4) Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Even in his PG work, Spielberg has been known to push the limits of what’s acceptable in terms of screen violence.
Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg’s action-adventure classic featuring a whip-happy, gun-toting archaeologist is a real favorite, partly because it’s so uncomplicated. And because Jones has enemies – Nazis – that are so completely OK for you to hate, that the censors didn’t seem to mind that their punishment was absolutely horrible.
In Raiders, “acceptable screen violence for a child accompanied by an adult” means showing German soldiers having their souls sucked out of them and their dastardly leaders melting to death. This got past the censors just fine, with the MPAA in a moment of madness believing a whole generation of children were due for some decent nightmares.
Published: Dec 2, 2015 01:54 pm