10 PG-13 Movies That Should Have Been Rated R

It's hard being a Hollywood studio. You want to give your directors free reign to include as many boobs, corpses and gore effects as possible to draw in the older audiences, but what about the children? Won't somebody please think of the children!? Simpsons references aside, Hollywood has long struggled to maximize their audiences to draw in the most money while still rating movies appropriately for kids. Thirty years ago, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) introduced a new rating designed to address the middle ground between PG and R, imaginatively naming it PG-13. Since the first PG-13 movie, Red Dawn, was released, Hollywood has taken delight in abusing this rating, pushing a system designed to protect children to its absolute breaking point. As long as the F-words and bare breasts are kept to a minimum, studios can seemingly throw in as many violent deaths as they like in a PG-13 movie, whereas films that integrate nudity or sex naturally into their plots are rarely given the same leeway. This practice is frustrating on two counts. First, rating extremely violent movies as PG-13 just because there's a lack of blood on screen isn't fair to parents who feel that their children shouldn't be exposed to this kind of imagery. Secondly, it's also disappointing when adult-themed movies hold back on the mature content simply to make some extra money from selling children's tickets and subsequent merchandising. This lose-lose situation has prompted both concerned parents and perverts alike to suggest that the MPAA's rating system needs to be revamped or even removed entirely. To see what all the fuss is about, read on to discover ten PG-13 movies that definitely should have been rated R. 10) The Expendables 3 (2014) As the first instalment of the franchise to receive a PG-13 rating, you'd be forgiven for thinking that The Expendables 3 is more family-friendly fare, but with a body count that reaches almost 500 by the film's end, this isn't exactly one for the kiddies. Using guns, grenades, tanks, swords and even their bare hands, the Expendables murder literally wave after wave of enemies in the last thirty minutes of the movie's run time. Some may argue that the more extreme, close-up violence tends to happen off camera, but would the MPAA have been so forgiving in their rating if extreme sex had been depicted off-screen instead? I think not! 9) Insidious (2010) James Wan's breakout hit reminded us how effective carefully orchestrated horror could be, ditching cheap scares in favor of old-school tension. Whether you were were terrified throughout or found the second half more funny than anything else, most would still agree that Insidious was certainly not appropriate for children, especially as much of the tension revolved around a kid and his nighttime fears. If you don't want to be woken up by your children's screams, swearing that the Red-Faced Demon is on their ceiling, then hold off their horror movie education until they're further along in their teens. 8) The Dark Knight (2008) Batman is one of the most iconic characters in all of pop culture, and earlier films starring the Caped Crusader proved that his marketing potential among children is almost unparalleled. Who didn't own a toy Batmobile growing up, right!? It's no surprise then that the MPAA rated Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight PG-13, despite it being possibly the darkest superhero movie ever made. While they acknowledged that The Dark Knight contains “intense sequences of violence and some menace,” the MPAA didn't really factor in how extreme these scenes really were. Sure, we didn't actually see The Joker impale the man's face on a pencil, but the implication was disturbing enough. The Dark Knight is one sequel that genuinely lives up to its name, yet the MPAA refused to learn from their previous mistake, designating Nolan's follow-up The Dark Knight Rises a PG-13, too. 7) Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) The MPAA is notoriously prudish when it comes to portraying sex on screen, so it's baffling then that this Austin Powers sequel only received a PG-13 rating. While we don't actually see the beast with two backs explicitly at any point throughout the movie, the ENTIRE franchise is about sex. Literally every line is a double entendre for intercourse and at one point, a character even drinks a cup of excrement. Admittedly, excluding teenagers from cinema screenings of Austin Powers would have resulted in zero ticket sales, but it's frustrating that movies which only touch upon the concept of sex briefly, but in a more obvious form are banished to R-rated hell, while a film featuring a character called Felicity Shagwell sails past the censors, smiling smugly to itself as other less crude movies make less money. 6) Taken (2008) Playing a former CIA operative in the Taken franchise redefined Liam Neeson's career, transforming him into a bona fide action star, but the series is far from child-friendly. As Bryan Mills, Neeson goes on the hunt for human traffickers who kidnapped his daughter, intending to use her for sexual slavery. Sexual slavery. Try explaining that one to the kiddies at home. As you would expect, people also die left, right and center and at one point, Neeson even straps electrodes to a man's testicles. Ouch. The message here? Don't leave America EVER, or your kid will get taken... again... and again... and again. 5) Drag Me To Hell (2009) Drag Me To Hell was a return to form for Sam Raimi, whose ability to combine horror and comedy in the classic Evil Dead franchise came to the fore with this tale of a woman plagued by a gypsy curse. By its very definition, the horror genre explores mature themes and although there are plenty of laugh out loud moments in Drag Me To Hell, gruesome scenes of body horror and genuinely scary sequences involving demonic manifestations should have guaranteed this movie a rating higher than PG-13. Also, the gypsy woman is uber gross. 4) Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005) While there is almost no nudity in Brad Pitt's and Angeline Jolie's violent love-fest, Mr. and Mrs. Smith contains more than its fair share of provocative imagery, including strong implications of rough, violent sex and and Jolie whipping a target while dressed as a dominatrix prostitute. Bizarrely, the PG-13 rating also allows the limited use of bad language, so Mr. and Mrs. Smith features a few uses of the word shit and one mention of fuck... because hearing the word fuck once is soooooo much better for children than hearing it five or ten times. Right? As has become standard with this list, violence also occurs in spades, with a ten-minute shoot-out taking up the bulk of the film's finale. Over fifty agents die, but it's fine because there's no blood. Death isn't really traumatic if there's no blood... said no one ever in the real world. 3) World War Z (2013) Brad Pitt's back once again in yet another film rated inappropriately for children. It's quite ironic considering how many kids he's adopted with Jolie, but I digress. World War Z doesn't feature any nudity or violence, but it's easily one of the most violent movies to ever attain the holy PG-13 rating, where a horde of cannibalistic zombies devastate the world after an infection spreads. World War Z was an extremely expensive film to make, and after the production suffered numerous setbacks, it makes sense that the studio were keen to recoup their money by making the movie available to as wide an audience as possible. As a result, we finally have a zombie movie that the entire family can enjoy. Suck on that, Romero! 2) Jaws (1975) Seriously, who wasn't traumatized by Jaws? No matter how old you are when you first see it, Spielberg's early masterpiece still holds the power to put audiences off the ocean for life, so it comes as a surprise to many when they learn that Jaws is actually rated PG. Kids get eaten, severed legs pop up all over the place and a shark even gets blown up! That just screams Sunday family movie time, right? If you were one of the abused children who were subjected to Jaws as a kid, then all I can do is suggest you do is bide your time, wait until your parents are old enough to shock and then surprise them with a double screening of Salo and A Serbian Film. They'll never see it coming. 1) Poltergeist (1982) Now, if you thought it was messed up to rate Jaws as a PG, wait until you see Poltergeist, a horror film that included scenes where characters ripped off their own skin and killer clown toys terrorized children in their beds. Fun fact: The skeletons used in the pool scene were actually real, because it was cheaper to use the remains of dead people than buy fake ones. Wow. After Poltergeist freaked out families worldwide, the MPAA were forced to re-evaluate their rating system and a few years later, thanks to films like Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, PG-13 was born. Was it worth scarring all those 80's kids for a few more bucks Hollywood? I have a sneaking suspicion that their answer would be a resounding 'yes.' Tell us, do you think the PG-13 rating is necessary, or does it dilute the impact of films that should be more mature? Can you think of any more PG-13 movies rated inappropriately? And should the MPAA even exist? Sound off in the comments section below.