Will the PG-13 Madness Stop? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Scarpa]

It seems like Hollywood can only churn out PG13 films , movies with Adult themes and mature plots, that have just enough trimmed to garner the acclaimed rating. So what do we get? Violence without consequence, and Sex , well, without the sex, without the love. The latest flick Pacino's "The Recruit' certainly in the 80's this would be an R Rater, but now its a PG-13. In order to get the broadest demographic we make film's that really lack any adult direction, yet are still too adult for the audience they attract. Can we get some "R" rated films? can we get a film that deals with Frank adult relationships that don't garner an NC-17 while a film with a 500 body count, gets a PG-13

Sorry just venting.

Dave

 

[Bill J]

Pretty much the only time a PG-13 rating upsets me is when it is given to film that is based on a historical event that would have earned an R rating if portrayed accurately. The most obvious example of this is Pearl Harbor. Personally I think Disney sacrificed realism for ticket sales.

In my opinion the ratings system in general limits artistic integrity. If Pearl Harbor had been made with an R rating and a budget of 150-160 million dollars, it probably would have only made half of that at the box office.

 

[Seth_S]

Pretty much the only time a PG-13 rating upsets me is when it is given to film that is based on a historical event that would have earned an R rating if portrayed accurately. The most obvious example of this is Pearl Harbor. Personally I think Disney sacrificed realism for ticket sales.

Bill J,

Pearl Harbor was a summer action movie marketed to teenagers. It wouldn't have benefited in anyway from having graphic violence.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I think Bill's point is that the story of Pearl Harbor deserved better than to end up being just a summer action movie in the first place.

 

[ThomasC]

Pearl Harbor was a summer action movie marketed to teenagers.

Marketed to teenagers? The theatrical teaser and trailer sure didn't seem like something that would come from that marketing strategy. I know that most R rated films get less B.O. draw than PG-13 and PG films, but I think Pearl Harbor could've easily been an exception if it was done right.

 

[Bill J]

Pearl Harbor was a summer action movie marketed to teenagers. It wouldn't have benefited in anyway from having graphic violence.

What makes you say that? That wouldn't make any sense because if the film was marketed to only teenagers it would have most likely made under 100 million dollars like all the other films that are directed toward that specific age group. So if the film was going to make under 100 million dollars, why wouldn't they just give the project to a good director and give it a more realistic R rating?

 

[Glenn Overholt]

But everybody knows that everyone in Hollywood is nuts, right?

From what I have heard, they market nearly everything for a PG-13 rating, and it has nothing to do with the movie. They'll either spice it up or chop it up in order to get that rating.

Why? Because they think that the teen market is the biggest.
I heard that ended and now the biggest movie-going population is way past their teens. We'll just have to wait for them to figure out that they don't know what they're doing.

Glenn

 

[Scott Leopold]

I personally think Catch Me if You Can would have benefitted from an R rating (I was honestly a little surprised that it managed to get a PG-13 as-is, but the Spielberg name helped, IMO). It wasn't by any stretch of the imagination a teen movie. I'd prefer the R rating if for no other reason than to keep some of the teens out. I would have enjoyed it much more if I hadn't had to have listened to the three teens several rows back whispering back and forth about how slow and boring it was.

Also, after watching CMIYC and Austin Powers 3 in a relatively short span of time, then watching Waiting for Guffman just the other night (all three within a 3 or 4 week period), it blew me away that the first two were PG-13, while WFG was R. I think the profanity level of WFG consisted of two bastards, one ass, and maybe a damn, yet it was given the harsher rating. As for mature subject matter, aside from Fred Willard's surgery, there really wasn't anything that could possibly be considered mature. Just odd, IMO.

 

[ThomasC]

Also, after watching CMIYC and Austin Powers 3 in a relatively short span of time, then watching Waiting for Guffman just the other night (all three within a 3 or 4 week period), it blew me away that the first two were PG-13, while WFG was R. I think the profanity level of WFG consisted of two bastards, one ass, and maybe a damn, yet it was given the harsher rating. As for mature subject matter, aside from Fred Willard's surgery, there really wasn't anything that could possibly be considered mature. Just odd, IMO.

WFG was R? I saw it on a bus while on a choir tour, and the movie seemed pretty darn unobjectional. What was the thing about Willard's surgery that was "mature"?

 

[Karl F]

AFAIK, the WFG 'R' rating is for the F-word in the "Raging Bull" audition scene.

--K

 

[Matt Pelham]

surgery offensive.

And Karl is right, the "Raging Bull" scene alone gave Guffman the R-rating, just like the "airport" rant from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles gave it the R.

 

[Sam E. Torres]

AFAIK, the WFG 'R' rating is for the F-word in the "Raging Bull" audition scene.

)

 

[ThomasC]

Minority Report had the f-word? Hmm, I don't remember that...

Thirteen Days had two or three, yet it remained PG-13. That was the only thing that was "R" about it, as far as I can recall.

 

[kevin_asai]

Even Spiderman has one F-word.

 

[ThomasC]

Even Spiderman has one F-word.

When was that spoken?

 

[kevin_asai]

When was that spoken?

Please correct me if I am wrong

 

[Rob Lutter]

You can't get an R-rating from one "FUCK"... isn't the rules that if you have 3 "FUCKs" your film is automatically given an R-rating?
Uh, Kevin... I don't have the DVD with me, otherwise I would check. But I don't remember that "FUCK"
(uh oh, my post is rated R )

 

[ThomasC]

I thought PG-13 films were only allowed one f-bomb, not three. I guess that would explain why Thirteen Days remained PG-13.

 

[John Spencer]

But I don't remember that "FUCK"

Wow, if I had a nickel for every time a woman said that to me...

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Undercover Brother is another good example here. The current US ratings system seems rather arbitrary.