The RopeofSilicon.com forums are finally open for business and due to such an occasion I decided it was finally time to broach the subject of movie ratings as they have recently continued to deliver PG-13 ratings with the promise of either R or Unrated DVD versions, boasting “Director’s Cuts” and “The Version We Couldn’t Show You in Theaters.”
The most recent addition to this debate was the movie that looks as if it will be more of a flop than a hit, Alien vs. Predator, a movie spawned from six R-rated films. I heard the early rumors of a PG-13 rating and pushed them aside as I couldn’t even imagine a movie involving these two characters as being PG-13, sure enough they did it, and now I am hearing rumors of an Unrated DVD edition, which is sure to peak the interests of even those of you that were disappointed with the movie in the theaters, and are hoping for something more.
Another sci-fi flick that got an R-rating before being toned down to PG-13 was Vin Diesel’s Chronicles of Riddick, which already has a director’s cut DVD announced. While, in my opinion, the movie was marginally better than AVP it still would have been a better film had the filmmakers not been restricted to churn out “something for the kids.”
Toys and merchandise are obviously causes for this recent decision by studios to tone down these films, and who can blame them, but I just have to wonder when does the targeted audience’s opinion take over the studio’s decision to pump out mediocre films to earn a few extra bucks?
On the other hand, a film that doesn’t exactly have the same “merchandise” appeal as saw an AVP or Riddick was the recently released Exorcist: The Beginning, which was rumored to be getting an NC-17 rating for violence before the first MPAA announcement giving it an R rating. In this case a whole other argument is brought up as NC-17 is pretty much burned into our brains as something relating to pornographic or overly sexual situations in films, and never violence. So, when a movie gets an NC-17 rating not for sex but for blood and gore is it justified for the studios to be concerned?
Another movie that had a similar issue to consider was the Dawn of the Dead remake, which also is getting a director’s cut DVD release with an additional nine minutes of footage that are rumored to include a lot more blood than we got in theaters.
Is there anyway for violent movies to steer clear of the sexual persona of an NC-17 rating or are we jut going to have to concede the fact that the version of movies we are excited to see are going to be reserved to higher priced DVD editions?
Weigh in with your opinion by clicking here and posting your thoughts in the forums!
