the severe lack of 18 rated films these days

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the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 7:50:22 PM

jackcarter

Posts: 1710
Joined: 12/1/2006

In the mid to late 90s I must�ve clocked up at least ten 18 rated movies at the cinema - Pulp Fiction, Face/Off, Alien 4, Event Horizon etc and a good few 15s

I think the last 18 rated film I saw at the cinema was probably Blade 2 around ten years ago! Now everything action or Sci Fi themed is pretty much 12A or on very rare occasions 15. Its like most films that would�ve been rated R in the US (18 or 15 in UK) 10-15 years ago ends up watered down and given PG13/12A (e.g Terminator 4 - can remember how deflated i felt just before the start when the 12A cert came up and wishing it said 18 instead)

Id like to see a return of the 18 rated blockbusters, going in and seeing that dreaded red 18 cert at the start and knowing your going to see some truly horrific stuff that will give you nightmares - Id love it if Prometheus comes out and is full on 18.

< Message edited by jackcarter -- 9/1/2012 8:14:27 PM >

Post #: 1

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 8:09:15 PM

losthighway

Posts: 3166
Joined: 25/1/2006
From: Manchesterford

Interesting thought...

I don't think it's necessarily a case of the films getting weaker but just a case of societal views/norms evolving meaning that what once was deemed worthy of an 18 is now considered suitable at 15.

Also, another thing that you get a lot of nowadays are films which clearly should be an 18 but get through with a 15 cert... The Ring remake being the one that always springs to mind (and on a slightly similar note, how the hell did The Dark Knight get a 12 cert... but that's for another thread!).

Films with excessive violence, drug taking and sexual violence still get an 18 slapped on them. It's just that a lot of the more fantastical blockbusters you speak of are now riddled with CGI and therefore, don't hold the same shock factor as the good old days of prosthetics and animatronics, e.g. Terminator is now a 15!

< Message edited by losthighway -- 9/1/2012 8:10:14 PM >

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 8:45:40 PM

Whistler

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Joined: 22/11/2006

I think also it's partly a case of studios wanting to make more money. An 18 certificate restricts a huge amount of the audience from seeing a film, and they don't like that. Sometimes they sacrifice the film's integrity for the sake of a lower certificate.

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 8:51:42 PM

MonsterCat

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I think people get waaaaay too hung up on certificates. It's the overall quality of the film that counts, not how much violence it contains.

Personally, I couldn't care less if Prometheus isn't an 18 or a 15. I just don't want it to suck.

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 8:52:58 PM

rich

Posts: 4137
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Neo Kobe

These days the 18 rating is like a death sentence to box office takings, the same way that in the US they are desperate to avoid the NC-17

Nobody has the balls to include squibs, sustained violence or the good old "Strong language - Frequent"

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 9:06:29 PM

Spaldron

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From: Chair

Gone are the days when all the big summer action movies were 18 rated. The problem is that budgets are so massive now that studios need as big an audience to get their money back. Look at Watchmen, great comic book movie which could've made a ton of cash had it been a 12A, instead it barely broke even. Studios wont take that risk anymore.

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 9:20:35 PM

horribleives

Posts: 4183
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From: The North

There's only really Tarantino now who cranks out 18-rated films that are also bona fide mainstream hits. I think.

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Post #: 7

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 9:50:29 PM

UTB

Posts: 8975
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Fuck the action movies, its the 18-rated erotic thrillers I miss.

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Post #: 8

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 9:56:50 PM

Scott_

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From: Leeds

Fuck 18 rated blockbusters, The Raid is the way forward...

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Post #: 9

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 10:18:08 PM

jackcarter

Posts: 1710
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Spaldron

Gone are the days when all the big summer action movies were 18 rated. The problem is that budgets are so massive now that studios need as big an audience to get their money back. Look at Watchmen, great comic book movie which could've made a ton of cash had it been a 12A, instead it barely broke even. Studios wont take that risk anymore.

i suppose its amazing big budget 'R' rated films went on as long as they did. youd have thought studios wouldve cottoned on to lowering the rating and making more money sooner and made stuff like Matrix, Gladiator etc PG13/12A

i think it mightve been AvP (2004) or T3 (which although was rated R in the states got 12A here) that got them thinking 'wow if we can make an Alien PG13 then maybe we can do it for anything!' - so then they did it for Die Hard and Terminator and a whole bunch of other stuff that wouldve normally been R/18or15 rated

< Message edited by jackcarter -- 10/1/2012 6:43:47 PM >

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Post #: 10

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 11:32:14 PM

Cool Breeze

Posts: 1631
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From: The Internet

To be fair,a lot of modern day action movies get ''unrated'' releases on dvd and add in more manly violence and swearing(Die Hard 4.0 and Terminator Salvation are much better off in their uncut form).

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Post #: 11

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 9/1/2012 11:40:00 PM

kumar

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quote:

ORIGINAL: UTB

Fuck the action movies, its the 18-rated erotic thrillers I miss.

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Post #: 12

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 10/1/2012 1:53:55 AM

Deviation

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Scott_

Fuck 18 rated blockbusters, The Raid is the way forward...

What she said.

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Post #: 13

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 10/1/2012 1:36:28 PM

Super Hans

Posts: 2291
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Watford

quote:

ORIGINAL: rich

These days the 18 rating is like a death sentence to box office takings, the same way that in the US they are desperate to avoid the NC-17

Nobody has the balls to include squibs, sustained violence or the good old "Strong language - Frequent"

I don't think it's always the case - the Saw films made enough money to warrant 6 sequels. I think the 18 certificate seems to be the realm of stronger horrors and the odd indie thing (haven't seen it but wasn't Drive an 18?).

From what I understand, action films really have to very graphic and sadistic to get the 18 nowdays. If The Expendables is anything to go by, i'd imagine those that are very slightly boarderline are probably more likely to cut a second or two for the sake of getting a 15.

It is a shame that a lot of the time, they seem to cop out and aim squarely for the 12A - the Die Hard and Terminator franchises for a start have gone downhill because of that.

Edit: Before I get corrected, I know Die Hard 4 got a 15 but I really haven't a clue why. I honestly believe they must have chucked something subtly in there to deliberately get a 15, given how much they were getting slated at the time for how mild it was looking!

< Message edited by Super Hans -- 10/1/2012 1:39:02 PM >

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 10/1/2012 5:53:54 PM

rich

Posts: 4137
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Neo Kobe

But those "Saw" kinds of movies are made on a small budget, and for a niche market demographic which means less violence to lower the rating wont necessarily make them more money.

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Post #: 15

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 10/1/2012 6:04:49 PM

Shifty Bench

Posts: 14570
Joined: 30/9/2005

The latest Underworld film (in 3D) is an 18. Not sure what the budget was on it, though. It probably doesn't count.

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 10/1/2012 6:22:34 PM

bub

Posts: 2816
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From: A soon to be undead filled missile silo

Hell there's even a lack of 15 rated films these days. I watched Died Hard With A Vengeance which is a 15 and 'only' came out in 1995 and it's brutal, bloody and sweary. They just don't make them like they used to.

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Post #: 17

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 11/1/2012 12:09:49 AM

Coyleone

Posts: 481
Joined: 13/10/2008

Drive was rated 18...

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Post #: 18

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 11/1/2012 12:49:23 AM

ifox

Posts: 6
Joined: 21/11/2010

Not that the bbfc owes me an explaination/hand written memo but the the terminator[1984] was an 18 cert film on vhs and a 15 when dvd showed up. Was it re-watched and deemed unworthy of the one eight?
does this kind of thing happen often?
curious..

ps. last week i found a copy of Django on vhs in a charity shop.
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Post #: 19

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 15/1/2012 2:56:25 AM

Qwerty Norris

Posts: 3150
Joined: 26/10/2005
From: Edinburgh

quote:

ORIGINAL: ifox

Not that the bbfc owes me an explaination/hand written memo but the the terminator[1984] was an 18 cert film on vhs and a 15 when dvd showed up. Was it re-watched and deemed unworthy of the one eight?
does this kind of thing happen often?
curious..

ps. last week i found a copy of Django on vhs in a charity shop.
And i dont believe in luck,good or bad.

Like Losthighway articulated ealier, it's more a case of society changing that's resulted in some films being down-graded a certificate. Nowadays; there's a large number of 15 rated films that would easily have achieved an 18 back in the eighties.

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Post #: 20

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 15/1/2012 12:03:58 PM

jackcarter

Posts: 1710
Joined: 12/1/2006

another downgraded one i noticed was Star Trek II. It was a 15 on vhs for years but 12 for the SE dvd

odd as i recall seeing it at the cinema and im certain it was PG so some extra gore scenes mustve been added for the VHS uncut version that tipped it to 15 (ceti eels?)

it was cool having a 15 rated star trek movie for a while though

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Post #: 21

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 15/1/2012 12:11:20 PM

Cool Breeze

Posts: 1631
Joined: 9/11/2011
From: The Internet

At the end of the day, isnt the most important thing that the film you are watching is good? regardless of the certificate?

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Post #: 22

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 16/1/2012 4:34:36 PM

jackcarter

Posts: 1710
Joined: 12/1/2006

yes but it helps if stuff like Die Hard, Terminator and Alien have the ratings the previous movies got - not PG13

< Message edited by jackcarter -- 16/1/2012 4:36:21 PM >

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Post #: 23

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 18/1/2012 10:16:11 AM

porntrooper

Posts: 2497
Joined: 6/9/2006
From: Sheffield

quote:

ORIGINAL: jackcarter

another downgraded one i noticed was Star Trek II. It was a 15 on vhs for years but 12 for the SE dvd

odd as i recall seeing it at the cinema and im certain it was PG so some extra gore scenes mustve been added for the VHS uncut version that tipped it to 15 (ceti eels?)

it was cool having a 15 rated star trek movie for a while though

I don't think anything was added for the home video release. The reason some movies got higher certificates for home release than they did at the cinema was to do with accesibility. It was generally thought that it would be easier for kids to get hold of unsuitable material at home and from local rental shops, so they hiked up certifications on some ome releases to try and prevent it. Not sure if Wrath of Khan was one of those though? I seem to recall this practice carrying on into the late 90's - Starship Trooper was I beleive a 15 cinema release, but 18 on home video/dvd.

Anyway, regards lack of 18 cert films, I was really hoping that with a smaller budget and the directors of Crank on the case, that Ghost Rider 2 would just go batshit crazy and churn out an 18 rated piece of madness, sadly.... 12A. Shouldn't be fucking surprised.

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 18/1/2012 12:33:57 PM

Jasper_29

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Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has to be 18 right?

Anal rape!!

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RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 18/1/2012 3:47:25 PM

Whistler

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Jasper_29

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has to be 18 right?

Anal rape!!

Yeah, it most definitely is.

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Post #: 26

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 18/1/2012 3:56:38 PM

Jar Jar Gabor

Posts: 250
Joined: 30/9/2005

It's funny how there's almost been the opposite trend in terms of television, with a greater emphasis on 'adult' content that, if it were to appear in a film, would probably garner an 18 certificate.

Shows like Game of Thrones, Spartacus, The Wire, Deadwood, Dexter, Californication, The Sopranos, True Blood and Camelot, amongst others, all made liberal use of graphic nudity and violence (in the case of Camelot completely unnecessarily, bar the opportunity to see Eva Green's unfettered ta-tas one more time). And they're littered with more cunts than a Conservative Party conference.

Either this is in answer to cinema's weakening stomach or possibly one of its causes, with people seeing television as the better fit for such content.

It's a theory, anyway.

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Post #: 27

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 18/1/2012 6:42:15 PM

Gazdance

Posts: 1237
Joined: 3/10/2005
From: Southampton

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Drive are two recent 18 rated films. As other have said I think it most certainly does have to do with studios, budgets and bums on seats.

If the film is good though, the certificate doesn't matter. What irks more is wanting to watch and adult film and having it ruined by silly juveniles in the same screening.

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Post #: 28

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 19/1/2012 8:57:11 AM

Whistler

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Joined: 22/11/2006

Just read (here on Empire) that Chuck Norris squeezed The Expendables 2 down to a PG-13. What the hey! Really hope there's an uncut Blu-ray/DVD.

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Post #: 29

RE: the severe lack of 18 rated films these days - 19/1/2012 10:54:37 AM

spark1

Posts: 5789
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Whistler

Just read (here on Empire) that Chuck Norris squeezed The Expendables 2 down to a PG-13. What the hey! Really hope there's an uncut Blu-ray/DVD.

thanks a bunch, chuck norris!

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Post #: 30