Marvolo
Avenger
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- Dec 29, 2006
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I'd just like to hear PJ's rationale for why the film absolutely HAD to be gory and violent enough for an R rating.
How much do you know about the MPAA and the way they determine what does and doesn't get an R? It's not based only on violence and gore. Remember The King's Speech? Yeah, they gave that film an R. Not a drop of blood or violence in the movie.
Their decisions are not even based on precedence. They have been known to give one film a PG-13 and give another less violent film an R for stuff another PG-13 film did.
They have been known to change their mind on a whim and without any real reason. The extended version of the Aragorn/Lurtz fight initially got an R which is why it was cut down for the theatrical release. When the film's extended cut came out Jackson resubmitted it and they let it pass with a PG-13. In some countries it wasn't so lucky. The MPAA is incredibly picky and depending on their mood one day to the next can be lenient or prudishly strict. And the appeals process is a nightmare according to those who have gone through it.
I seriously doubt that that this film has anything more gory than the severed heads being catapulted into Gondor in ROTK or Lurtz licking the blood off of Aragorn's dagger in FOTR or all the severed heads and limbs in the five previous films. It's far more likely based on the MPAA's history that the actual thing that got them to give this an R was something no more violent than any other moment in the other five films. And since this is a version intended first and foremost for home video there was no reason to go through a frustrating protracted appeals process. Especially not when it might force WB to delay the release of this version.
Yes, the source material was a children's book. The movies and the universe Jackson created have never been geared towards pre-teens, and the movies have always pushed the PG-13 rating in the U.S.. If Jackson ever had to resubmit the LOTR films I wouldn't be surprised if one or all of them got an R. With the MPAA it's really not hard to get an R from them.