We always complain about it when a film is supposedly “watered down” and given a PG-13 rating when it so clearly was written and intended as an R. The end result is often sloppy and indicative of this studio-mandated change. To UK audiences, the difference might be harder to gauge, as we have our own ratings system, in which a 12A is considered “tame”. However, it’s important to remember that the two types of certification do not translate exactly, for an R-rated film can often end up as a 12A over here (see Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), and PG-13s might sometimes translate to 15 (Disturbia).
It’s all part of the maddening and confusing process of film certification, but this article actually seeks to find films that were, within the scope of America’s oft-criticised MPAA – taken to task splendidly in Kirby Dick’s incendiary doc This Film Is Not Yet Rated - actually rated R when it wasn’t especially necessary. The MPAA have frequently been criticised for giving films which frankly depict difficult subjects in an unflinching manner (Boys Don’t Cry, Blue Valentine) NC-17 ratings, but it also frequently screws up the R rating, giving it to films which, in terms of tone and context, absolutely do not warrant it.
8. Prometheus (2012)
It’s perhaps an odd film to start with because so much fuss was made in the fan community about Prometheus being rated R in order that it could live up to the legacy of the first two Alien films. However, having watched the final product – and, unlike many, being utterly infatuated with it – the film doesn’t push that R button very hard at all, hence its 15-rating in the UK, though it still received an R from the MPAA. Consider the typical aspects that are challenged; the violence, while bloody, is not particularly frequent, and its fantastical cause is exaggerated and emphasised by the obviously supernatural nature of the events.
However, an LA Times article suggests that the main reason for the R rating was the third-act surgery scene in which Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw eventually aborts an alien fetus from her womb with the help of a machine. Studio executes at Fox reportedly wanted the scene done away with entirely – presumably cutting too close to the bone for the conservative sensibilities that govern the MPAA regarding abortion – but Scott vehemently refused given its place in the narrative and the challenging commitment to the scene given by Rapace. It’s somewhat ironic given that had Shaw not performed this procedure – which shows only an extremely clean incision – then the film would have ended in the beast exploding from her body in a gory mess, much more deserving of an R.
In other areas, the film has only one strong instance of language, and though sex is referenced, it is not explicitly shown at all.
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11 Comments
I never understood film ratings, if a film has a sex scene it will be 15/18, but films that are 12 have explosions and people dying?? Surely people dying is a lot worse than two people having sex, and why does bad language have to get a 15 rating? Every 12 year old has heard swearing before and most probably all use it themselves, also all 12 year olds know what sex is and have seen it that’s why they have sex ed at school, and a lot of 13/14 have sex so why does bad language or sex have a 15/18 rating?
Sorry for the rant just had to get that out.
And this is why in Australia we don’t just jump to an R rating from PG. We have G, PG, M15+, MA, and then R. Offers a more fair and varied choice.
I honestly believe that these movies should be rated R and were fairly given that rating. In the US, we rate our movies based on several criteria: excessive violence (Prometheus), too much language (King’s Speech, Matrix, When Harry Met Sally, Planes…). For language, if it has any more than 2 F-words than we automatically rate it R, which I like. I don’t care to hear that much profanity in movies so by knowing its rated R I know that it has more language in it than I care to hear. Also, our standards today have decreased so much since movies hit the big screen. Back in the 60′s and 70′s an R rated movie would be our PG-13 rating today. So I think rating wise we are doing the right thing.
Here, here! I wish the studio would just release two versions on bluray for these movies that toe the line: one as is, and one pg13 with the language and sex edited to primetime tv standards
Landon, people like u are the problem. Do you think kids don’t hear the F-word every single day in school. Two F-words = rated R, that’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.
Agree totally, and like I mentioned in my previous post half of 12-14 year olds have has sex or done summat, and EVERY one of them has done sex ed at school, so why does a sex scene have an 15/18 rating?
Derek, what “problem” are you referring to? The movies I think are fairly rated. Try talking like that to your boss and see how long you remain employed. The reason they are used is because they aren’t appropriate. Oddly enough, these words are so heavily used sometimes that people use them to make up for their lack of grammer.
Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina could be added to this list too (the movie actually came out the day the article did, haha). I mean, it’s 12A in the UK and Ireland but rated R in the US? While there is some sex and violence, neither are very graphic. I really don’t understand why.
Matrix just felt like an R-rated film. I didn’t inhibit it’s box office by any means. The movie was about shooting up innocent people in a lobby because they are potentially agents and the Wachowski Brothers’ bizarre leather fetish that you see even more of in the sequels. Speaking of which, what does it say when the few people watching the Matrix Revolutions start giggling at the leather people in club hell?
Well, the first one was pretty cool.
I really wish there was something in between PG-13 and R. I think there is a large maturity gap between a 13 year old and a 17 year old. That’s why I usually look at the Common Sense ratings for movies.
And seriously, Derek and Ben, because some children curse at school and have had sex ed. or even sex we should let them watch sex scenes and hear excessive profanity further reinforcing its acceptability? That seems like a bit of odd logic.
Granted, I think you have to define the word excessive and I do think that there are definitely some children that are more mature than others. So to an extent I do think it depends on your kid, but that’s why you have the option to take them to a rated R move, it’s not like they’re completely banned from the theater.
What about Troy?