Review: James Forsher’s Hollywood Uncensored is one of those films you watch purely to make fun of it. Like any 80’s B-movie, it’s only redeeming value is that it’s so bad, you can’t help but enjoy it. There is no redeeming value, no real knowledge learned and very little stylistically to take away from it. Making this documentary all the more hilarious is knowing the film was made to mock previous generations and their filmmaking; imagine laughing at someone whose laughing at someone else and you have a general idea of how this scenario plays out. Whether it’s lines like “the outlaw was 'outlawed,’” the opening credits, the closing ‘goofs,’ the campy animations or the strong belief that a ‘star-wipe’ will happen at any moment; trust me, the cheese factor is palpable. Of course, the greatest moment of the documentary is the seemingly bizarre narrator transition from Douglas Fairbanks Jr. to Peter Fonda. Do you remember the cult classic Plan 9 from Outer Space? If so, you’ll remember how the movie just abruptly wrote off its lead because he died in a car crash. I bring it up because it seems the exact same thing happens here. It’s as if Forsher just decides half-way through making his documentary that he’d prefer Peter Fonda narrating. Why? I’m not sure, but it certainly makes you chuckle at its poor filmmaking. Yet, despite the constant laughter, I couldn’t help but feel a little cheated. Hollywood Uncensored is extremely cursory in its investigation into censored films and doesn’t really provide an open dialogue into the future of censorship. It doesn’t account for a handful of films and it occasionally plays clips that don’t really pertain to anything. As a filmmaker, I’m embarrassed by what was produced, but then again, I’m just laughing too hard to care. Like any Sci-Fi channel movie a friend catches me watching, Hollywood Uncensored is only recommended viewing for those who won’t take it seriously. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (mainly from laughing so much) and you’ll realize just how bad some filmmaking can be, but the one thing you won’t do is find anything worth taking away. Review by Matthew Abshire Informative: 2- yes, it’s out dated, but it lacks a lot of information by even that day’s standard Entertainment: 3- like any good B-movie, it knows it’s bad and thus is more entertaining because of it’s acceptance Technical: 2- why the half and half with two narrators? Overall: 2- so bad, it’s hilarious
 
Format: DVD Year: 1987 Running Time: 75 Min Distributor: Castle Hill Productions and International Video Entertainment Producer: Julian Schlossberg Director: James Forsher Date Reviewed: 3-9-2009 Story: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Peter Fonda lead viewers on a journey through the history of censorship in Hollywood, from Shirley Temple's Baby Burlesks and Carroll Baker's erotic child-bride in Baby Doll to steamy and violent scenes in Carnal Knowledge, Taxi Driver and many other classics. Celebrities including Jane Russell, Eli Wallach and Martin Scorsese discuss the effects of the Hays Code and the MPAA rating board on American filmmaking (NetFlix).