MPAA - Movie Ratings (PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, NR)
 

What was it in the old days?

I was watching Harold and Maude last night, and the rating on the film was GP. Were ratings different and when'd they change?

DeltAlum, you were around when the first black and white film was made...do you know? ;)

-Rudey

The original ratings as created by the MPAA in 1968 were G, M, R, X. M was later renamed GP, then PG.

G - all audiences
M - mature (later GP, then PG) - mature content, parental guidance suggested
R - restricted (under 17 not admitted without a parent or guardian)
X - no one under 17 admitted.

Did you know there was only one X-rated movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture? Midnight Cowboy was originally rated X when it premiered in 1969; it was later downgraded to R.

Porn movie studios soon co-opted the X rating in an attempt to legitimize themselves. The MPAA later replaced X with NC-17; the first film to receive the rating was Henry and June.

The PG ratings were later enhanced by a stronger PG-13 rating (parents strongly cautioned; may not be suitable for children under 13). Red Dawn was the first film rated PG-13.

Back when I was a wee young lad in Venezuela, their movie ratings were quite straightforward: A, B, C, D. (MPAA equivalents in parentheses.)

A = all audiences (G, PG)
B = no one under 14 admitted (PG-13, 'soft' R)
C = no one under 18 admitted (R)
D = no one under 21 admitted (a very strong R to NC-17)

Interestingly, the ratings were controlled by the municipality: it was not unusual for some theaters located in different parts of the city, one would be A, another would be B.

More on the MPAA ratings: http://www.mpaa.org/movieratings/about/index.htm

In Canada, movie ratings are a provincial designation, so movie ratings would vary from province to province. In Ontario, movies are rated as follows:

G- All audiences (formerly F, or Family)

PG- Parental Guidance

14A- Persons under 14 must be accompanied by a guardian

18A- Persons under 18 must be accompanied by a guardian

Until a few years ago, 14A and 18A were both one rating, AA. However, many movies rated AA were actually too steamy and/or violent for 14-17 year olds, which was why it was split to 14A and 18A.

R- No one under 18 is admitted

Detailed information can be found here:

http://www.ofrb.gov.on.ca/english/page6.htm

I've never seen an NC-17 movie hit the local theaters. Time to make a sequel to deep throat hollywood!

You might see one hit the art-house or indy-film circuit, such as the Angelika, but very few mainstream movie theater chains will take on an NC-17 film. Much like the X rating it replaced, NC-17 can mean the kiss of death for major film distribution and sales.

Directors will edit a film to tone down violence and sexuality to earn an R rating, sometimes sneaking the trimmed bits after the film has been rated (a big no-no). Which is why you see sometimes an 'unrated' or 'international' version of a popular film released on DVD.

If it's such a kiss of death, why does everyone want to get the unrated version? Sounds like it's another reason, probably something like you can't get an academy award if it's over an R rating. Oh wel...

I haven't seen a movie rated R here for a long time.

I seem to remember different desginations here.
I remember G (or F), PG, PG-13, AA, and then R. I think at one point R was like 18A, you couldn't enter the movie if you were under 18 without an adult. I could be wrong, but that's what I remember.

I think R rated movies in Ontario are almost like US ones that are rated NC-17. They are very rare. There used to be more R movies because 18A didn't exist. AA was split into 14A and 18A around 2002 or 2003.

Here are the BC Ratings, they are practically the same as Ontario's:

BCMPA Ratings

General
Suitable for viewing by persons of all ages. Occasional violence, swearing and coarse language, and the most innocent of sexually suggestive scenes and nudity are permitted in this category.

PG
Parental guidance advised. Theme or content may not be suitable for all children although there is no age restriction. Motion pictures in this category may contain less subtle sexually suggestive scenes and nudity and a more realistic portrayal of violence than in the General category; coarse language may occur more often than in the General category.

14a
Suitable for persons 14 years of age or older. Persons under 14 years of age must view these motion pictures accompanied by an adult. Motion pictures in this category may contain violence, coarse language or sexually suggestive scenes.

18a
Persons under 18 years of age must view these motion pictures accompanied by an adult. Motion pictures in this category will contain horror, explicit violence, frequent coarse language or scenes that are more sexually suggestive than in the 14A category.

Restricted
Restricted to persons 18 years of age and over. Persons under 18 years of age are not permitted to attend under any circumstances. These motion pictures are "adult motion pictures", as defined in the Act, and may contain explicit sexual scenes, violence or scenes referred to in section 5 (3) of the Act. The director will assign this classification to motion pictures if the director considers that the theme, subject matter or plot of the adult motion picture is artistic, historical, political, educational or scientific.

Adult
Restricted to persons 18 years of age and over. Persons under 18 years of age are not permitted to attend under any circumstances. These motion pictures are "adult motion pictures", as defined in the Act, and may contain explicit sexual scenes or scenes of brutality or torture to persons or animals, that are portrayed in a realistic and explicit manner; however, the scenes would, in the director's opinion, be tolerable to the community.

I love the Angelika in NYC. I heard there's one in Texas too, no?

That stripper movie with the girl from saved by the bell was NC-17 and it was in movie theatres...

-Rudey

Show Girls was NC-17. Also heard about a remake of Deep Throat, but Jay Leno might have been making fun of something else.

Its a matter of box office gross. If the movie is PG-13 a lot more of the movie going public can pay to see the movie .. . teen-agers.

In the past, it never mattered. You could be 4 years old and walk into a Friday the Thirteenth movie at many theatres.

After Colombine our government, in all its wisdom, and forgive me but I have to put a big ole roll eyes in here :rolleyes: . . . .

Anyway our government decided that it must that kids can see Rated R movies in the theatres instead of waiting 4 months for them to be on video or Cable that causes kids to masacre their fellow students.

So the Clinton Administration leaned on theatres to start enforcing the age requirements for the various rating levels.

As a result there is a lot moe pressure for Directors to produce movies lower than Rated R, and definitely lower than Nc-17.

Oddly enough, since violence was the issue, the harshest ratings are reserved for sex scenes and bad language. Violence will largely get a pass.

Yep... actually there's two of 'em: one at Mockingbird Station (Central Expressway at Mockingbird) and another in Plano near Stonebriar Mall.

Yep... Showgirls was exhibited as an NC-17 film; while I usually like Paul Verhoeven's earlier work like Soldier of Orange, Starship Troopers and Robocop, I was not at all pleased with the abortion that was Showgirls. Almost killed Elizabeth Brinkley's movie career.

On a similar bent, Saturday Night Fever was originally exhibited as an "R"; it proved to be so popular that they came out with a "PG" version, with a few sex and violence scenes snipped out. By today's standards, it'd be a PG-13.

I still rarely see people carded at PG-13 or R-rated movies. I'll agree though that there is a lot more pressure on directors to produce movies that are no higher than a PG-13.

I got carded for the last two American Pie movies. I found it funny that I got carded at the movie theatre when I don't get carded at some of the bars I go to. Although that could be because I go way too often...