Back to the Future Part II has been restored on Netflix in the USA after a marginally censored version of the movie originally made for a different country was sent to the streamer.
Bob Gale, the film’s screenwriter and producer, told The Hollywood Reporter that a fan alerted him to the error a couple of weeks ago. The scene where Marty McFly finds the “Oh Là Là” magazine in the sports almanac was cut short so that the magazine cover wasn’t seen. Gale got in touch with Universal Pictures to fix the problem and points the finger at them.
“The blame is on Universal who somehow furnished Netflix an edited version of the movie,” Gale said. “I learned about it some ten days ago from an eagle-eyed fan, and had the studio rectify the error. The version now running is the uncensored, unedited, original version.”
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Gale said that he and the film’s director, Robert Zemeckis, didn’t know this version of the movie existed and is requesting Universal to delete the censored copy for good.
“Apparently, this was a foreign version which neither director Robert Zemeckis nor I even knew existed, for some country that had a problem with the Oh Là Là magazine cover. I asked that the studio destroy this version,” Gale told THR. “FYI, Netflix does not edit films — they only run the versions that are supplied to them. So they’re blameless. You can direct your ire at Universal, but I think they will be a lot more careful in the future — and with ‘the future.'”
This comes about a month after Disney+ was caught censoring nudity in Splash, a PG-rated movie from 1984. That movie at least comes with a message at the beginning that claims the movie “has been edited for content.” Back to the Future Part II had no message, but has since been fixed.
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A Twitter user shared the Netflix edit for anybody who is curious, but falsely assumed it was Netflix who did the editing.
The first two Back to the Future movies became available for streaming on Netflix in the USA on May 1. All three Back to the Future movies are now streaming on the service and will receive a 4K Ultra HD release later this year.
Gale recently explained the ending to the original Back to the Future movie for James Gunn and showed up to the Back to the Future virtual reunion on Josh Gad’s YouTube series for charity.
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Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.
Source: IGN.com Back to the Future Part II Has Been Restored on Netflix, Screenwriter Blames Universal