PG-13 History? (1 Viewer)

[Neil_S]

Ok, someone needs to settle a bet...

I did a search, both on the board and on the net, and could not find the answer (I suppose I could cruise the IMDB and compare release dates but I figured someone here must know!).

What was the first PG-13 movie? My friend says Young Sherlock Holmes but I seem to remember Gremlins being a deciding factor and Dreamscape being the first.

Any ideas?

 

[Coressel]

I thought it was Indy Jones & the Temple of Doom.

 

[Neil_S]

I thought it was Indy Jones & the Temple of Doom.

That was my first guess but the IMDB lists that as a PG. Both Temple of Doom and Dreamscape were 1984.

Temple of Doom was May 23 1984 and Dreamscape was August 1984. Looks like if Doom was really PG-13, we have a winner!

 

[Neil_S]

Well, since I enjoy talking to myself... I may as well share the answer!

According to the IMDB:

Temple of Doom: Inspired the PG-13 rating.

Dreamscape: SECOND movie to win the PG-13 rating.

AND THE WINNER IS:

Red Dawn

 

[Rob Cooper]

from Joseph McBride's excellent biography of Steven Spielberg (I hope you find this interesting):

'When Temple of Doom was screened internally, "Everybody was appalled" by its violence, screenwriter Gloria Katz recalls... Ever since the institution of the Motion Picture Association of America rating system in 1968, there had been controversy over the MPAA's lenience toward violence in films, particularly in those released by major studios. Jaws and Poltergeist, which received PG ratings, often were cited as examples of movies that were too violent for young children. "I don't make R movies! I make PG movies!" Speilberg declared ... Despite the opposition of the MPAA toward changing the system, there was increasing support in the industry for an intermediate rating between PG and R... When Temple of Doom and Gremlins received PG ratings around the same time, both movies became battlegrounds in the debate about cinematic violence...The uproar resulting from Temple of Doom and Gremlins led in short order to the MPAA's creation of the PG-13 rating'

 

[Chucky P]

This is the first movie to earn a PG-13 but not the first one released
Link Removed

 

[Rob Cooper]

from MPAA website :
'On July 1, 1984, we made another adjustment. We split the PG category into two groupings, PG and PG-13. PG-13 meant a higher level of intensity than was to be found in a film rated PG. Over the past years, parents have approved of this amplifying revision in the rating system.'

 

[Chris]

I always thought it was Red Dawn and Gremlins that were the first to feature PG-13.

FYI, there was an article this morning locally about changing PG-13 to PG-14

 

[Darren Crouse]

Canada has a different policy in regards to film ratings for what it is worth. We have the traditional G film for families. PG for parental guidance. AA for adult accompaniment which means if you are under the age of 14, you're not allowed in unless accompanied by an adult. Finally our rated R is legitimately rated Restricted meaning unless you're 18 years old with proof of age, it's a no go no matter who accompanies you. I've always expected the U.S. to be the same especially for rated R films but apparently it's not. The nice thing about rated R films in Canada is that you don't have to worry about young kids or babies inside the theatres.

Thanks,

D.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

...and just before anyone gets onto the Canada = repressed tack, since R in Canada means no kids under 18 at all, most films that are rated R in the States end up AA when they make their way north. I have never seen a film rated R in Canada because of language, for instance. Mostly the R rating up here is awarded for explicit sexuality or really brutal violence.

 

[Joel Mack]

I always thought it was Red Dawn and Gremlins that were the first to feature PG-13.

"Red Dawn" was the first released PG-13 film. "Gremlins" was only PG.

 

[David_N]

Dune was the first movie my dad took me to that was rated PG13. Of course I was 8 at the time and it scared the poop out of me. :b
Link Removed

 

[Shad R]

I don't understand how Top Gun and Sixteen Candles only got PG's. They would NEVER fly as a PG today!

 

[Aaron Wisner]

So...R in Canada is equivalent to an American NC-17.

 

[Darren Crouse]

"So...R in Canada is equivalent to an American NC-17."

Pretty Much. I always hated our system until I was 18. Now I like it more because of said reasons. You don't have to worry about a pack of (immature) 15 year olds marching into the latest R rated film and making a ruckus.

-Take Care,

Darren.

 

[Marc_Sulinski]

So is the R rating in Canada as reviled as the NC-17 rating is in the US? Many theaters in the US will not carry NC-17 movies, and many stores (Blockbuster, Wal Mart) will not sell NC-17 material.

Does anyone know what the last NC-17 movie to be released was?

 

[Darren Crouse]

So is the R rating in Canada as reviled as the NC-17 rating is in the US?

R has the effect of NC-17 in Canada without the negative stigma attached to it. There's many films that are rated R but they don't have the same effect as NC-17 (reputation) wise. I've always regarded our system similar to the UK system where extreme violence and sexuality should not be witnessed by those under the age of 18. I find the system more mature because you don't see parents hauling their 8 year olds into something like Black Hawk Down, etc... It's not as bad as it sounds and for the most part probably makes sense you would agree.

-Take Care,

Darren.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Yeah, what Darren said. The R has no special significance (and there was never, as far as I know, an X rating up here) or hatred, although I suppose 16 year olds who want to sneak into Body of Evidence would be annoyed that they can't pay an adult to buy their ticket.
Our video rating system is more like the US theatrical rating system, but again without any stigma attached to the most restrictive rating -- F (for family), PG, A14, A18 and R, with R being reserved for films that would be NC-17 in the US (like Crash, for instance).
By the way, when Crash played theatrically up here, no ID checking was really needed to keep the underage kids out -- as soon as the James Spader / Elias Koteas scene started up
, most of them fled the theatre of their own free will.
Eyes Wide Shut was granted the Canadian R before the digital edits were made to it, but unfortunately Warner decided to play daddy-knows-best and send us the censored version anyways. Bah.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

While Red Dawn was the first film released with the PG-13 rating, can anyone tell me the first PG-13 movie to be released on VHS?
(Since I lived through it and followed the news very closely, I've always been quite interested in the history of this rating.)

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I think "Dreamscape" made it to VHS before Red Dawn.