Cinema, age restrictions.

[Rich]

Also, the recent spate of Superhero movies, including Avengers Assemble, have all being rated 12A (which means 12 year olds and over only unless accompanied by adult) but IMO even fantasy violence isn't suitable for young kids...

 

I remember going to see Jim Henson's "Dark Crystal" at the old ABC on Angel St in 1982, and being scared of the evil Skeksis, the mutant Turkey things.

[Teddybare]

Just got back from the cinema. I went to see Prometheus, which is a 15 cert.

 

I went with my sister and brother, who are aged 18 and 14, respectively. I used my Orange Wednesday 241 code, so I had to pay at the Box Office. The guy behind the counter asked my brother how old he was, he told him the trouth and said 14 (hi is 15 in 3 weeks). He refused us entry.

 

I'm not blaming the chap at the Box Office, but I do think that the whole 15, age restriction is a bit of a joke. If I wasn't using my Orange Wednesday code, I would have booked online and we wouldn't have been asked how old my brother was. Or, (like we ended up doing at a different cinema) I could have gone up to the counter without my brother and baught 3 tickets.

 

Personally, I think the 15 cert should be removed, or changed to 15, unless accompanied by an adult.

 

Lesson learned. Next time lie. We had NUS cards from 12 years old. Very handy for cinemas and off licenses.

[Bonzo77]

Lesson learned. Next time lie. We had NUS cards from 12 years old. Very handy for cinemas and off licenses.

 

We did. We drove to the odean in town and I got the tickets while he got the food.

[donuticus]

Won't happen.

 

The BBFC are Dinosaurs, have been for years.. I remember when Gremlins came out on VHS in 84, I was 8 at the time but snuck it out of the video shop on Langsett Road (opposite Morrisons, it's now a Sauna place), I wasn't scared at all, in fact it was more funny than scary.

 

And when the original Robocop came out on VHS in 89, I was 13, it was rated 18 due to the violence and swearing every other word, was I badly affected? Nope, I don't run round shooting people, I do swear sometimes but not in mixed company and definitely not in public.

 

The BBFC are one of the most progressive film classification bodies there is in the world. They are certainly not a bunch of dinosaurs. In the past that accusation would have been acceptable but over the last decade the BBFC have truly embraced the modern media.

 

The BBFC's equivalents the MPAA in the USA and the classifiers in Eire and Australia are significantly stricter and are far harsher in their certification of media.

 

If Robocop were to be resubmitted for classification it would almost certainly receive a 15 certificate. To receive an 18 certificate under current guidelines is actually pretty difficult the film must contain either scenes of torture (prolonged gratuitous violence) scenes of a violent sexual nature or excessive use of the strongest language (7+ C-words). Since the criminal offence of blasphemy was altered then so too was its classification.

 

If you're not sure why a film has received its classification then look at http://www.bbfc.co.uk

 

If you have young children then look at the http://www.pbbfc.co.uk whch will give you the comments of other parents alongside those of the classifiers enabling you to make decisions with regards to your own families.

[Electerrific]

Studios want to make a huge profit for their investment, hence the slack restrictions on age (15) - to allow more viewers and drum up more money?

 

They also cut most movies to 90 or 120mins to cram in more viewings and turn a tidy profit per day.

 

Look at Caligula- banned since 1979 (save the sanitised 90min version) but now released in it's full 151 shocking minutes.