Leon cert question

S

Steven P

New member
Brilliant film which ive had on DVD for years and have always wanted to see the directors cut so today got the Blu Ray release which has both versions.
One thing that im :confused: about is, does anyone know why the standard DVD is an 18cert, but the directors cut DVD and Blu Ray are a 15cert?
 
It was re-rated by the BBFC recently and they obviously felt that it was now more suitable for a 15 audience than it was in 1994 when it got an 18 certificate.
 
At last they've released the uncut version. I bought that on region 1 DVD years ago. Its about bloody time.

I've noticed a lot of films getting the downgraded treatment from the BBFC. I guess its how they certificate films now that they are going through the back catalogue and making the changes.

Its a shame George Lucas doesn't resubmit Temple of Doom and get that a 12 cert, so we can see the uncut version of that in UK without exporting it.
 
It's not that Leon was ever cut by the BBFC. The Director's Cut contains a lot of extra footage which didn't go down well with audiences in US test screenings and which was cut for global cinema release.

Given what's contained in a lot of modern 12 cert films, Temple of Doom uncut would more than likely get a PG now. Anyway, everyone has multi-region DVD, and it's not hard to import Doom on R1.
 
No way would TOD be an uncut PG now. It was going to be an 18 in 1984 if it wasn't cut, so even now, 26 years later, I don't see the BBFC dropping it 4 certificates lower.
 
Wrong. It was going to be a 15, not an 18.

Back then there was no 12 certificate so it was a choice between either an uncut 15 rating or the PG rating with cuts, so obviously as Indiana Jones was seen as a family franchise they went with the PG. Had the 12 certificate been around it would most certainly have been a 12 ('Temple of Doom' and 'Gremlins' were the first films to get the new PG-13 rating in the US which is the equivalent of our 12 certificate).

I think today TOD would probably get a 12 rating. Let's face it, someone getting their heart violently ripped out is hardly PG material, lol.
 
I can name many US PG-13 films which are 15 (or sometimes even 18) over here:

Couples Retreat
Drag Me To Hell
Transporter 3
Cloverfield
I Am Legend
Disturbia
Mission Impossible 2

All US PG-13 and UK 15.

BTW, I don't think TOD would be a PG now either. Maybe a 12/A, but like you said, it's way too violent for a PG.
 
I was just meaning that usually PG-13 rated films get the equivalent 12 rating over here, obviously there are exceptions where the BBFC feel that the content of a film goes beyond the 12 rating and is more suited to a 15, regardless of whether it was PG-13 in the US.

I think you'd struggle to find a (recent) PG-13 rated film that was given an 18 certificate over here though. The only high profile one i can think of was back when 'Poltergeist' came out and was controversially given an 18 due to the supernatural horror until the BBFC saw sense and downgraded it to 15 within a few weeks.
 
But sometimes it can work the other way.
Terminator 3 is a good example.
In the UK it was rated 12A and released uncut.
In the US it was rated R. Normally R rated films are mainly 15 or 18 certificates here. So why a low certificate for T3? :confused:
 
Because the US only allows 2 f-worRAB in a PG-13, however there are PG-13 rated films that contain more that 2, but this is VERY unusual and almost always when this happens, the film was originally rated R, but moved down on appeal.

Another UK 12A and US R rated movie I can think of is Capitalism: A Love Story (which, incidentally, is rated PG in Ireland!).
 
Poltegiest has never been an 18. It was originally rated X (over 18's only) but was downgraded to 15 after the 15 certificate was introduced in 1983. The distributors never released it with an X certificate, they waited a few months for it to get a 15 and then released it.
 
Pfffft, same thing :p

T3 was a baffling one though, not only did it contain multiple uses of the F word, but it also featured pretty graphic violence (e.g. the bit where the TX rams her hand through a cops chest and continues driving with the hand protruding through the gaping bloody hole in his chest!).

Another odd one i've seen is 'Frost/Nixon' which has quite a bit of strong language peppered throughout it, rated 15 here, but PG in Ireland:eek: Unless my Blu Ray copy was given a misprint and it should have said 15.
 
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