Bond Reclassified

10th August 2012

The British Board of Film Classification recently increasing the classification the 1971 James Bond adventure "Diamonds Are Forever" from a 'PG' to a '12' certificate.
Older films usually see their classifications reduced due to the relaxation of language and violence thresholds, but certain aspects of the BBFC's current guidelines have lead to a few notable reclassifications.
All the Bond movies were resubmitted to the BBFC this year for their upcoming release in the BOND 50 Blu-Ray set. The latest classification was released on 23rd July 2012.
The BBFC clarified their decision to increase the classification for Sean Connery's final official outing as 007 when contacted by a member of MI6 Community who first spotted the change:
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'.

Above: Actress and former Miss World 1953 Denise Perrier films her scene in the pre-titles sequence as the uncredited 'Marie' opposite Sean Connery for director Guy Hamilton.

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'.

Above: This 'inappropriate' scene was used in the lobby card campaign for the film's release.

Many thanks to MI6 Community member Monsieur_Aubergine.

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