10 Movies That Made No Sense If You Watched Them In Other Countries

10. All The Gay & Drug References Were Cut For Russia - Rocketman

2019's Elton John biopic Rocketman was well received by critics and audiences alike for its upfront account of the Brit musician's life.

In particular, many lauded the film's matter-of-fact depiction of John's life as a gay man, compared to the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody released the year prior, which was criticised for downplaying Mercury's bisexuality for the sake of securing a larger global box office.

Sadly Rocketman's approach resulted in it being outright banned in "less tolerant" regions such as Samoa and Egypt, while the Russian distributor cut every single scene involving homosexuality or drug use.

While this only amounted to five minutes of screen time in total, these moments are absolutely vital in creating a valid, accurate portrait of who Elton John is.

To rub salt in the wound, the closing title card explaining that John eventually settled down with his husband David Furnish and had two children was replaced in favour of one focused on the Elton John AIDS Foundation, not-so-subtly re-framing the context of John's life.

As such, it goes beyond merely sanitising John's story for bigots, but an act of erasure that totally misrepresents its focal subject. Both John and Paramount heavily criticised the decision.