Movies that push the limits of PG-13

[nitinblurayfan]

Which pg13 movies should have been rated R?

[enigma]

I will be closely watching this thread (and contributing when I stop being sick and can think straight). I'm not one of those people that are like "adult" movies and are convinced PG-13 is a death knell, but I do tend to enjoy PG-13 movies that are "more adult oriented" and perhaps just tone down the gratuitous sex, violence, and profanity in the interest of avoiding an R.

Color me subscribed.

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[MarkJ801]

Titanic, obviously.

[Haikira]

While I don't know about it being an R. I think The Dark Knight pushes it's PG-13. Batman dropping Maroni and breaking his legs, Dent's half blown apart face and gordon's child having a gun held to his head. Heavy stuff, for a PG-13.

Over here, in the UK. I like our system, having a 12, 15 and 18. There's nothing in between a PG-13 and an R rating in the States right? I think having something in the middle makes more sense. Like over here, Prometheus was a 15. Which seemed just perfect to me.

[Moviefan2k4]

Generally speaking, I think a lot of PG-13 films deserve an R, especially sex comedies and movies with lots of blood or language. For example, "Captain America" was okay for the PG-13 with regards to content, but "Live Free or Die Hard" definitely deserved an R, and so do whole series like "American Pie" or "Scary Movie". I'd personally prefer that trash wasn't made at all, but kids should be kept as far from it as possible. I also think movies with demonic elements, like "Spawn" or "Ghost Rider" deserve an R, no questions asked.

[menaceuk]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Generally speaking, I think a lot of PG-13 films deserve an R, especially sex comedies and movies with lots of blood or language. For example, "Captain America" was okay for the PG-13 with regards to content, but "Live Free or Die Hard" definitely deserved an R, and so do whole series like "American Pie" or "Scary Movie". I'd personally prefer that trash wasn't made at all, but kids should be kept as far from it as possible. I also think movies with demonic elements, like "Spawn" or "Ghost Rider" deserve an R, no questions asked.

Live free die hard has nothing on it's actual R rated big brothers and really doesn't need an R rating.

Not sure why Ghost rider needs an R rating either, demonic elements or not.

American Pie I can understand, it's rather outlandish nature concerning sex, may be a little too far for a PG-13.

[Hucksta G]

Originally Posted by menaceuk

Live free die hard has nothing on it's actual R rated big brothers and really doesn't need an R rating.

Not sure why Ghost rider needs an R rating either, demonic elements or not.

American Pie I can understand, it's rather outlandish nature concerning sex, may be a little too far for a PG-13.

Huh I wasn't aware there had been a PG-13 American Pie....?? Maybe one of those direct to video sequels?

[cinemaphile]

I've said this in other threads like this that keep popping up, but I'll say it again here, because it kinda gets on my nerves:

The problem is not that the movies aren't receiving the correct rating, the problem is that people have come to have a wrong perception of what the ratings mean.

First of all, PG means Parental Guidance Suggested. Already they're saying there may be stuff in here you don't want your kids to see. Yet people see PG and they think of it as "hey, its a kids movie! This movie is clean and wholesome and appropriate for everyone!" when that may not be the case. That's G. This is not G, it's PG. PG can have swearing. PG can have violence. Heck, there have been PG movies with nudity in them.
As a result, that leads to the very incorrect perception of PG-13....

PG-13 means Parents STRONGLY Cautioned. It's basically "you should really think twice before letting your kid see this! No really.... we STRONGLY caution you - this may not be appropriate." This is the last stop before actually restricting who can and can't see it.
Yet these days, people see PG-13 and think of it as PG - a movie that might have a little bit of adult or offensive material, but nothing major. This is NOT what the rating means.

People need to stop blaming ratings and saying movies are rated incorrectly when in fact they need to read, and know what those ratings are supposed to mean. Just because you think PG is G and PG13 is PG, doesnt mean they're going to rate movies based on your skewed (and incorrect) understanding of them.

[cinemaphile]

As for Moviefan2k4, let me preemptively defend him before the flaming begins...
I know he's come under fire in previous threads for his views, and unjustly so. He is entitled to his opinions, and though we (myself included) may not agree with them, or at least not to the same extent, these are his personal beliefs, and that's fine.

That being said, personal beliefs and opinions should not come into play here when we're rating for the entire general public. They should not start skewing ratings based on such things. Just because a movie has a demon in it does not mean suddenly a 16 year-old shouldnt be able to see it.

That is why they long ago instituted the additional info on ratings. If you are a person who likes more wholesome fare or are stricter in what you let your kids see, you can go beyond the letter ratings and look at the added info.

Let's take a look at your example of SPAWN. If you go to the MPAA's filmratings.org, you'll see that there are two cuts of Spawn rated there. An R rated version, which only warns of "violence and crude humor" and then a PG-13 cut, where they add additional warnings for parents:
"Rated PG-13 for thematic elements involving the demonic underworld, violence, intense fantasy action, and crude humor."

That pretty clearly states what the movie contains, and you can judge for yourself if it's right for you or your family. What more do you want?

[ACMutd]

Originally Posted by Moviefan2k4

Generally speaking, I think a lot of PG-13 films deserve an R, especially sex comedies and movies with lots of blood or language. For example, "Captain America" was okay for the PG-13 with regards to content, but "Live Free or Die Hard" definitely deserved an R, and so do whole series like "American Pie" or "Scary Movie". I'd personally prefer that trash wasn't made at all, but kids should be kept as far from it as possible. I also think movies with demonic elements, like "Spawn" or "Ghost Rider" deserve an R, no questions asked.

Just curious to why bring up the four American Pie movies when they have all been rated R.

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

As for Moviefan2k4, let me preemptively defend him before the flaming begins...
I know he's come under fire in previous threads for his views, and unjustly so. He is entitled to his opinions, and though we (myself included) may not agree with them, or at least not to the same extent, these are his personal beliefs, and that's fine.

That being said, personal beliefs and opinions should not come into play here when we're rating for the entire general public. They should not start skewing ratings based on such things. Just because a movie has a demon in it does not mean suddenly a 16 year-old shouldnt be able to see it.

That is why they long ago instituted the additional info on ratings. If you are a person who likes more wholesome fare or are stricter in what you let your kids see, you can go beyond the letter ratings and look at the added info.

Let's take a look at your example of SPAWN. If you go to the MPAA's filmratings.org, you'll see that there are two cuts of Spawn rated there. An R rated version, which only warns of "violence and crude humor" and then a PG-13 cut, where they add additional warnings for parents:
"Rated PG-13 for thematic elements involving the demonic underworld, violence, intense fantasy action, and crude humor."

That pretty clearly states what the movie contains, and you can judge for yourself if it's right for you or your family. What more do you want?

Totally agree, and I feel like the people who complain about the ratings do not actually know how the rating system works.

[menaceuk]

Originally Posted by Hucksta G

Huh I wasn't aware there had been a PG-13 American Pie....?? Maybe one of those direct to video sequels?

I couldn't remember what rating it got and just assumed Moviefan was right

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by cinemaphile

I've said this in other threads like this that keep popping up, but I'll say it again here, because it kinda gets on my nerves:

The problem is not that the movies aren't receiving the correct rating, the problem is that people have come to have a wrong perception of what the ratings mean.

First of all, PG means Parental Guidance Suggested. Already they're saying there may be stuff in here you don't want your kids to see. Yet people see PG and they think of it as "hey, its a kids movie! This movie is clean and wholesome and appropriate for everyone!" when that may not be the case. That's G. This is not G, it's PG. PG can have swearing. PG can have violence. Heck, there have been PG movies with nudity in them.
As a result, that leads to the very incorrect perception of PG-13....

PG-13 means Parents STRONGLY Cautioned. It's basically "you should really think twice before letting your kid see this! No really.... we STRONGLY caution you - this may not be appropriate." This is the last stop before actually restricting who can and can't see it.
Yet these days, people see PG-13 and think of it as PG - a movie that might have a little bit of adult or offensive material, but nothing major. This is NOT what the rating means.

People need to stop blaming ratings and saying movies are rated incorrectly when in fact they need to read, and know what those ratings are supposed to mean. Just because you think PG is G and PG13 is PG, doesnt mean they're going to rate movies based on your skewed (and incorrect) understanding of them.

AGREE.... dang I agree with that one. PG-13 is NOT some teen friendly movie... it means it's STRONGLY cautioned. people just think of pg-13 as the new pg, and pg as the new R. seriously KNOW what's in a movie before going.

[BDBooking]

The first Austin Powers movie in general had A TON of innuendos that are so raunchy I'm surprised it passed for PG-13.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by ACMutd

Just curious to why bring up the four American Pie movies when they have all been rated R.

I wasn't aware of it, since I haven't seen any of them.

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by BDBooking

The first Austin Powers movie in general had A TON of innuendos that are so raunchy I'm surprised it passed for PG-13.

Agreed; all those movies should be rated R. I only saw the second film once, and that was too much. I avoided the third on principle, and haven't seen the first in a few years.

[Jimmy Bro]

Sucker Punch

Depressing, and lots of sexual references. (the movie may also just be about sexual abuse)

[Moviefan2k4]

Originally Posted by wormraper

AGREE.... dang I agree with that one. PG-13 is NOT some teen friendly movie... it means it's STRONGLY cautioned. people just think of pg-13 as the new pg, and pg as the new R. seriously KNOW what's in a movie before going.

I think what mainly deters people from getting information about the PG-13 rating is the added number, which for many means "this film is OK for kids who are 13"...but such a description is far from the truth. There's lots of films with that rating, that I wouldn't recommend for any child that age. Here's just a few, from my own collection.

Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Bourne Trilogy
Godzilla (1998)
Hitch
Inception

[nitinblurayfan]

I agree with Sucker Punch and I would add Insidious to the list.

But Bourne?batman?hitch? Inception?

Seriously? Is this a joke or something?

[wormraper]

Originally Posted by nitinblurayfan

I agree with Sucker Punch and I would add Insidious to the list.

But Bourne?batman?hitch? Inception?

Seriously? Is this a joke or something?

lol, have to agree on the batmans, hitch, inception etc. I wouldn't hesitate showing those to a 10 year let alone 13 year old.

and this brings back my old argument. I think the ratings system is pure crap anyways. ratings mean NOTHING.

[gushin]

One of the first PG-13 rated movies that I think still pushes the boundary of the rating is Dreamscape.