MovieChat Forums > Doctor Zhivago (2002) Discussion > Running Time, UK vs. USA

Running Time, UK vs. USA

posted 20 years ago by Flipper
11 replies | jump to latest

IMDb gives the running time as "95 min (3 episodes)."

Does this mean three 95-minute episodes, for a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes?

In the USA, it was shown in two 2-hour installments, for a total of less than 4 hours (after you subtract the host's comments, the intros and outros).

(It was so clear in the US that 95 minutes into Part 1 we reached a Part 1 ending fade-out with Yuri lying in the mud at the front, immediately followed by a fade-in to the same scene.)

So my question is: was the USA broadcast actually shortened by 45 minutes?! (If so, it would have to have been in the USA part 2, due to the reason in the preceding paragraph.)

Either way, I still think the miniseries is too short to do justice to the book, but I do think a 285-minute version might have a better chance of bringing something substantially new to the screen that the 1965 version (at 197 minutes) does not.

"One of the burdens of our age is that it has armed the cloddish with terminology."

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Flipper 20 years ago

Thank you for your reply! I am glad that we did not miss anything in the USA broadcast.

"One of the burdens of our age is that it has armed the cloddish with terminology."

[–] HMOnline2002 20 years ago

Actually, it was produced by and screened in Britain by Granada/ITV, a commercial network, and the BBC had nothing to do with it. I have no idea where the BBC got involved as PBS claim, and I wonder that ITV havent noticed that all the US promo claims a BBC involvement. So in Britain it was sceened with lots of commercial breaks. Its fun watching the DVD and spotting the places where the commercial breaks probably went!

I wouldnt have thought the DVd was more edited than the TV version but which were the supposed explicit sex scenes and nudity? All pretty tame compared to a lot of what is screened these days, as far as I noticed. Or are we just scandalised cos its PBS or cos of the age difference between Neill and Knightley?

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Grand 19 years ago

I noticed that when Pasha was sitting on the window ledge after what must have been a serious blow to his male ego (or a blow to something), the camera tilted down slowly, revealing his bare thigh and then there was an abrupt 180 degree angle change, as if PBS dare not show a half second of Kris Marshall's bare hipbone for fear that some Bible Belter will demand that they be fined half a million dollars. Having seen Jesse Spenser's butt mysteriously acquire a two-foot wide circle of blur last weekend (perhaps some strange infection acquired on the set of "House," since he never had it in Britain), I wonder what happened to the network which showed us bare nipple decades ago in "Brideshead Revisited?" I have no doubt that numerous seconds-long snips to some scenes were made to "Doctor Zhivago" by PBS to avoid scaring the horses.

THE ONLY GOOD CENSOR IS A DEAD CENSOR. ALL CENSORS SHOULD BE GOOD. Q.E.D.

[–] kid_under_stress 20 years ago

Well then I'm definately sure that here in Australia alot of Zhivago was cut.

Lets see Zhivago started at 8:30 and finished at 11:45, so thats 3 hrs and 15 mins. That makes a total of 195 mins. That's 20 minutes short of the version u r talking about and that's not including the numerous ads shown throughout the whole movie.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] wiggy_wiggy_indahouse 20 years ago

yeah they did, they cut out 3-4 of them i believe, other then that we saw it all, but i am still sh!tty that it was cut down.

[–] littlemiss_simi 19 years ago

Whan it was on tv in Australia i dint get to see it. was it good??? do u know where i can rent it?? i really want to see it

[–] wiggy_wiggy_indahouse 19 years ago

well, i dont think you can rent it anywhere, but u would be able to order it in from your local vid ezy or civic. I bought it for nearly $50 and i am glad i did! Its my all time favourite movie and is worth every dollar and more!
So, if u want my advice, go and buy it!! its absolutely brilliant!!

[–] HMOnline2002 19 years ago

I was able to rent it from my local VideoEzy in West Aus. Have also seen it in Blockbuster over here so I'm sure other places have it - you may have to ask them to get it in for you - do the rest of the video renting viewers a public service