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[SCULLIBUNDO]

In today's day and age, it isn't uncommon for any mainstream film to aim for a PG13. But what are some films that have managed to avoid feeling watered down or compromised despite their PG13 rating?

I think The Dark Knight is a good example, even if a lot of people felt the distinct lack of blood in a certain interrogation scene.

For me, one of the best examples of this is Spielberg's War of the Worlds. That film was dark as hell and there is a palpable sense of sickly dread and horror running all throughout that film, whether it's from the 911-inspired ash remains that the tripods combust people into, or the harvesting scenes where they farm humans for blood.

Spielberg is very creative about how he chooses to approach a lot of the violence and this scene always sticks in my mind as a great example of how to circumvent a PG13 rating, whilst still effectively depicting an abhorrent act of implied violence:

The gif really isn't enough. The sound of the tripod harvesting and spraying the blood really empowers the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a65q3BUWNOg

So what are some more examples of directors cleverly circumventing the rating so as to not compromise the tone of the film?

 

[dmshaposv]

Lotr trilogy by PJ.

Lots of violence, severed heads, etc.

The benchmark really.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Lotr trilogy by PJ.

Yeah, I was thinking of the black blood (and sometimes lack of blood) in LotR.

 

[dmshaposv]

There was a lot of violent stuff, now I recall more:

- aragorn severing orc head

- arrows piercing through orc necks

- severed heads tossed with a catapult

- the creepy scene at the marshes with the dead bodies in the water.

Lotr trilogy really set the standard of how dark pg 13 movies could get, which tdk and wow followed.

 

[Fry]

Revenge of the Sith.

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Forget Dark Knight, Batman Returns for sure.

The whole movie is some kind of dark sexual fetish fantasy with scenes of gross violence.

I can just imagine a parent taking their kids to see that. I can only assume someone saw "Batman" and thought, oh...kids movie. "PG-13", without even watching it.

 

[Black Mamba]

There was a time when you could see boobs in a PG movie.

Just sayin'.

 

[Count Dookkake]

There was a time when you could see boobs in a PG movie.

Just sayin'.

Yeah.

And the early days of PG-13 were pretty crazy, too.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Titanic is another good example. You got Winslet boobies, a whole bunch of corpses floating in the icy water (including mother and child).

 

[dekline]

There was a lot of violent stuff, now I recall more:

- aragorn severing orc head

- arrows piercing through orc necks

- severed heads tossed with a catapult

- the creepy scene at the marshes with the dead bodies in the water.

Lotr trilogy really set the standard of how dark pg 13 movies could get, which tdk and wow followed.

Yes!

The extended editions had some violent scenes as well.

Like the beheading of the mouth of Sauron.

 

[Black Mamba]

Titanic is another good example. You got Winslet boobies, a whole bunch of corpses floating in the icy water (including mother and child).

I'm shocked you came up with Spielberg and Cameron. Generally, mums the word with you about those two.


This topic is hard for me as I generally can't remember what movies were R or PG-13 that didn't involve a lot of nudity or swearing.

 

[Dan]

This isn't really about being creative and skilled. It's about the MPAA being corrupt and giving expensive movies and big time directors more leeway.

 

[dmshaposv]

Was Raiders of the Lost Ark R rated or Pg 13?

It probably is the grand daddy of all violent pg 13 movies, and temple of doom is even more so.

Indy wasting fools.

 

[Count Dookkake]

Titanic is another good example. You got Winslet boobies, a whole bunch of corpses floating in the icy water (including mother and child).

This isn't really about being creative and skilled. It's about the MPAA being corrupt and giving expensive movies and big time directors more leeway.

Yes, the "masterpiece exception."

Also, "history" tends to get a lighter rating.

Was Raiders of the Lost Ark R rated or Pg 13?

It probably is the grand daddy of all violent pg 13 movies, and temple of doom is even more so.

Indy wasting fools.

lol, it's PG.

OG PG.

 

[Speedymanic]

There was a time when you could see boobs in a PG movie.

Just sayin'.

80's, early 90's PG movies were all kinds of amazing.

 

[Speedymanic]

Was Raiders of the Lost Ark R rated or Pg 13?

It probably is the grand daddy of all violent pg 13 movies, and temple of doom is even more so.

Indy wasting fools.

Nah, Jaws is the daddy of PG rated movies that show some pretty gory stuff.

People getting eaten, blood everywhere, dismembered bodies, half eaten bodies. Goddamn, would be a hard R if it were released today.

 

[SirIgbyCeaser]

Was Raiders of the Lost Ark R rated or Pg 13?

It probably is the grand daddy of all violent pg 13 movies, and temple of doom is even more so.

Indy wasting fools.

I think indiana jones brought the invention of PG 13 to the mpaa.

 

[Toki767]

I'd have to really look stuff up to remember since once I turned 18 I stopped paying attention to what movies were PG-13 and what was R

 

[Fjordson]

Titanic is another good example. You got Winslet boobies, a whole bunch of corpses floating in the icy water (including mother and child).

This blew my mind when I saw it as a kid. Kate Winslet was so fine. Bless that James Cameron.

 

[Carnby]

I think indiana jones brought the invention of PG 13 to the mpaa.

Correct. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom to be exact.

 

[mil6es]

Gonna put it out there......the hunger games

 

[Moaradin]

Titanic is another good example. You got Winslet boobies

This shit changed my life as a kid.

 

[Speedymanic]

Gonna put it out there......the hunger games

Hahahaha. You're a funny guy.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Gonna put it out there......the hunger games

Time to pull it back in. THG is an example of how utterly lacking in creativity the director was that he literally just shook the camera around to make everything incomprehensible so as to not show the deeds being done. That is a far cry from the sort of example I posted in the OP.

He might as well have just blurred it out.

 

[G-Fex]

Yeah watching the Hunger Games I was kinda dissapointed as how little to no killing was shown.

 

[1138]

Revenge of the Sith.

The limb-cutting and burnt skin was pretty hardcore. Suprised they managed to get away with it.

 

[Trent Strong]

The entire Hunger Games movie was just a shaky cam, jump cut, Bourne Identity fight sceneesque mess, not just the scenes where someone gets killed. That whole movie was headache inducing.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

The limb-cutting and burnt skin was pretty hardcore. Suprised they managed to get away with it.

Limb cutting wasn't anything new in Star Wars. Though Anakin burning was pretty satisfying.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I always felt a bit surprised at the number of implied deaths there were in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. There were some, early on as to set a tone for all violence following on from it, that featured in tight close-ups in gruesome ways. The eye/headshot in the opening convoy ambush stuck out for me just as much as the hundreds to thousands that must have died in Paris scene.

 

[Skiptastic]

Titanic is another good example. You got Winslet boobies, a whole bunch of corpses floating in the icy water (including mother and child).

More shocking than that, I'm pretty sure there were two F bombs in Titanic, at a time when one would normally be okay but two gets you to R.

 

[zoukka]

Ratings are so damn different around the world. Here I was watchin a documentary about human biology and "love" where the actors had sex without any clothes and there were quite explicit boob massaging and booty to be seen. Europe fuck yeah!

 

[Messypandas]

There was a time when you could see boobs in a PG movie.

Just sayin'.

you see a kids dick in Superman. we will ever see a kids dick in a superhero film again? not likely

 

[NinjaTehFish]

Ratings are so damn different around the world. Here I was watchin a "documentary" about human biology and "love" where the actors had sex without any clothes and there were quite explicit boob massaging and booty to be seen. Europe fuck yeah!

Ahaaaha......suuuure you were.

 

[Red UFO]

More shocking than that, I'm pretty sure there were two F bombs in Titanic, at a time when one would normally be okay but two gets you to R.

Doesn't it depend on how it's used? Like, exclaiming 'fuck!' when something bad happens is sort of ok, but using it in a sexual sense is a big no-no.

 

[CloudWolf]

Ahaaaha......suuuure you were.

In my high school biology class we watched a documentary that featured explicit penetration (with a tiny camera on the penis, so we could watch what happened inside of the woman during sex). Needless to say, that was one of the most awkward moments in my high school career.

 

[zoukka]

Ahaaaha......suuuure you were.

http://i.imgur.com/zpOU0.jpg NSFW

E for everyone bitches.

 

[mil6es]

I'll just shut my big fat mouth then

 

[Trent Strong]

you see a kids dick in Superman. we will ever see a kids dick in a superhero film again? not likely

The hell?

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

The hell?

Baby Supes.

 

[Trent Strong]

Baby Supes.

Ah, OK. That makes sense then.

 

[Fry]

The limb-cutting and burnt skin was pretty hardcore. Suprised they managed to get away with it.

Yeah.

That scene is so goddamn powerful.

 

[Borgnine]

Are we talking about the cutaway from the cutting and instant death in Dark Knight? That shit was terrible, totally uncreative. Should have taken it out completely or just pushed his face until he fell on the ground or something.

 

[jorgeton]

The True Grit re-make had a really violent scene in a cabin

Spoiler

guy gets his finger graphically cut off, other guy takes a bullet in the head on-camera

and managed to get a PG-13. Also The Dark Knight was pretty grim, were it not a major hollywood movie it would've gotten an R for sure.

 

[SunhiLegend]

Hold on, Poltergeist was rated PG in the US?

How the hell did Spielberg manage that?

http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t484/matrixxx3/Poltergeist/Captura_5.jpg

 

[TylerD]

The entire Hunger Games movie was just a shaky cam, jump cut, Bourne Identity fight sceneesque mess, not just the scenes where someone gets killed. That whole movie was headache inducing.

I thought that I really enjoyed it at the theater but watching it at home over the weekend made me realize that it is just a big mess of constant motion.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

A bit off topic, but I was genuinely surprised this part made its way into the film

 

[Jonm1010]

The True Grit re-make had a really violent scene in a cabin

Spoiler

guy gets his finger graphically cut off, other guy takes a bullet in the head on-camera

and managed to get a PG-13. Also The Dark Knight was pretty grim, were it not a major hollywood movie it would've gotten an R for sure.

Yeah that was the first that came to mind, only because I watched that movie again last night.

I remember seeing that scene in the theater and was thinking "did the mpaa go on a bathroom break during this scene?"

 

[itwasTuesday]

A good doc surrounding the subject of how mpaa rates films is on netflix instant.


I remember when the Fast and Furious 1 dvd came out. One of the extras talked about how one of the guys got his hand cut in some wire, which showed a lot of blood, and it granted an R rating. The MPAA wouldn't tell them exactly what they needed to cut, but in the end they trimmed that heist scene and resubmitted for pg-13.

 

[Yeef]

I feel like what constitutes PG-13 these days is a lot more limited than PG-13 movies made in the 80's and 90's. As far as I know, there are few hard and fast rules on what separates PG-13 from R (assuming the evidence in "This Film is Not Yet Rated" is accurate).


That said, I've always thought this scene in Be Cool was a cute little 4th wall moment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxucBx6j26E

 

[Leona Lewis]

I thought this particular scene from "Knowing" was pretty explicit in the sheer chaotic spectacle of what was going on.