Will Terminator 3 be R rated? (1 Viewer)

[Benson R]

I know there are other threads on the upcoming sequel but I think this deserves its own thread since it might turn into a discussion about the pg 13-isation of action movies. Anyway, does anyone think they will keep the series R rated? I know that this movie is going to be very expensive for WB and will want to maximize the potential audience. On the other hand I feel they may not want to mess with a successful formula. Afterall the last movie was considered overly expensive and was a huge hit in its R rated form. Any thoughts?

 

[Benson R]

I will add a couple more things to my original post to try to get a discussion going. Does anyone think Arnold would try to keep the series R rated? Most of his movies continue to be R rated even as all other large budget action movies have gone pg-13. Would he have clout enough to do this or does Arnold need T3 more than T3 needs him? Is there any chance a studio will budget a movie over 100 million and let it be rated R in todays world? Will everyone be dissappointed in the likely event T3 is pg-13? Anybody?

 

[Iain Jackson]

I certainly hope that T3 will be R-rated, otherwise it wouldn't be a true Terminator film (after all, a Terminator's function is to kill ruthlessly and efficiently, which leads to violence).

If WB want to make T3 a PG-13, they are making a mistake. Look what happened when they made Robocop 3 PG-13 instead of R...

 

[Ben Osborne]

(after all, a Terminator's function is to kill ruthlessly and efficiently, which leads to violence).

I'm sick of slippery-slope arguments like this. Killing ruthlessly and efficiently isn't necessarily going to lead to violence. That's a pretty big leap in logic.

 

[Benson R]

I definitely agree T3 should be R rated but that doesn't mean it will. Look at it from the studio's point of view. I think budget estimates for T3 are close to 200 million. If T3 is rated R it will have to be a bigger success than any previous R rated movie to make its money back. Don't forget age restrictions are much more rigidly enforced in today's pc climate than they were when T2 came out. My parents used to drop me and my friends off to see R rated movies ten years ago and just asked if we could go in. A few months ago me and my friends were carded by the usher after we bought our tickets to see Blade II. And my friends and I are all 23 years old. If T3 were pg-13, crap or not it would make money. With its built in audience combined with a big media push it has a guaranteed 200 mil gross. Look at MIB II. Most people thought it was horrible but with it on ten screens in every town and no age restrictions everyone saw it before they heard anything negative from their friends and just like that it has already made 100 mil. After that next week everyone else sees it thinking their friend who hated it is wrong cause it made so much money and by then it has made 200 mil.

 

[Benson R]

Another strike against an R rating is the director Jonathan Mostow. Do you really think he has the same clout as James Cameron. He is not a well established director yet and will be under pressure from the studio since he is handling something much bigger than everything else he has done. I guarntee you the studio wants a pg-13. So the question becomes will Mostow resist pressure to tone down the movie.

 

[HenrikTull]

I will only say this.

If T3 is indeed PG-13 I will dimiss the film forever.

Watching a PG-13 Terminator movie would be like a watching a PG-13 version of Requiem for a Dream, at least to me.

 

[Benson R]

I will start ranting for days on this board if it is confirmed that T3 is pg-13. However like many people I suspect I will still see a pg-13 T3 because I have enjoyed Mostow's previous films and its still the terminator. Another point against an R rating is the fact that T2 could have been edited down to a pg-13 and it would still be pretty good. If you take out all the fucks and make all of the t1000's killings off screen the movie would be no worse than any other pg-13 movie. Again I am vehemently against this but we all should be discussing this possibility so the filmmakers know how the fans feel in case they are still up in the air as to what direction they are going.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I definitely agree T3 should be R rated

Well, let's see the screenplay first. I don't think it would be too terribly difficult to make a PG-13 Terminator 3, or that such a movie would necessarily be an abomination.

Here's a question - if Johnathan Mostow has a good PG-13 T3 script (and, drop some f-bombs from T2, and it might get awful close to PG-13 these days), would you want him to add language and graphic violence until it was an R?

 

[Charles J P]

Ben Osborne Nice.
A movie should be written, filmed, edited, and turned over to the MPAA with a story in mind not a rating and box office. Period! Of course this is not a perfect world and 90% of everything revolves around money. So, with that kind of budget, I dont know what they will try to do.

 

[Geno]

I'm sick of slippery-slope arguments like this. Killing ruthlessly and efficiently isn't necessarily going to lead to violence. That's a pretty big leap in logic.

But do you agree with: "Killing ruthlessly and efficiently IS violent" ?

 

[Jack Briggs]

As an aside, folks, the movie is being shot right next to where I work in downtown Los Angeles. The air-conditioned trailers for the movie's cast are located in a parking lot just east of the Japanese American Museum, and you can see the catering tables all set up. Just think: Right this very moment, Arnold is probably no more than 500 feet from where I'm sitting. How thrilling.

 

[Charles J P]

Jack, you should go visit him. Remember when you see him, run towards him as fast as you can, flailing your arms and screaming. Actors love that.

 

[Ben Osborne]

But do you agree with: "Killing ruthlessly and efficiently IS violent" ?

There you go again, taking what I said out of its context and mischaracterizing the nature of my objection. Isn't there anyone in here who can discuss something reasonably and logically? Seriously, I was just kidding, poking some fun at the way Iain put his comment. I agree that the terminator is inherently violent and would prefer it to be rated R.

 

[Michael Ballack]

I'm already not too excited with the idea of a T3 without James Cameron involved. If this movie does turnout to be PG 13, I won't even consider seeing it.
Personally I can't stand the Pg13 rating and the watering down of movies to make more money. I do agree that some movies might glorify violence and sometimes use cursing just for the hell of it. But when you see a movie that deals with some kind of war or guns, gun's cause people to bleed.

Sorry for going of on a rant. I just want to repeat that I HATE the PG13 Rating.

 

[Nathan V]

Two rules:

1. Big-budget films get PG-13 ratings, as the primary moviegoing audience of today (so I'm told) is teenagers. Think Armegeddon, Pearl Harbor.

2. Arnold Schwarzenegger movies are for adults, not kids. They contain extreme violence that guarantees a hard R.

As you know, one of these rules has already been broken with the Sixth Day, released in 2000. The film flopped faster than a dead dolphin's tail. (OK, bad analogy)

As a result of this rule-breaking, three outcomes are possible:

1. the studios realized that a PG-13 Schwarzenegger movie will not make money; therefore, T3 will be R rated.

2. the studios will look at what hapened to 'Collateral Damage' (R-rated flop) and realize that ratings don't matter. This will lead them to go with a PG-13, to get the kids in the theatre.

3. The studios will look at recent box-office hits (LOTR, MIIB) and go with a PG-13, which guarantees them hard cash.

In other words, it could either way.

Let's not forget that blood and gore do not make a movie great. Did you see Halloween: Resurrection simply because it was a hard R? Neither did I. It's just that many of the good films from the 70's onward have been R.

My (un)sophisticated breakdown of the dilemma aside, I personally believe it will be an R (Strong violence and language, perhaps). The very idea of a PG-13 terminator seems ludicrous. It's as bad as having a PG-13 version of Natural Born Killers. (I hesitate to say that film would be longer than 15 minutes.)

Nathan

 

[MickeS]

Of course, PG-13 these days is just about what an R was back in 1991...

/Mike

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

T2 is the first movie that I remember the ticket lady asking my mom if it was ok for me (13 at the time) to see it since it was rated R. Weird how those memories stick with ya.
I just hope this movie delivers reguardless of the rating.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

To me, the more interesting question is:
"Is a PG-13 T3 automatically a worse film than an R-rated one?"
Yes, tailoring a movie to appease the MPAA is a despicable thing, but maybe the producers went into this project intending to make it a bit more "adolescent friendly". Shit, I bet T2 would get a PG-13 rating if it were released tomorrow. (Cuz the cyborg turned good!)
I understand the logic of "R-rating = violence = what fans want" and unmuted violence is part of what makes the Terminator flicks so great.
I'll consider it a good sign if T3 gets an R rating, because that means there's a whole extra layer of 'graphic intensity' that a PG-13 flick would probably lack.
I'd be willing to BET that T3 gets a PG-13. Hope I'm wrong.
But LOTR was rated PG-13 and I really don't think that any 'hardcore violence' would have made it a better film.
Interesting thread!

 

[clemente]

But LOTR was rated PG-13 and I really don't think that any 'hardcore violence' would have made it a better film.

Very much agreed, but (I say this without ever having read the books), the LOTR trilogy isn't one that is steeped in graphic violence, at least not the first part (from what I've gathered, again, haven't read the books).
The Terminator has an R-rated pedigree....its about a killer cyborg sent from the future who will kill whoever he has to to kill Sarah or John Conner (no need for spoilers, right ) If there were no "hardcore violence" it'd be about a killer cyborg sent from the future with specific instructions to keep collateral damage to a minimum.
I don't think hardcore violence necesarrily would make this movie better, but if it wasn't there I'd sort of feel like Mostow short changed us. He's no Cameron, but no need to highlight it by coming up short.