FAQ

Due to the Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act 1937, several scenes involving horses falling down were cut from the British release of this movie.

Compared to the Hong Kong Version, the new version contains almost 500 differences. Sounds like a disaster at first, but it sounds worse than it actually is. The new version is still watchable. It focuses more on the conflict between Pang Qing Yun and Zhao Er Hu. Most of the modifications are smaller cuts or extensions of the beginning / ends of the scenes in both versions. The most noticeable difference is the changed order of some scenes, e.g. the attack of the Taiping Rebels happens right after the meeting of Jiang Wu Yang and Pang Qing Yun in the Hong Kong Version, whereas it happens before the first appearance of the war council in the International Version. As a result of that, the reason for the attack is different (HK: groceries / IV: accession gift for the war council). The way Pang and Zhao Er Hu meet the first time is different as well. Also, you sooner become aware of Pang's motives, because the conviction of the rapists takes directly place after the battle of Shu in the International Version. Furthermore there are smaller differences in the order of the scenes, different image details and aside the translated overlays, some new text has been added as well. The usage of the color filter, which is supposed to make it look "filthier", has been reduced.