turns around, there was a one or two second close-up of a gaping hole in his neck with blood pumping out of it before the cut to Topaz falling backwards. Now this may have been the original theatrical version in the US but it was definitely shown with that couple of seconds intact when first shown theatrically in Australia, either that or I need to change drugs (which is possible). All releases in Australia after its initial theatrical run seemed to have this bit taken out including drive-in showings and video releases and I don't know if it was missing from those unauthorised DVDs out there or if it's in the supposedly uncut Dutch DVD version. All very strange, and frustrating.

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Yeah, that scene always seemed like an obvious cut to me... a sparse one, but a cut regardless. Thanks for the info. So this DVD is basically a suped-up print of the old VHS tape, then? I need to check out that Dutch DVD.

"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo

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Yep, it seems to be a digital transfer of the old print used for the VHS, going by that cut and its overall condition which is sorely in need of restoration with artifacts everywhere throughout and a soft image. Further info on the Dutch DVD reveals it to be just another cut print, worse so than this one apparently, so the complete original is languishing out there somewhere, if it even exists anymore.

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I was told by Legend films that the fim has never realeaesd on VHS & this is the 1x time it's ever been placed in any format!!

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It was released on VHS back in 1998 by Paramount if Amazon.com is to be believed although it is OOP. I wouldn't rely much on what sellers tell you, they're just interested in......well, selling!

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There was a VHS release of this film several years prior to 1998. I still have it.

John

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I have a VHS tape of Mandingo released on Paramount Home Video

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[deleted]

This is the first DVD (I have seen) of Mandingo that wasn't censored. For example, in the whorehouse they pan and scan so that you cannot see the prostitute grasping Hammon's crotch.

It is sad that they can't get a better print, but this is not bad considering the sad shape much more important films are in on DVD right now. For example, And Then There Were None (1945) is still only available in a shoddy print (badly in need of restoration). Ten Little Indians also has a bad line of scratches in the pan across the mountains that lasts over 5 seconds. I'm just saying, it could be much worse, and at least we now have a (mostly) uncensored Mandingo.

I looked at the scene the OP mentioned and I *think* I know what he/she is talking about, but there is a scene where he stands and the blood is seen to pour (heavily) down his neck and chest, right before he falls.

Anyway, I'm just glad we have a new, uncut DVD of Mandingo. Now all we need is one of Drum.

"...nothing is left of me, each time I see her..." - Catullus

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If Legend is telling people MANDINGO had never been released in any home video format prior to their DVD, they're totally out of touch with their own marketplace. The Paramount tape was originally released to VHS on August 15, 1991, item #8771, ISBN #0-7921-0568-0.

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It was even released in the mid 1980's on Laserdisc, Paramount Home Video Laserdisc.

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You know what else they cut? Susan George's boob. If I remember right, when Ken Norton swings her own to the bed, there is a full shot of her breasts. And as you noted, I remember the very graphic bleeding scene when Mede fights Topaz. The blood spills out all over his chest and the gaping hole in the neck is very visible. Anyone else remember George's boobs?

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Yes. I thought when I first watched this new release that you originally saw more of young Ms George, who was never averse to 'getting them out' when required back in her hey-day. I think the print must be a slightly watered down version for some way-back re-release or something but it's definitely still missing footage. Even though you do see blood spilling down Topaz's body, the hole in the neck and blood pumping out was quite in-your-face originally, unlike the middle distance shot here and I remember thinking at the time how gruesome it was (and what an impressive make-up effect).

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I saw this on HBO back in the '70's, and I DO remember both of the scenes mentioned. Both the bleeding neck scene and Ms. George's boobs. My mom had read the book in the early '60's (It was written in 1957 and published in 1959) and was interested in how closely the movie followed the book. I also seem to remember a scene where Mebe (Ken Norton) was made to sit in a caldron of boiling water to "toughen" his skin before combat.

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http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1366107/mr_skin_minute_for_friday_june_6th_2008/
if you follow this link you will also see that susan george's full frontal is also missing.

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At least we got Perry King's full frontal, Too bad, no Ken Norton. Would like to have been the German woman at the slave auction!

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That doesn't look like Susan George in the Mr. Skin minute.

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I did'nt see the dvd version yet just vhs,& I don't remember the gaping hole being shown in topaz' neck.

fried ice cream is a reality

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The DVD is more than slightly cut. I saw this many years ago and do not remember if it was on VHS or at the theater. I borrowed the DVD from a friend the other day and after watching it I am going "what the hell? Is my memory that bad?" No, my memory is not that bad. What follows is a copy/paste from IMDbs link to "Alternate Versions":

The international version of the film (released on PAL region 2 DVD) contains a different cut of the film that runs approx. 5 minutes shorter than the U.S. release but also has many scenes presented in alternate clothed takes. In all 12 scenes were either trimmed or re-edited with alternate shots/angles/takes:

* Scene where slave is bent over and inspected for hemorrhoids is cut.

* Scene where the wench is being prepared for her deflowering is presented in an alternate take where her breasts are not exposed.

* Scene with pregnant wench is shot with alternate angles to obscure nudity. Perry King's full frontal nudity is cut and replaced with a closer shot that reveals he is wearing shorts when he kneels down to pray (It looks like a goof - only a bit of the waistband can be seen at the corner of the frame).

* Alternate takes of the slave being strung up to be beaten are used to obscure nudity, and many shots of him being beat and left bloody are cut.

* A few seconds where Perry King's cousin rips off a wench's dress and bends her over to begin beating her is cut to remove nudity. The beating is left intact.

* The slave market scene is edited to remove the topless wenches on display, and the shot where the German widow sticks her hand into Ken Norton's shorts and "inspects" him is cut short. The second shot with her hand in and then removing it is left intact though.

* An alternate take is used with a prostitute clothed rather than nude at the bawdy house.

* A few seconds of a prostitute rubbing on Perry King's crotch is cut.

* An alternate take is used during the fight at the bawdy house so that a prostitute is seen holding her dress up while she cheers whereas in the original she lets it fall and her breasts be exposed.

* The entire scene between Perry King and Brenda Sykes in which she asks him if he'll let their child go free is presented in alternate clothed takes. In the original film they are both completely nude. Even the camera angles and setups are the same, only with clothes in the international version.

* In the scene where Ken Norton fights a man to death one long shot where the other fighter claws his back is cut. Also cut is when Ken bites down on the other fighter's neck, is pulled off, and then bites into his neck again. All the close-ups are cut.

* The Susan George/Ken Norton love scene is almost entirely missing. Ken Norton's nudity is cut, and then the scene ends in an alternate take when the two go out of frame onto the bed. The original scene went on for much longer and exposed Ken Norton's buttocks and Susan George's breasts. The German theatrical version does not feature any of these alterations and is identical to the U.S. release.

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Most of these cut scenes are in the Legend DVD release, I think other DVDs may have a lot more missing so it was probably one of those you saw? The main things missing from the Legend DVD seem to be a little bit more of Susan and Ken together and the gaping-hole-in-the-neck shot.

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wow. I have a grainy I believe dub of it on vhs. I would have like to seen a clear copy of Mandingo. but if it's butchered like that. I'm not even interested. blah!

**********
humina

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This movie is listed to have deleted scenes with Sylvester Stallone. Has anyone ever seen these deleted scenes? Are they somewhere available? As an extra on the dvds or online?

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Watched the Legend DVD last night and none of these scenes were cut or altered. The only thing I don't recall seeing was Topaz's gushing neck. I was actually a little confused as to what had happened to him till they finally turned him over and showed his neck. Susan George's boob were there as was Perry King's full frontal and explicit crotch rubbing, about which my husband commented, you don't see that often in a movie.

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slightly cut? sounds completely butchered

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he left u NAKED in a DITCH!

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The Legend DVD / blu ray is the most complete version of the film: R1 America- Legend Films - No cuts. This version restores scenes that were removed before world premiere 1975 (126:39 mins) the disc is labelled 'R'-Rated, but it contains the longer sex scene with Susan George and Ken Norton. Both the DVD and Blu ray are now out of print, German and Spanish DVD’s are shorter.

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The Legend DVD is still in print. I bought it from Amazon a few months ago,

http://www.amazon.com/Mandingo-James-Mason/dp/B0016LFG4M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448747002&sr=8-1&keywords=mandingo+DVD






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