Movie Age Ratings

Just mentioned this in the Shoutbox... got me searching the web.
thought I'd post my findings here.
If anyone has any more to add feel free and hopefully I've got these correct...


BBFC (Britain)

U: Ages 1-6+
PG: Ages 7-11+. Parental Guidance is recommended but not enforced.
12A: Ages 12-14+. Ages 11 and under can watch, but by law must have adult supervision. This rating is usually enforced with Cinemas rather than home cinema like DVDs and Blu Rays and internet downloads.
12: Ages 12-14+
15: Ages 15-17+
18/R18: Ages 18+ only. “R18” is a pointer that the movie contains pornographic content.


MPAA (USA)

G: Ages 1-9+
PG: Ages 10-12+
PG13: Ages 13-16+
R: Ages 17+. However 17 year olds must be supervised by an adult.
NC17: Ages 18+ only. NC17 literally means No Children 17 or under.


ACB (Australia)

G: Ages 1-7+
PG: Ages 8-11+
M: Ages 12-14+
MA15+: Ages 15-17+
R18+/X18+: Ages 18+ only. X18+ is an oddity, X18+ movies are banned in States, but not banned in Territories.


CHVRS (Canada)

G: Ages 1-9+
PG/DP: Ages 10-13+. DP means “Parental Guidance” in French.
14: Ages 14-17+
18/XXX: Ages 18+ only. Like R18 in Britain, XXX is a pointer that there is pornographic content.

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Actually an American R rating means it's "Restricted."

People under 18 cannot be admitted unless accompanied by an adult and R rated movies are not to be sold to persons under 18.

This differs from an NC-17 rating in that no persons under 18 can be admitted to a NC-17 film regardless of whether there's an accompanying adult.

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According to a number of sites I've looked at, they all said 17+ only. I guess it's like the 12A rating in Britain... under that age can watch but must be supervised.

Anyway, cheers MV, have changed it.

CANADA

G General Audience - Suitable for all ages.
PG - Parental Guidance
14A - Persons under 14 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
18A- Persons under 18 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.
R - Restricted - Adults only. Persons under 18 years of age are not permitted to attend under any circumstances.


Quebec is different though. They go G, 13, 16, 18.

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Suspect's Reviews

I wonder if senior citizens like will.15 should have concessions when posting here? In Australia they get cheap bus and trains fairs, maybe Yoda could implement here for will.15...

I dunno what going on now exactly in G, but it used to be more like PG. A lot of movies back then rated G could not possibly get a G now. Airport got a G. It has non comedic violence and adultry(discussed, not shown).

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U's and PG's don't have exact age specifications, although I think sometimes they mention a PG as being suitable for children age 8 or over.

Ratings for older films are tricky, as until 1990 there wasn't a 12 classification so films could either be classed as a PG or a 15.

I noticed that too. There's quite a few "PG" Mel Brooks film, which would be bordering a Pg-13 to R now. I've been wanting to see This Film is Not Yet Rated for awhile, apparently that tears down the whole system.

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Part of that may be due to the fact that the PG-13 rating didn't even exist until 1984.

I recommend This Film Is Not Yet Rated. It's an interesting watch.

The minimum age to see an R rated film in the theater on your own is 17. Many theaters have in house policies that state "No one under six allowed in R films After 6" because mature audiences go to later shows to see mature films with out young annoyances.

Who knows why people bring 6yr olds to R rated films anyway.

The NC17 rating is no admittance under the age of 17

And in many states, an Unrated film will be considered NC17 while performing its theater run even if the material is appropriate.

And believe it or not, JAWS was the biggest reason for the PG13 rating.

Figured I'd put this here, first appropriate thread that came up when searching "ratings." Interesting enough.

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Saw this on Tumblr a few days ago...very interesting.

In Peru we have PG-14 instead of PG-13, but for some reason, a lot of films classified as R in the USA are PG-14 here. This leads to a LOT of angry mothers and their sensible 12-year-olds walking out of movies and complaining about the amount of sex/violence/profanity in films like 300.

We have these in Denmark:

- A for alle (translated: 'A for everybody')
- 7
- 11
- 15

That means all gory or sex-filled movies are viewable to people 15 or above (or you can always go with a guardian at any viewing of course no matter the age. I myself watched Saw III at age 12). And it's rare that movies go unrated. All Saw-movies were just 15, and only Trier's Nymphomaniac I remember as not being sent in to the rating board and therefore got an Unrated.

The rating board are pretty heavy on gore and blood. Just the smallest amount of blood will receive 15. But sex and rude jokes apparently aren't a problem. All R-rated comedies from the US always gets 11 here. That means 21 and 22 Jump Street, Ted, Neighbors and on...

I second "this film is not yet rated", very funny and very insightful, it will also make UK audiences more appreciative of the BBFC. Being someone in the UK I have never seen a R18 in my life but then again I do not frequent the type of shops where I would likely see it on the shelves.

One interesting thing about the BBFC rating system which I didn't know until now is where the 12a certification is used. In a home video environment a 12 is used, in a cinema environment however 12a is used, not having kids though I guess I have never paid attention, this is the official line from the BBFC:

This does make me want to ask a question of the parents of Movie Forums.

I remember for my sixteenth birthday my mother bought me Scream and Scream 2 on VHS, I had to see those films because it was such a social thing to view them and so I begged her for them. In the UK this is a crime not only on the part of my mother but also Blockbuster video who knowingly sold them to my mother who was passing them on to me despite them being rated an eighteen. Either my mother didn't notice or she didn't care but it was never brought up and she certainly didn't screen the film before I watched it.

So, to the parents, do you allow you children to watch films below the age rating? Do you screen the films or do you think it is not really required? Do you think that in a controlled environment it is good to show them these films where an explanation can be given?

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i can give you a funny one about Belgium (sources: i live there)

1: It is illegal to go to a movie theatre under 16 unless the movie is approved by a commission and is found suitable for people under 16
1bis: but 99% of the movies are found suitable
2: The criteria on which it is based whether a movie is suitable are still the same since 1920
3: there are however three categories (AL = Alle leeftijden (all ages) - 12 (from 12y and above) - 16 (same) on dvd's - but only two in theaters KT and KNT (kinderern (niet) toegelaten - children (not) allowed (child in this law =16y))
4: For the one percent remaining: If you go to a smaller theatre (or sometimes even the big ones), they will just let you in under 16, NQA, since no one is checking on that. Same as if you buy movies or games.

South Korea

- A
- 12+
- 15+
- 19+

The one thing I will never get about the Korean rating system is that there is no significant, or even a slight difference between the 12+ rating and the 15+ rating. The amount of violence in one film that is 12+ film and another 15+ film is the same.

You forgot Gremlins, Temple of Doom, and Poltergeist.

EDIT: Just realized this post was from 2013. Awkward.

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