U.K. moviegoing audiences were given an alternate version of The Hunger Games when it hit theaters in 2012 because the studio wanted it to receive a kid-friendly 12A rating.
That meant that several of the grittiest scenes had to be cut or shortened in the U.K. version of The Hunger Games. So what’s in the unseen version of this wildly popular book to film adaptation? There’s about 7 seconds of footage that was cut or changed for U.K. theaters, and we have a shot-by-shot breakdown.
Here are the differences between the unseen version of The Hunger Games and the normal one that was shown in the United States. If you’re in the U.K. and want to watch this unseen version for yourself, you can buy the Blu-ray.
Difference 1:
U.S. Version: A tribute bashes another tribute’s head with brick. Brick had blood on it.
U.K. Version: Same thing, but no blood.
Difference 2:
U.S. Version: Cornucopia scene has blood. Blood on weapons, blood on people, even blood on supplies.
U.K. Version: Cornucopia scene has no blood.
Difference 3:
U.S. Version: Katniss attends to her fire wound.
U.K. Version: Most of this scene was taken out.
Difference 4:
U.S. Version: Cato snaps a tribute’s neck.
U.K. Version: Most of this scene was reduced.
Difference 5:
U.S. Version: Clove briefly holds knife above Katniss’ head.
U.K. Version: Some of this was reduced.
Difference 6:
U.S. Version: Thresh smashes Clove’s head into cornucopia three times.
U.K. Version: The third time isn’t seen.
Difference 7:
U.S. Version: Cato has blood all over his head.
U.K. Version: Cato doesn’t have blood on his head.
The movie scored a PG-13 rating in the United States even with the blood and violence. While the U.K.’s 12A rating is the equivalent of PG-13, the British Board of Film Classification was ready to give it a 15 rating with the violence, which Lionsgate wasn’t okay with. Hence the need to cut down on some of the blood and violence.
These are all the differences between the two versions of the movie. In short, the violence and aftermath was toned down so it was more suitable for children.
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