Talking about the good old days of action, some people might miss the time when action stars were real-life superheroes since most of them had expertise in martial arts. While they might be hard to find today, stars like English actor Jason Statham are the ones who are keeping the legacy of those stars from the golden era alive and kicking.
Known for his hardcore and visceral action roles in the film industry with many action films under his belt, the star is widely known as one of the biggest stars in the business. But when it comes to his breakthrough role in the 1998 Guy Ritchie film, the star couldn’t bring out his hardcore side since his crude dialogues had to be done away with.
Jason Statham’s Breakthrough Film Had To Be Toned Down Because Of The Director’s Mother
When it comes to receiving a healthy dose of hardcore action and violence, there are only a few stars in the industry today that can satisfy those needs and Jason Statham is by far the best bet to get a bang for your buck. Having been part of franchises like The Expendables and Fast and Furious, he has made a name for himself playing unhinged and bada*s characters in the industry, something that he proved with his breakthrough role in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, but this film was actually mellowed down, which hid his true performance.
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In a recent interview with Independent, the cast along with the crew of the aforementioned film was interviewed to mark the 25th year anniversary of the movie directed by Guy Ritchie. In this interview, Niven Howie, the editor of the film opened up about the time the director showed the film to his mother in post-production, and with the film containing coarse language, Ritchie’s mother was upset with it. This led to a lot of that language being erased from the end product to better accommodate her preferences. He said:
“Guy showed the film to his mother and she was very upset with some of the language, so a lot of the egregious dialogue was cut.”
While the film may have been toned down a little at the end, it still proved to be a smashing hit among the audience, which catapulted Ritchie and the rest of the cast to great heights.
What Was Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels About?
A still from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Considered to be one of the greatest crime comedy films in history, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels tells the tale of a couple of friends who are convinced by their group member Eddy to pool their money and play a hand of poker against a local crime boss named Hatchet Harry so that he may make their money back tenfold.
But when Harry and Eddy play the game, Harry cheats, which leads to Eddy getting into a lot of debt. To get out of this sticky situation before the crime boss came knocking for his money, the friends decided to rob a gang of robbers who had robbed drug dealers, which gets them involved in the world of crime from every angle.
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, streaming on Starz.
Source: Independent
