Call me old fashioned but I don't really think that women should be getting naked on camera unless there's a damn good reason for it. I always lose a little bit of respect for them when they do.
Not sure, but I can say that I think Jurassic Park works a lot better as the family-friendly movie that it is than it would as a hard-R horror picture.
PG-13 is a good rating because it has leeway. The JP movies have some pretty violent and horrific stuff. I was just watching the first one and what a classic it is. As exciting as the overall film is, nothing, to me, beats the initial t-rex attacks the halted cars scene. Key example of being able to pull off something thrilling and frightening without the need for an R rating.
Now of course the counterargument I'm sure is always that you could do anything you can do in a Pg-13 and more in an R but not vice versa but just cause they have broader possibilities doesn't mean they are inherently better.
To give the example of how exploiting of the broadness of an R can work and not work within the same film- you have Logan. From the get go, the opening scene, Logan does an insanely good job of showing that this isn't your typical Wolverine movie. The fury that Logan unleashes on the gangbangers who attack him is something you wouldn't see in a PG-13 and perfectly fits the vibe that Mangold and co. were going for. It works really well. But then you have that scene late in the film where Logan starts dropping f bomb over and over again out of frustration. To me that is just comically obnoxious pushing of the rating. Yeah this is an R-rated film so we can say fuck a lot! I'm reminded of Vince Vaughan in Old School, "I'm making a point, Frank, you don't need to celebrate it."
I guess what I'm saying is that the R-rating is of course very appropriate for certain films. I, for one, often balk when I find a horror movie with a PG-13 rating. Yet the reaction is not necessarily accurate. There are exceptions that have showed you can do well within that genre even without pressing the R. But, all things considered, in that genre, you're looking for that rating.
But in terms of action blockbuster type films, I don't need to hear the characters curse like I'm watching a Scorsese film or see over-the-top violence. Stakes can be set and action can be convincing without it.
That said, films like Goodfellas and Raging Bull would lose
a lot without the R rating. It depends on the genre, it depends on the filmmaker's intention, but PG-13 and R both have a definite place.
