Here’s why 2012’s Skyfall was censored in China and what was left out. Almost every James Bond movie before Casino Royale was banned in China, but Daniel Craig’s new take on 007 saw a new era in a key cinematic market. But that doesn’t mean Bond was entirely unaltered in China, as Skyfall saw a couple of scenes removed specifically for the market for key reasons.
Released in 2012, Skyfall was a triumphant return to form for Daniel Craig’s tougher, Bourne-influenced incarnation of James Bond. More fast-paced and fun than the interminably slow and convoluted Quantum of Solace, Skyfall saw Craig combine his more stern, edgier Bond with the over-the-top action and campy villains fans expect from the series. As a result, Skyfall managed to win over both critics and fans and remains one of Craig’s most loved outings in the role of 007. So loved, in fact, that Skyfall is also notable for being one of the first James Bond movies to be released in China, although the spy flick was still censored for cinema viewing. Craig’s debut in the role, 2006’s grim origin story Casino Royale, was the first James Bond movie to be released in China without any cuts, but Skyfall failed to make it past censors with the same ease.
Most James Bond movies before Casino Royale was banned outright in China due to their implicit endorsement of MI6, the CIA, and assorted other Western extra-governmental organizations, and their consistent portrayal of China’s government agents as villains. However, while Casino Royale was released uncut due to depicting less specific “terrorists” and crime bosses as its villains, Skyfall was one of the first in the franchise to be censored in a few places instead of being banned outright. The scenes that were cut for viewers in China included an assassin killing a Chinese security guard (an understandable omission) and Severine reflecting on her past as a child prostitute in Macau (which was presumably perceived as the filmmakers painting the region in an unseemly light).
The Chinese censors didn’t explain the scenes they opted to cut from the cinematic release of 2012’s James Bond adventure when the movie arrived in cinemas, but it’s relatively easy to intuit why both cuts were made. Severine’s past as a child prostitute in Macau reflects poorly on the territory, something that the Chinese censors weren’t impressed with. The murder of a Chinese security guard, meanwhile, was cut completely instead of being re-edited like Severine’s scene, and the most likely reason is that the censors felt this sequence casts doubt on China’s ability to defend itself from international intrigue.Of course, the process of censoring and altering depictions of government operations isn’t unique to China.
The James Bond movies themselves depict the often-questioned and protested MI6 as unassailable good guys (even after borrowing the paranoid, anti-authority tone of the Bourne movies where the CIA are depicted as shadowy villains). Meanwhile, American productions such as Top Gun often cannot secure the co-operation of organizations such as the military, Air Force, or Navy without giving the Pentagon script and story approval (which is why Tom Cruise’s hero Maverick dates a civilian instead of a colleague, a change made by the Pentagon as the organization doesn’t allow inter-office romances). James Bond may not have gotten away with his uncut Skyfall exploits in China, but he’s far from the only blockbuster hero to see his big screen exploits influenced by a government.
Key Release Dates
Bond 25
Release Date:2021-10-08
