The Movie Bar 4.0
30Jun/093

Funny MPAA Rating Explanations, Vol. 1

Rarely do people read the fine print in the rating box, however a close examination will reveal exactly why the MPAA decided to give a movie a particular rating:

The R-rating for "Hatchet" is for some juicy stuff

The R-rating for "Hatchet" is for some juicy stuff

So the MPAA keeps a searchable online database of movie ratings, complete with explanations and alternate titles. Needless to say, this is a source of a great deal of unintentional humor. Here are some that I found that gave me a good chuckle, usually at the expense of maturity. Some are better than others:

  • Twister (1996) - Rated PG-13 for intense depiction of very bad weather.
  • 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995) - Rated PG-13 for non-stop ninja action.
  • Bog (2005) - Rated PG for monster action and language.
  • Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005) - Rated PG for quirky situations, action and mild language.
  • Tokyo Decadence (1993) - Rated NC-17 for strong, explicit, sado-masochistic sexuality.
  • Team America: World Police (2004) - Rated R for graphic crude and sexual humor, violent images and strong language - all involving puppets.
  • Braveheart (1995) - Rated R for brutal medieval warfare.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1992) - Rated PG for swashbuckling violence and mild language.
  • The Viking Sagas (1995) - Rated R for brutal and bloody Viking combat, and for some sexuality.
  • The Littlest Viking (1994) - Rated PG for Viking combat.
  • Shark (2000) - Rated PG-13 for shark-related violence.
  • Teenage Space Vampires (1999) - Rated PG for mild alien vampire violence.
  • Ghost Brigade (1993) - Rated R for satanic war violence.

The best are those that not even a copywriter could have done better. Like Ghost Brigade's "satanic war violence." I am going to actively seek this movie out now. It's not just war violence. It's satanic war violence. That has got to be a whole new level of war violence.

If you find any that are really funny, let me know and I will make a volume 2.

UPDATE: Ghost Brigade is also known as The Lost Brigade, The Killing Box, and most importantly Grey Knight, which it is known as on Netflix where it available for instant streaming. It stars the can't-miss-trio of Corbin Bernsen, Martin Sheen and Billy Bob Thornton. Why have I never heard of this? Satanic war violence and B.B.T.? How can this not be the greatest movie ever made?