- The original UK cinema version suffered minor BBFC cuts which includes the removal of two lines of dialogue said by the toothless man when threatening Ed after the rape scene, "He got a real pretty mouth, ain't he?" and "You got to do some praying for me boy, you better pray real good." And the death of the Mountain man where he is seen struggling with the arrow through his chest was reduced. All later video releases were uncut.
- New Zealand censors originally removed the rape scene, leaving the impression that the two mountain men did not complete the attack on Bobby. The cuts were waived in 1981.
- Approximately five minutes of footage was removed by the Censor Board when released in India to give the film a U (unrestricted) rating. It is unknown what was cut, assuming it is the rape scene and the reduced violence. India is the only country in the world to aim it at 'universal audiences' whereas the rest of the world aimed it at adult audiences.
- The 1979 and mid 1980's VHS prints featured the Saul Bass variant of the Warner Bros. logo prior to the 1972 logo.
- The 1999 DVD plastered the Warner Bros. Pictures logo with the 1992 variant.
- One version appears to have some extra music and sound effects, the other has these deleted. Both versions are available on home video.
- A scene was cut from the end of the final movie. A body is dragged from the river and is shown to the three survivors. The body is never shown to camera and you are left to guess the identity of the dead man. The body under the shroud was played by Christopher Dickey, James Dickey's son.
- The TBS "Dinner and a Movie" version not only omits Ned Beatty's rape, but also removes portions of scenes involving the hillbillies, so that emphasis seems more focused on the men versus the elements instead of the locals.
- The scene in which Ned Beatty is raped, has been entirely cut for German video and TV versions in order to show the movie at prime time (which requires a rating of "12" or lower). Therefore, some of the following dialogue and subtle references seem to be incoherent. The German DVD version ("Beim Sterben ist jeder der Erste") is fully uncensored. (Warner Home Video; released on January 26, 2000.) Since 2005 the movie is shown on TV uncut!
- The Norwegian and Brazilian cinema versions cut the rape scene.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content