slop101

Soderberg's Ocean's 11 has about 3 "fucks" in it and it's PG13 - but it's all about context. For example, if you say "I'm going to fuck you" - that's an automatic R. But if you say "I'm going to have some fucking sex with you" - then you can still have a PG13. So, using it as a verb gets you an automatic R, but using it as an adjective let's you keep a PG13 (as long as you use it less than 2 or 3 times).

Arbitrary? Maybe.
Retarded? Definitely!
But, hey, that's the MPAA for you...

slop101

Dude, watch the first Matrix again - it has close to 20 "fucks" in it.

Rypro 525

At least 18 "s" words, 7 hells, 4 asses (1 used with "hole"), 3 craps, and 8 uses of "G-damn," 3 of "Jesus," 2 each of "Jesus Christ" and "God" and 1 use each of "Good God," "Oh my God" and "Oh God" as exclamations.

thats for the first matrix movie

DonnachaOne

These all predate a PG-13.

Titanic has female nudity.
So does Calendar Girls.
And Something's Gotta Give.
Solaris has nudity...

It's not uncommon.

Was there much gore in Jaws? I remember a submerged rotting head, that's about it.

As for Grease - as you said, that's Innuendo. Shrek got away with just as much.

JasonF

I think the MPAA should scrap the whole G/PG/PG-13/R/NC-17 system and move to the system that the premium cable channels use -- they tell you what's in the movie (Adult Language, Adult Content, Nudity, Violence, etc.) and leave it to you to draw your own conclusions.

slop101

But then we'd have to *gasp* think for ourselves!

Abob Teff

Hence the "descriptor" now in the rating box with such useful information as rated PG-13 for "Werewolf Violence" and "Non-stop Slime." Those are some of the best that I recall, how about you? What's the goofiest rating description you can think of?

As far as the Matrix, I would bet you dollars to donuts that if it were released before Columbine that they may have chopped down in attempt at the PG-13. Of course we will never know, but in the post-Columbine society that were in they figured it would be an R no matter what they did. It's the same principle that killed Donnie Darko (post-9/11 they didn't want any reference to airliner disasters).

Another example, that somebody half mentioned, is Titanic. It came out on the same date as Small Soldiers and carried the same rating. Full frontal female nudity, very implicit sex scene, violence, dead bodies (babies no less) floating in the water VS. cartoon characters throwing things and a kid's hand getting punctured by a corn cob holder. Yeah, that's a fair comparison. (Incidentally the PG-13 rating made Small Soldiers unmarketable, networks pulled commercials during Saturday morning cartoons and Burger King all but yanked their Kid's Meal promotion.)

Talk about WTF?! The PG-13 rating was created with good intentions, but it has become the punchline to the joke that the MPAA has become.

Morf

Holy fucking shitballs! Have a lot of free time on your hands, or what?

JasonF

The Matrix was released about a month before Columbine. Harris and Kliebold were reported to be obsessed with the movie, and for a while, there was a small industry of talking heads who made a living blaming the movie for the massacre.

Josh H

I believe there's some religious movie review site that lists all that kind of info. Can't recall the name of it off the top of my head though.

Duder

Almost Famous has nudity and sexual situations, and the drug use is more than brief. Dark City has brief full frontal female nudity, full rear male nudity, the violence you mentioned, and a very dark/disturbing plot dealing with the murder of prostitutes and brainwashing. Everything adds up and plays a part, and it's always subjective.

Is the MPAA perfect? Certainly not. Should parents rely on the rating alone to judge whether or not a movie is appropriate for their child? Hell no. However, I think the MPAA has been doing a far more consistent job than you'd think based on all the whining about them. It's been a long time since I've seen something that I genuinely felt was rated wrong, rather than just a borderline one which could acceptably go either way.

I do think that ratings in general (PG-13 and up) have become much more lax, though, and because of that I'd like to see the NC-17 rating become accepted as a true alternative, because when movies like Passion of the Christ get Rs, it causes a ripple effect which makes PG-13 movies harder and looser than they were before.

jaeufraser

I agree. What you have is a very subjective system, and the intent of it is to allow parents to know the content. The ratings are broad, and give information from there. Of course the R rating is going to be the broadest, so movies like Passion and Judge Dredd will fit in the same category.

While I admit the MPAA has some strange discrepancies, does anyone here really think that any group making these rules could ever come up with a system that satisfies everyone? They could rate movies as people here want, and millions others would complain. Considering the nature of things, and the fact the MPAA exists as suggestion, means I don't hold my ire towards the MPAA.

No, rather more towards the studios who feel the necessity to shoehorn films into the pg-13 rating (how is that the MPAA's fault?) and the fact no movie company, and many theaters and advertisers will not support the NC-17 rating. But quite frankly, while the MPAA hasn't done enough to push it, I believe its more a case of market issues, where teens drive much of movie business, then some evil MPAA problem.

Nausicaa

www.screenit.com lists all of that information, but it isn't a religious site at all. In fact, before it became a pay site, I used to always go there for my movie reviews, since they are without doubt the best on the internet.

Wow, you still can access the reviews!!!

http://www.screenit.com/index1.html

Alan Smithee

My favorite "rating descriptor" is on "Twister": "Rated PG-13 for intense depiction of very bad weather." Had to read it again after laughing before realizing it wasn't a joke.

Matthew Chmiel

As I said, The Matrix does not have any F words. Neither does The Matrix Revolutions. But Matrix Reloaded....

If it wasn't for the sex scene and the use of "fuck," The Matrix Reloaded is the tamest out of the three. Hell, even with the sex scene and the use of the word "fuck," it's still the tamest.

matome

www.capalert.com

I'm still can't believe that is not a joke site.

Michael Corvin

I tend to think subject matter and tone carries a lot of weight. While some think Matrix, Almost Famous or Dark City should have a lower rating, what 13 year old would even be remotely interested in these flicks or even comprehend them at all?

Matthew Chmiel

I was 14 when I first saw Almost Famous in 2000, and I loved every minute of it. Same applies to Dark City.

Josh H

That's not the one I saw before. One is definitely religious, lists all that kind of stuff as well as things that go against their beliefs in every movie.

Edit

Missed the above post with the link, this is the site (or one of them anyway).

www.capalert.com

Red Dog

Funny how The Woman in Red earned a PG-13. If that came out today, it would most certainly get an R considering you see Kelly LeBrock's bush.

ESUguy

I think you just see the bush in the open-matte version. Wide screen(at the movies), youjust saw boob....I think

Rypro 525

i think every 13 yr old would love to see the matrix (and would have gotten a higher box office if they were pg-13 (and all forum members would bitch and complain that content had been comprimised.)