Troubling news is coming down the pipe regarding Vin Diesel’s newest Sci Fi action film Babylon A.D. We get word of severe editing thanks to our good friend Alex at firstshowing via Twitch:
Last year it was reported that the 2 hours and 40 minutes version that French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz originally shot was going to be significantly shorter in the US. At that time it was only speculation – the information was coming from a trusted source. Now this information is solid, it’s actually coming from the BBFC . The only bit in question is how much they cut and whether Kassovitz’s original version was much longer and R-rated. However, if that 160 minutes is accurate, then that means they’ve cut 70 minutes out – nearly half of the film!
****Update! The guys at Twitch have found out a few new details, but they’re unconfirmed as of yet. Apparently actress Michelle Yeoh said that the original version, which will be hitting theaters in mainstream Europe without Fox’s cuts, is only 105 minutes. If that’s true, it might mean that Kassovitz did end up making a 105 minute (one hour and 45 minutes) movie that was cut down by only 15 minutes for the US release. ***
Twitch reports that the BBFC has rated the film 12A, “which is the equivalent of a soft PG-13 in the US – many PG-13 films are rated 15 in the UK – meaning there can’t be much action or violence left in the picture whatsoever.” I’m not familiar with Kassovitz, but Twitch is, and they say “there’s absolutely no way he set out to make a PG-13 rated action picture, no way at all.” I’m pretty sure I believe them, because I’ve thought all along that this way going to be R. From the photos to the plot synopsis to the set reports and everything. It sounds like this is truly turning out disastrous.
Regardless of how much time has been cut from this film, it appears that enough of the “good stuff” has been trashed in order to lower the rating from R to PG-13. This is an unfortunate turn of events and I am starting to wonder if Fox plans to sanitize all of their films in order to open them up to a broader audience. What happened to the good old days when you just made a restricted film and counted on resourceful youngsters to sneak in after paying for another film? Half the fun of seeing a Restricted film as a kid was sneaking in.
This is a shame for Vin. He gets another role that suits his skill set, only to have it shaved to death. I know this man is not a beloved actor but I have always enjoyed his performances in the right role. I loved his work in Boiler Room and he wasn’t bad as an action star in Pitch Black. With luck, this film will still be watchable and Mr. Diesel will enjoy a performance that suits him.
