Reservoir Dogs was never banned, it video classification was simply delayed. This was because after the death of Jamie Bulger in 1993, the BBFC were put under tremendoud pressure by the media to take action against violent films, and so several films inc The Good Son and Dirty Weekend had their video rating withheld for a short while. But there was never any chance of them being banned, the BBFC were just waiting for the furore to die down. Man Bites Dog however didn't have its video classification delayed, this is because the video was submitted before the death of Bulger. so there was no reason to do the same with this particular film.
By the way I really can't see what the fuss about Man Bites Dog was about. The child murder for example completely lacks detail ie once the blanket is thrown over the boy he is never seen or heard. Compare this with the graphic murder of a child in Fight for Your Life. The rape scene was acceptable to me for an 18. The scene doesn't dwell on the suffering of the woman. I really couldn't see anything else to cut. There was nothing lenient about the uncut rating as far as I could see.
There was a time (many years ago) when the BBFC may have passed scenes in a subtitled film that they wouldn't pass in an English laguage film but I'm quite sure they don't do this anymore. Of course if anyone has any examples it would be interesting to hear what they are.
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