Movie That Should Be Re-Rated PG-13, PG or G

[Ethan Hunt]

I can totally see Jaws getting re rated R. It is actually a lot more gory than a lot of R rated creature features.

movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and Top Gun would probably be re rated PG-13 if going through a re rating

Not sure about Back to the Future but yes to the others.

[TServo2049]

The first Back to the Future would probably be a PG-13 - Doc getting gunned down on camera, Biff trying to rape Lorraine, etc. There's no blood shown in Doc's death, not much skin shown in Biff groping Lorraine, but I still think it probably would be too much for PG now. Even if just barely. (The sequels, on the other hand, don't really have anything I can think of that would get them PG-13.)

I'm still surprised Beetlejuice got a PG in 1988. Michael Keaton grabbing his crotch, lusting after a 16 year old (and I don't just mean Winona Ryder's character, she actually was 16 during filming), the whorehouse bit (and Juno actually saying "whorehouse"), not to mention the infamous F-bomb. It's probably the last time a movie had the F-word and still got a PG (Spaceballs got away with a PG in '87, but in '89 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation seems to have gotten a PG-13 solely because of "since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny f**king Kaye").

European Vacation would likely be an R now. I know Anchorman also got away with using the phrase "Go f**k yourself" 20 years later, but I'm not so sure the MPAA would give a PG-13 to a movie where we see bare breasts in two different scenes.

It's interesting to look at films from the late 80s, when PG-13 already existed, and wonder whether they'd get the same ratings now that they did then.

Edited January 31, 2015 by TServo2049

[John Marston]

another "PG-13 without the F bombs" movie is the Clint Eastwood film In the Line of Fire. 

[TServo2049]

As I said before, if Christmas Vacation hadn't had Chevy Chase's single F-bomb, I have no doubt in my mind that it would have been PG instead of PG-13.

Edited February 15, 2015 by TServo2049

[Kalo]

As I said before, if Christmas Vacation hadn't had Chevy Chase's single F-bomb, I have no doubt in my mind that it would have been PG instead of PG-13.

maybe, the pool scene was a bit Risqué for a PG movie.

[TServo2049]

maybe, the pool scene was a bit Risqué for a PG movie.

Christmas Vacation, not the original. That had two topless scenes, and at least four F-bombs (Chevy Chase's meltdown alone had three, then he had one more when they get to Walley World and it's closed), so it was a well-deserved R.

Actually, now that I think of it, maybe Christmas Vacation still would have been PG-13 without the F-bomb. I forgot it had other language in it.

Edited February 15, 2015 by TServo2049

[Kalo]

Christmas Vacation, not the original. That had two topless scenes, and at least four F-bombs (Chevy Chase's meltdown alone had three, then he had one more when they get to Walley World and it's closed), so it was a well-deserved R.

Actually, now that I think of it, maybe Christmas Vacation still would have been PG-13. I forgot it had other language in it.

I was talking about Christmas Vacation, the part where he Imagines the lady from the department store in his swimming pool. 

[TServo2049]

Oh that. Forgot about that too.

Going the other direction, Grease absolutely would not have gotten a PG if PG-13 had existed in 1978. People sometimes seem to treat it like a family film, they use the songs for grade-school-level dance recitals, one year in my grade school the 8th grade class put on a (heavily sanitized) stage performance of it, I know that a lot of high school drama classes put on (also sanitized) performances, but just go back and watch it, the amount of sexual overtones in it are just crazy. And it's not sneaky innuendo, it's all out in the open.

Edited February 15, 2015 by TServo2049

[Jonwo]

Oh that. Forgot about that too.

Going the other direction, Grease absolutely would not have gotten a PG if PG-13 had existed in 1978. People sometimes seem to treat it like a family film, they use the songs for grade-school-level dance recitals, one year in my grade school the 8th grade class put on a (heavily sanitized) stage performance of it, I know that a lot of high school drama classes put on (also sanitized) performances, but just go back and watch it, the amount of sexual overtones in it are just crazy. And it's not sneaky innuendo, it's all out in the open.

The film version of Grease is toned down from the original musical but it's quite adult at times, Summer Nights, Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee and Greased Lightning for example and also the scene with Danny and Sandy before he sings Sandy.

[TServo2049]

Don't forget the whole subplot where Rizzo believes Kenickie got her pregnant. I feel like that would also warrant a PG-13 now.

Edited February 16, 2015 by TServo2049

[AniNate]

That scene when Goblin reduced the board members of Oscorp to bones with the pumpkin bomb freaked out some kids in South Africa.

 

Also the whole sequence from the end of the wrestling match to the carjacker's death is pretty upsetting. 

[Kalo]

Cinderella (2015) should be Rated G. that MPAA nitpicks everything.

[Avatree]

Original three Star Wars films should be rerated from at least PG, if not PG-13, Indy films should probably be PG-13 too, especially Temple of Doom.

[TServo2049]

There were actually a couple edits in the first Special Edition that may have been done to get a PG on re-rating. If you freeze-frame the shootout when they go into the detention cell block, on the old versions, you will see blaster fire burning through Imperial officers' chests. It's not gory, it's just some light flash effects, but the few frames of them reacting as the laser fire rips through them got snipped in the SE. You just see them fall over with smoke coming off them.

(Some surmise that Greedo shooting first may have been done for this reason, and I once bought this, but I really really doubt it now. That was a conscious decision by Lucas.)

Temple of Doom is one of the reasons PG-13 exists, but it didn't have to get re-rated after PG-13 was instituted. As I said earlier, Raiders is just as violent, but there wasn't much issue with it being PG in 1981. I think the big reason why Temple of Doom got so much heat was that infamous heart scene.

Edited March 13, 2015 by TServo2049

[Avatree]

There were actually a couple edits in the first Special Edition that may have been done to get a PG on re-rating. If you freeze-frame the shootout when they go into the detention cell block, on the old versions, you will see blaster fire burning through Imperial officers' chests. It's not gory, it's just some light flash effects, but the few frames of them reacting as the laser fire rips through them got snipped in the SE. You just see them fall over with smoke coming off them.

(Some surmise that Greedo shooting first may have been done for this reason, and I once bought this, but I really really doubt it now. That was a conscious decision by Lucas.)

Temple of Doom is one of the reasons PG-13 exists, but it didn't have to get re-rated after PG-13 was instituted. As I said earlier, Raiders is just as violent, but there wasn't much issue with it being PG in 1981. I think the big reason why Temple of Doom got so much heat was that infamous heart scene.

There is a very gory, though brief, shot when Obi-Wan slices off the patron's arm, you see it coated in blood on the floor.

 

Are the special editions PG in the US then? All three are rated G in my country, I assumed that was the same in America.

[Kalo]

There is a very gory, though brief, shot when Obi-Wan slices off the patron's arm, you see it coated in blood on the floor.

 

Are the special editions PG in the US then? All three are rated G in my country, I assumed that was the same in America.

It's super fake looking though, looks like keptup. and the Star Wars films were always PG in the states.

[John Marston]

remove the F bombs from the Tom Cruise movie The Firm and it is PG-13 

[TServo2049]

According to legend, the bloody arm insert (which was a pickup shot months after principal photography) was added specifically to ensure the MPAA would not give the film a G rating. If you watch the black and white workprint footage of the Cantina scene as it was originally shot, there was no blood when the arm was severed.

I have heard the same thing about the close up of the burned skeletons, that it was done as insurance against a G, though AFAIK that WAS shot during the original location filming in Tunisia.

I've even heard a version of the story that the film was submitted to the MPAA, got a G when Lucas/Fox wanted a PG, and then both shots were added and it was resubmitted, at which point it got a PG. I don't know how true that is.

Edited March 13, 2015 by TServo2049

[Avatree]

 

remove the F bombs from the Tom Cruise movie The Firm and it is PG-13 

Could say that about a lot of films.

 

It's super fake looking though, looks like keptup. and the Star Wars films were always PG in the states.

I'm not saying it's realistic - I don't think that makes a difference to ratings.

 

And yeah, I just looked and Star Wars was always PG. I never understood why it had the lowest rating here, seemed ridiculous. Films featuring guns, menacing characters, torture, burning, blood... even if not in large amounts, still it's strange. I mean, animated kids films get higher ratings. How to Train Your Dragon 2 has an older rating than Empire Strikes Back! That's crazy. 

[Kalo]

 

 

Could say that about a lot of films.

 

I'm not saying it's realistic - I don't think that makes a difference to ratings.

 

And yeah, I just looked and Star Wars was always PG. I never understood why it had the lowest rating here, seemed ridiculous. Films featuring guns, menacing characters, torture, burning, blood... even if not in large amounts, still it's strange. I mean, animated kids films get higher ratings. How to Train Your Dragon 2 has an older rating than Empire Strikes Back! That's crazy. 

 

It does actually, there are a couple PG/PG-13 movies today with unrealistic looking gore.