Last Word On PG-13 And We Try To Move On

We asked EX2 Blog's visitors to vote on some of the major 80-90's blockbuster action movies that would in their opinion qualify under a  PG-13 rating if released today. The movies we selected were: First Blood, Rambo II, Rambo III, Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, The Terminator, Terminator 2, Predator, True Lies, Eraser, Die Hard 1-2 & 3.
 

21% of visitors think that none of those movies would be rated PG-13 if released today. But there was a good number of visitors who thought True Lies (34%), Cliffhanger (27%), First Blood (25%) & Demolition Man (23%) would be rated PG-13 according to today's standards.

I'm going to pick on First Blood as it happens to be one of my top favorite action movies.

I haven't watched First Blood in a long time but from what I remember it could pass most major criteria for a PG-13 rating:

-less than four uses of explicit language (there was a good number of "s--t," "hell," "damn," but only 2 times f--k) - Pass

-no extreme bloodshed (Stallone sewing his own gashed arm shut was the most extreme) - Pass

-crude humor (the sheriff's cruel head deputy humor when brutalizing and harassing Stallone) - Pass

-mature/political themes (the shabby treatment of American Vietnam veterans) - Pass

-moderately long horror moments and moderate action violence (the action sequences in the woods, etc.) - Pass

-non-sexual nudity (Stallone hosed down) - Pass

It's close, without too much efforts First Blood could very likely pass the PG-13 test under today's American motion picture rating system. 

If First Blood was released tomorrow under a PG-13 rating in a theater that was not frequented by too many kids I would definitely go see it and it'll become one of my favorite action movies again. 

As a retro action fan I do appreciate realistic scenes of violence and a good dose of humorist coarse language, but what I also value in a blockbuster action movie is the story, depth of characters, directing, photography, editing and soundtrack. I think First Blood delivered on many levels.

 

Now the question that some might ask, would fans care as long as an EX2 PG-13 is a good movie, as long as the action scenes and the fight scenes are well-done. If EX2 is as good as it was in First Blood then would fans be fine with the PG-13 rating? We'll have to wait until Aug 17 for fans to answer the question.