Fanboys have been sitting on IMDb and other assorted fan forums arguing over the past six months or so over the rating of Terminator Salvation, the upcoming franchise reboot/sequel directed by McG and starring the humble Christian Bale. McG had hinted at a nerd convention last month that he was fighting against the producers for an R-rating, which elicited cheers in the audience and a collective sigh of relief across geek communities everywhere.
But doubt sank in as the film’s release loomed closer with no word from the MPAA. Never a good sign when a film’s rating isn’t announced until the last minute — it’s usually indicative of some behind-the-scenes dramas and studio damage control (Die Hard 4 didn’t announce its PG-13 rating until a month prior to release, either).
Well, this morning came final confirmation that the film is, indeed, going to be rated PG-13. And the confirmation didn’t come from the studio, from McG, nor Christian Bale or anyone involved with the film — it came from Pizza Hut. That’s right: Pizza Hut.
The restaurant is doing a promotional tie-in for the film, and if you go over to their official website, the bottom-left-hand side of the page says it all.
On the plus side, the film will probably make mad bucks at the box office, now. An R-rating could have resulted in another Watchmen. And frankly, I couldn’t give a damn about the rating if the film is good. That’s all that matters. If it doesn’t require an R rating to match its content, then fine. But if artistic compromises were made in favour of appealing to teens, then yeah, that’s lame. But then again, it’s kinda ridiculous to be talking about “artistic compromises” for a Terminator film, isn’t it?
Hopefully it’ll be as fun — not great, not brilliant, just fun – as Die Hard 4 was.
What do you think about the film’s rating? Post comments below!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
DH4 was a film in search of a soul. Willis needs to quit while he's behind.
McG hasn't the balls to control his set nor his production.
And yes, as with anything you consider worth doing or experiencing, something should be good enough to cause you to be there. _No Compromises_.
As many of us predicted, the need to make this 'family friendly' (the real farce in a WAR MOVIE) has butchered whatever sense of commitment to realism there might have been.
I knew it when they started talking about hokum looking 'Harvesters' capturing people instead of simply killing them.
Skynet, 15 years later, is not going to be capturing anything. If it's not losing it doesn't need to. If it is, it certainly isn't going to be playing Mechwarrior games with a giant walking robot that's about as hard to take out as a tripping a three legged dog.
Morons and Idiots will out. When you see this steaming pile, hopefully AFTER the first weekend so that the studio has their own 'will it or won't it' moment, look at the ten teenagers sitting next to you and be sure to let them know how special they are.
I thought DH4 was a lot better than DH2 and about on par with the third (albeit a very different sort of film, but then again, DH3 was really nothing like the original, either, thanks partially to the fact that it was originally planned as a Lethal Weapon film).
I don't know; I just don't particularly care one way or another as long as the film is *good*. Great films have been made with PG-13 ratings. If the movie is entertaining, I'm fine with a PG-13. T2 wasn't nearly as dark, thematically or literally, as T1 (the original was more of a gorey horror flick, the sequel was just an action film)…nowadays, T2 – with a few swear words removed – could pass for a hard PG-13, too. The quality of the film would still be there.