Page 1 of What are the usa`s age certificate

The only one i know is PG - 13 But isnt there a R rating and what does that mean

The US cinema ratings are G (General - equivalent to Universal), PG, PG-13 (no-one under 13 unless accompanied by an adult), R (no-one under 17 unless accompanied by an adult), and NC-17 (no-one under 17, full stop).

I`m not sure how rigidly these are enforced. But it does mean that anyone, of any age, can see the vast majority of films provided they have a "responsible" (heh, heh) adult to accompany them if necessary.

Mike

To be fair, the NC-17 rating is almost never utilized today, distributors preferring to release controversial material Unrated to avoid the stigma attached to the rating, such was the case with `Requiem for a Dream`.

I used to think that the ratings system was liberally enforced, if at all, but during my recent visits to the US I`ve seen far more stringent use of the ratings to screen prospective audiences (a symptom of the industry`s increasing waryness of a state far more involved in the entertainment business than is sensible) with many teenagers being refused entry into R-rated films, something which was extremely rare five years ago.

However, it doesn`t take a lot of investigating to discover how prima facie this approach is if the intent is to keep under-agers out. The nature of US multiplexes, 20 or so cinemas in each, means it`s ridiculously unprofitable to put a pursor at every screen, so it`s extremely common for kids to buy tickets for PG-13 movies and slip into the R-rated movie they really wanted to see, completely undetected.

--Mike

Also, the ratings system as regulated by the MPAA is voluntary, you don`t have to submit your film to be rated if you don`t want to. Most multiplexes refuse to show films which are not rated by the MPAA, and anything rated as NC-17 is pretty much the kiss of death for a movie and again a fair few places will refuse to show it.

Over here you have to have a classification by law.

Does that mean that "unrated" films are uncut?

Unrated doesn`t necessarily mean uncut. Unrated simply means not rated by MPAA. The filmmaker/studio/distributor may have requested cuts before unleashing onto the public. Chances are though that it is uncut. :-)

Anil