GoF PG-13

[Scarlet Lioness]

On HPANA it recently stated the Goblet Of Fire Movie is PG 13 rated which means that most younger viewers will have to go with parents or have to wait till it comes out on DVD or VHS...

I can get in but some fans might not be able too...

I think it should be PG 13 as it is a pretty dark movie but I remain un decided at the moment...

[Person1]

Eh, i give it a PG-13, yeah, whatever...

[Nightcrawler]

I agree with it totally. It's a dark book, and if certain parts are going to be done properly; small kids will be scared. I hope the WB don't "lighten up" the movie just for the sake of getting a lower rating and thus more ticket sales from families.

I'd much rather have a well made film that stays true to the tone of the book than a mediocre "family friendly" film. As for the younger fans that are missing out; well I guess that's just too bad I would hate to see the quality of the film sacrificed just to make it suitable for everyone.

[Scarlet Lioness]

I can get into the movie so It doesn't really matter...

[Dorothy]

This is something I'm very concerned about because I'm a parent of young kids. And my friends who also have young kids don't really know how to make good movie choices for their kids. I'm talking under age 11 young.

So, here are these grown ups who should know how scary a movie can be for their kids to be ok and they mess it up thinking that ok my kids like hp, this will be fun. Boy, were they surprised with the 3rd movie.

It takes each parent's judgment about thier own kids. My kids loved the 3rd movie. My friend's kids were petrified at the werewolf scenes. Then they complain that the movie was too scary for young kids.

I say, parents need all the help they can get, but don't count on Hollywood giving it to you.

The 4th movie should be PG 13 and the rest of the movies should be that rating too, so maybe these parents can at least get that much out of a rating of pg 13.

I put my thoughts down at this website to help parents who are asking the questions they need to ask: my 4th movie warning for parents. Pass along the link if you know anyone who could benefit from the info:

http://www.freewebs.com/hprevs/

Thanks for this topic posting!

[Snow_Crystal]

I definitely think it should be a 13. My irresponsible sister in-law's husband took my 5 year old nephew to see Chamber and he was absolutely terrified of the spiders that he had nightmares for ages.

And he'd read the books so knew what it was going to be like. I only hope he doesn't try anything like that again because it's not fair on the kids to be absolutely terrified like that.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

PG 13 or R13?

IF anybody thinks having a PG 13 rating on the movie will make a difference, they're kidding themselves.
The parents will just get pressured into taking them instead. It won't work, make it restricted, or nothing.

[Paul]

I'm with nightcrawler on this - I really hope they keep faithful to the book. As far as I figure, Book 4 is where HP does indeed become significantly darker. Had thought that ever since reading the very first part with Voldemort and Nagini...and continued to think this through other parts of the book too. I think the dark foreboding feeling is central to the entire book, and to the series itself (the book being completely at the middle of the series of 7), and this is what makes book 4 so much of a winner to me. Toning it down just for the sake of getting a lower cinema rating would feel wrong.

I wouldn't want to advise parents on what to do, and no idea if R13 would be a better rating (I think here in the UK there is a slightly different rating system) but parents should take into consideration that this one may probably be significantly more disconcerting than the prevoius movies.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Well here PG just means a Parental Guidance is advised. You can still get in, and nobody really cares about PG.
Then we have M which is recommended for a mature audience, which parents I suppose heed to a little bit, but you can still get in without any questions asked.
And then we have the R13/16/18 (Restricted) ratings, where you have to present ID if you don't look the age. In my opinion if you want to shut people out form a movie, then that's the only way to do it. Otherwise, ratings are quite pointless, because if the parents can be swayed it does not make a difference.

Depending on how they make it, GoF has the potential to be quite frightening. But I can see the point-of-view that says "I've seen all the first 3 movies and I can't see the fourth one! That's mean!"... although personally I doubt it's somethign to get upset about.
And PG13 doesn't sound like a very serious rating to me anyway.
Under 13s ar probably used to not being allowed into movies, anyway.

[Nightcrawler]

Pheonix, I think the ratings system here in Australia is pretty much the same as in New Zealand. We have "G" which means general viewing (suitable for any audience), "PG" which means that parental guidence is reccomended but not enforced, "M15+" meaning that it is recommended for mature audiences (15 and older), "MA15+" meaning that only people 15 and older can buy a ticket and "R" which is restricted to adults (18 and older).

I think the American "PG13" would be the eqivelant of the Australian "M15+" rating. Revenge of the Sith and the LOTR movies were all rated "PG13" in the "US" and M in Australia, so I think we can assume that Goblet of Fire will be as well.

I think that in the end, it doesn't really matter what the film is rated. I've seen some R rated films which are pretty tame by today's standards, and I've seen some pretty shocking stuff in PG movies. And government approved ratings will never be a substitute for actual parenting. It shouldn't be the systems right or responsibility to "shut anyone out" of a film that may or may not be suitable for them. The best the system should do is give advice and let the parents decide for themselves what is suitable for thier kids. I wish that parents today would do some actual parenting; rather than expecting the rest of the world to.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Ah, so M.
M here is just the letter by itself, but in the small type next to it it's got writing about recommended for 15+.

You're right though, ultimately if a child can get into a movie, that only thing that's going to stop them is their parent.

[Scarlet Lioness]

Well...the rating system is sorta, weird, because I got into M's when I was 8-9!!! Even if it is PG13, parents will still let their children watch it, i guess, but if it was M not as many of the younger HP fans would be able to go without parental supervision...

[Dacre]

I think it's hard to stop kids have nightmares about things (personally, Roger rabbit's bad guy red eyes scared me for weeks when I was a nipper) and these films NEED to be dark to not miss essential elements of the films.

[Asphodel]

The rating system is really so WB can cover there backs. If a five-year old sees the movie and gets scared to death. It's not the problem of WB because they said it is PG-13. The again, they could just be saying it's PG-13 to attract teenagers to Harry Potter, thinking it's cool to see higher rated movies without your parents.

A.F.D

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

I think it unlikely that a teenager would thikn that going to Harry Potter by themselves would count as hip.
From the sounds of things PG-13 isn't exactly the highest rating there is.