Content Warning: The following article contains discussions of torture, violence, nudity, and sexuality
The Motion Picture Association (formerly the MPAA) has labeled Hollywood's adventures since the development of its rating system in 1968. Sometimes, though, the given rating seems a little off. Be it due to extreme violence or partial nudity, some films simply toe the line between ratings while others seem outright mislabeled.
Redditors are quick to point fingers at several specific films, many of which have become notorious over the years for this very reason. Some Redditors' examples are just a particularly intense PG-13. Others received a PG rating and seem as if they should have just gone for "R" instead (as the PG-13 rating was not established until July 1, 1984).
Taken (2009)
A deleted user cited Taken as an example of a movie that pushed its PG-13 rating. E-step replied, saying, "That was an 18 here, don't really see how you could get past the scene where he hooks the guy up to the mains electricity." There seems to be a Redditor consensus that the British Board of Film Classification took particular issue with the torture scene.
The plot follows Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson), a former government agent trying to build a stronger relationship with his daughter. When she and a friend are kidnapped during a European vacation, Bryan goes on a violent warpath to save her.
Airplane (1980)
While it is a strong contender for the funniest movie of all time, Airplane! has no business being PG. On top of nudity, there are expletives and sexual innuendo consistently placed throughout the runtime. Faithless195 cited the nudity, saying "For those that haven't seen it, Airplane had a nice pair of **** on screen for a solid couple of seconds...."
This disaster movie parody follows disgraced pilot Ted Striker as he makes a bid for redemption and win the heart of his love. He'll just have to land the plane that currently has two incapacitated pilots. Fortunately, there is a doctor on board (Leslie Nielsen, at his best in a performance that changed his career).
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
User Quad9363 cites "Jurassic park 2" as one of the more inappropriate PG-13 films. As they say: "Lot of blood from a guy getting eaten above a waterfall, guy gets eaten alive by Compies and blood flows from off screen, also that trailer scene is very tense."
The plot follows two separate teams as they infiltrate a second dinosaur-occupied island. Serving as more of a reserve, the island is a more open environment with vicious dinosaurs lurking around every corner. One crew, sent in by InGen, receives the brunt of the movie's graphic violence. However, the most graphic scene belongs to nice guy character Eddie Carr. As noted by a since-deleted account, Carr is "torn in half by...two adult T-Rexs." This goes to show what many (but not all) audience members saw as a core problem with The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The impact of the movie's violence is bolstered by how thematically dark it is.
Poltergeist (1982)
User judge_death1 noted that the 1982 Poltergeist was a PG-rated film. Other users focused on the scene where a paranormal investigator enters the family's first-floor bathroom only to pull off his own face. Oddly enough, the expertly crafted, legitimately scary clown scare didn't receive a mention.
The narrative's events center around the Freeling family. When their daughter disappears, they swiftly learn that she isn't as far away as they might think...she's actually within the home. Rather, more specifically, inside the television.
Gremlins (1984)
In this post, Justinbc notes how some of his favorite childhood movies should probably have been given an R rating. The first provided example is Gremlins. The Redditor states: "Watching those as a kid I was shocked, the gruesome deaths in Gremlins (both humans and gremlins) were pretty gory and disturbing, and of course the Christmas Eve story told by Phoebe Cates...."
As alluded to in the Redditor's final point, the plot takes place during the holiday season. Amidst the rampage orchestrated by these multiplying little monsters, Phoebe Cates' character tells an elaborate story about the death of her father. It comes out of left field in the film and hits hard even in 2021. While they're just words (not even expletives), her monologue is heavy in severe thematic elements. The trauma she discusses, in juxtaposition with the fact that Gremlins is frequently funny, makes for a jarring experience (in a positive way).
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom (1984)
The first three Indiana Jones films all have particular scenes that push the limits of the PG and PG-13 ratings. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is the tamest of the three by a substantial margin. It's also the only one of the three to earn a PG-13 rating. This is because of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The plot follows Indy as he tries to save an entire Indian village's children from the clutches of a sadistic cult leader. The film as a whole is very dark (awkwardly juxtaposed with dated, juvenile humor), but the PG-13 rating primarily originated from a scene where the villain pulls a beating heart from a man's chest. This was the most frequently mentioned scene on the Reddit thread (for good reason).
Reddit user DroogyParade took issue with someone comparing Temple of Doom and a certain intense Batman film. They said: "Temple of Doom was PG. It had children slaves, that guy that Indy punches into the big roller which is shown covered in blood after he's crushed. A person's heart getting ripped out of their chest. People getting eaten by alligators." The second Indy film is occasionally quite creative but doesn't quite know who to appeal to.
The Dark Knight (2008)
2008's The Dark Knight pushed the boundaries of the PG-13 rating pretty much to the limit. A deleted account on the Reddit thread seems to agree, saying "The Dark Knight definitely pushed the limit for PG-13 in my book. Scenes like the 'pencil trick' and the cellphone-belly-bomb were especially dark." Mermaidrampage, however, added that Nolan's Batman trilogy was entirely blood-free.
The plot follows Bruce Wayne/Batman after the events of his series reboot. This time, he tries to ensure the election of current DA Harvey Dent. Unfortunately, a psycho in clown makeup is systematically holding the city of Gotham for ransom.
Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)
Numerous Redditors pointed to the sequel of a Gremlins ripoff film, Critters, as a PG-13 that should be an R. Most reference a scene that contains female nudity. Plus, given that the scene's context in the film is overtly sexual (in relation to a Playboy magazine) it is more than a little surprising that the MPAA didn't reject it. LegsareLava says "...in critters 2 the bounty hunter looks down at an open playboy...turns into the nude model...."
As AmbitiousAzizi ads: "Also, the violence in Critters 2 is extremely graphic, I can't think of a Pg-13 with that amount of graphic imagery. However, that was PG-13 in the 1980s, and it was a different time."
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
User Momalloyd posted a gif of Belloq and his Nazi compatriots meeting their ends in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Nazi hitman Toht's face melts to its bloody, skeletal interior. Nazi soldier Dietrich's head collapses in on itself. Belloq's head, however, explodes.
It's an impeccably crafted scene that serves as a perfect conclusion to the narrative, but it has no business in a PG movie. Redisforever cited how flames were added over Belloq's demise, but notes that it would be PG-13 today were that rating to have existed in 1981.
Jaws (1975)
The Godfather of blockbuster cinema in more ways than one, Jaws' PG rating is a joke even to its most devoted fans. No piece of the film is an ounce different from what it should be, resulting in a work of art that also serves as the masterclass on tension building. In fact, it's this gradually building tension that helps Jaws hold up to this day. But some of the more graphic moments have given Redditors pause.
So how is Jaws PG instead of the far more severe R? Wealthy_Gadabout thinks it has to do with Steven Spielberg's persuasiveness. "I think Spielberg really knew how to talk to the ratings board. On Jaws they were very worried about the severed head and severed (bloody) leg." The Redditor claims that the more accessible rating was achieved due to Spielberg's argument that children weren't going to go out and bite people like a shark. No matter the reason, Jaws is basically an R-rated movie that can be rented by anyone. In the end, that's just another of its innumerable charms.