[Movies] Is the american rating system (PG-13, R etc) bad for overall film quality?

[Bender]

I've thought about this a lot over the years, and my spark got reignited recently when I found out that Ridley Scott is being forced to cut his upcoming sci-fi/horror movie 'Prometheus' PG-13 because Fox don't want to give him a large budget for an R rated film. Scott however reached a compromise with Fox and is allowed to shoot an R rated directors cut in addition to the theatrical release. The problem is that we won't be seeing the version which in my opinion is to be considered the real movie in the theaters, we have to wait for the Blu-Ray release for that. In other words this means that we have to wait several extra months for it in addition to not being able to see it in theaters.

Since American movie industry is all about the dollars this isn't too surprising, the studios want a cut that will give them the most cash for their investment (i.e, PG-13 most of the time). I feel that this is making the overall quality of movies worse. R rated movies don't get big budgets, and films that would be much better off with an R rating is either forced into PG-13 in advance (like Prometheus) or cut and destroyed in post production to fit the PG-13 demands.

In the case of Prometheus, I simply can't see how PG-13 could work with a film that is supposed to be set in the same tone as the Alien franchise. The level of menace, horror, gore and language all have to be scaled down to levels which I just can't see working well in a horror/action hybrid. It works for stuff like Lord of the Rings and Nolan pulled it off quite well in the batman reboot (although I feel the darker tone of these movies would be even better with an R rating) but I just feel I'm being cheated in advance because of this. To be fair, none of us know what the end result will be, but history is making me a pessimist on this.

In my opinion the R rated directors cut, which will be on Blu-Ray several months after the theatrical release, should be the film they show in the theater as the director intended in the first place. I mean, it's great Scott is making that cut at all, but I'm still very negative about the fact that first I have to wait 5 months to see the bastard stepchild Nickelodeon version of the real movie, which comes out several months after the theatrical premiere.

The case of Prometheus got me rolling on this, but overall I think it's a problem for the film industry as a whole. Some genres simply requires R content to reach their full potential, especially in the horror/action genre. I feel that the combination of maximum revenue+MPAA ratings forces films that should have been R rated into being cut for PG-13 instead. Another huge disadvantage is that proper R movies get less of a budget than a PG-13 film would which obviously limits their potential.

In closing I would just like to clarify that with R content I'm primarily talking about violence, language and especially the level of menace and horror a film can project to the viewer. Sex and nudity is something most films do perfectely fine without and my gripe pretty much has no focus on that. Keep that in mind when discussing, this is not a "MOAR BOOBS IN MOVIES KK?" thread.

What do you think?

[Fuzzzie]

Agree somewhat. Plenty of great movies are not rated R. The bar is set far lower for PG-13 than it was years ago as well. Still, the MPAA is a dinosaur.

If you're interested you should look at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/

Pretty good film explaining the whole process and why it's a joke.

[Bender]

Agree somewhat. Plenty of great movies are not rated R. The bar is set far lower for PG-13 than it was years ago as well. Still, the MPAA is a dinosaur.

If you're interested you should look at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/

Pretty good film explaining the whole process and why it's a joke.

That looks very interesting, thanks for the tip I'll definitely check that out.

[Zeta333]

Aside from the Aliens prequel i dunno what your talking about. All the movies worth seeing nowadays are Rate R. Saying that R movies get lower budgets is stupid. I cant think of besides Captain america the last pg 13 movie i went and saw.

[Xyanide]

Aside from the Aliens prequel i dunno what your talking about. All the movies worth seeing nowadays are Rate R. Saying that R movies get lower budgets is stupid. I cant think of besides Captain america the last pg 13 movie i went and saw.

Really? Care to name a few R rated movies that were actually worth seeing as of late?

Personally I agree with the MPAA being a hindrance to movies, it's not even really NECESSARY, you can pretty much tell what audience a movie is aimed at just by watching a trailer.

[Badpaladin]

Really? Care to name a few R rated movies that were actually worth seeing as of late?

Personally I agree with the MPAA being a hindrance to movies, it's not even really NECESSARY, you can pretty much tell what audience a movie is aimed at just by watching a trailer.

American version of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was fucking phenomenal.

[psychedelica]

i remember i watched a documantary about rating system at America, and its harsh movie rating system, the movies from sean parker and others like big girls dont cry suffered badly at that.

[Halicia]

(cant remember if I've seen the whole movie referenced earlier, or just pieces, but yeah recommended watching).

I agree that 'on the whole' the ratings system, and more specifically the MPAA's application of it, is a negative influence on the quality of movies.

The problem though, is that the influence of the ratings system is just a drop in the bucket when we assign blame to how @!#$y movies are lately.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

G should be deleted. PG should stay PG, and PG-13 and R should merge. PG-13 is an utter useless rating. People trying to push the limits of PG-13 so they can get more people in the seats is silly, they should just make the movie, and not care what kind of rating it gets.

[Deleted]

G should be deleted. PG should stay PG, and PG-13 and R should merge. PG-13 is an utter useless rating. People trying to push the limits of PG-13 so they can get more people in the seats is silly, they should just make the movie, and not care what kind of rating it gets.

In Sweden it is relay crazy now, on cinema we have 7, 11, 15, year rating, so all PG-13 moves are punched hard to be given 11 years rating, and a 7 year old kid can see a 11 rated move if company by a adult.

[kostamojin]

[QUOTE=Bender;15055842]That looks very interesting, thanks for the tip I'll definitely check that out.[


i cant help but agree and i alos would say check out this film has not yet been rated, its netflix to stream