Expendables 3 is PG-13. BOO!

[Black Irish]

The third Expendables film is coming out on August, and I was pretty pumped for it. I really liked the first two, despite their flaws (weak script in the 1st, too much goofy self-reference in the 2nd). But it was great to see old-school, ass-kicking action movies again that were made for adults. Then I hear that EX3 is going to be PG-13. The justification is that the filmmakers want to play to a broader audience (read, kids and maybe women?).

This stuff pisses me off. This is already a successful franchise so why are they f**king around with what works? And didn't they learn from the 2nd version? When there was rumor that they were going with a PG-13 rating for part 2, fan reaction blew up because people who like these movies don't want to see a water-down family friendly action movie. There's already plenty of those. So Stallone went out and publicly assured everyone that they weren't going to puss things up to avoid an "R."

Furthermore, there is data and film analysis out there (I'll try to track down and post later) that shows that just cutting a movie to get a PG-13 rating doesn't automatically translate to better box office. Seriously, does anyone really think that there is a huge contingent of teenage boys out there who will coming flooding in to see a movie starring guys old enough to be their grandfathers? And I'd rather not go to see this movie and be surrounded by a bunch of kids. And get off my lawn, while were at it! Oh well, I think I'm done for now. Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Hammer Of The Gods]

I can't tell you how many movies i refuse to see or watch simply because of their rating. Pisses me off when action movies or horror movies are PG-13. wtf is that?!?

 

[ACamp1900]

Haha I had a college reunion this past weekend and many of my buddies were bitching about this too... What was so great about the first two that can't be put into the next one?

 

[Cackalacky]

I agree. It should be R-rated. On the flip side, I took my family to see the new Transformers movie. The first three were ok as far as gratuitous violence, people dying, and acceptable language for a kid etc. so I thought this one would ok at PG-13 as well.

Well this was by far much worse for a kid and there were so many unnecessary F-bombs and explicatives that it was a big turn-off overall. Disappointing that it still gets that rating but was so much worse compared to the previous three movies. I hate Michael Bay.

 

[IrishLion]

I agree. It should be R-rated. On the flip side, I took my family to see the new Transformers movie. The first three were ok as far as gratuitous violence, people dying, and acceptable language for a kid etc. so I thought this one would ok at PG-13 as well.

Well this was by far much worse for a kid and there were so many unnecessary F-bombs and explicatives that it was a big turn-off overall. Disappointing that it still gets that rating but was so much worse compared to the previous three movies. I hate Michael Bay.

I was amazed at how "bad" this movie was in terms of violence and language.

In terms of the actual movie, it wouldn't have been so terrible if it would have been 45 mins shorter. There was some cool "myth" type of stuff that intrigued me since they left things cryptic, but there were too many cheesy one-liners and by the end, I had forgotten who the final battle was even supposed to be against.

 

[Black Irish]

Haha I had a college reunion this past weekend and many of my buddies were bitching about this too... What was so great about the first two that can't be put into the next one?

Did you see the first two movies? Just the first 20 minutes of the 2nd Expendables certainly earned it's "R" rating and it was awesome. Put simply, the blood, guts, and body count. The 3rd version may still be cool, fun, and entertaining. It's just annoying that what started out specifically as a throwback/homage to those bad ass 80s action films is now getting softer edges. For what? More box office cash? I realize it's a business decision but I would be surprised if this version did significantly more box office than the other two.

 

[Cackalacky]

Did you see the first two movies? Just the first 20 minutes of the 2nd Expendables certainly earned it's "R" rating and it was awesome. Put simply, the blood, guts, and body count. The 3rd version may still be cool, fun, and entertaining. It's just annoying that what started out specifically as a throwback/homage to those bad ass 80s action films is now getting softer edges. For what? More box office cash? I realize it's a business decision but I would be surprised if this version did significantly more box office than the other two.

Yeah i can't imagine anyone who has seen the first 2 would think it would appeal to a wider audience. Stick with what works.

 

[woolybug25]

People liked The Expendables?

Who knew...

 

[Henges24]

People liked The Expendables?

Who knew...

This.

 

[Black Irish]

People liked The Expendables?

Who knew...

Commie.

I like them because the action choreography is awesome. It's really action porn; you fast-forward through the stilted dialogue and dull set-up to get to the booms. It's not like "Die Hard" or "Predator" where even the non-action aspects are well put together.

 

[Black Irish]

Scott Mendelson has written about this very subject for Forbes. He has an article out about EX3 from a few days back and has a very good one about the new "Robocop" from 2/27/14. I'd post links but I think we're not supposed to do that anymore. They're easy to find and worth reading.

 

[no.1IrishFan]

People liked The Expendables?

Who knew...

They spent a lot of time on the film. Mainly because they had to stop filming three times a day for the guys to take their meds and drink their fiber supplements.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

This was like when they were trying to make the second 300 movie PG-13, and luckily realized every single thing that has appeal in those movies is R rated stuff.

 

[ShawneeIrish]

Disappointing. I grew up watching 80s action flicks as a kid and liked The Expendables as a throwback to those movies. Without that factor no need to watch a bunch of senior citizens in a watered down action flick.

 

[Black Irish]

The action genre really is an "R" rated arena. The James Bond franchise is the one big exception. That would be the one franchise that would cause problems if it went "R." Aside from that, action movies have traditionally been "R." You get the random PG-13 entry that does OK (e.g. "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" or "The A Team") but it's always been grown up territory. Not only does making "EX3" PG-13 go against what the film series has done, it's really bucking a genre trend going back three decades.

 

[UmphreakDomer]

I agree. It should be R-rated. On the flip side, I took my family to see the new Transformers movie. The first three were ok as far as gratuitous violence, people dying, and acceptable language for a kid etc. so I thought this one would ok at PG-13 as well.

Well this was by far much worse for a kid and there were so many unnecessary F-bombs and explicatives that it was a big turn-off overall. Disappointing that it still gets that rating but was so much worse compared to the previous three movies. I hate Michael Bay.

only 1 F bomb. a few other swears. the difference between PG-13 is usually, the use of one F word, or brief nudity usually of a backside but not limited to females breasts for no more than 3 seconds.

ratings are stupid. theres a really good documentary about the MPAA. its called "this film is not yet rated". can find it on Netflix. its fantastic. shows the complete absurdity of the mpaa and complete lack of any real standards.

 

[UmphreakDomer]

I was amazed at how "bad" this movie was in terms of violence and language.

In terms of the actual movie, it wouldn't have been so terrible if it would have been 45 mins shorter. There was some cool "myth" type of stuff that intrigued me since they left things cryptic, but there were too many cheesy one-liners and by the end, I had forgotten who the final battle was even supposed to be against.

you did like all of the photography from an aerial perspective though, right? RIGHT!

 

[Black Irish]

only 1 F bomb. a few other swears. the difference between PG-13 is usually, the use of one F word, or brief nudity usually of a backside but not limited to females breasts for no more than 3 seconds.

ratings are stupid. theres a really good documentary about the MPAA. its called "this film is not yet rated". can find it on Netflix. its fantastic. shows the complete absurdity of the mpaa and complete lack of any real standards.

I'll check that doc out. I've read about how subjective the MPAA is with ratings and how a well-liked filmmaker can get away with so much more than others. I've heard that Tarantino has them eating out of his hand.

The standards have relaxed for violence overall. Fans of John Woo (myself included) hated how much he had to water his style done for his first few American movies. "Hard Target" and "Face/Off" were both pretty close to getting an "NC-17." But the first 2 "Expendables" movies were way more over the top than those and they had no problem getting an "R."