Gremlins Reboot: 10 Reasons We'd Rather Stare At Bright Lights

7. Movies Have Changed Since The Original

PG 13Problem: See that? That's the MPAA Rating Card for Jurassic Park 3D, which would probably be the ratings card for most Steven Spielberg directed/produced films anyway. In fact, one could solely credit Steven Spielberg for having a PG-13 rating, much less "Intense Science Fiction Terror" even being a descriptor for a film. As the story goes, depending on who tells the tale, three films are credited for giving us the PG-13 rating, the middle ground that didn't restrict your picture from children but still gave parents pause. Those three films? Poltergeist, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Gremlins. Do a quick IMDB search, and you'll see the common factor is the involvement of Father Beard. If They HAVE To...: ...make it a hard PG-13, a la The Dark Knight. As society has changed, so has the ratings criteria. If you told the kids of today you could get away with bare breasts in a PG film, much less a PG-13 film (and full on, 30 seconds of exposure, not just a side shot), they'd be amazed. Nowadays, PG13 is the not only the tame refuge of Horror knock offs, sophomoric Adam Sandler comedies, but also the home of Christopher Nolan hard cases. If we're going to bring the Gremlins back to the table, we need to aim for the intensity of Nolan mixed with the Sci Fi terror of Spielberg.
Contributor
Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.