There’s a new release of Crocodile Dundee. Here’s what’s been edited out

Updating classic films can sometimes upset fans – there was a ruckus when George Lucas had Han Solo defending himself from bounty hunter Greedo rather than firing the first shot in a 1997 special edition of Star Wars – but the long tradition of creating new versions includes Francis Ford Coppola with both Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part III and Ridley Scott with Blade Runner.
Directors often subtly change films over time for many reasons, including wanting a different rating in another country for marketing purposes, damping down a controversy or just using a new release to rethink scenes.
So, what’s changed in the new Crocodile Dundee?
The famous “that’s not a knife, that’s a knife” scene from Crocodile Dundee.
The film now opens with text acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land, which is appropriately respectful given it depicts Indigenous culture in the Territory, even if might rankle those lobbying to ditch welcome to country ceremonies.
An early sequence that had Mick admitting he didn’t know his exact age but thinking he is about 40 has gone. While it makes no difference to the story, the thinking might have been that it unnecessarily highlights the age difference between Mick and the younger Sue.
Some scenes in Kakadu seem to be extended, including the corroboree that Mick attends daubed in tribal paint. But the most notable changes come when Mick reaches New York.
After he meets two streetwalkers, their angry pimp used to charge up asking if Mick wanted to “f—” one of them. That’s been toned down to “screw”.
Gone is the most dubious scene in the film showing Mick grabbing a bar patron in the groin and declaring “that was a guy, a guy dressed up like a sheila” while someone else yells “faggot”.
In a statement before the screening, production company Rimfire Films said “some years ago, Paramount Pictures and other distributors requested the reference to the cross dresser be edited from the original film, as they found it offensive. We agreed to that request”.
A later sequence when Mick does the same thing to a woman at a party, saying “I was just making sure”, has also been cut. Other than lingering on that woman smiling at Mick for a moment after she has been groped, both edits have been made without changing the flow of the film.
After the credits, there is now a slide saying “in loving memory of John Cornell”.
All the other famous moments in the film remain, including the full “that’s a knife” scene that finishes with Mick slashing the jacket of a mugger.
The restoration highlights cinematographer Russell Boyd’s stunning shots of the Territory and reveals a few details – such as Mick reaching for his knife but finding it missing when confronted by the pimp’s offsiders in a dark alley – that were difficult to pick up even on DVD.