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

Some will consider it sacrilege. Others will think that updating Crocodile Dundee, one of Australia’s most beloved and successful films, is overdue given some moments that jar by contemporary standards.

Paul Hogan at the premiere of Crocodile Dundee: The Encore Cut at Sydney’s OpenAir cinema.Credit: Janie Barrett

Thirty-nine years after the comedy became a cultural phenomenon and made “that’s not a knife, that’s a knife” one of the most famous lines in Australian cinema history, we are about to get two new looks at the film.

In March, a behind-the-scenes documentary with the working title Crocodile Dundee: Lightning In A Bottle opens in cinemas. It draws on footage found in a shed by producer and co-screenwriter John Cornell’s widow, Delvene Delaney, and her friend Victoria Baldock, after his death in 2021.

Then, in May, an updated version of the worldwide hit, Crocodile Dundee: The Encore Cut, opens in cinemas. It will become the standard version for future streaming and TV releases.

Upgraded to high-definition 4K, the Encore Cut has been digitally restored and features what are being called “considered edits”.

The classic film, of course, centres on Northern Territory bushman Mick Dundee, played by Paul Hogan, who charms American reporter Sue Charlton, played by Linda Kozlowski, when she visits the site of his crocodile attack to write a story and then when he travels with her to New York.

The first chance to see the new version came at Sydney’s OpenAir Cinema at Mrs Macquarie’s Point on Thursday night, a stunning evening across from the Bridge where Hogan used to work before he became one of the country’s biggest TV stars, then a screenplay nominee who co-hosted the Oscars in 1987.

Paul Hogan, a former rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, returned to his old workplace for a photo shoot in 1976 after his TV career soared to new heights.Credit: Russell McPhedran.

The world premiere was introduced by Hogan, director Peter Faiman, Delaney and Baldock. While he recognised before the screening that times have changed, a clue that Hoges might have left the recut to the others came when he said he was looking forward to seeing “what they’ve cut 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 it 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 crossdresser 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.

As a charming, very Australian comedy, it all still works.

Coming soon: Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.