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Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

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  • #31
    Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

    Originally posted by George 1978 View Post
    Curiosity often gets the better of us when we watch films.


    For a long time I had a certain amount of curiosity about what 'The Exorcist' was like, and a few years back I did actually watch the whole film. As it was on TV it might have been edited, however, I'm not sure. It seems to me that there's a continual lowering of standards as all the films that were considered unsuitable for showing on TV at the time of their release are finally being shown eventually.

    The film might not frighten you if you're an atheist or don't being in the existence of demons, etc. I, however, do happen to believe in all that sort of thing, so playing around with anything remotely demonic, e.g. Ouija boards, seances, etc. is dangerous in my opinion.

    I'm too scared even to watch clips on YouTube of any of the films in the Exorcist or Omen franchises, or anything similar to them. I don't know if this is true or not, but someone told me on Facebook she knew people who had seen the original Exorcist film and things had happened to them. Exactly what things, she didn't specify. But, anyway, as a man with a form of autism life is difficult enough for me as it is living on my own in a flat.
    "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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    • #32
      Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

      I do sympathise as I am in similar circumstances - clips on YouTube don't exactly have BBFC-style ratings, although some of them do flag up adult content from time to time as I have noticed. Perhaps it would be a good idea if they did have such ratings?
      I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
      There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
      I'm having so much fun
      My lucky number's one
      Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

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      • #33
        Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

        My dad always said that when they showing "The Exorcist" in one cinema the film had to be stopped due to to strange occurences taking place. I don't know whether it's the plain truth. It was either the curtains swishing back and forth, fire extinguishers going off by themselves or both.
        "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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        • #34
          Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

          When I was a child my parents took me to see 'Watership Down' when I was in junior school and I can't recall either of them raising any objections to it. But, the film is just a little bit gory in parts and the B.B.F.C. have always received a steady flow of complaints from parents who'd felt they'd been misled by its 'U' certificate. In America it was a P.G.

          'Star Wars' was also U in Britain, P.G. in America.
          "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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          • #35
            Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

            I was surprised that Star Wars was given a U rating with a few gory deaths & burnt skeletons.
            The Trickster On The Roof

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            • #36
              Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

              Originally posted by Richard1978 View Post
              I was surprised that Star Wars was given a U rating with a few gory deaths & burnt skeletons.


              I think because U films are such a rarity nowadays every so often they compromise over certain issues just so they can award the occasional U certificate to a film. Otherwise virtually no films would get this rating.

              "Cats" is a U but it's just one of those rare gems that doesn't contain anything unsuitable for children (although a toddler might get scared by it because they may be unable to distinguish between real and fake cat people). I cracked this joke on Facebook about it saying that it's amazing what they can do with genetic engineering nowadays.

              It's a known fact that some film-makers deliberately go out of their way to avoid a G rating in America (G means General, suitable for all) as G films are unpopular over there. They don't contain the ingredients that help to make a film a hit in the States. For instance, "Annie" was originally a G but someone involved with the making of it was concerned that a G rating would make it unpopular, so they inserted the word "Goddamn" into it, which took the rating up to a P.G.
              "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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              • #37
                Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                Originally posted by philipdalton View Post


                I think because U films are such a rarity nowadays every so often they compromise over certain issues just so they can award the occasional U certificate to a film. Otherwise virtually no films would get this rating.

                "Cats" is a U but it's just one of those rare gems that doesn't contain anything unsuitable for children (although a toddler might get scared by it because they may be unable to distinguish between real and fake cat people). I cracked this joke on Facebook about it saying that it's amazing what they can do with genetic engineering nowadays.

                It's a known fact that some film-makers deliberately go out of their way to avoid a G rating in America (G means General, suitable for all) as G films are unpopular over there. They don't contain the ingredients that help to make a film a hit in the States. For instance, "Annie" was originally a G but someone involved with the making of it was concerned that a G rating would make it unpopular, so they inserted the word "Goddamn" into it, which took the rating up to a P.G.
                I've heard of the opposite happening in the USA, with some films being trimmed down to drop them down a rating. Some cinemas there won't show films with the highest rating.
                The Trickster On The Roof

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                • #38
                  Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                  Originally posted by Richard1978 View Post
                  I've heard of the opposite happening in the USA, with some films being trimmed down to drop them down a rating. Some cinemas there won't show films with the highest rating.
                  The highest rating in America nowadays is NC-17 (No children 17 or under admitted).

                  The Americans borrowed the X rating from us Britons, although they never started awarding it to films until 1968, whereas we started awarding it in 1951.

                  Their X rating wasn't trademarked, so that anyone could award it to their own film without having it submitted to the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

                  In the film 'Taxi Driver' a man is shown entering a cinema showing XXX films. This was a rating that was awarded by pornographers to their own film. They could rate their own film X, XX or XXX depending on how dirty it was.

                  It was eventually decided to create a different version of the X rating that was trademarked so that only the MPAA could award it. This particular rating came to be known as NC-17. It is a higher rating than R (Restricted, meaning no-one under 17 can be accompanied without an adult).
                  "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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                  • #39
                    Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                    I have always thought that U certificate films are generally limited to kids stuff and cartoons these days - even general family stuff seem to be a PG.
                    I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
                    There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
                    I'm having so much fun
                    My lucky number's one
                    Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                      Originally posted by George 1978 View Post
                      I have always thought that U certificate films are generally limited to kids stuff and cartoons these days - even general family stuff seem to be a PG.
                      I'm amazed sometimes by how much swearing they can get away with in a P.G. film. Jaws 2, for instance, contains a constant stream of four-letter words. I suppose they can't rate it anything higher than P.G. as none of them are of a sexual nature. When I watched 'Platoon' I could hardly believe it was a '15' rather than an '18' because the language used in it was so strong.
                      Apparently some films do get rated '18' just for language, generally because they use the word 'c**t' multiple times and that's considered to be the most shocking word. A lot of stand-up comedy gets an '18' rating because of the bawdy humour, and also due to the fact that some of it features strippers.
                      "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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                      • #41
                        Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                        The 12 rating was brought in to fill the gap between PG & 15, just like in the USA PG13 was introduced after some 1980s films pushed the PG rating to the limit.
                        The Trickster On The Roof

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                        • #42
                          Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                          Originally posted by Richard1978 View Post
                          The 12 rating was brought in to fill the gap between PG & 15, just like in the USA PG13 was introduced after some 1980s films pushed the PG rating to the limit.
                          The film that brought P.G.-13 into existence was 'Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom'. Steven Spielberg recommended that the MPAA introduced this rating in response to complaints about some of the more violent scenes in the film. It's interesting to note that, since there was no such thing as a '12' rating at the time of the film's release in Britain, it had to be cut in order to avoid a '15' certificate. However, now the uncut version of the film has been awarded a '12'.

                          The first film in the Indiana Jones series, 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', got released in the UK with an A certificate in 1981, but I have a sneaking fancy that at least one or two town councils may have rated it something higher than that due to a brief but disturbing scene of violence in it. In this scene, blood is shown being spattered all over an aeroplane, suggesting that a man has been hacked to death by its propellers.
                          "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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                          • #43
                            Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                            As far as I know, only one of the James Bond films has ever got a '15' from the BBFC so far, it was that one with Timothy Dalton in it (no relation, sorry) called 'Licence to Kill'. If it hadn't been trimmed down a bit it would've got an '18' certificate, which would indeed be a major no-no for 007.
                            "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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                            • #44
                              Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                              Does anyone remember when Prince Andrew was dating Koo Stark?
                              That film that she starred in called 'Emily' was actually refused a certificate by the BBFC. Whether it was ever shown anywhere in Britain or not, I've no idea.
                              "The answer to the ultimate question, of life, the universe and everything is .....42"

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                              • #45
                                Re: Films given a different rating by the local town council than by the BBFC

                                Originally posted by Richard1978 View Post
                                The 12 rating was brought in to fill the gap between PG & 15, just like in the USA PG13 was introduced after some 1980s films pushed the PG rating to the limit.
                                I have always thought that a 12 would be closer to a PG than a 15 for obvious reasons - I would have classified a 12 along with the lower U and PG category than in the more adult positions of 15 and 18.
                                I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
                                There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
                                I'm having so much fun
                                My lucky number's one
                                Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

                                Comment

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