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Revenge of the Sith Officially Rated PG-13

Bobert@flixnjoystix.com writes "On May 19th, fans of all ages will see the final installment of the Star Wars saga with Revenge of the Sith. However, for the first time ever a Star Wars film will be officially rated PG-13. Over the weekend the Daily Herald newspaper confirmed that George Lucas' conclusion to his nearly 30 year epic Space Opera received a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA is expected to release an official statement or press release sometime this week." This confirms the rumor we reported on back in March.

445 comments

  1. I'm a dark little poet tonight... by DarkHelmet · · Score: 4, Funny
    Of course the film is going to be PG-13... because only people above the age of 13 will be able to truly appreciate Jar Jar's evisceration.

    I can imagine it now. Darth Vader ripping that demon Jamaican dinosaur Wino from limb to limb. With each limb being severed, hearing the beast shouting out, "Meesa in Pain! Meesa in Pain!" Vader points his finger, and throws the battered, lifeless carcass against the wall.

    "Only two there are," says Yoda, "a master and an apprentice. Killed, Palpatine's apprentice, Vader did he!"

    Along with Jar Jar, in the abyss, floats the souls of Saddam Hussein, Oprah, Geraldo Rivera, Dick Clark and New Kids on the Block. Jar Jar shall be reborn in another realm. In a galaxy far far away from the one he was in, way in the future.

    That backwards asshat dinosaur is scheduled to come back, Jesus style. Only next time, it'll be rated R. Be afraid... be very afraid...

    Now that is why this Star Wars is PG-13. Sleep tight kiddies...

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
    1. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by Scoria · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course the film is going to be PG-13... because only people above the age of 13 will be able to truly appreciate Jar Jar's evisceration.

      I can imagine it now. Darth Vader ripping that demon Jamaican dinosaur Wino from limb to limb. With each limb being severed, hearing the beast shouting out, "Meesa in Pain! Meesa in Pain!" Vader points his finger, and throws the battered, lifeless carcass against the wall.


      Half of the Star Wars demographic is probably composed of six-year-olds who are still amused by sadistically removing the legs from an insect. They'll appreciate that scene even more than you will. ;-)

      --
      Do you like German cars?
    2. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How dare you mock NKOTB!

      "Ahh ahh ay oh oh! The right stuff!"

      shame on you!

    3. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Next time POST A SPOILER WARNING, DAMMIT!

      Nonetheless, from your description this is the first Star Wars installment I'm looking forward to in a very long time.

    4. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by jweric · · Score: 1

      Well... If you really want to know the truth about Jar Jar.... We have already seen him killed... A New Hope... When the Death Star destroyed Alderan Jar Jar was killed. How you might ask? At the end of this film Jar Jar is sent to Alderan to hide from "The Empire". This is pure speculation and only rumor. But none the less... Nice and Holsome

    5. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Jar Jar, in the abyss, floats the souls of Saddam Hussein, Oprah, Geraldo Rivera, Dick Clark and New Kids on the Block."

      Did you mean to include Saddam Hussein in a list of second-rate personalities and entertainers?

    6. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      But at the end of ROTJ, in the new DVD version, you here someone yelling "Weesa free!" in the cut-scene to Naboo.

    7. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by first.last · · Score: 0

      Wait.....does Jar Jar really appear in this and does he really get killed? I'd dump Star Trek for Star Wars if that is the case.

      --
      Wishing I was a millionaire since 1969.
    8. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by jweric · · Score: 1

      That was just an extra... to replace the late Jar Jar Jynx... I mean Binks

    9. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by T'hain+Esh+Kelch · · Score: 0

      Jar Jar shall be reborn in another realm. In a galaxy far far away from the one he was in, way in the future.

      Oh god no!! Because... That would be our galaxy!!! :(

    10. Re:I'm a dark little poet tonight... by bugeaterr · · Score: 1

      I guess that means the scene we all WANTED to see was cut. Even PG-13 won't accommodate the subtitle, "Episode 3: Jar Jar and the Randy Rancor." Meesa Wanna K-Y Jelly!!!

  2. Re:first post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    The movie will still suck no matter what the rating.

    Lucas needs to hand over the reins to someone with a clue.

  3. Too bad the Episode II wasn't rated R by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the only thing that could have saved those brutal love scenes on Naboo

    1. Re:Too bad the Episode II wasn't rated R by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about NC-17? You'd need some serious Natalie Portman full frontal to even begin to put a dent in it.

    2. Re:Too bad the Episode II wasn't rated R by porcupine8 · · Score: 1
      Not even that, if the acting wasn't any better...

      "Oh. Padme. You're so hot. I want you. So badly." Followed by some awkward forced-looking petting... Ever seen the SNL version of John Kerry kissing Teresa Heinz?

      --
      Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
  4. I hope it's not for violence by FullMetalAlchemist · · Score: 5, Funny

    I hope it's not a rating for only violence inte film, but because of nude scenes with Natalie Portman!

    1. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Capt+James+McCarthy · · Score: 3, Funny

      I doubt it will have any nudity of Natalie. So we can all put on hold any hopes of a "Monster's Ball" scene with Natalie. I guess we'll have to wait for "Star Whores" instead.

      --
      There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
    2. Re:I hope it's not for violence by FullMetalAlchemist · · Score: 2, Funny

      Dammit, I want hot grits down my pants :)

      On a more serious note, it think it's great that it will have more violence, as in the books it's really dark compared to the other two prequels.

    3. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Don't be silly, nipples aren't suitable for children. It's probably PG-13 because somebody gets torn limb from limb. Think of the children!

      Quite frankly, I'm surprised at this. Over the past ten years or so, there's been a trend to label, say, a movie suitable for 13+ as suitable for all ages, and then stick a bunch of disclaimers on the trailer. Such as "PG-13 (may-contain-strong-language-nudity-and-the- occassional-beheading-but-it's-just-a-film-so-it's -okay-for-kids)". It makes it easier to sell merchandise to kids through happy meals etc that way.

    4. Re:I hope it's not for violence by maotx · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not likely :(
      From IMDB Triva

      Originally turned down the role of Ann August in the film Anywhere But Here (1999) because of the love scene between herself and Corbin Allred which required nudity. Susan Sarandon who had co-star approval, said she couldn't continue the movie without Portman, so the script was re-written without the scene and sent to Natalie, and she accepted.

      --
      I'm a virgo and on Slashdot. Coincidence? Yes.
    5. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well,

      I think her stance has changed a bit lately. You have seen Closer haven't you?

    6. Re:I hope it's not for violence by warmcat · · Score: 1

      I see. So it's "I've seen attack ships on fire off-the-shoulder Natalie Portman"

    7. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 5, Funny

      Over an even shorter span the kiddie disclaimers have become so much more specific and pathetic.

      For example: 'Contains scenes of peril'

      Oh my fucking God, please not PERIL. God forbid some kid sees a fictional character in danger, that's just mentally damaging material right there.

      What next? 'Contains a scene where Jimbo trips and falls on his face, thus causing certain amounts of pain and distress'? Take your Newspeaking, politically correct, mollycoddling garbage and shove it.

      --
      Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
    8. Re:I hope it's not for violence by halivar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's why the Transformers movie was so awesome. My favorite scene is where Spike yells, "Oh, Shit!" as a planet full of people gets destroyed. This in a G-rated kids movie.

      And I turned out normal? See?

      Oh, wait...

    9. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Ubergrendle · · Score: 5, Informative

      Except she did film nude scenes for Closer, just upon the final cut was it edited out as the director did indeed agree that nudity was not essential to the plot...he just wasn't sure until he saw the final product.

      #1 rule of Hollywood: every actress will eventually be featured topless, give or take 10-20 years.

      Basically she has to get her career into a rut where she won't be getting any new roles or she's considered washed up...then it will be a bargaining chip to getting her next big project.

      --
      John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
    10. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the director did indeed agree that nudity was not essential to the plot...he just wasn't sure until he saw the final product.

      Heh. Whatever you say, Mr Director. And I'm sure you didn't keep a copy for yourself either.

    11. Re:I hope it's not for violence by gowen · · Score: 1
      Oh my fucking God, please not PERIL.
      I like these specific things. Anything that enables parents to make informed choices of what they consider suitable for their children is better than blanket "No kids" rules.
      --
      Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
    12. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Jussi+K.+Kojootti · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't be silly, nipples aren't suitable for children. Maybe you should talk to your mom about that, she might have news for you...

    13. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Masami+Eiri · · Score: 5, Informative

      On the DVD, the chapter listing calls the chapter with that scene "Bad Word." :D

    14. Re:I hope it's not for violence by schmoe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Score +1 for funny, sure. But more specific descriptions for ratings are actually helpful to at least some parents, myself included. I care far less about the occasional "bad" word or nudity than I do about violence. Knowing which feature is responsible for a particular rating makes the ratings actually useful.

      For example, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" was rated R because of a (quite funny) rant by Steve Martin's character containing a stream of f___'s. I'd let a younger kid see that than a slasher film that's given the exact same R rating.

      As for "peril", my young daughter is quite empathetic and regardless of whether I think it would damage her psyche, I'd at least know that she wouldn't enjoy the film.

      If we're going to have ratings, I'd much rather they be useful.

    15. Re:I hope it's not for violence by sam5550 · · Score: 5, Funny

      For example: 'Contains scenes of peril'

      Oh my fucking God, please not PERIL. God forbid some kid sees a fictional character in danger, that's just mentally damaging material right there.


      It could be worse:

      'Contains scenes of perl'

      Now that would be mentally damaging.

    16. Re:I hope it's not for violence by brouski · · Score: 4, Informative

      If I'm not mistaken Transformers was rated PG. Probably because of that one line.

      --
      Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!
    17. Re:I hope it's not for violence by schtum · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sounds like my favorite movie review site (seriously) Decent Films, which bills itself as "Film appreciation, information and criticism informed by Christian faith."

      From the Star Wars, Ep IV review:
      Stylized outer-space and hand-to-hand combat sequences involving laser fire and laser swords (in one case severing an arm); two burned bodies seen at a distance; various explosions.

      I originally visited the site for a laugh, but other than those blurbs and the "spiritual value" meter, there's nothing hokey about it. Read any review by Stephen Greydanus. Besides being a good writer and generally knowing his stuff, he possesses the uncanny ability to dissect films at great length without spoilers! His (always polite) shredding of the Matrix 2 is what finally sold me.

    18. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Starraisin1 · · Score: 1

      Why would we want to see her naked. She has no tits to speak of.

    19. Re:I hope it's not for violence by brouski · · Score: 2, Funny

      But Mom, I WANNA SEE THE STAR WARS MOVIE!!! I'm sorry, son, I can't let you go; it's much too perilous.

      --
      Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!
    20. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Atrax · · Score: 4, Funny

      LAUNCELOT: We were in the nick of time, you were in great peril.
      GALAHAD: I don't think I was.
      LAUNCELOT: Yes you were, you were in terrible peril.
      GALAHAD: Look, let me go back in there and face the peril.
      LAUNCELOT: No, it's too perilous.
      GALAHAD: Look, [something] as much peril as I can.
      LAUNCELOT: No, we've got to find the Holy Grail. Come on!
      GALAHAD: Well, let me have just a little bit of peril?
      LAUNCELOT: No, it's unhealthy.
      GALAHAD: Bet you're gay!
      LAUNCELOT: No, I'm not.

      --
      Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
    21. Re:I hope it's not for violence by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

      Install Acme::Bushisms and you will be able to see that my perl rebuttal is no more dangerous than our glorious leader!

    22. Re:I hope it's not for violence by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

      If I recall correctly, Steve said fuck, not "eff underscore underscore underscore".

      Stop perpetuating the hangups people have on coarse language. It's simply a "low class" word, it's not damaging.

      --
      I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
    23. Re:I hope it's not for violence by quisph · · Score: 1
      Ah, that must be why it's getting a PG-13 for "peril..." Amidala needs a spanking.

      Here's hoping, anyway.

    24. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hm, I think thats one of the best Christian review sites I've seen. Take a look at the entry for Spirited Away... unlike some other sites that link all the anime films to a generic "anime is underaged girls being tentacle raped and spurting blood, produced by Satan himself and sold to Americans by soulless devils" review, theres actually a well thought out review that divides criticism of the movie itself from criticism of the movie from the Christian point of view.

    25. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't even describe it as a "low class" word.

      The thing is, "fuck off" means something different to "go away". "Fucking" is different to "making love". "It's fucking terrible" means something different to "it's downright terrible".

      If I choose to use the word "fuck", it's because it's the most appropriate word to get my meaning across. People shouldn't get offended over the way I say something (whether they should get offended by what I am saying is another matter).

      There's no such thing as a bad word.

    26. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you mean? My mother was a fine, upstanding white Protestant from the 70's. She'd NEVER do something as indecent as breast feed. That's what the Playtex natural bottle and engineered baby formula are for.

    27. Re:I hope it's not for violence by White+Roses · · Score: 2, Funny
      Look, just let me go back in there and face the peril.

      No, it's far too perilous.

      Bet you're gay.

      No, I'm not.

      --
      Do not touch -Willie
    28. Re:I hope it's not for violence by FCAdcock · · Score: 2, Funny

      "taxes" ... And that's all I have to say about that ...

      --
      --Forest C. Adcock--
    29. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It's probably PG-13 because somebody gets torn limb from limb. Think of the children!"

      To be more precise, somebody gets torn limb from limb in a dark, moody and teenage-angsty kind of way that suggests "adult material". Having already cut Darth Maul in half, impaled Liam, decapitated Jango Fett and whacked off Anakin's hand -- all of these in PG movies up to 6 years ago -- it's pretty obvious that it's not just the violence, but also the tone of the violence.

      For example, if Barney rampages through and rends all of the teletubbies limb from limb in a cheerful and pastel fashion, I'm sure that everybody will love it. But if you lead into that with a scene of Barney being brooding and ponderous, wondering what sort of psychosis is leading him to such wanton destruction... PG-13!

      Because only healthy and well-adjusted kids commit spur-of-the-moment random acts of arbitrary violence. :-p

    30. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Mobster · · Score: 1

      But you posted this on Slashdot. This makes you normal? :p

      --
      ---- You have been programmed by the Illuminati to not see the word ""!
    31. Re:I hope it's not for violence by doublem · · Score: 2, Funny

      I see you too, are a member of the "American Non Sequiter Society"

      --
      "Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
    32. Re:I hope it's not for violence by p3d0 · · Score: 1

      According to IMDb, you're right.

      --
      Patrick Doyle
      I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
    33. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Baby+Duck · · Score: 1

      The ultra-specific reasonings for a movie's rating during trailers did not happen until just after Columbine.

      --

      "Love heals scars love left." -- Henry Rollins

    34. Re:I hope it's not for violence by CamelToes · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's why the Transformers movie was so awesome. My favorite scene is where Spike yells, "Oh, Shit!" as a planet full of people gets destroyed. This in a G-rated kids movie.

      That was my favorite scene from Transformers the Movie, too. But the movie was rated PG, not G. That's how they got away with the "Oh Shit!" as well as the "Kick him in the balls" dialogue from Grimlock.

    35. Re:I hope it's not for violence by podperson · · Score: 1

      If he didn't give "The Phantom Menace" an A I might have some respect for him.

      The problem is he had to see Matrix 2 to realise that The Matrix was philosophically bankrupt. If he were truly insightful he'd have realised that from the get go.

    36. Re:I hope it's not for violence by SunFan · · Score: 1

      Don't be silly, nipples aren't suitable for children.

      4 out of 5 infants disagree!

      --
      -- Microsoft is the most expensive commodity operating system and office suite vendor in the marketplace.
    37. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      And the result is possibly a whole generation of people with unnecessary allergies.

    38. Re:I hope it's not for violence by jabberwocky_rt · · Score: 1

      Basically she has to get her career into a rut where she won't be getting any new roles or she's considered washed up...then it will be a bargaining chip to getting her next big project.

      Only thing is, according to her, she doesn't plan on acting for too much longer anyways.

      For goodness sake, she has a has a psych degree from harvard, among other things.

      She's prob one of the few people I don't think will be hurting for money any time soon.

    39. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Scrameustache · · Score: 1
      From the christian movie review site you linked, on 2001: A space Odyssey
      Some deadly violence among early hominids; some tense scenes and an onscreen death; fleeting minor profanity; ambiguous cosmological implications.

      Now that, my friend, is a warning : )
      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    40. Re:I hope it's not for violence by ArsSineArtificio · · Score: 4, Funny

      'Contains scenes of perl'

      They're just trying to spice up a crappy sql.

      --
      All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
    41. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Ubergrendle · · Score: 1

      The ~only~ major actress who I can think of who left Hollywood 'on top' by her own choice was Audrey Hepburn (ironically to whom Portman bears a striking resembelance). Grace Kelly was another possibility but she didn't leave Hollywood deliberately -- she found out after she was married that her husband (the recently departed Ranier of Monaco) refused to have her working outside of her station.

      Ingrid Bergman, Donna Reed, Mary Tyler Moore, hell even JULIE ANDREWS have done topless work. It is a rare exception when an actress survives and entire career w/o barring flesh. Part of it is the nature of Hollywood (w/ corrupt casting system, agents, etc), part of it is because attractive women tend to be cast in sexualised roles, and part of it is, well, when you're rich and powerful you don't feel as constrained by the puritanical values so prevalent in the US. There's nothing wrong with natural, naked beauty.

      Kubrick had the best commentary on this in Eyes Wide Shut. The big anticipated orgy sex-fest movie by Kubrick, right? Okay, show Kidman 100% naked at the start of the film with no context (and thus eliminating any sexual reference)...get it out of the way, then present a meaningful film. Slashdotters obsess about Portman because she's so far unobtainable, even in .jpg form.

      --
      John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
    42. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember seeing the Transformers movie by myself in the theater when I was about 12. I remember when Spike yelled, "oh, shit," there was a mass exodus of parents from the theater with children in tow. Brilliant. I think the movie was actually rated PG, though, not G.

    43. Re:I hope it's not for violence by schtum · · Score: 1

      It's an A-, but you have a point. Sometimes I think he's a Star Wars fanboy first and a Catholic second. The thing is, if you ignore the summary and read the actual review, it's spot on.

      You can't expect any critic to share your opinions 100% of the time. He comes closer than anyone to mine.

    44. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I remember when Spike yelled, "oh, shit," there was a mass exodus of parents from the theater with children in tow.

      The really pathetic thing was that they probably did that in response to a single word of dialogue, and not the concept of an entire world being blown up.

      After all, those four little letters are way more harmful to a child's psyche than a planet full of people dying, right?

    45. Re:I hope it's not for violence by halivar · · Score: 1

      I see you too, are a member of the "American Non Sequiter Society"

      Sorry. Non sequiters make me eat lampshades.

    46. Re:I hope it's not for violence by coaxial · · Score: 1

      You know those Mon Calamari dancers? They're going to be topless.

    47. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Blikkie · · Score: 1

      What strikes me as curious is how the American way of rating movies absolutely conflicts with the Dutch ratings. For instance: Lost in Translation is rated R in the USA and all ages in Holland, and why? One naked breast and some adultery. Okay, no kid under 16 will really understand the movie, but it won't be damaging either.

      It is the other way around with a movie like Hellboy that has violence, but is rated PG13 in the USA and >16 in Holland. Personally I think a ban on violence is much better than a ban on nudity. Nudity usually involves two people making each other feel good. This is quite the opposite of two persons trying to hurt each other in an action movie. But maybe it is just me.

    48. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My God, a "Your Mom" joke that doesn't make my brain scream inside my head.

      I hereby award Jussi an Award for Excellence in Humor.

    49. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Amidala needs a spanking."

      And then comes the Oral Sex!

    50. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Number14 · · Score: 1

      They removed the "Oh Shit" from the VHS and got it rated G, and then put it back on the DVD, as its own chapter.

    51. Re:I hope it's not for violence by electric_mind · · Score: 1

      Barker: How could you foolish Americans bring the wrath of scorn by mass-chanting the word of wretchedness?!
      Chef: Aah, yeah. We didn't mean to.
      Barker: Didn't you realize "shit" is a curse word?!
      Stan: Well, yeah, but I don't think that "curse word" meant... curse word.
      Barker: Ha! Leave it to American to think that "no" means yes, "pissed" means angry, and "curse word" means something other than a word that's cursed!!

    52. Re:I hope it's not for violence by sacmog · · Score: 0
      Forget the children, 99 out of 100 men disagree. The other one doesn't count.

      After all, that little fucker is only borrowing it for a year or two, it's mine the rest of the time.

      --
      --- last minute desparate solutions to impossible problems created by other fucking people.
    53. Re:I hope it's not for violence by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      Well, check out this on the Wiki..

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPAA_film_rating_syst em

      One interesting sentence from the article, "[The G] rating had become increasingly associated with films, often poorly made, intended specifically for children, while the PG rating became increasingly common for "family" films, with the G rating increasingly stigmatized by a public perception that a film so rated was a "dumb movie rated G for kids." This led to the PG rating becoming overloaded with everything from family films "spiced up" to avoid a G to very mature films that were "toned down" to avoid R ratings."

      Hmm, sound familar? Not at all like PG-13 right?

      Personally, I avoid almost all G or PG movies, and am incredibly leary of PG-13 (although alot of horror / suspence movies have been released under it, The Ring, etc.).

    54. Re:I hope it's not for violence by plague3106 · · Score: 1

      Why not get rid of the ratings then, and just have these helpful phrases?

    55. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Meanwhile, watching Bambi's mom die from a forest fire or whatever, or watching a kid shoot his dog Ol' Yeller, well, these are fine for little kids, G rated and all.

      But a nipple, which only a few years earlier they were sucking on? Nope!

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    56. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Oh LORD have mercy on my soul.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    57. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do they have a review there for "Where the Boys Aren't #17"?

    58. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "For we are all Elected Queens between the ages of sixteen and nineteen-and-a-half."

    59. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Spoken in "Kip" from "Napoleon Dynamite" voice: "Your mom goes to Star Wars movies."

    60. Re:I hope it's not for violence by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      When I was in Holland they altered Terminator 2 in various places for broadcast on TV. For example, the scene in the parking garage where Arnie throws the guy into the cement pillar. They still had that, but got rid of the vicious cracking sound as he hit.

      Meanwhile, they show full frontal of women AND MEN on their TV. Opened my eyes quite a bit as to the idiocy of my own culture's norms. Of course, the Dutch had some crazy shit going on, too. Made me realize all countries and their politicians use BS as population control.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    61. Re:I hope it's not for violence by moresheth · · Score: 1
      Brilliant.

      Makes me wish I never opted out of mod points.

    62. Re:I hope it's not for violence by skeletonliar · · Score: 1

      Slashdotters obsess about Portman because she's so far unobtainable, even in .jpg form.

      But she is available in .jpg form. There are some pics of her at a topless beach floating around the internet.

      --
      "Watching Access Hollywood is like driving 10 SUVs!" -- Al Sharpton
  5. Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by DarkHelmet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is just guesswork since I haven't seen the movie (duh)... but...

    What I can't help but imagine is if the whole swing towards the religious right and indecency plays a part within this. After the whole Janet Jackson thing, it's quiet possible that Ani's relationship with Padme that helps contribute towards this rating along with the violence.

    After all, it seems somehow "okay" to expose kids to violence in the states. Sex is a whole other thing...

    --
    /^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
  6. Make it "R" and maybe it can redeem the genre by waterlogged · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm not talking "Hot Grits on Natalie Portman" kinda "R", but something with a bit more of an edge too it will definately be welcome. Something dark and serious for a change. Maybe have Tim Burton direct it......

    Mmmmmm Hot Griiiitssss.

    --
    I couldn't fail to disagree with you any less.
    1. Re:Make it "R" and maybe it can redeem the genre by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe have Tim Burton direct it......

      What, you want a load of trained squirrels jumping around all over the place? I suppose it would be an improvement over Jar-Jar...

    2. Re:Make it "R" and maybe it can redeem the genre by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's Hot Grits down my Pants and Natalie Portman, naked and petrified

    3. Re:Make it "R" and maybe it can redeem the genre by mushupork · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just wait for the Battlestar Galatica movie.

      --
      Currently bidding on sig
    4. Re:Make it "R" and maybe it can redeem the genre by illustir · · Score: 1

      If you really want an edge have it directed by Gaspar Noé or Takashi Miike and have Tarantino write the script.

      That would make a movie I would be uncomfortable to watch. Now that'll give them something to rate.

      --
      -- Alper
    5. Re:Make it "R" and maybe it can redeem the genre by Tackhead · · Score: 1
      > I'm not talking "Hot Grits on Natalie Portman" kinda "R", but something with a bit more of an edge too it will definately be welcome.
      >
      >Mmmmmm Hot Griiiitssss.

      Well, there is that Water Spectacular on Mon Calmar.

      You humans are hoping for the Natalie Portman Tentacle Rape scene, but most of our world is going for hot grits on a squid.

      (We went through this a couple of days ago. Or are you suggesTing it's some sort of implement designed to captuRe, injure, or kill by meAns of decePtion, camouflage, or some other ruse?)

  7. HOWEVER by clambake · · Score: 5, Funny

    This time the rating's meaning is a bit different than usual. No one over the age of 13 should attend.

    1. Re:HOWEVER by Dogtanian · · Score: 2, Funny

      This time the rating's meaning is a bit different than usual. No one over the age of 13 should attend.

      In that case, Michael Jackson will probably still be able to get in; primarily because he won't be watching the film, he'll be watching the audience...

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    2. Re:HOWEVER by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

      Dude, too soon. Wait till at least he's convicted and sent to prison ;-) ... man what a freak...

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    3. Re:HOWEVER by R.Caley · · Score: 1

      They can't send him to prison, that would be cruel and unusual punishment for the other inmates.

      --
      _O_
      .|<
      The named which can be named is not the true named
    4. Re:HOWEVER by clickety6 · · Score: 1


      So you're saying PG stands for Puerile Garbage?

      --
      ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    5. Re:HOWEVER by Atrax · · Score: 1

      So you're saying PG stands for Puerile Garbage?

      You must be new here. Welcome to Earth.

      --
      Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  8. Does that mean we can see more or Natelie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or would that take an even higher rating.

  9. Nudity by IIDX · · Score: 5, Funny

    The wookies are naked, does that make it PG-13?

    1. Re:Nudity by metricmusic · · Score: 1

      no, scary.

      --
      http://www.livejournal.com/users/metricmusic
    2. Re:Nudity by Frogbert · · Score: 5, Funny

      No that was just a camio appearance by Robin Williams.

    3. Re:Nudity by wootest · · Score: 1

      I think it's the Mon Calamari dance. :P

    4. Re:Nudity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Modded down for spelling. Cameo.

    5. Re:Nudity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, I laughed.

  10. Can anyone... by 0x461FAB0BD7D2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    just zip down to the Grauman's Chinese Theater and tell these folks?

    1. Re:Can anyone... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      zip down? Nah...I am in a proper line up...the only way I would zip down if someone poured hot grits on me - but that a different story...

  11. Re:first post! by clambake · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lucas needs to hand over the reins to someone with a clue.

    What, for the next episode?

  12. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

    "ooooooh Anakin, what a bright gloiwing knob you've got"

    "Oh it isn't your knob, you really should get your light sabre fixed, you nearly took my eye out with that thing."

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  13. Rated PG-13 by chrism238 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    well, in the US anyway, but how quickly their population forgets the rest of us....

    1. Re:Rated PG-13 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the rest of whom?

    2. Re:Rated PG-13 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Canadians?

    3. Re:Rated PG-13 by R.Caley · · Score: 4, Funny
      well, in the US anyway

      I'm hoping the BBFC bans it totally as a known cause of brain rot.

      --
      _O_
      .|<
      The named which can be named is not the true named
    4. Re:Rated PG-13 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So now it's a sign of US insularity that the MPAA refuses to provide ratings for your country? Or perhaps Slashdot should have held up the story until every country in the UN had a chance to rate it?

      Sigh.

    5. Re:Rated PG-13 by RandoX · · Score: 1

      Perhaps this can explain.

    6. Re:Rated PG-13 by indifferent+children · · Score: 1

      We haven't forgotten you. We just don't have enough troops to attack every nation at once. Your country is somewhere on the list; tell me how many natural resources you have, and whether or not you are adopting a DMCA-clone law and I will tell you how far down the list you are.

      --
      Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it. --Mark Twain
    7. Re:Rated PG-13 by flamingchicken · · Score: 1

      It's like if you talk about anything you need to include the perspective of every other country in the world. And then when you do, you get bashed for not getting it right. People are so f*cking sensitive!

      --
      Life is Short and Hard like a body building Elf
  14. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Basehart · · Score: 1

    jeez, the 63's are out tonite....that was worse than my "a long time ago, in a universe nearly as wide as my knob" joke!

  15. well. the censors watched ep 1 and 2 by gl4ss · · Score: 5, Funny

    and decided collectively that only if you're old enough you are allowed to be stupid enough to pay.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  16. Makes Sense... by CleverNickedName · · Score: 5, Funny

    This announcement does corroborate with the rumours that Ep. III consists entirely of Lucas squatting out an angry, sweaty dump on in front of a blue screen while screaming insults at the fans.

    I'm still going to pay to see it.

    --


    Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
    1. Re:Makes Sense... by RipTides9x · · Score: 1

      I heard he was going to show the audience what gave his buddy Spielburg the idea for E.T.

      Which would be his set of extra-testicles, I mean the guy has got alot of balls to continue to do what he does.

    2. Re:Makes Sense... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This announcement does corroborate with the rumours that Ep. III consists entirely of Lucas squatting out an angry, sweaty dump on in front of a blue screen while screaming insults at the fans.

      I think you are confusing George Lucus with Frank Zappa.

    3. Re:Makes Sense... by Bastian · · Score: 1

      Zappa squatting out a huge sweaty dump while screaming at his fans would be a tongue-in-cheek gesture.

      Lucas has been doing the same thing but with complete seriousness for 3/5 of the Star Wars movies he has made so far.

    4. Re:Makes Sense... by Atrax · · Score: 1
      --
      Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  17. Even so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What ticks me off is, even with this rating, there will still be lots of people 13 attending showings with their parents\family. Its nice to have family togetherness and all, but 3 yr. olds do not belong in theaters under any circumstances.

    1. Re:Even so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WTF! that should say less than 13.

    2. Re:Even so by mattspammail · · Score: 1

      Maybe that's the idea they were going for. Bigger ticket sales that way. Get not only Johnny and his friend, but also their mom or dad.

      --
      Now accepting PayPal donations!
    3. Re:Even so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, and all the little kids ruin the movie going experience. I don't know about you, but I enjoy listening to crying, whining, screaming, and having the back of my seat kicked by somebody's little bundle of joy. For that matter, I also enjoy the dumbass comments that people feel free to shout, and people who apperently didn't listen when they were asked to turn off their cellphone at teh beginning. Yep, movie theateres today are great, thanks to all the considerate, polite people.

    4. Re:Even so by metricmusic · · Score: 1

      He'll make the same amount from merchandise but this way box hitters will go in thinking it is more mature than it the first one. Maybe it is, maybe it's not, remains to be seen.

      --
      http://www.livejournal.com/users/metricmusic
    5. Re:Even so by whumfleet · · Score: 1

      I disagree, it depends on the 3 year old and their attention span. Mine will sit through an entire movie without making a sound. She also loves Star Wars, that said I probably still won't bring her to this because of the rating. Hephalumps are one thing, seeing Annakin crispy fried is another.

    6. Re:Even so by The+Barking+Dog · · Score: 1

      My TWO-year-old boy sat through all two hours of "The Incredibles," except for one trip to the bathroom. He sat in his seat, and talked less than his mother. Having red vines for bribery helped, though.

    7. Re:Even so by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "and talked less than his mother."

      That's not neccesarily saying much. Most mothers I know have no business in a theater under any circumstance either.

    8. Re:Even so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Having red vines for bribery helped, though.

      "Red vines"?? Is that British for "Twizzlers"?

  18. Danger Will Robinson Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Star Wars Episode 3 PG-13?
    Star Wars Prequels
    Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday March 10, @07:21PM
    from the a-long-time-ago-in-sunny-california dept.
    geekboxjockey writes "This story hints at the next Star Wars being a bit more of a mature themed movie: "[The film] is much more dark...more emotional. It's much more of a tragedy," adds Lucas. "...it will be the first Star Wars that's a PG-13.""There's also a new trailer airing during tonight's The O.C., so you can use that as an excuse to watch FOX teen drama. Fortunately for me, Summer is the only excuse I need. And maybe Captain Oats.

    1. Re:Danger Will Robinson Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. That's what it says in the article text up there - 'This confirms the rumour we reported on back in March.' Do you want a cookie?

    2. Re:Danger Will Robinson Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes Please
      Could you FedEx it?

    3. Re:Danger Will Robinson Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At time of post that statement was not there. It must have been later added.

    4. Re:Danger Will Robinson Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    5. Re:Danger Will Robinson Danger! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That sucks.
      Not in China but still... UPS it to me then

  19. Expanded vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Do or do not, there is no fucking try."

    "Shit, it's a trap!"

    "The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get the hell out of here!"

    1. Re:Expanded vocabulary by metricmusic · · Score: 1

      I am your fucking father!

      michael jackson?

      --
      http://www.livejournal.com/users/metricmusic
    2. Re:Expanded vocabulary by Jediman1138 · · Score: 1

      It's interesting to note that 'A New Hope' was the only Star Wars movie to feature cursing.

      Owen says something to the effect of "He better be back by noon or there'll be hell to pay".

      Obi-Wan says "He didn't want you going off with me on some damned fool idealistic crusade."

      And then on the death star scene, either Han or Leia says one of those words again. I can't quite remember what exactly was said, but there hasn't been a curse word since in any of the other films.

      --

      nothing.can.stop.me.now

    3. Re:Expanded vocabulary by NormalVisual · · Score: 1

      From "Empire":

      Rebel Crewman: "Your Tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker."

      Han Solo: "Then I'll see you in hell!"

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    4. Re:Expanded vocabulary by mobby_6kl · · Score: 1

      "Does Jabba the Hutt look like a bitch?"

      "Feel the Force, motherfucker."

    5. Re:Expanded vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      to grandparent: Remember, it wasn't untill jedi that lucas got kid friendly.

    6. Re:Expanded vocabulary by LetterJ · · Score: 1

      Well, Samuel L. Jackson is a cast member and no one can utilize an extended vocabularly like Mr. Jackson...

    7. Re:Expanded vocabulary by Darthmalt · · Score: 1

      In ANH after popping up out of the Falcon's smuggling compartments. Han says something about disabling the tractor beam. To which Obi Wan replies "Leave that to me" Followed by Han saying "Dammned Fool I knew you were going to say that" then Obi Wan says the "Who's the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows it" line

    8. Re:Expanded vocabulary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More fucking wealth than you can imagine!

    9. Re:Expanded vocabulary by perdu · · Score: 1

      No it's "Go back to the golf course and work on your putts!"
      Oh wait! Wrong movie...

      --
      You only use 2% of your DNA
  20. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by C0rinthian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Remember, gratuitous violence is okay as long as there are no naughty words.

  21. This movie is about to be released on the net! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you go to #TFS on irc.after-all.org
    you will find that somebody has got hold of a leaked DVDSCR. You better check out the "teh fux0red scene" episodes for more details! =)

    The eps can be found by downloading the torrents here:

    http://kedora.net/index.py?mod=channel&op=view&c id =53

    Heck, these guys will be in a lot of trouble if they get caught!

  22. Seriously.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You'd rate Bondage Amidala with "The Force is hard" voice chip as worse than Anakin's wet dream about his mother?

  23. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by t_allardyce · · Score: 3, Funny

    I dont think the FCC has jurisdiction over film ratings.. although im sure they'd love to!

    You can't have prejudice against violence - that would mean being anti-gun and you can't have that! sex on the other hand serves no purpose other than brushing with someone elses toothbrush or something, condoms have holes in them and homosexuality is the devils work.

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  24. Since they're not showing it there... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it seems like the ideal place to be.

  25. We can only hope... by joelparker · · Score: 4, Funny
    Dear George Lucas, We are assigning the PG-13 rating for the following reasons:

    1. The Sith. We don't mind when they cut Jedi in half, but in "Revenge" they sure do curse a lot.

    2. Midichlorians. These imply evolution, which is only a hypothesis and not suitable for young minds.

    3. Rampant drug use in Mos Eisley scenes. What exactly are they smoking?

    4. Adult theme. Taxes, embargoes, and senate politics are totally inappropriate for children. And for space movies.

    5. Jar-Jar dies a horrible death, yeaaasay-ee-sir. Finally listened to your fans, yes?

    6. Amidala wears even less than Leia's metal bikini. May the Force be with you!

    Yours Truly, The Ratings Board

    1. Re:We can only hope... by tgd · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You laugh but I'm sure I'm not the only person on /. old enough to remember the media "frenzy" around the decision to rename Revenge of the Jedi to Return of the Jedi, even though you young whippersnappers probably have read all about it.

      The appropriateness of "Revenge" used in a PG movie was a big part of it.

      I was in first grade at the time, and clearly remember talking about it on the playground. "F$#% that" I think is what I said...

    2. Re:We can only hope... by Atrax · · Score: 1

      I did hear that the initial name was a ploy to catch merchandise bootleggers, the plan being that the name gets sneakily released, the bootleggers go off and print up a shitload of gear, then the name's changed at short notice

      I think you may be able to find the occasional "Revenge Of The Jedi" T-Shirt around the place.

      Unless I'm just remembering an urban myth here

      --
      Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
    3. Re:We can only hope... by SithLordOfLanc · · Score: 1

      The "official" reason that Jedi was changed from "Revenge" to "Return" was that revenge was a trait that was not suited to the Jedi code.

    4. Re:We can only hope... by houghi · · Score: 4, Funny

      "F$#% that" I think is what I said...

      So while you were in first grade, you used the word Fuck and now that you are older you decide that is is not apropriate for other people to read.

      What do you do for a living? Rate movies?

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    5. Re:We can only hope... by CrazyTalk · · Score: 1

      I remember the "controversy" well, and was in college at the time. The "revenge" title was scrapped because Jedi are presumably too good, and do not succumb to revenge. That's what George Lucas was quoted as saying at the time. So, it makes prefect sense that the evil Sith WOULD take "revenge". Say what you will about the new trilogy, I think they at least got the title of the last movie right.

    6. Re:We can only hope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the kid was in the AV room at recess punching away at the Apple ][ with a 110 baud modem. He spoke ASCII.

    7. Re:We can only hope... by burnunit0 · · Score: 1

      yesss. How old do you think the average /. poster is, anyway? Does "first grade" mean something different where you come from? Cuz I was in first grade for 'Empire' and I don't actually remember a media frenzy around 'Jedi's' title.

      I do recall some amusement at the twin "controversies" around "Gosh did we name it too similar to Star Trek II?" or "Gosh maybe we should change Star Trek II to 'wrath' instead of 'vengeance.'" Then if I recall, there followed plenty of geek arguments about which came first.

      --
      yes. that's all I'm going to say in all comments from now on.
    8. Re:We can only hope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "F$#% that" is actually a Perl-snippet. No, I will not run it to see what it does.. Revenge of the Perli, indeed..

    9. Re:We can only hope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      The official story is that the movie was always intended to be called "Return of the Jedi", and that the "Revenge" title was intentionally leaked in order to catch merchandise bootleggers.

      Of course, the official story is also that Greedo always shot first, and the first movie was always called "A New Hope".

      I can't imagine Lucas trying to rewrite Star Wars history.

    10. Re:We can only hope... by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      "F$#% that" is actually a Perl-snippet. No, I will not run it to see what it does.. Revenge of the Perli, indeed..

      Sorry, although $#F is valid perl, F$#% is not.

      (Unless you've messed with things you shouldn't mess with, $#F gives you the index of the last element of the array @F.)

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
  26. Re:Oh boo hoo by Mahou · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i dont really get it. is pg-13 supposed to be bad or something? maybe it's my contempt for the mpaa or possibly im just a terrible person, but i usually hope a movie will be rated R

    --
    if i'm not immortal, what's the point of living?
    ...te?
  27. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by R.Caley · · Score: 2, Funny
    "ooooooh Anakin, what a bright gloiwing knob you've got"

    Gives a whole new meaning to ``don't think, feel''.

    --
    _O_
    .|<
    The named which can be named is not the true named
  28. Faja? by kdougherty · · Score: 0

    Cowboyneal... I am your.. father.

    --
    The best way to predict the future is to invent it. -Alan Kay
  29. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, it's just dismemberment, which won't even be cool, because lucas is a hack. It's sad, he'd going to fail pulling off what schlock horror does so effortlessly.

  30. poetry time by aendeuryu · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm surprised this film's PG-13,
    Strangest thing I've ever seen,
    Because other than the toddlers,
    Or those with Alzheimers,
    It's junk for everyone else in between.

    1. Re:poetry time by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

      I find your lack of faith ... uh ...

      oh who am I kiddin, I'm only going for the explosions and the boobifications....

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    2. Re:poetry time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      9 syllables
      7 syllables
      8 syllables
      6 syllables
      10 syllables

      Well, at least your sense of meter matches your sense of rhyme.

  31. The book IS out, you know by (trb001) · · Score: 4, Informative

    Judging by the posts I've seen, everybody is either joking about or speculating why it got a PG-13 rating...the Episode III book IS out, and most of it has been posted to newsgroups online. It's received a PG-13 rating for all the violence (there are at least 5 bad ass lightsabers fights I can think of, 4 of which involve someone dying, off the top of my head) and the scenes involving Anakin's skin getting melted off.

    --trb

    1. Re:The book IS out, you know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      thanks for the spoilers you insensitive clod!

    2. Re:The book IS out, you know by srugbeer · · Score: 2, Funny

      there are at least 5 bad ass lightsabers fights I can think of, 4 of which involve someone dying, off the top of my head

      I for one will pay to see these battles on the top of your head

  32. Damnit! No Disembowing by Wookies by Salvo · · Score: 4, Funny

    C'mon! We've all seen the trailers. There are hoards and hoards of Wookies in battle.
    Considering that Ripping Arms out of sockets wouldn't be PG-13, that must mean the Wookies win, 'cos everyone knows Droids don't Rip peoples arms out of their sockets when they loose. Wookies are known to do that...

    1. Re:Damnit! No Disembowing by Wookies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rip peoples arms out of their sockets when they loose. Wookies are known to do that...

      And beat you to death with their their schlong.

    2. Re:Damnit! No Disembowing by Wookies by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      There are hoards and hoards of Wookies in battle

      hoard 1 A collection, esp. of valuable items,
      horde 2 A numerous company; a gang, a troop
      whored 1 engaged in promiscuous sexual relations with prostitutes

    3. Re:Damnit! No Disembowing by Wookies by jkubecki · · Score: 1
      There are hoards and hoards of Wookies in battle

      hoard 1 A collection, esp. of valuable items,
      horde 2 A numerous company; a gang, a troop

      Are you saying he should have used "hordes" instead of "hoards"? Cuz I'm thinkin "A collection, esp. of valuable items" works just fine with regard to Wookiees... I mean, they'd probably fetch a pretty decent price on eBay...

    4. Re:Damnit! No Disembowing by Wookies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ...not to mention:

      Droids don't Rip peoples arms out of their sockets when they loose.

      loose: opposite of "tight"

  33. Does it really matter ? by Digital+Warfare · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everyone will be watching the leaked pirate a week before its in the cinema anyway...

    --
    "Sweet llamas of the Bahamas !"
  34. Aren't there any other ratings? by mr_snarf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ok, first off, I'm an Aussie. To me "PG-13" sounds really really lame. When I read that I thought it had been brought -down- to PG-13. I'm a bit confused, here in Australia we have:

    G - Suitable for all
    PG - Parental guidance recommended for kids under 15
    M - Mature, recommended for people over 15. (not a legal restriction)
    MA - Mature Accompanied, illegal for people under 15 aren't to see it unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
    R - Legally restricted to adults
    X - Generally sexually explicit, technically illegal in all AU states except capital territory, but authorities turn a blind eye.
    E - No rating, like, educational shows.
    RC - Refused Classification, banned.

    And each of those ratings is normally accompanied by a few words saying what sort of stuff gives it that rating. Eg, 'contains strong violence and coarse language' 'contains nudity' 'contains sex scenes' 'contains goatse' etc. Although for TV shows they often say 'contains material that may be offensive to some viewers', without saying what it is, and suddenly naked men are on the screen :(.

    Anyway, could someone who knows explain quickly what this 'PG-13' is equivalent of. It sounds like our PG, but other star wars seemed more M to me. (I found jar-jar really offensive)

    --
    printf("Goodbye cruel world!\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b");
    1. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by C0rinthian · · Score: 1
      Although for TV shows they often say 'contains material that may be offensive to some viewers', without saying what it is, and suddenly naked men are on the screen :(.
      I don't quite know why, but I found this line to be friggin hilarious. Thank you.
    2. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by Daytona955i · · Score: 4, Informative

      The internet is your friend: Click Here!

      For the impatient:
      What do the rating symbols mean?
      G General Audiences -- All ages admitted. Signifies that the film rated contains nothing most parents will consider offensive for even their youngest children to see or hear. Nudity, sex scenes, and scenes of drug use are absent; violence is minimal; snippets of conversation may go beyond polite conversation but do not go beyond every-day expressions.

      PG Parental Guidance Suggested -- Some material may not be suitable for children. Signifies that the film rated may contain some material parents might not like to expose to their young children -- material that will clearly need to be examined or inquired about before children are allowed to attend the film. Explicit sex scenes and scenes of drug use are absent; nudity, if present, is seen only briefly; horror and violence do not exceed moderate levels.

      PG-13 Parents Strongly Cautioned -- Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Signifies that the film rated may be inappropriate for pre-teens. Parents should be especially careful about letting their younger children attend. Rough or persistent violence is absent; sexually-oriented nudity is generally absent; some scenes of drug use may be seen; some use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words may be heard.

      R Restricted -- Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian (age varies in some jurisdictions). Signifies that the rating board has concluded that the film rated may contain some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their children to see it. An R may be\ assigned due to, among other things, a film's use of language, theme, violence, sensuality, or its portrayal of drug use. Theater owners and film critics are advised as to why the R rating was assigned; parents are therefore urged to contact their local theatres to learn why the rating board chose the R rating.

      NC-17 No children under 17 Admitted (age varies in some jurisdictions). Signifies that the rating board would feel that the film rated is patently adult and that children under the age of 17 should not be admitted to it. The film may contain explicit sex scenes, an accumulation of sexually-oriented language, and/or scenes of excessive violence. The NC-17 designation does not, however, signify that the rated film is obscene or pornographic in terms of sex, language, or violence.

    3. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by IronChefMorimoto · · Score: 2, Informative

      PG-13 was introduced in 1984 because Spielberg scared most of India with his vision of the Temple of Doom:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PG-13#History

      I would venture to guess that it was also introduced to allow 80s teen movies to slip in a little titty here and there.

      IronChefMorimoto

    4. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by Aggrazel · · Score: 1

      X - Generally sexually explicit, technically illegal in all AU states except capital territory, but authorities turn a blind eye.

      Illegal?! Damn.

      I guess I have to cross Australia off my list of places I might like to live when Hillary is elected president.

    5. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      some use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words may be heard.

      What the fuck are they talking about?

    6. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by antoy · · Score: 1

      It's that emoticon!

    7. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by BorgHunter · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Banned? Illegal? Christ! Once again, thank you James Madison for the Bill of Rights...

      --
      "Excuse me, did you say 'Trekker'? The word is 'Trekkie.' I should know; I created them." -- Gene Roddenberry
    8. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      PG-13 is the rough equivalent of our M rating yes.

      The majority of PG-13 movies are given M ratings in Australia, although some get PG, and in one bizarre instance, The Ring (a PG-13) is given a restricted MA15+, a rating many 'Unrated' (ie NC-17) films get in Australia.

      And on the other end of things, the US R-rated Lost in Translation gets a PG.

      So basically, even an R rating in the US could be a PG, M, MA, or R here. The majority of PG-13s are Ms, however.

      And even more confusingly, Attack of the Clones was rated PG at the cinema and on video, yet the DVD edition got an M rating for "Adult Themes". I'd imagine Sith will get an M as well.

      As of July the Australian ratings systems will be changed. The "15" advice for the PG and M ratings will disappear, that is, the only time an age will appear is when it is legally restricted to that age.

      Another reason is that films are subtly shifting into higher ratings and that M really is suitable for ~10-12 year olds nowadays. ET in 1982 was rated G, the re-release was PG. Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom were PG, they are now M. Silence of the Lambs was R18+, appealed to M, then upgraded to MA15+.

      And finally, Star Wars would probably get a PG-13 today, which is why the Death Star shootout was censored for the Special Editions, details of which can be found here.
      http://www.dvdanswers.com/sw2.html

    9. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by Atrax · · Score: 1

      Illegal?! Damn.

      no, technically illegal. Like pot in Amsterdam (and many other areas). Decriminalised.

      --
      Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
    10. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 1

      Here's an example of a movie's rating in the USA:

      Frank Miller's Sin City (USA) (complete title)
      MPAA: Rated R for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue.

      --
      Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
    11. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by afabbro · · Score: 1
      Huh? I thought they stood for:
      • G: Good
      • PG: Pretty Good
      • R: Rockin'!
      --
      Advice: on VPS providers
    12. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by mr_snarf · · Score: 1

      Thanks AC, thats the exactly answer I was looking for.

      --
      printf("Goodbye cruel world!\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b");
    13. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by mr_snarf · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yeah, thanks, but I'd already searched the net. I was looking more for: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=145667&cid=121 99686

      Interesting thing is in the US its not actually the law afaik. Its just set by the MPAA. Movie-makers just choose to get their movies rated by MPAA, because thats the way it works out now. Self-regulating industry I guess you'd call it. (Found that out here at link below)
      http://www.movie-ratings.net/movieratings_us.shtml

      --
      printf("Goodbye cruel world!\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b");
    14. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by maxpublic · · Score: 1

      RC - Refused Classification, banned.

      Shit, you motherfuckers actually ban movies? Do you burn books, too? And I thought America was puritanical....

      Max

      --
      My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?
    15. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by mr_snarf · · Score: 1

      Stole this from a site:
      "RC Refused Classification. This refers to works which have been submitted for classification to the OFLC, and then banned. It is a crime to sell, exhibit in public or distribute RC works, or unclassified works which if submitted for classification would likely be rated RC, although it is not in general a crime to possess or manufacture them (although some classes of RC works, e.g. child pornography, are illegal to possess.) Customs can confiscate RC classified on import, and can hold unclassified works pending classification. RC material varies from material encouraging drug use and crime at one extreme, through sadomasochistic, fetishistic or violent pornography, to child pornography at the other end. Some movies widely available in other countries, e.g. Baise-Moi and Romance (1999 movie) have been classified RC in Australia."

      So yeah, I guess the idea is to prevent the mentioned things from getting through, but I think the system is pretty fucked up. And no, it would be pretty inefficient for blocking political stuff .

      System needs changing, yes, but I don't think its a huge issue.

      (And incase you were wondering, our media isn't much like the US :P)

      --
      printf("Goodbye cruel world!\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b");
    16. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by smithmc · · Score: 1

      Ok, first off, I'm an Aussie. To me "PG-13" sounds really really lame... X - Generally sexually explicit, technically illegal in all AU states except capital territory, but authorities turn a blind eye.

      Wait a sec - you guys have outlawed porn, but we're lame? Oh-kayyy...

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
    17. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by CrazyTalk · · Score: 1

      I'd just like to add that those ratings are relatively recently. When I was a tyke (and when the original Star Wars was released) there was no PG-13 rating. Also, instead of NC-17 we had X,XX,XXX etc. which was pretty arbitrary and really just meant that the film was too strong to receive even an R rating. NC-17 was invented in order to try to put some standards on those types of films.

    18. Re:Aren't there any other ratings? by mr_snarf · · Score: 1

      By "PG-13 sounds really lame" I mean that sounds like a movie made for little children, like our "PG" rating is. However, you're PG-13 is actually more like our M, which sounds about right. Didn't mean the country is lame. (As for outlawing porn, its completely ignored afaik. Most video stores have an 'X' section.)

      --
      printf("Goodbye cruel world!\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b\b");
  35. one can hope by dioscaido · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember when I was growing up during the run of 'meatball' and the like movies, PG-13 meant that there was at least one boobie shot in the picture, guaranteed.

    Princess Amidala... I'm looking at you.

    1. Re:one can hope by Racter · · Score: 1
      Jedi had a boobie shot, and it was rated PG.

      Granted, it was a green boobie. But she was chained up, too!

    2. Re:one can hope by mojotooth · · Score: 1
      I remember when I was growing up during the run of 'meatball' and the like movies, PG-13 meant...

      Just for the sake of being historically accurate... "Meatballs" came out in 1979, but the MPAA didn't start using PG-13 until 1984.

      Even "Porky's" and "Porky's 2" were before PG-13 came about.

      --
      -- Mojo Tooth : exploring our world as only an idiot can.
  36. Does Lucas want an PG13 by the_womble · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Maybe Lucas set out to create a film that was PG13 to win back his adult audience - it sends a strong message that this is not a kids film as Episode I definitely was.

    It certainly seems to have got the writer of the article to be more positive about it.

    1. Re:Does Lucas want an PG13 by lachlan76 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hang on, hang on...PG is ADULT to your country?

      Shit, over here in Australia M15 is usually considered normal for kids!

    2. Re:Does Lucas want an PG13 by 16K+Ram+Pack · · Score: 1
      It may have been a kids film, but were kids nuts about it like the kids in the late 70s/early 80s?

      Remember, Star Wars (ep4) was like nothing anyone had seen before. It was a very big deal to kids who saw it. For a whole summer, friends and I played almost nothing but Star Wars, I and 2 friends did a project about Star Wars. People bought novelisations and spin-off books, soundtracks, the lot.

      The problem for the new Star Wars was that it broke no ground. It's just another space film, and actually quite a boring one. As a 10 year old, would you give a shit about trade wars? The originals were good vs evil stories. Nothing as cool as a tie fighter, a land speeder, an ATAT or a death star. By the time kids saw EP1-2, they'd seen it all before elsewhere. The really cool fantasy films of the last decade have been Lord of the Rings, Spider-Man and The Matrix (1st one only). Any Pixar release trounces any of the new Star Wars movies.

      I wonder if the kids are a bit of a lost audience on this. Certainly, I doubt that there are the levels of interest that I and my friends had going to see ROTJ. So, who's left? The adult audience. Many of them thought the 1st two absolutely blew chunks (including me).

      I still think this is going to blow whatever the rating. I'll see it, probably wait for rental DVD out of a little protest over the waste of money that was EP2.

  37. Bashing by Rydia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You know what'll be awesome? A few years down the road, when maybe The Cool Kids have moved on and bashing Star Wars isn't so in vogue.

    It's amazing all the amazing twists people will contort into... and quite amusing. "Well, episodes 1 and 2 sucked. ALL BECAUSE OF JAR JAR. I am so terribly aghast at his screentime that it ruins everything for me! Look at me! mememe!"

    or, perhaps "these two suck because Lucas wrote them himself, unlike ESB. I'm going to ignore ANH. Because it doesn't fit my point."

    or even "the romantic scenes suck! Because, ya know, the ones in the first trilogy were so wonderfully done!" They were pretty bad. Funny how immediacy seems to be much more relevant. Or perhaps its the construction of the first trilogy that people have created for themselves that put everything about it above reproach.

    In education, there is an "ideal draft" theory, that states, essentially, that when an instructor has an ideal essay on a particular subject in mind when reading/grading an assignment, both the instructor and student lose. We see the same sort of thing going on with star wars, by a lot of people that really should know better... when an "idea copy" of star wars has been created in one's mind, even if it is murky and nonspecific, nothing will ever hope to live up to it, and the experience is ruined, ie, fans whining and Lucas getting a lot of criticism.

    The real problem with actions along this theory, however, is that the more "disappointing" the movie is, the more disproportionally "bad" it ends up being in the reviewer's mind. Ergo, we have an annoying character becoming the most hated fictional character of all time, and a bunch of people talking about their childhood being ruined.

    Sure, I was disappointed, too. But this is a bit silly.

    1. Re:Bashing by dioscaido · · Score: 1, Insightful

      My head asplode reading your post... Ep. 1 and Ep. 2 are horrible movies. Dialog is bad, the story moves at a turtles pace, is (for the most part) boring as all hell, the acting is pitiful, etc... Yeah, the effects are NEATO, but a good movie that does not make. Just as you say that we bash it because it is a dissapointment to our expectations, the reverse holds true -- if our expectations weren't as high, and there wasn't a 'star wars' name attached to these films, they would have probably gotten even worse reviews, and been spectacular flops in the theatres.

    2. Re:Bashing by R.Caley · · Score: 1, Insightful
      You know what'll be awesome? A few years down the road, when maybe The Cool Kids have moved on and bashing Star Wars isn't so in vogue.

      When we can apreciate it for what it is as we do with Plan 9 From Outer Space.

      --
      _O_
      .|<
      The named which can be named is not the true named
    3. Re:Bashing by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 1

      right... and a new hope is soooooooooooooo good because it moves quickly. NOT

      --



      I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    4. Re:Bashing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a bunch of people talking about their childhood being ruined

      Actually, the word I read often on these discussions is that their childhood was "raped".

      I guess that proves your point even better.

    5. Re:Bashing by R.Caley · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The original movie was great because it took advantage of new effects technology to bring space opera to a generation which had not seen it before, and because Lucas was bright enough to pinch his story ideas from Campbell and Kurosawa and lots of old serials.

      ESB was good because Lucas had so little to do with it, and hired a real director.

      Jedi was crap because Lucas tried to make a movie, something he has no talent at.

      The prequels are just Lucas masturbating in public. Aparently he has no talent at thet either.

      --
      _O_
      .|<
      The named which can be named is not the true named
    6. Re:Bashing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Ergo, ...."

      Vesa Vee, Concordingly...

    7. Re:Bashing by bkr1_2k · · Score: 1

      I can't say I liked Jar Jar, because honestly the character annoyed the hell out of me. That's not what made the prequels bad. It wasn't even the acting, because we all know that the acting was pretty bad with the first three movies.

      The difference, however, is the chemistry between the actors. In the first three movies there was definite chemistry between the actors and the moments of tension between the characters felt more real because of it. In the new movies, there isn't any of that expressed on the screen. The acting is flat because it's flat, not because it's bad. I honestly believe that Lucas chose to have "poor acting" in the prequels to kind of fit along with the originals. He couldn't predict whether there would be good chemistry though, and he had to work with what he got. These movies were always about the effects anyway. I don't think, however, he's done his fans or himself any sort of service by doing so. Unless of course you consider him laughing all the way to the bank with your money a service.

      I'll probably go see this movie, and honestly it looks better to me than Episodes 1 and 2, but either way, I won't be happy about it unless the movie turns out far better than I expect it to.

      bkr

      --
      "Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
    8. Re:Bashing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lucas did not direct Jedi, which is what you seemed to be implying.

    9. Re:Bashing by R.Caley · · Score: 1
      Lucas did not direct Jedi, which is what you seemed to be implying.

      I didn't mean to. Jedi was still just about watchable because it had a director. But I believe Lucas had much more detailed involvement than his relatively hands-off aproach in ESB.

      --
      _O_
      .|<
      The named which can be named is not the true named
    10. Re:Bashing by Qbertino · · Score: 1

      "the romantic scenes suck! Because, ya know, the ones in the first trilogy were so wonderfully done!" They were pretty bad.

      I actually found the romatic scenes in the first triology (TNH,ESB,TROTJ) quite good. Yes I was between 11 and 13 back then, but I still consider them neat and fun to watch. The dialog wasn't half bad (allthough I just can recall the german dubbing, don't know about the english version for shure) It's things like Leia and Han's "I love you."-"I know." exchange across two movies, which I only really noticed 10 years later that give the whole flick a touch of sit-com/soap-opera that only fans will notice. Not to bad for a series of fun movies, imho.

      --
      We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
    11. Re:Bashing by sg3000 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      > In education, there is an "ideal draft" theory, that states,
      > essentially, that when an instructor has an ideal essay on a
      > particular subject in mind when reading/grading an
      > assignment, both the instructor and student lose.

      There's also some psychology in this, too.

      Familiarity makes you more inclined to like something.

      For example, experiments were done where people were shown a stack of photographs and were asked to rate the photographs in terms of how flattering they were to the subject. The stack included a photo of themselves. In the control group, their photo was normal, but with the experimental group, their photo was a mirror image (flopped, in photography parlance).

      The experimental group statistically rated their photos higher. The reasoning was that the flopped image is what you see when you look in a mirror -- that is, you see yourself in the mirror more often than as you actually are, so you are more familar with that image of yourself.

      So, not surprisingly, the original trilogy is more familiar to people then the new trilogy. Moreover, I think than when some fans actually saw Episodes I and II, it did not live up to expectations, and people disliked them more than they would have otherwise. As for the rest of the crowd, not surprisingly, most people are fair weather fans: they saw Episode IV because of the hype and they saw Episode I because of the hype. Although I didn't run across this list adjusted for inflation, the box office sales indicate this as well, with the best sellers being Episode IV, Episode I, Episode II, Episode VI, and finally Episode V.

      Going back to familiarity, think about when you're in a restaurant, and you order an iced tea, and the waiter accidentally brings you a Coke. That first taste is awful! Not because the Coke was bad, but because you were expecting iced tea. Once you know what to expect, even the second sip will taste better.

      I think many fans had played up what they thought the prequels would be like, but when Lucas delivered, it wasn't what they were expecting, and they got angry. There are probably some other reasons why people didn't like the movies (one of which is probably the fact that Lucas's insights on proto-fascism might be turning some people off as well)

      I enjoyed the movies, I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and Episode II is my favorite out of the five I've seen. The new movies are flawed, but so were the old ones. All five of them have wit, low-brow humor, great special effects, cheesy special effects, memorable dialog, and groan-worthy dialog. However, I think Lucas is tying together two themes. First, he describes an almost-utopia into a dystopia, and its effort to rise again. Second, the story is about a good character gone bad and how they can be redeemed. The fact that those two themes are in a story arc that are carried though a thirty year effort shows Lucas' movies haven't actually changed much at all.

      --
      Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
    12. Re:Bashing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You know what'll be awesome? A few years down the road, when maybe The Cool Kids have moved on and bashing Star Wars isn't so in vogue.
      We don't bash Star Wars because we're cool. We bash Star Wars because the movies AREN'T.
    13. Re:Bashing by kiwidefunkt · · Score: 1

      But this is a bit silly. Star Wars Episode I and Episode II sucked. Nothing silly about that. Next quest, please.

      --
      www.kiwilyrics.com - a wiki for lyrics
    14. Re:Bashing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dialog is bad, the story moves at a turtles pace, is (for the most part) boring as all hell, the acting is pitiful, etc

      wait, I lost track, where you describing ANH or the prequils...

    15. Re:Bashing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yeah, certain people point to the jar jar character as their source of annoyance, but to me it was Lucas trashing the entire series.

      its not just what he's done with the current three movies, its what he went back and did to all the previous ones--the whole obliteration of the feel of the film with the CGI crap. And I'm sorry but CGI for the most part is total crap. CGI is so completely distracting for me. In Attack of the Clones, I never once felt our "heroes" were in danger. Nah, its just CGI bots, no worries.

      but don't kid yourself, the "prequels" really are bad film.

      non-linear examples that come to mind aside from jar jar include the pod-races complete with a howard cosell like announcer, the most woodenly horrible romantic dialogue maybe ever, a bad guy who we have to call Poodoo, a gladiator like scene with giant cats who kill...it goes on and on.

      thank for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. They are indeed the Star Wars for the new generation.

    16. Re:Bashing by Minupla · · Score: 1

      I'm going to stick my head out and instead of flaming you, agree. People tend to view the past with a lovely hazey glow. I watched ANH right before episode 1. Themes that had seemed to me, at age 8, to be complex and deep now seemed obvious and underdeveloped. Ep1 is no great work of art, don't get me wrong, but nor was the original trilogy. Go to the movies for what they are, escapism. Or don't if you don't like them. But don't decide to pay your money just so you have a license to complain later. If it's a waste of time, don't spend your time doing it.

      Simple, no?

      Min

      --
      On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
  38. Content to rating by JoshNorton · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, that's good - now we know exactly what rating "scenes of dropping someone in a flaming pit of lava" gets you.

    --
    "Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid stupid! I touched the hot wire right there - I'm an idiot!"
    1. Re:Content to rating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Two thumbs down?

    2. Re:Content to rating by geek_xyu · · Score: 1

      Could it also be because Vader might beat his pregnant wife in this film? Just a guess.

      I didn't like Jar Jar either but seeing him for a single second in this film even if he is getting killed is too much screen time.

      I would also at this time like to make the prediction that Vader versus Mace Windu in a pod race to the death. Why else would they have introduced pod racing to Episode 1 if they weren't going to revisit it.. Pod racing is very crucial to the star wars franchise, joking of coarse.

    3. Re:Content to rating by Atrax · · Score: 1

      well, from the prequels, I had inferred that Vader didn't actually know she was pregnant, so presumably, unless it's explicitly put forth in the plot (duh), then he wouldn't be 'beating his pregnant wife'

      OK, admittedly, if this scene exists, it's still wife beating, which sucks. but your post seems to imply the pregnancy thing as the abhorent bit...?

      --
      Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
    4. Re:Content to rating by geek_xyu · · Score: 1

      I'm just simply stating that when rating movies they usually read pretty close between the lines. They would see any abuse to Amidala/Padmé from Vader as spousal abuse or possibly murder to a pregnant woman. I don't see anything right about beating any woman regardless as status of being your wife but the pregnancy tops it off in the eyes of anyone.

    5. Re:Content to rating by Alphi1 · · Score: 1
      Well, that's good - now we know exactly what rating "scenes of dropping someone in a flaming pit of lava" gets you.

      Isn't that one of the things that got Indiana Jones Temple of Doom into such trouble, causing the CREATION of the PG-13 rating?

    6. Re:Content to rating by JoshNorton · · Score: 1
      No, no, no - that was "scenes of jamming a hand into a chest, withdrawing the still-beating heart, showing it to the victim, THEN lowering them into a flaming pit of lava". It's a subtle but important difference.

      Alternately, there's also the note of "scenes of Kate Capshaw. That's it. Isn't Kate Capshaw ENOUGH?" That could have been what pushed the discussion...

      (Honestly, though - while I think that the MPAA's rating system is (at BEST) seriously flawed, I'm not surprised that Ep.3 is PG-13. If it WEREN'T that dark, I'd have even less respect for Lucas's current works than I do now.)

      --
      "Stupid! Stupid stupid stupid stupid! I touched the hot wire right there - I'm an idiot!"
  39. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by genrader · · Score: 1

    I'd rather my kids watch violence than sex.

  40. It is rated that way because of Darth Vader.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..as I can imagine he says the work "fuck" quite often while getting boiled in the hot lava.

    1. Re:It is rated that way because of Darth Vader.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ..as I can imagine he says the work "fuck" quite often while getting boiled in the hot lava.

      "You may have won, but they'll never show my downfall in American cinemas if I say 'fuck' often enough. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! Oh, and Jesus evolved from primordial amoeba. Let's see them show THAT!"

  41. I've heard... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've heard that its rated PG-13 because they will show the full birthing scene of luke and leia from the viewpoint of the ob-gyn.

    Once the fanboys see a full-on birth, that will make them just that much more scared of girls and sex.

    1. Re:I've heard... by cno3 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ob-Gyn? Is he that new CGI robot guy?

      "Push! Push! Use the force!"

    2. Re:I've heard... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Help me, Obi-Gyn Kenobi, you're my only hope.

    3. Re:I've heard... by _LMark · · Score: 0
      --
      'the Internet is right.'
  42. No effect to slashdotters by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... they were going with their parents anyway!!!

  43. You mean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean after you find a girl and figure out what to do to have babies?

    1. Re:You mean... by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

      Zing!

      Seriously, what's wrong with sex? It's something I'm told people do ... arrg ... and really "tv violence" amounts to REALLY POOR ACTING. 9 times out of ten you can see they missed the connection [e.g. for a kick or punch] and gun violence is about as hard as making a double whopper is hard for a teenager with an IQ of a double dozen. ...

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  44. Of course you will. by Rufus88 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm still going to pay to see it

    Of course you will. He'll be wiping his ass with the money you paid for the ticket.

    1. Re:Of course you will. by shaitand · · Score: 1

      hmm that would be a rather intriguing paradox. I really would pay to see an already made film showing someone wiping their ass with the money I paid to see the film! The physics nerds would go on about that for quite some time I imagine.

  45. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or breasts.

  46. [rolling eyes] by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sonny boy,

    All the star wars movies were for kids, all the way from the first one to the last one.

    1. Re:[rolling eyes] by the_womble · · Score: 2, Insightful

      OK I could have phrased that better. The original Star Wars films were kids films an adult could enjoy, the new ones are kids films ONLY a child can enjoy.

  47. For those outside the US... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...who haven't a clue what "PG-13" means, here are some useful links:-

    Overview of MPAA ratings
    G and PG in detail
    PG-13 upwards in detail

    Basically, PG-13 means you *can* get in if you are under 13; as far as I can tell, no accompaniment is required. It differs from the US PG rating in that it is a stronger warning that the material *may* be unsuitable for under 13s.

    This makes it somewhere between the UK (and US's) PG rating and the UK's 12A (which requires accompaniment by an adult if you are under 12).

    It shouldn't be assumed that the film will be a 12A in the UK though; if the rating was as a result of sex or language, then the BBFC might judge it differently.

    1. Re:For those outside the US... by tmleafsar · · Score: 1

      Most theatres will require it though.

      Many of the local theatres wouldn't let me in without a parent. 'Course, they had no real way of knowing if I was over or under 13, so they might have just assumed because I was smaller. *shrug*

    2. Re:For those outside the US... by tmleafsar · · Score: 1

      Then again, this was 8-9 years ago, too. I'm happy to report I'm not under 13 anymore. ;-)

    3. Re:For those outside the US... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why the heck do we care about those nutcases.

      This isn't one of those situations where it might be nice to be understanding of their stupidity so they can look up to us for positive reinforcement of their stupidity.

  48. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by ray-auch · · Score: 1

    "breasts" is a naughty word.

  49. AIEEEE!!! by TheConfusedOne · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well thanks a ton, now I've got a stupid mental image of Ani going, "I'm Bat...errr...Darth Vader."

    Hmm, maybe "Darth and the Giant Peach-Shaped Death Star" will be next?

    --
    --- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
  50. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by R.Caley · · Score: 1
    I'd rather my kids watch violence than sex.

    Fortunatly, no matter how weird you are, the odds are your kids will grow up more or less sane. If kids weren't amazingly resilaint in the face of insane parents we'd have been extinct before we got out of the great rift valley.

    --
    _O_
    .|<
    The named which can be named is not the true named
  51. Why not XXX? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd like that with Natalie Portman.

  52. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why on earth are you calling it a "Space Opera". Call the movie a motion picture if you must, but not a "Space Opera" . It's got nothing to do with the musical art of opera and making a false association won't help the chances of this movie being a success.

    Well, if you want to be a pedant like that, it doesn't feature George Lucas taking a dump either, so they can't call it a "motion" picture, can they?

  53. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by debilo · · Score: 1

    May I touch your naughty words?

  54. On an 8 year old level... by geoffrobinson · · Score: 4, Interesting

    the original trilogy never had enough Jedi action to satisfy me. That alone makes the new trilogy worthwhile.

    Your point is valid. Episode I wasn't great but not as horrible as people make it out to be. II was good, but not incredible. Very fun.

    I think part of the problem is that this trilogy doesn't have the "hero's journey" story line which people just naturally love. It must be in our DNA or something.

    And there is no way getting around dealing with Palpatine's rise as well.

    I can't think of a better Episode I or II plot outline, so I'll just enjoy them. Episode III looks great, but even if it isn't...there will be plenty of Jedi action.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
    1. Re:On an 8 year old level... by geoffrobinson · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Oh, one more thing. If you take the score away from the original movies and they may have been considered really bad films. Williams' score really set the mood well.

      --
      Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
    2. Re:On an 8 year old level... by Gulik · · Score: 1

      the original trilogy never had enough Jedi action to satisfy me. That alone makes the new trilogy worthwhile.

      Honestly, that's one of the few good things I took away with me from Phantom Menace. In the original trilogy, yeah, okay, Yoda was pretty cool and Luke eventually became so, but I just didn't understand why everyone was so impressed with Jedi knights.

      Then, in Menace, you have a pair of Jedi who can just mow down cadres of droids, and prove to be essentially unhittable no matter how many blasters are firing at them at the same time. Oh, okay, now I see why Jedi filled the bad guys with butt-puckering terror.

    3. Re:On an 8 year old level... by argent · · Score: 1

      I can't think of a better Episode I or II plot outline

      Leaving out C3PO and R2D2 would have been an instant win. They're only there for geek fan service, and they don't need to be there and don't make a lot of sense unless you have them basically being killed (wiped, reprogrammed, whatever) which is a pretty cold thing to do to such likable and inexplicably lucky characters. The droids also made Anakin too much a polymath... Darth Vader is powerful in the force, charismatic, and a whiz-bang pilot, but there's no indication in the original series that he's a freakishly brilliant technical guy as well. It's unnecessary (even for the pod racing sequence) and only there to retcon the droids in.

    4. Re:On an 8 year old level... by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      I always thought that Episode 1 really make the Jedi look terrible.

      Ok, so Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan can hold their breath, and mow down an army of Droids.

      Then, when they get to a locked door, rather than Qui-Gonn closing his eyes, focusing on one of the bridge crewers, and having him open the door, he sticks his lightsabre in.

      Next, when confronted by two droids, they consider it a 'stand off.' Oh, noes, they have shields. Use the damn Force to, oh, knock them ass-over-teakettle, bend the barrels of their blasters, cut their power cords, SOMETHING.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  55. RE: Revenge of Sith not first by Veretax · · Score: 1, Informative

    I am afraid the article is wrong. Return of the Jedi was also rated PG-13. This was largely due to the swimsuitesque outfit that Carrie Fisher wore while in the clutches of the Vile Gangster Jabba the Hutt. Frankly there is a lot more violence in this movie then you might think. Light sabering through battle droids is one thing, light sabering through humanoid characters is another.

  56. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why on earth are you calling it a "Space Opera". Call the movie a motion picture if you must, but not a "Space Opera". It's got nothing to do with the musical art of opera and making a false association won't help the chances of this movie being a success.

    Well neither does "Soap Opera", and it's a reference to that.

  57. Re: Revenge of Sith not first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I first PG-13 movie was Red Dawn in 1984. ROTJ came out in 1983.

  58. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by chrisnewbie · · Score: 1

    Man this is a sci-fi movie and it's Star Wars. Since when George Lucas did a movie with extreme violence or nudity?
    He has a hard time directing actors and creating good dialogue, imagine a sex scene or gratuous violence.
    And if it bothers the religious groups in the u.s WHO CARES!!!!

  59. Re:first post! by Jedi+Alec · · Score: 1

    Episode 3.5: When Sith play Scrabble.

    --

    People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
  60. Re: Revenge of Sith not first - actually, it is by mstandfest · · Score: 5, Informative
    actually, it is the first pg-13

    Return of the Jedi (1983)
    Action/Adventure and Science Fiction/Fantasy 2 hrs. 13 min. In the epic conclusion of the Star Wars saga, the Empire prepares to crush the Rebellion with a more powerful Death Star while the Rebel fleet mounts a massive attack on the space station. Luke Skywalker confronts his father Darth Vader in a final climactic duel before the evil Emperor. Release Date: May 25, 1983 Nationwide; March 14, 1997 Re-release. MPAA Rating: PG for sci-fi action violence. Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox

    http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=18001 11258

  61. Actually... by OzRoy · · Score: 4, Funny

    it's got a higher rating because of all the swearing a cursing the audience will be shouting out in disgust as they watch the movie.

  62. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by R.Caley · · Score: 1
    After all, it seems somehow "okay" to expose kids to violence in the states. Sex is a whole other thing...

    Unfortunatly, if you base a culture on trying to hide sex and replace it with violence, you end up in a state where sex isn't a whole other thing, but mixed up with violence in far too many heads.

    Way back when there used to be an observation that the difference between US en European TV was that in the US you couldn't show a breast being kissed, but you could show it being stabbed, and in Europe the oposite was true. Europe has got a bit less restrictive about violence, and the US has got rather more uptight about sex since then.

    --
    _O_
    .|<
    The named which can be named is not the true named
  63. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by zoomba · · Score: 4, Funny

    What about Soap Operas? Not much singing in them either. I think it more refers to the drama aspect.

    Today's troll education moment brought to you by the letter "L" for Loser. Remember kids, only losers troll.

  64. PG-13 by FLOOBYDUST · · Score: 1

    May the farce be with you.

  65. Does This Mean... by Chris+Snook · · Score: 1

    ...that Han gets to shoot first this time?

    --
    There's no failure quite as dissatisfying as a complete and total solution to the wrong problem.
  66. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by Chainsaw76 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here, I will use YOUR source.
    Space Opera

    Any Questions?

    -Jason

  67. Not the conclusion... by argent · · Score: 1

    George promised 9 episodes. Unless the Star Wars Christmas Specials count, this is only the 6th.

    But maybe we're better off if he stops here, so that someone else can do the third thrilogy.

    1. Re:Not the conclusion... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But maybe we're better off if he stops here, so that someone else can do the third thrilogy.

      Personally, I regard the Timothy Zahn books as the third trilogy. However, if someone made film versions of those books, AND they had respect for the material like Peter Jackson did for LOTR, that might work.

    2. Re:Not the conclusion... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Sadly, I doubt it would work. The Timothy Zahn books (at least, the Heir to the Empire trilogy) are pretty good, particularly compared to the dismal standard of most of the other Star Wars books, but they wouldn't make good movies.

      Zahn's world is very different from the one envisioned by the original movies. He deals much more in politics and intruige than in lightsabre-battles and spaceships blowing up. Of course, Lucas tried to go into this territory with the prequels (and I suspect ep 3 will be no different) and what resulted was an exposition-heavy mess.

      Fundamentally, some concepts which work in a book won't work on the big screen. Just fitting one the Heir to the Empire books into a reasonable movie length (anything under three hours, for example) would mean gutting them of much of their content and either slimming the plot down beyond recognition, or leaving plot holes large enough to fly a Star Destroyer through. I can see the Hollywood blockbuster-machine going either way on that, but either option would suck.

      Of course, there's also the fact that Lucas's refusal to regard anything except the other movies (and sometimes not even these) as canon. Much of the content of episodes 1 and 2 flatly contradicts some of the events in the Heir to the Empire books, particularly the bits relating to clones and cloning (the Heir to the Empire books assumes that the clones were unleashed *against* the Republic).

      With the vast amount of "official" Star Wars material out there and the staggeringly low quality of most of it (particularly anything that was in any way influenced by Kevin J. Anderson), it's understandable that Lucas wouldn't have wanted to be completely hedged in. However, it is a pity that he didn't feel like being more co-operative with some of the better authors.

      Sorry, this has turned into an entirely different rant to the one I started out with. Please feel free to mod me off-topic.

    3. Re:Not the conclusion... by txmadman · · Score: 1

      I vote for Peter Jackson.

    4. Re:Not the conclusion... by argent · · Score: 1

      Peter Sellers wouldn't have been half bad...

      "I'd like a errhm for my druhhhd."
      "A what...?"
      "A errrhm... for me... and my druhhhd."
      "Your what...?"

    5. Re:Not the conclusion... by Bill+Kendrick · · Score: 1

      Yeah, is it nine, or is it six? I remember hearing 9 WAY back when Jedi was still newish (long before "Episode: Crap"). As much as I dislike Eps 1 and 2, I have hopes for 3, and would feel sad if we don't get 7, 8 and 9, like I always thought we would. :^)

      -bill!
      (should I be using roman numerals?)

    6. Re:Not the conclusion... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lucas has tossed the idea around for years, but in recent years he has said repeatedly (and even reiterated publicly just in the past week or so) that he definitely will not do episodes 7-9.

    7. Re:Not the conclusion... by argent · · Score: 1

      Lucas ... will not do episodes 7-9.

      OK, how about the Wacharski Brothers then?

      "Mister... Skywalker. It seems... you have been leading... two lives...."

    8. Re:Not the conclusion... by wmspringer · · Score: 1

      If you did episodes 7-9, though, you'd need whole new characters (or at least actors)

      Can you imagine Harrison Ford playing Han Solo now?

    9. Re:Not the conclusion... by argent · · Score: 1

      If you did episodes 7-9, though, you'd need whole new characters

      Keanu Reeves as Han Solo.
      McCauly Culkin as Luke Skywalker. ...

    10. Re:Not the conclusion... by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      It could be done, but they'd make a better long mini-series than movie trilogy.

      Much of the content of episodes 1 and 2 flatly contradicts some of the events in the Heir to the Empire books, particularly the bits relating to clones and cloning (the Heir to the Empire books assumes that the clones were unleashed *against* the Republic).

      Bah. Just put in a throwaway line, like 'Too bad we'll never know how much of these history books are just so much vapor that the Emperor's cronies put in to make him look good.'

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
  68. They need to do a remake by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Of the photos of her picking her butt and then smelling her finger.

  69. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 2, Informative

    After all, it seems somehow "okay" to expose kids to violence in the states. Sex is a whole other thing...

    I understand the origin of a few of the popular myths on /., but this one continues to baffle me (Although my working theory is that folks want to think of Americans as war-mongering, self-righteous Puritans, and this idea plays nicely into that stereotype). Do I need to find a /. story or two about parent groups trying to ban or restrict violent video games to convince you that this is far from being universally accepted in real life, particularly among the same types of people who complained the most about the nipple?

  70. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by Phekko · · Score: 1

    Hmm... Opera. Let's see

    Horrible plot, check
    Silly costumes, check
    Villains with insane egoes, agendas and manners, check

    Ok, so it doesn't have a fat lady who sings (I hope) but that's about the only difference.

    --

    Sigs for Nerds. Sigs that Matter.
  71. re: oh boo hoo by ed.han · · Score: 2, Insightful

    actually, i think this is very interesting. while SW is traditionally PG, things like the ewoks of ROTJ & jar-jar binks have opened lucas to charges of pandering to kids. while i think that's unavoidable, given the marketing power of the star wars brand, i also think that this is an effort to help shield lucas from that particular charge.

    that said, it's almost certainly going to be the darkest of the movies, what w/ the fall of anakin to the dark side & all.

    ed

  72. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Ok, so it doesn't have a fat lady who sings (I hope) but that's about the only difference."

    Apart from the most obvious one that in this particular movie nobody sings whereas in an opera nobody talks.

  73. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    There is a plethora of CS:S servers that enforce language banning. I asked why it was not OK to swear in a game that involves such gratuitous violence, to which I was replied, "The swearing is real, the violence is not." I don't think I need to comment further. Sigh!

  74. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by sonamchauhan · · Score: 1

    Here's hoping your kids are resilient.

  75. A Marketing Ploy by rinkjustice · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Pure and simple, the PG-13 rating is meant to garner more attention and speculation. Otherwise, Revenge of the Sith's opening would be the worst ever for a Star Wars movie.

    Kinda clever if you ask me.

  76. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Atrax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In my experience, kids are generally just grossed out by sex.

    Oh crap that sounds REALLY bad. Let me rephrase.

    Kids in the playground will play cowboys and indians (or the politically correct modern equivalent of a battle scene) until the cows come home. Put them in front of a film with a sex scene, however, and they'll generally feel uncomfortable at best or start making retching noises at worst.

    I'm sure as everyone reading this as a kid knows, the opposite sex was a difficult subject best ignored. Girls tend to think of boys as 'yucky' and boys generally only get on well with 'tomboys'. with exceptions of course.

    hell, I've landed a hot potato here, haven't I?

    Anyway, parent poster:

    I'd rather my kids watch violence than sex..

    They'd prefer it too. Guaranteed. They won't get intrigued by sex until until their hormones go insane, at which time you should be doing some parenting rather than just dragging them to movies and hoping they pick up the basics. But they love violence at any age, mostly.

    When young, the distinction takes care of itself. when they hit puberty though, you've had 12-15 years of experince with them to get an idea how to deal with it. One thing though, once they hit the point of interest, that's no time to carry on relying on the kids' own 'yuck' reflex. At that point, they need proper, practical information which they can rely on and believe in, otherwise there's a whole new can of worms about to spill all over the family floor.

    don't forget, as with all things, this post deals in generalities. specific instances require specific action - hence attentive parenting.

    --
    Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  77. YEAH! by WormholeFiend · · Score: 0

    I wanna see some hot, throbbing lightsaber ACTION!

    1. Re:YEAH! by PriceIke · · Score: 1

      This whole thread has just gone PG-13 ....

      --
      It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
    2. Re:YEAH! by Fizzog · · Score: 1

      "hot, throbbing lightsaber ACTION!"

      Reminds me of a radio ad back in the late 70's in Australia:

      'Girls. Do want something hot, red, and throbbing between your legs?

      Then get yourself a Honda motorbike!'

  78. So much for darkness.. by Snaller · · Score: 1

    ... and the hope that JarJar would be stepped upon by an ATAT.

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    1. Re:So much for darkness.. by LeapingQuince · · Score: 1

      I wonder how this would look on the big screen - it seems hard to imagine a giant telecom like AT&T squashing JarJar.

  79. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by gowen · · Score: 2, Funny
    "ooooooh Anakin, what a bright gloiwing knob you've got"
    Thanks. I've named it Obi-Wang.

    /rimshot.

    --
    Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
  80. A not-so-silly examination of 4-6's strengths by aendeuryu · · Score: 0

    ANH: George Lucas allowed himself to be influenced by theories that actually had some depth to them -- ie: Joseph Campbell's ideas of the Hero's Journey, which contain motifs common to Hero-based mythology that speak to what we believe to be important developmental processes for people (accepting the journey, baptism and initiation into manhood, accepting responsibility, etc.). Some interesting themes involving the triumph of nature over the powers of technology. Pretty good performances all around. Plus, Han's a badass who shoots first.

    ESB: George Lucas allowed himself to be removed from the director's duty, and a dark film evolves that involves betrayal, torture, dismemberment, a capture of one of the main heroes, an unbelievable (familial) link between the evil and good side of the conflict, further Jungian themes expounded upon involving facing our demons and seeing that they are us, and some Freudian ideas involving the idea of the son vs. the father that date back to classical Greek mythology. Plus, Han's damn cool. I mean, come on. "I love you!" "I know." We should all give our left nut to be so suave.

    ROTJ: Ok, not so much on the deep literary side, but all-in-all it's good, clean, furry fun. For all the haters, you have to admit that there was a lot of satisfaction watching those walkers on Endor getting trounced by midgets in bear suits, never mind one of the great space battles ever. Plus, Han ends up with the chick who you KNOW is going to pull that gold bikini out in the bedroom from time to time.

    TPM: A horrible attempt to combine the Immaculate Conception with ridiculous faux-scientific explanations of the force. No sense of metaphor, horrible dialogue, awful performances by otherwise talented actors. Derivative, not creative, aliens whose characteristics border on racist allusions to our own reality. Plus, no Han Solo. Instead, we get "Meesa show you! Meesa show you!"

    Basically, the first three movies appealed on multiple levels, all the way from the intellectuals (creaming their jeans over what is essentially a combination of classical studies with sci-fi) to the kids (lasers and explosions). Episode 1 had only visceral appeal, with the one potentially metaphorical bit handled so blatantly and awkwardly you had to practically dodge in your seat to keep from being hit over the head by it.

    Didn't fork over money for Episode 2. Lucas's first strike was destroying the original trilogy in the remakes. Strike 2 was Episode 1. Strike 3 is for baseball and masochists. The Two Towers got my money that summer.

  81. Sith Happens by Ranger · · Score: 1

    PG-13? Darn. No Princess Amidala shower scenes. The trailer for Episode III looks awesome, but so did the trailers for I & II. I'll go see it of course. Oh well. The final battle scene will probably be reminiscent of the final battle scene of all five previous Star Wars movies.

    --
    "You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
    1. Re:Sith Happens by Winterblink · · Score: 1

      It might, it might not. To date most of the Star Wars films have ended on a generally upbeat note. Episode 5 ended on a generally ominous note, but you knew things were going to pick up with the next episode. Knowing where the series goes from the end of part 3 onward, we know that he final battle will probably NOT go all that well for the heroes.

      --
      "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
      -Hoban Washburn
  82. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by FidelCatsro · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can rip out a persons spine so-long as

    1: They do not swear when your doing it
    2: You dont see any skin associated with the lower back / chest/crotch
    3: They do not say "Save me *deity or scientific theory*"
    4: The person does not make any racial or gender related comments

    so basicaly when you have the guys spine ripped out the script should be changed from
    " aghhhh sh*t ...You alien bast*rd ,Ill see you in Hell aghhhh"
    to a much more demographicaly freindly
    "Oh fiddle-dee-dee , I am upset with you species of unkown origion ..ugh i am dying .. possible universal question of what is next agh"

    --
    The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
  83. Re:Oh boo hoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You say that like it's a bad thing.

  84. The only downside... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are all of the chatty teenagers in the theatre.

    Oh well, guess that means a few more complimentary passes at the end of the night.

  85. a response in poetry by Savatte · · Score: 2, Funny

    Roses are red
    violets are blue
    toddlers doesn't exactly rhyme with alzheimers
    but who says good poetry has to rhyme?

    1. Re:a response in poetry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Roses are red
      violets are blue
      toddlers doesn't exactly rhyme with alzheimers
      but who says good poetry has to rhyme?
      I do.

  86. Re:Oh boo hoo by PriceIke · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    PG-13 is the new R-rating. R has become the new NC-17. Hollywood knows no limits to its sleaze-factor. They couldn't even resist working insipid sex jokes, that had nothing to do with plot or character, into Miss Congeniality and its sequel.

    For Star Wars to get a PG-13 it means there's either a sex scene or intense violence. I certainly hope it would be the latter, but I don't trust Lucas' judgement these days, if the previous two "episodes" are any indication.

    --
    It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
  87. Forget photos, if your the director.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and didn't get head or fuck out of the deal, seek a new line of employment.

  88. You lie you anti-semite! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    liar!

  89. Here's a darker little poet tonight... by nounderscores · · Score: 4, Funny

    have you ever been hated or discriminated against?
    I have I've been hunted and wanted in the exterminated sense.
    Seismic mines for my jedi mind. Look at the times. Sick is the mind of the sentator that's behind
    all this conflict destructive. enough is too much as planets explodin'. Tempers flaring with Windu.
    Just blow him off and keep goin' not taking nothin from no-one.
    Giving help long after not breathin'.
    keep kickin ass in the morning, an' taking names in the evening
    leavingm with a taste as sour as Dagobah in their mouth.
    See they can trigger me but they can never figure me out look at me now, I betya probably sick of me now.
    Aint you Yoda? Ima make you look so ridiculous now

    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.
    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.

    Verse 2
    you got a skeleton in a cave I don't know if anyone knows it.
    But before they throw my robes out of an airlock and close it
    I'ma expose it.
    I'll take you back a hundred years or three before I ever had an Artoo-Dee
    Too. met this slave boy, must have been a few cycles old.
    Owned by Watto who didn't want him sold.
    He's the shit. I mean that boy could really fly.
    I guess that's because he's the livin' breathin force that's why.
    I look at Anni and I couldn't picture leaving his side.
    Even if he was full of fear, I'd grit my teeth and I'd try
    to make it work with him at least for Qui-gon's sake.
    Maybe I made some mistakes, but I'm only human. And I'm jedi enough to try to will them away.
    What I did was reckless, no doubt that it was dumb.
    But the smartest shit I ever did was learn to chop off arms. cuz he'd a killed us.
    Shit, he would have shot Luke an me both. It's my life, far far away, a long long time ago.

    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.
    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.

    Verse 3
    now I would never diss my own master
    just to get some recognition, maybe Qui-gon might,
    because he wouldn't listen and he was always dissin'.
    But put yourself in my position.
    Just try to envision witnessin' yo master struggle
    with simple levitation, bitchin' that "against us the force is"
    and our archives have somethin' missin'.
    Goin' through all the star systems, victim of force-unbalanced syndrome.
    My whole life I was made to believe that I was strong when I wasn't. Until I grew up,
    now I blew up.
    It makes you sick to your stomach.
    Doesn't it?
    wasn't that the reason you made that knighthood for me, Da?
    So you could try to justify the way you treated me, Da? Utinni!
    You're gettin older and it's cold when you're squattin'.
    An Luke's gettin up so quick, he's gonna go,
    you can't hold him. And Anni's getting so big now,
    you should see him, he's a sith lord.
    But you never see him. He won't even be at your funeral.
    See what hurts me the most is you won't admit you was wrong. Go disappear. Keep telling yourself that you was master here.
    But how dare you try to blame me for what you helped to set up. E chu ta!
    I hope you get eaten by the Sarlac for that. Remember when Darth Maul died and you sorta wished it was me?
    Well, guess what, I AM dead - more powerful than you could forsee!

    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.
    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.
    I said, I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.
    I'm sorry Yoda.
    I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.

    from amiright com.

    1. Re:Here's a darker little poet tonight... by gg3po · · Score: 1

      This reminds me of the Star Wars gangsta rap.

      --
      ---
    2. Re:Here's a darker little poet tonight... by gg3po · · Score: 1

      Sorry for replying to my own post, but I just realized I linked to the wrong version. The Star Wars Gangsta Rap Special Edition music video is much cooler. Enjoy!

      --
      ---
    3. Re:Here's a darker little poet tonight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Skywalker.

      It goes MUCH better if you make it "I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry but tonight I'm training Luke Skywalker." No sense of rhythm you have.

  90. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by stlhawkeye · · Score: 5, Insightful
    They'd prefer it too. Guaranteed. They won't get intrigued by sex until until their hormones go insane, at which time you should be doing some parenting rather than just dragging them to movies and hoping they pick up the basics. But they love violence at any age, mostly.

    Violence is a part of basic survival instincts, and play involving the miming of violence and conflict is not only normal and prevelent in thousands of species, it's probably a healthy outlet. You have to remember that we're not really that far removed from young boys learning to hunt things down with spears basically as soon as they are old enough to know to keep quiet. We're not talking millions of years here, we're talking thousands of years ago. As little as a few hundred years ago, most boys learned how to shoot a rifle. Why? Same reason we all know how to operate a motor vehicle - you need to know how to do it to get by.

    The instinct to mime violence can be witnesses on Animal Planet during any number of specials on nearly any mammal. Put two dogs together, what's the first thing they do? Run around and try to bite each other. They're playing, but they're also mimicking basic pack/hunting mentality. They're establishing the alpha dog through mimed violence.

    Sex, however, doesn't become interesting until later in life.

    I still blame American's ridiculous shame in its own sexuality on coaching from the religious right and the Puritan foundations of the country, but it's not like there's NO GOOD REASON why kids absorb violence more easily than sexuality. Seeing an exposed nipple during the Super Bowl isn't going to damage any of their precious little mental circuits. Nudity doesn't have to equate to sexuality. America hasn't figured that out yet.

    --
    "I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
  91. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by metamatic · · Score: 3, Funny
    At that point, they need proper, practical information which they can rely on and believe in, otherwise there's a whole new can of worms about to spill all over the family floor.

    Like in "Eraserhead".

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  92. These fans will probably be first in queue.... by BigBadBus · · Score: 1
    ....as long as they're at the right theater of course.

    Fans

  93. ITS BECAUSE QUAIGON BECOMES YODAS MASTER!!!!!!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    spoiler, fool.

  94. Urban Myth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yup, you're remembering an urban myth.

    Some theaters received early posters (aka "one sheet") with the "Revenge of the Jedi" title. One near me still has theirs on display.

  95. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by LarsWestergren · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Kids in the playground will play cowboys and indians (or the politically correct modern equivalent of a battle scene) until the cows come home. Put them in front of a film with a sex scene, however, and they'll generally feel uncomfortable at best or start making retching noises at worst.

    You are oversimplifying. Adult sexuality will confuse kids yes, but a lot of kids do play "sex" games with each other long before puberty. I know I did. Most kids are curious about things like that, or at least their own bodies. Tell me you haven't heard of the game "you show me yours, and I'll show you mine"?

    Talking about kids and sex is a hot potato though, I agree... lest anyone think I am defending paedophilia, that is horribly and utterly wrong, and it is not what I'm talking about.

    But they love violence at any age, mostly.

    Kids love action and running around, they have a lot of energy. Saying that this means they like violence is wrong. Put them in front of a film showing real voilence I think you will find they won't like it.

    With regards to the general discussion, my belief is that any culture that accepts violence and looks down on love and sex is utterly sick.

    --

    Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die

  96. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by first.last · · Score: 0

    Its actually for the secret love scene between Padme and Mace Windu. How else do you explain Princess Leia's fine ass?

    --
    Wishing I was a millionaire since 1969.
  97. Finally! by DarthVain · · Score: 1

    Finally we can a have Mace Windo that can say "Shut the fuck up muther fucker!" in a lightsaber battle! I for one think this this already elevates this movie over the first two.

    http://www.celebritysoundboards.com/sjackson.htm l

    Please someone sumbit some dialogue, my brain has turned to mush just now.

    1. Re:Finally! by DeVryGuy23 · · Score: 1

      Actually no. You can say the f-word exactly once before jumping from PG-13 to R.

    2. Re:Finally! by bawdymonkey · · Score: 1

      Nah....What we're all waiting for is, "Say meesa again motherfscker!"

  98. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Atrax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    a lot of kids do play "sex" games with each other long before puberty

    Doctors and Nurses, right?

    yeah, sure. it's furtive but innocent. Kids at that age have no damn clue though, and luckily for parents there seems to be a window between the 'kid' games and the later genuine interest phase, which is what parents need to spot (and will spot), and take as a cue to actually start talking to their kids about responsible sex.

    Now how to actually go about that, hell, in our current society it's difficult to see quite how to deal with it. I'm for openness with my kids, when they make it to that point. I can't expect my kids to make correct choices without information. But of course we're going hellishly off-topic. maybe this is one for Plastic?

    --
    Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  99. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Atrax · · Score: 1

    Like in "Eraserhead".

    100 points to you sir

    --
    Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  100. Nope... by first.last · · Score: 0

    Sphere of Fear!!
    Giant Hurt Ball?
    The Deathticle!

    --
    Wishing I was a millionaire since 1969.
  101. Re:Bad News? by MyLongNickName · · Score: 1

    1) This is FUNNY, not Redundant.

    2) No, you shouldn't tell him. That was you get the room all to yourself for another 5 weeks.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  102. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by catdevnull · · Score: 1

    Actually, the "dictionary" definition of opera is a little too sterile to make the connection.

    Lucas's movies are very much like operas--the music is used very much like the leitmotif in the Wagner operas (Das Reingold, Die Walkure, Tannhauser, etc.) where each character has their own musical motif. William's scores, in fact, take much of their musical style from Wagner, Mahler, Stravinsky, Prokovief, and Shostakovich. In fact, I've found sections that were almost verbatim to pieces from each of the above! But I digress.

    The Opera connection, I think, are linked with 3 things:

    1) Music--the music is very neo-Romantic in style and firmly achored as a strong story-telling device. It simply would not be what it is if it didn't have such a strong score. However, I'd say the original 3 scores were the better of the 6 and that the latter have lost their operatic flavor.

    2) Characters--each character is very close to the opera architypes and they each have a role in unfolding a tragedy and a triumph.

    3) The Story--much like Wagners's Ring Cycle and unlike most movies, is one that spans generations and a universal good-versus-evil theme.

    And don't forget, before we had movies, we had Opera and theatre. Even theatre was accompanied by live musicians. The difference was that opera was sung and theatre was not. But given the strong role of the Star Wars musical score, I would definitely say it leans more toward opera that it would if the music was more incidental or "mood" setting.

    --

    I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
  103. Re: Revenge of Sith not first - actually, it is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    PG-13 didn't even exist in 1983--it was created in the summer of '84, due in large part to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

  104. this was NEVER a rumor by fribhey · · Score: 1

    this was NEVER a rumor. George Lucas said it himself that it may be rated PG-13 in an interview in Vanity Fair Magazine that came out at the end of January- beginning of February.

    --
    / http://suffocate.us
    / http://johngrayson.com
  105. You got a thing for nude pregnant women? by mattcoz · · Score: 0

    Well, do ya?

  106. better than PG70 by justforaday · · Score: 2, Funny

    Better than the PG70 rating that the Uptown in DC has listed for Sin City...

    --
    I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
  107. I guess Tom&Jerry would be "R", then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And the Roadrunner would get the dreaded NC17 because of the way he downright abuses the Coyote.

    And maybe this stuff does affect little kids. I certainly was. When I was 6 I took a toy ukelele and bashed my cousin over the head with it to a loud shout of "El Kabong!" It sounded exactly like what you hear on the Quickdraw McGraw cartoon: the smashing of the wood, the twanging of the strings. :D

    My cousin got to go to the hospital for a whole bunch of stitches to his skull, and I got a great, true story for a lifetime!

  108. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Alrescha · · Score: 4, Informative

    'After all, it seems somehow "okay" to expose kids to violence in the states. Sex is a whole other thing...'

    "I understand the origin of a few of the popular myths on /., but this one continues to baffle me"

    I would have to say you are easily baffled.

    Take a look at international movie ratings on IMDB. Pick some movies with a some sexual content. You will find that in the US, these movies are consistently rated more restrictively than in European countries.

    A good example would be Malena, an Italian coming-of-age movie set in WW-II Italy. From IMDB: Finland:15, Germany:12, Netherlands:16 / Norway:15, Portugal:16, Spain:13, Sweden:11, Switzerland:14, UK:15 / USA:R (Under 17 not admitted without parent). Also note that the R-rated version seen in the US was specifically cut/censored for America.

    Puritanical doesn't begin to describe it.

    A.
    (who didn't even mention the wardrobe malfunction)

    --
    ...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
  109. on the other hand... by XO · · Score: 1

    There was no such thing as a PG-13 rating when the first three movies came out, and the first two of this trilogy were so watered down sappy crap that they probably barely made it out of "G" rating.

    --
    "Champagne for my real friends - and real pain for my sham friends!" http://ericblade.postalboard.com/
    1. Re:on the other hand... by skyman8081 · · Score: 1

      Why do you think Lucas kept the scenes of Owen and Beru Lars' burning corpses in ANH. Because GL didn't want a G rating to drive people away from a "kids movie".

      --
      Two Roommates and a Boyfriend, updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
  110. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

    > I dont think the FCC has jurisdiction over film ratings.

    Our good buddies at the MPAA assign the ratings. Technically they're voluntary, and occasionally an unrated film does make it to the box office of major theatres. DVD releases of even previously rated films are even more commonly unrated -- still like 1% or so.

    --
    I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
  111. There was no PG-13 for the originals by rednalb · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Some of the originals would have probably been rated PG-13 if it existed back then. PG-13 wasn't created until 1984. The chopping off of limbs and stuff with blood in the original movies would have probably made them pg-13.

  112. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

    > we wouldn't want to Bear False Witness would we?

    Why not? His entire belief structure is predicated on pushing a big lie to as many people as possible. What's a little one?

    --
    I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
  113. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Doctors and Nurses, right?

    yeah, sure. it's furtive but innocent.

    So is cowboys & indians.
  114. the missing footage from Closer by shrubya · · Score: 2

    she did film nude scenes for Closer, just upon the final cut was it edited out

    Sigh. I only heard about this after the fact. I would have gladly founded an online bounty fund payable to any film editor's assistant or second-best boy willing to smuggle a copy out to the public. But it's all under strict lock and key in Mike Nichols' bedroom closet now.

    We're talking full frontal Portman pole dancing. Beats the hell out of Paris Hilton or Pamela Lee any day.

  115. Thanks, George by Kraagenskul · · Score: 0

    When the Original Trilogy DVDs came out this past fall, I sat down with my four year old son and watched the movies. Some since might be mortified that I did so because of the "violence", but the movies are PG and I watched them around the same age, and I haven't killed anybody. It turns out the loves the movies. When I pulled down my action figures from the attic, he took them all and plays with them constantly. He can name ever character. I've taught him to hate Jar Jar. He has half a dozen plastic lightsabers. And best of all, he can't wait for Episode 3. Which I might not be able to take him to. Great. The same man who gave us Ewoks and Jar Jar because he claimed he was making a new fairytale for kids is now boasting about his PG-13 rating. And now I may have to tell my son he can't see it. Many people on here will encourage me to bring my son to the movie regardless of the rating; feel free to come over and get up with him at 3am when he has a nightmare because of it. I really hope this movie is better then the last two and that the PG-13 rating is worth it. I realize I'm being a bit of whiner here, but I'm highly disappointed I might not be able to bring him; of course, I will preview the movie beforehand and decide if he can see it. I figure I saw plenty of movies when I was his age that would be PG-13 now and haven't climbed up a tower with a rifle yet.

    1. Re:Thanks, George by Rod+Beauvex · · Score: 1

      Just as long as he doesn't run around and scream in the theater.

    2. Re:Thanks, George by Kraagenskul · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? I have the kid so well trained he yells at me if I say something. I took him to see the Incredibles, about halfway through I asked him if he was liking it, and he told me "Shhh, we're watching the movie." I guess you have to watch out for me being the one running and screaming.

    3. Re:Thanks, George by pclminion · · Score: 1
      There's nothing wrong with a good nightmare...

      Just tell the kid the truth, the movie might be scary and it might give him bad dreams. Let him make his own decision.

    4. Re:Thanks, George by John+Bokma · · Score: 1
      "I've taught him to hate Jar Jar"


      That's just sick.
  116. Didn't Lucas say on "60 Minutes"... by MtViewGuy · · Score: 1

    ...That he expected Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to be rated PG-13 in the first place?

    This is a no surprise announcement, given the supposedly very intense action sequences in the movie.

  117. Ob. Monty Python by NardofDoom · · Score: 2, Funny

    Lancelot: We were in the nick of time, you were in great peril.
    Galahad: I don't think I was.
    Lancelot: Yes you were, you were in terrible peril.
    Galahad: Look, let me go back in there and face the peril.
    Lancelot: No, it's too perilous.

    --
    You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
  118. Yeah, but I'm waiting for the porno. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and starwars boy making a cameo.

  119. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Atrax · · Score: 5, Interesting

    double-replying may be bad form, but I just picked up on this:

    Put them in front of a film showing real voilence I think you will find they won't like it.

    Real violence, sure. Chicks getting slammed on meathooks in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is worlds away from, say, John Wayne shooting a bad guy bloodlessly, but you'll agree they're both violent, right?

    Which one is morally more correct? the one that shows violent death as a nasty, gory, bloody event that no-one would want to be anywhere near, or the one that depicts death as a clean, simple act with no consequences?

    The depictions are poles apart, but I'm torn between real violence (Mr. Orange bleeding to death, Saving Private Ryan) which are realistic and difficult to watch even as an adult, and the relatively bloodless yet easily dismissed violence you see in many so-called non-violent movies which rate lower certs.

    Does the kid see the real violence and therefore realise how fucking awful it is, or see the sanitised violence and think it's not so bad? or is it the other way round? Does all the blood and guts desensitize a perons, or does it make them sit there and think "holy shit'?

    Ethical problems exist in such a study, of course, but I think maybe studying this from a nuanced point of view may be a good idea.

    This is pretty important to me, as I'm not really sure whether my kids should see one or the other. Given that I'd be bringing them up in part, I'd hope they'd get my point of view on the issues, and if I showed them, say, Reservoir Dogs, they'd figure violence is just scary.

    With regards to the general discussion, my belief is that any culture that accepts violence and looks down on love and sex is utterly sick.

    agreed, but I don't think you can ignore violence. It happens, and so has to be put in context, just as everything else in life does. Ignoring an issue is arguably worse than denying it. Arguably. You need to know about concepts to put them into context, or even to reject them. As an illustration, take creationism. Most creationists don't actually know anything relevant about biology, and those who do generally pick and choose the bits they like and throw away the rest. draw an analogy.

    --
    Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  120. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    May be it's because kids are violent already, but not sexual? I know that I personally threw an empty champaigne bottle at my female friend when we were ~4 years old (it hit her in the head and she had to go to a hospital), although I didn't want to do her any harm. But I never had any sexual relations with anyone until I was around 10 (but then it was with a 6-year old girl :) ).

    While the "why violence is better than sex?" question has some merit, there is at least some justification for it.

  121. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I knew a guy in high school who had more than the average number of fingers. He had 5 fingers and a thumb on each hand. He didn't even play piano or anything, what a waste.

  122. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Atrax · · Score: 2, Insightful

    shall I take the bait?

    yes..

    no...

    yes...

    Doctors and Nurses and other inter-gener child games in my childhood had no subtext. the subtext in cowboys/indians or brits/germans or whatever had an implication that the other guys were first of all the 'evil, bad ones' and secondly they were dead when you shouted "bang!"

    OK, maybe I'm reading into it too much, but dead. Dead.

    --
    Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
  123. He's like a father to her by mattcoz · · Score: 0

    so that's a pretty sick idea.

  124. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There was a singing fat lady (Well, Alien) in ROTJ: Special Edition!

  125. Yoda the Zen Master by matchboy · · Score: 1

    There is a book coming out called, "The Dharma of Star Wars"

    --

    Robby Russell
    PLANET ARGON
    Robby on Rails
  126. Plus his audience grew up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The core audience of Star Wars: A New Hope was teenagers. In the 25 intervening years, Those people grew up! The core audience for Episode I should have been 30- to 40-somethings! Oh sure, they would bring their kids too, but they should have made Episode 1 and 2 as at least PG-13 too!

    Lucas made the prequels for the wrong audience! He should have made them more dark and disturbing, more "grown up" than episodes 4 to 6. Instead he threw in Jar Jar and wrote a plot for 6-year olds so they could sell more Star Wars lunchboxes.

    Plus, as is abundantly clear by now, Lucas doesn't really know how to tell a story. Episode 2, with its ridiculous pitched battles with 100 lightsabers waving around, shows that Lucas doesn't understand at all what makes Jedi cool: the whole "lone gunman" thing.

  127. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

    Actually, you probably have more than the average number of fingers. He just had more than the median. Yeah yeah, statistics jokes are real kneeslappers, eh?

    I wouldn't call extra digits common, but there are quite a few people walking around with them. I doubt he had a lot of strength or fine control of it, and it probably would have gotten in the way of playing the piano, actually.

    --
    I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
  128. That's kosher and par for the course. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    going by the talmud.

  129. Re:Oh boo hoo by PriceIke · · Score: 1

    I can see how the above statement would be "flamebait". Really. Sheesh. The mods are in rare form this morning.

    --
    It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
  130. Re:Why not call a movie a movie? by zakezuke · · Score: 1

    What about Soap Operas? Not much singing in them either. I think it more refers to the drama aspect.

    But there is always music... esp during the plot twist. I.e.

    You have 2 weeks to live
    He is your brother
    I'm in love with another man / woman / coma patient / small furry creature from alpha centuri

    dah dah dummmmmm

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  131. why the rating by rilian4 · · Score: 1

    I've read the book and it is my opinion that violence will be the primary reason for the PG-13 rating. The tone is very dark w/ a lot of violence due to the war and due to Anakin's turn to the darkside.

    --

    ...quicker, easier, more seductive the darkside is...but more powerful, it is not.
  132. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny
    3: They do not say "Save me *deity or scientific theory*"

    Save me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  133. Re: Revenge of Sith not first by TheoMurpse · · Score: 1

    Wrong. PG-13 did not exist until 1984, a year after Jedi came out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPAA_film_rating_syst em

  134. it is funny by NAACPsupporter · · Score: 0

    How most of you complain about this movie, but in 10-15 years it will be a cult classic that you will defend. Wasn't this the same with the Star Wars movies in the 70s?

    1. Re:it is funny by inkswamp · · Score: 1
      Exactly. If you want proof that you're right about that, go watch the message boards at theforce.net for a while and you'll see fans coming around to the fact that the prequels aren't nearly as bad as they initially felt. The movies simply eluded their ridiculously high expectations. Upon repeated viewings, it becomes clear that they're actually quite good movies and some of the fans who overreacted are starting to quietly come around.

      And yes, lots of people complained about the originals.

      --
      --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
  135. Appropriate rating by po8 · · Score: 1

    "This film is rated X: the unknown. Positively no one is admitted." --The Firesign Theatre

  136. Re: Revenge of Sith not first by Vinnie_333 · · Score: 1
    I am afraid the article is wrong. Return of the Jedi was also rated PG-13

    The article is correct, just not specific. The PG-13 rating was given to RotJ after the fact (for the re-releases and video market). In its original theatrical release in 1983, it was rated PG. The PG-13 rating was not originated until 1984. The first movie to be released with a PG-13 rating was Red Dawn (July 1984).

    --

    "We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
  137. Decent Films by thegameiam · · Score: 2, Informative

    I just checked out Greydanus' reviews, and you're quite correct: his analysis is a pleasure to read, and he's able to call the matrix 2 and 3 as the junk they are while being polite and explaining his reasons quite well.

    Thanks for the tip :)

    --
    Need Geek Rock? Try The Franchise!
  138. PG-13 may contain nipples by LqqkOut · · Score: 1

    Didn't anyone see "The 5th Element"??

    I grew up in a household where gore, blood, & guts were fine so long as there was no sex. Sorry folks, but copulation is far more natural than homocide.

    Now, back to CounterStrike...

    --

    -- In Soviet Russia, radio listens to YOU!

    1. Re:PG-13 may contain nipples by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Homocide is wrong! Gay people deserve to live too!

  139. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by rob_squared · · Score: 1
    "Although my working theory is that folks want to think of Americans as war-mongering, self-righteous Puritans, and this idea plays nicely into that stereotype"


    Trust me, as an American, we're assholes, nothing else.

    --
    I don't get it.
  140. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Ahnteis · · Score: 1

    You're not supporting the original argument.

    "After all, it seems somehow "okay" to expose kids to violence in the states. Sex is a whole other thing..."

    You have only shown that movies involving sex are rated differently in the US then in other countries.

    The argument was that violence is ignored while sexuality is not.

    However, as the poster above pointed out, violence is also targetted and movies do recieve PG-13/R ratings based solely on violence/gore.

  141. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by duerra · · Score: 1

    I'd rather my kids watch violence than sex. Not here. Kids are exposed to enough violence the way it is. At some point they may think of it as second nature.

    On the other hand, kids exposed to nudity and sex will almost surely make them uncomfortable. And if kids do start asking questions, that perfect. It gives parents the opportunity to actually talk about sex with their kids, which is something that is far too lacking these days. It's so much easier just to let the schools do it, right? I think that wanting kids to be exposed to violence over sex is nothing more than a parent being uncomfortable, rather than what's "better" for the child.

    Sex over violence any day. We're a backwards society for thinking otherwise (America).

  142. Read the Poetics, lately? by abb3w · · Score: 1
    I think part of the problem is that this trilogy doesn't have the "hero's journey" story line which people just naturally love.

    Actually, it's the "Hero's Fall" that we're missing; there haven't been many good tragedies in the theatre for a long while, which is one factor ascribed to the immense success of Titanic. The I-III trillogy had the chance to set up a truly epic tragedy, with the bonus that the IV-VI trillogy thus transforms from a nifty drama to a saga of the redemption of the Skywalker family. Lucas hasn't failed outright in this yet; however, the irritating distraction of JarJar-- a character whose flaws are more comic than tragic-- diverts from the lofty goal of an Aristotelian epic.

    True Tragedy is when the disaster arises from a single flaw in an otherwise superior character, or even soley from the virtues of the heroes, rather than their vices. JarJar's unmitigated idiocy makes for a grating note in what was potentially a smooth tragic symphony. We expect him to come to a bad end, and are merely disappointed at who he brings down with him. Alas, it appears that the real tragedy we will be seeing is not the Corruption and Fall of Anakin Skywalker, but the Corruption and Fall of George Lucas.

    At least he'll have enough money to help drown his sorrows, no matter what happens....

    --
    //Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
  143. You don't follow the rumor mill, do you? by abb3w · · Score: 4, Informative
    What, for the next episode?

    Lucasfilm employees are reportedly under a NDA not to discuss any possible filming of episodes VII-IX; also, Peter Mayhew's contract in episode III has been reliably stated to include an option clause for him reprising his role in 7 and 8.

    Lucas may be growing senile, but he still knows to cover his bases.

    --
    //Information does not want to be free; it wants to breed.
  144. Cblig. MST3K by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Read any review by Stephen Greydanus.

    Yeah. He comes from a long line of Greydanuses.

  145. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 1

    Um, did you happen to get a look at when the article you directed me to was published? The note at the top even says:

    "[Editor's note: This article no longer represents Flew's current position. For the most recent information, see Antony Flew Considers God...Sort Of.]"

    See also this interview.

    So, I will not amend my signature. I admit it is a little misleading, because what Flew appears to believe in is not "God" with all the normal connotations that word carries, but it is certainly more accurate than, "Anthony Flew is still an atheist."

  146. Please bring by ianmalcm · · Score: 1

    Posting this from the line in Hollywood - please bring bootleg as soon as available. We will watch it at Grauman's Chinese any way possible.

  147. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 1

    Please see my response to the other reply. And thank you for confirming what I suspected would be the response to my sig - prejudice and bias so inflated that even when the documentation provided to refute it grudgingly admits that it's true, it's still attacked.

  148. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by metamatic · · Score: 1

    Yes, I read the article, and the one it linked to.

    As the interview explains quite clearly, what Flew believes in is a deity, as Deists believe in--i.e. some kind of higher power which has no interaction whatsoever with mankind.

    That's so far from the conventional meaning of "god", let alone the capitalized "God" used by Christians, that to describe it as "God" is to engage in wilful deception.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  149. Re:Star Wars Christmas Special... by HarryZink · · Score: 1


    I want my digitally remastered Star Wars Christmas Special!!!

    NOW!

  150. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 1

    I would direct you once again to the article you linked to. "God" is capitalized over and over again, and not just in reference to the God conceived of by Christianity.

    I strongly suspect this is because it's the grammatically sensible thing to do, because in a sentence like this:

    "I believe in God."

    The word functions as a proper noun. This is clearer when you look at this sentence:

    "I believe in a god."

    But I'm really just guessing about all of that. I really have no idea why a source as antagonistic toward theism as infidels.org would capitalize the word God.

    Anyway, with respect to my sig, it's the title of the article. The normal convention is to capitalize "uncommon" words in titles, that is, words besides the, an, a, of, and so on. I admitted that it's a hair misleading, but it is not a "wilful deception." Particularly if one bothers to read the article, which makes Flew's views about the Gods of Christianity and Islam pretty clear. I really don't feel responsible for people going off half-cocked when presented with this information.

  151. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by grammar+fascist · · Score: 1

    Nudity doesn't have to equate to sexuality.

    It does to a 14-year-old boy.

    If you believe otherwise, I've got this nice bridge in London I'd like to sell you.

    --
    I got my Linux laptop at System76.
  152. Why did they have Wookies eating Jar-Jar? by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    If not for that, it would have had a PG rating.

    But, no, they listened to the dark side of the Force ....

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  153. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 1

    Er, oops. I see now that the only capitalized words in the title are the first one and the word God. Well, anyway, I still won't change it because, as I pointed out, infidels.org doesn't seem to feel a great deal of compunction about it.

  154. Howard Stern by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yet another Star Wars discussion. Haven't we covered that topic yet? What I would like to know is:

    What happened to K.C. Armstrong?

  155. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by ArsSineArtificio · · Score: 1

    As little as a few hundred years ago, most boys learned how to shoot a rifle.

    A few hundred years ago? Rifled firearms only emerged at the end of the eighteenth century.

    Anyway, most boys were taught to shoot a rifle until just a few decades ago; in America, it's probably still a substantial proportion.

    --
    All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
  156. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by glsunder · · Score: 1

    after all, it seems somehow "okay" to expose kids to violence in the states.

    Violence is only ok if you promote violence against judges.

  157. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

    Ah... That was a movie I never managed to finish. Now I wonder how it ends.

  158. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Lady+Jazzica · · Score: 1

    Does the kid see the real violence and therefore realise how fucking awful it is, or see the sanitised violence and think it's not so bad? or is it the other way round? Does all the blood and guts desensitize a perons, or does it make them sit there and think "holy shit'?

    Why do lots of city kids find the slaughtering of an animal (such as a pig) horrible, while kids from the country would generally have no problem with it? It's because the latter have seen it thousands of times, while the former group haven't.

    That's why violence is better than sex in films. If you're desensitized to violence, you can probably handle yourself better in an emergency situation (you've seen it all before, etc.). On the other hand, if you're desensitized to sex, it hurts your married life.

  159. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by M1FCJ · · Score: 1

    I was very suprised when I heard BBC comedy Coupling was being re-done in USA and I thought it would be a nightmare and it was, the US editions are not bearable. Although Coupling doesn't have sex in it, it is completely about sex and quite funny as well. I'm always suprised how American movies can be so violent but you can't air an ugly tit on TV.

  160. NC17 by KlomDark · · Score: 1

    Maybe the BSG movie can be the first NC-17 movie that breaks the barrier. :)

  161. It's PG-13 for the Midichlorians by Starraisin1 · · Score: 1

    I think it's PG-13 bcause of a possible flashback scene as the Emperor as Anakins father. Being that red is associated with the deep dark side of the force. More midichlorians would have been deposited if pushed firmly enough. The Emperor also seems very experienced with a lightsaber from the trailers. It is this experience that made the film PG-13 but not rated R since he doesn't go all the way.

  162. Your data pool is very selective... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In determining whether the US is more or less restricitve than other nations/cultures, you compare it only with Western Europe. Just because the cultures of other countries don't align with your own personal views doesn't mean you should dismiss them from your comparison.

  163. For movies, and TV, and video games, we do that by ianscot · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I understand the origin of a few of the popular myths on /., but this one continues to baffle me (Although my working theory is that folks want to think of Americans as war-mongering, self-righteous Puritans, and this idea plays nicely into that stereotype).

    I like how you try to answer your own question, there, with a straw man. Quaint. Except I live in the US, and I'm trying to be a conscientious parent, and unfortunately this criticism basically holds true when I'm trying to figure out what to take my kids to.

    With respect to the movies, the MPAA and Hollywood censors in general have had lots to do with the Catholic church, at least since 1930 or so. If you've never taken a walk through the history of "the Hays code" -- actually eventually enforced, when it was, by ultra-Catholic politico Joseph Breen -- you might want to do so before you express any more mystification.

    That's a strange history, but it obviously does show the bias you're claiming is so hard to understand. For example, Breen was only able to really enforce "the code" after a long nude swimming scene in "Tarzan and His Mate" caused a congressional outcry. Think the movie Tarzan ever killed anyone before the truly upsetting scene in which his wife was sorta, kinda naked?

    If you honestly think the violence in "The 6th Day" (PG-13) would be less disturbing to a 13-year-old than the profanity in "Billy Elliott" (R for language and almost certainly for an implied gay friend), you've truly got that MPAA sensibility going on. Kill half the known world: PG-13. Say a few F-words: R. Or let's compare two movies that both got a PG-13, both of which I took my kids to:

    Daredevil: Bad guy unfolds paperclips and flicks them forcefully into a character's throat, killing him, all on screen. Myriad other ultraviolent scenes, including a character's knees being broken and twisted backward and a woman being stabbed with knives that projected through her body, again on screen. PG-13.
    Whale Rider: Some sort of bong apparently appears in one scene -- I saw 'WR' in the theater and didn't notice -- and some minor characters giggle and hang around like slackers. Also PG-13.

    Yeah, I think those were equivalent movies. Whale Rider was a wonderful family story. Daredevil should have been an R for any one of about eight different scenes.

    Do we even want to start talking about video games? Give me one video game that's as sexual as Mortal Combat or Doom is violent. If there was such an animal, it'd have to be sold in a brown wrapper at the magazine stand that has the special "adult" room.

    Or TV: Was Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" as drastic as any episode of CSI you'd like to watch? Not in a million years.

    --
    "Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
  164. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What you are all ignoring however is that violence in the form of meathooks and John Wayne are fundimentaly different. In the first case it is criminal, ie The Bad Guy. Antisocial, reprehinsable (did I spell that right?), and disgusting. John Wayne however was a Cop. Defender of the Innocent, Protecter of the Weak. This is a MAJOR difference in the portayls of violence. In a show like Texas Chain Saw Massacre it is violence for a deranged madman commiting evil acts. For John Wayne he was DEFENDING against previously mentioned bad guys.

    The first type of violence has no place anywhere except for sickos. The second is a REQUIERMENT in civallized society. As such it should not be placed on the same level. If nobody held the tendencies for the first type, we wouldnt need the second. But NO MATTER what you do or say there will alwasy be the first type and we will always need the second to defend against them. (Iraq anyone?) You cant just say lets live in peace and destroy all weapons of war, your only asking for your crazy neighbors to come kill you. I think it was Minnisota that recently legalized concealed weapons permits and in the first few months violent crime droped a significant percent. I dont have #s of the top of my head. Then look at Wash. DC all guns are banned there. Does it help reduce crime? No, those that are inclined to violence type A still get guns, while everyone else is deprived of a means to defend themselves with type B.

    Same concept goes for movies and games. Take a look at America's Army and UT2004. In AA you are depicting the good guys saving lives in the long run. In UT you are killing for the sake of killing. Swearing is discouraged in AA, but very common in UT.

    As for sexuality, it has no place out of wedlock to begin with.

  165. the reason .. by OmgTEHMATRICKS · · Score: 0

    Star Wars: Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Violence and Immense, Childlike Stupidity.

  166. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Tassach · · Score: 1
    [Nudity equates to sexuality] to a 14-year-old boy.
    EVERYTHING equates to sexuality to a 14-year-old boy.
    --
    Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
  167. What is that about breasts? by Axe · · Score: 1
    I grew up where topless is considered normal on any beach. It IS normal. There is NOTHING particularly exciting about just seeing boobs.

    Poor, puritan, suppressed mericans.

    --
    <^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
    1. Re:What is that about breasts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      There is NOTHING particularly exciting about just seeing boobs.
      I'd say that's the first reason I've seen in this thread as to why repression/ratings can be a good thing. I like being excited. I like being titillated. You enjoy things more when they're hard to get; when you have to work to achieve them.

      Sure, maybe you get an eyefull and more in countries where it's normal to let it "all hang out" -- but as a result, you don't care. What's the point of having it all, when the very ubiquity undermines the enjoyment? Me, I like the 'merican system: the social conservatives keep us hungry, and the internet endlessly satisifies. Full cycle satisfaction!

    2. Re:What is that about breasts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please go back and enjoy life there. Go. Now. For the sake of humanity!

    3. Re:What is that about breasts? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amen and hallejuah!

  168. Not 30 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not a 30-year epic. I'm 28 and I was born just before the original Star Wars came out. Please stop making me feel old.

  169. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Tassach · · Score: 1

    Actually, the earliest examples of rifled firearms date back to the 14th century. Early rifles were hard to make, insanely expensive, and difficult to reload. The manufacturing techniques to ECONOMICALLY produce a rifled barrel didn't emerge until the 18th century (EG the Kentucky long rifle of the American Revoloution).

    --
    Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?
  170. Wow. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    Usually Christian movie reviews are good for a laugh (see CAPAlert.com) and not much else, but this guy really knows his stuff. He's a movie reviewer who happens to be a Christian, not just a Christian who thinks he automatically knows about movies. I'll be reading his stuff from here on out...

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:Wow. by mink · · Score: 1

      My favorite bit about capalert is the hipocracy. He comes down all over all kinds of films with good messages but may contain the "occult".
      When it comes to Mary Poppins (I assume it is a childhood favorite of his) magically it is the perfect film.

      --
      Well I've wrestled with reality for thirty five years doctor, and I'm happy to say I finally won out over it.
    2. Re:Wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh. When I read your first sentence, I thought you were accusing him of being a hypocrit because he criticised the occult while being a Christian - let's face it, one type of supernatural magic is just as silly as the other, right? :)

  171. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by wmspringer · · Score: 1

    Put them in front of a film with a sex scene, however, and they'll generally feel uncomfortable at best or start making retching noises at worst.

    A sex scene?

    I used to work at a middle school that had occasional movie nights. The kids would start yelling "yuck!" and "ew!" if there was so much as an on-screen kiss..

  172. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by smithmc · · Score: 1

    Although my working theory is that folks want to think of Americans as war-mongering, self-righteous Puritans, and this idea plays nicely into that stereotype

    Well, I'm an American, and yeah, I'd agree that Americans are war-mongering, self-righteous Puritans. After all, Dumbya won, didn't he?

    --
    Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
  173. pg-13! by coaxial · · Score: 1

    Hello topless Mon Calamaris dancers! :)

  174. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by DG · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A couple of data points.

    When I was younger - like about Grade 6 or 7 younger - I had a life-sized plastic replica M16 rifle (you don't see stuff like _that_ anymore) that I picked up at a yard sale. At one time it had some internals that presumably made noise when you pulled the trigger, but those were long gone by the time I got it. It was just a hollow shell.

    It was, however, *awesome* for playing "guns" with my friends - a game that was essentially line-of-sight "tag". If you got "shot", a "medic" would have to drag you to a "medic station" (usually a tree) and you would have to count to some pre-established number (out loud) before you were considered "revived" and able to fight again.

    This, along with "kick the can" was one of our favourite games. There was a lot of honour involved. If you knew that you had been shot dead to rights, you were expected to die with no arguing. There were the occasional "mutuals" with the inevitable "I shot you first!" arguments, but these were usually solved by both parties agreeing to die.

    For all the simulated violence, this was actually a very structured and honourable game. It was on your honour to play along and die gloriously when called upon to do so.

    A few years later, I went to high school, and joined my school shooting team. Now I had my hands on a real firearm, and the rules changed. It became TOTALLY unaceptable to ever point a rifle at another human being; unacceptable to even let the line of the muzzle cross another human. This was enforced by actual physical violence - point a gun at somebody, even by accident, and an adult would clock you HARD in the head.

    The message sank home VERY quickly. This was no game; this was for keeps, and the seriousness of the situation was such that the normal rules of who could hit you and how hard were superceded. You learned respect for the rifle and its potential very, very quickly.

    A few years later on, I joined the Army, and it took me a VERY long time to overcome my aversion to pointing a rifle at another human (even in training, where we had blanks, and plugs in the muzzles to prevent any actual discharge of projectiles) And firing? Forget about it!

    I remember very distinctly, during basic training, I was guarding a "prisoner encampment" (full of instructors playing at enemy) when one of them lept the wire and took off. I yelled at him to stop, raised my FN, sighted in perfectly centre of mass on his retreating back... and held that sight picture as he ran off into the distance. Just couldn't do it - even though I KNEW that I had blanks loaded, that nobody was in any danger, and I was going to be in a world of hurt for letting a "prisoner" escape. (Which I was, lemme tell you)

    It took a couple of *years* of near constant practice to overcome that.

    So I'm of the opinion that "pretend violence" is not a particularly big deal, so long as the distinction is made between pretend and real. Kids can and do learn the difference.

    I'm also of the opinion that kids need to be exposed to firearms safety courses VERY early in life (even though I'm not particularly pro-gun) I think being exposed to firearms early removes some of the mystery and curiosity that encourages kids to go hunting for any guns that might be in the house, I think it teaches familiarity such that accidents are reduced if a gun DOES (heaven forbid) land in a child's unsupervised hands, and I KNOW it teaches enormous respect for what a gun is capable of doing to another human being.

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
  175. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Axe · · Score: 1
    It does to a 14-year-old boy.

    It doesn't. In a country where it is considered normal, it does not evoke any emotions. I have been to nudist, and normally topless beaches all my life - you do not even notice nudity when it is normal, even when you are a very healthy 14 year old.

    --
    <^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
  176. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by stlhawkeye · · Score: 1
    A few hundred years ago? Rifled firearms only emerged at the end of the eighteenth century.

    The invention of rifling predates the 18th century by at least 200 years. As for rifled firearms, your date sounds about right to me. In any case:

    Now = 2005
    "the end of the eighteenth century" = 1795
    Now - Then = 210 years, which could be interpretted by most reasonable people to be "a few hundred years".

    Boys are still learning to shoot rifles, I just don't think most boys still are. No, not even in America, where the insane massive gun violence rates driven and encouraged by soulless Republicans and NRA nutcases are causing 0.4% of deaths.

    I'm not sure how "substantial" of a proportion it is anymore. I think boys who learned to shoot a rifle 30 years ago are learning to shoot pistols now. Most of the people I know who own or know how to fire a gun are pistol owners, and I'm from a pretty rural part of the country (Iowa).

    Finally, your response is typical Slashdot attacks on ancillary data which, if adjusted from an extemporaneous guess to a researched fact, doesn't change the validity of my point. So change "As little as a few hundred years ago..." to "As little as 20 years ago..." or "Even today..." and my point is emphasized.

    --
    "I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
  177. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by stlhawkeye · · Score: 1
    It does to a 14-year-old boy.

    If you believe otherwise, I've got this nice bridge in London I'd like to sell you.

    This statement is ignorant and naive. Abundant examples exist and can be readily researched to prov you wrong here. There have been and still are cultures in which the human body is not highly sexualized. 14 year olds in nudist colonies do not exist in a state of unending arousal, nor do children who grow up in societies where topless women are the norm. Anybody who has watched 15 minutes of National Geographic should be able to figure this out.

    --
    "I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
  178. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

    You're still lying. Knowingly.

    --
    I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
  179. If it's anything like the book by JLSigman · · Score: 1

    The PG-13 pieces will be interspursed with a lot of snoring... I've never seen a Star Wars plot plod along so badly.

    --
    -jls
    Techno-pagan
  180. Re:first post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time."

    Sorry. It didn't work.

  181. HERE IS THE SCRIPT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.supershadow.com

    Decide for yourself.

  182. DIRECT LINK TO THE SCRIPT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://scripts.cgispy.com/newsboard.cgi?action=vie w&num=2&user=script

    Sorry, but its 2 clicks away from the previous link. This one's direct.

  183. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

    And if it bothers the religious groups in the u.s WHO CARES!!!!
    The religious groups in the US.
    And, unfortunately, the right-wing government.

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  184. Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the kids that watched the original have grown up now ;)

  185. Nipples and children by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, nipples are for men's plaything, not for feeding babies.

    I never understand why nipples are a big no-no while the breasts themselves are fine. What attracts men more? A pair of nipple-less breasts a la brushed porn mag cover or truly flat-chested woman with nipple showing? Besides, any normal person sees nipples everyday. What's the big deal?

    Then, there is that usual little flesh vs violence argument in a PG movie.

  186. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 1

    All I can say is, read the articles.

    Actually, I'll do you one better. I'll quote from the most recent one on infidels.org.

    "Despite all this, Flew has not retracted his belief in God, as far as I can tell."

    If I were lying, it would of course be knowingly, because there is no other way to lie. But to the best of my understanding, I'm neither lying nor wrong. Would you care to further explain?

  187. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by snorklewacker · · Score: 1

    > Would you care to further explain?

    All right, "lie" is a strong word. But I noticed you haven't linked to the page where he specifically denies a belief in an anthropomorphic god -- let alone the Christian one. You only link to the article that serves your position. And not his own words. This is fundamentally misleading and intellectually dishonest.

    But it takes a certain kind of intellectual dishonesty ... forget it, we're already gravely off-topic.

    --
    I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
  188. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Rostin · · Score: 1

    I really have no idea what you are talking about, and I'm not just saying that to be disagreeable. I assume the article you're talking about is the one on Christianity Today's website, the one linked to in my sig. The article makes it very plain that Flew's belief in God is most accurately described as deism, and a good portion of it is about why he is not a Christian and doesn't plan to become one.

    If I am guilty of any intellectual dishonesty, it's in negligently assuming that people (typically, adult nerds) are able to read and understand a non-technical article with minimal philosophical jargon.

    If I'm guilty of something else, like enjoying watching a few people squirm.. then.. well, it's not a very Christian thing to say, but after routinely reading utterly off-topic things like, "Why not? His entire belief structure is predicated on pushing a big lie to as many people as possible. What's a little one?" on a website that's ostensibly news for nerds, I have a hard time feeling any shame.

  189. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And what a sad, sad life that must be. As someone above said, the one good thing about the backwards puritan roots in America is that we can get excited about seeing a little T&A. All it takes are some girls (gone wild) to flash their titties and we American men get a hard on. You, on the other hand, can see hundreds of hot naked women and remain totally limp, totally uninterested.

    I wonder if that's why the population is on the decline over in Europe? Nobody's attracted to anybody anymore because seeing a naked woman is like seeing a brick wall? You see them all the time and so there's no special arousal?

  190. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Axe · · Score: 1
    And what a sad, sad life that must be.

    I think you are dead wrong. Not beeing excited about the nudity by itself will not damage you arousal. You still can a very healthy and timely erection.

    If you may remember, our ancestors did not wear anything. And here we are.

    --
    <^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
  191. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Alrescha · · Score: 1

    "You have only shown that movies involving sex are rated differently in the US then in other countries."

    You are correct. I was focused on the post I replied to, which was attempting to claim that Americans are not "self-righteous Puritans".

    A.

    --
    ...bringing you cynical quips since 1998
  192. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Mishura · · Score: 2, Funny
    3: They do not say "Save me *deity or scientific theory*"

    Save me, evolution?

    Oh wait..

    O great Natural Selection!! Select SOMEONE ELSE!!

    :P

  193. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Axe · · Score: 1
    No, not even in America, where the insane massive gun violence rates driven and encouraged by soulless Republicans and NRA nutcases are causing 0.4% of deaths.

    There is a shit load of countries that do have strict restriction on firearms, and where criminal gun related deaths are just as high.

    Restrictions on personal freedom are NEVER good. In the end - you lose, criminals and politicians win.

    --
    <^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
  194. There Was No X Rating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    AN X Rating meant that it was not Rated. The MPAA Tried to trademark X but it was already in use. The Porn industry came up with XX and XXX to indicate that the movie depicted sex as at the time movies like Clockwork Orange and Midnight Cowboy (The only X rated movie to ever win an Oscar) had the X rating also.

    Now Blockbuster has YR-17 (Mostly for foriegn films and Anime) and US TV has a totally different rating system for the V-Chip. Also Right Stuff International and ADV Films (Both distribute Japanese Movies and Anime) have their own rating system also which ranges from All Audiences - 18+ and it is better than either the MPAA's or TV rating systems.

  195. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Ah... That was a movie I never managed to finish. Now I wonder how it ends.

    In heaven. Everything is fine.

  196. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by Artifakt · · Score: 1

    I'm inclined to the "realistic consequences of violence are generally better" school lately.
    What I think is worse though, is a mixture, where "Fate" or "God" or whatever seems to control how bad the violence is. I'm referring to all the movies where the minor villains get shot quickly and cleanly, and the really nasty villain whom the audience has special reasons to hate gets a specially nasty demise, like falling from an airplane onto high tension wires.
    Most really nasty people are still heroes in their own minds, who can internally justify the pain and suffering they inflict on others as a consequence of those other people's actions and not their own. Films and TV that encourage people to think fate will make the bad guys miss, and the good guys can automatically inflict justice just by using force, are much worse than some more violent films that show that even the nastyest bad guy may have a family that will miss him, or that innocent bystanders sometimes get hit.
    With that said, remember how lousy stormtroopers' aim is? How the trees on the forest moon of Endor like to jump out in front of speederbikes? There's a definite touch of this "Fate keeps the good guys from inflicting collateral damage" mentality in the SW films.
    Star Wars is far from the worst on this, hence Luke loses a hand in what's probably the best episode, and other bad things have permanent consequences even to good people. Just imagine what Star Wars would look like as six episodes of Die Hard in space.

    --
    Who is John Cabal?
  197. OUTSTANDING! by Alpha_Traveller · · Score: 1

    PG-13 You Say???? Natalie Portman's Nipples, Here I Come!

    --
    "Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important." (Lisa Hoffman)
    1. Re:OUTSTANDING! by DeanMeister · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure what PG-13 movie you're watching, but I have yet to see a nipple in a PG-13 movie if only for a split second.

      --
      Society never gets more or less violent, the definition of violent just keeps changing.
  198. PG-13 is a meaningless rating by rackbreaker · · Score: 1

    It's all about marketing and appealing to the largest audience possible. Now that PG-13 is the preferred rating studios shoot for, the MPAA ratings system is becoming less and less meaningful. Seems like almost every film that comes out these days is rated PG-13. They're either PG movies with some racy dialogue or maybe a short "intense" scene tossed in, or R movies with some gore/nudity stripped out. Aliens vs. Predator has the same rating as The Terminal? Give me a freakin' break.

  199. Re: Revenge of Sith not first - actually, it is by Veretax · · Score: 0

    Ah I see so it did EVENTUALLY get a PG-13 Rating but it didn't have it at first. That explains the storm I remember about it a while back. Granted I was like five when RotJ was released to theaters.

  200. Re:Maybe it's pg-13 for sexuality? Maybe... by stlhawkeye · · Score: 1
    There is a shit load of countries that do have strict restriction on firearms, and where criminal gun related deaths are just as high.

    Restrictions on personal freedom are NEVER good. In the end - you lose, criminals and politicians win.

    I know. Hence I cited the 0.4% death rate figure. Twice as many people die of alcohol poisoning in this country than die from gun-related accidents or homicides. Other than a few fundamentalist Christians, nobody is pushing hard to get "just the hard stuff" banned that "nobody has a legitimate need for." You have no need of 100 proof liquor! We're going to ban it to save lives.

    --
    "I have never won a debate with an ignorant person." -Ali ibn Abi Talib
  201. I don't see your point by lorcha · · Score: 1

    From IMDB:
    Finland:15
    Netherlands:16
    Norway:15
    Port ugal:16
    Switzerland:14
    UK:15
    USA:17

    But in the US, we don't have any ratings between 13 and 17. It seems plenty of other countries felt that this movie was inappropriate for 13-year-olds. Why is it so wrong that the US MPAA agrees with them?

    This is not an example of the US being puritanical. This is the US agreeing with many other cultures that the movie was inappropriate for 13-year-olds.

    --
    "Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
  202. ROTS is rated GA in NZ by Sinesurfer · · Score: 1

    I've just received my invitation [ scanned image - 98 KB] to the New Zealand Charity Premiere of Revenge of the Sith for 8:00 PM Monday 16 May 2005 (NZ Time, 0800 GMT or Monday 4 AM Eastern Standard Time). The movie was classified as GA (General Admission - Recommend as suitable for Adults) however there is no minimum age limit.

    If you are in a major/capital city paying a premium price (with all proceeds going to charity) is more fun than waiting a month (in hopefully the right) line at a cinema. I don't go to a premiere (due to the cost) unless it's Star Wars

    Oh! printing out the invitation won't get you into the Premiere without the obverse side and the ticket for the allocated cinema seat :-(

    --
    Regards Sinesurfer A Nerd is someone who lives for technology, A Geek is someone who lives for technology and loves it