The unrated gimic
A thorn which has been in my side for some time now is “the unrated gimic”, which has taken movie rentals by storm over the last few years. Many R-rated releases are released on DVD and VHS as unrated. I’m unsure of the movie which did this “first”, but it’s starting to become a trend.
What’s my beef?
Unrated content on a DVD is standard. Almost every DVD you purchase/rent has unrated content on it. All bonus features, featurettes, photo slideshows, interviews, commentary etc. are not seen by the MPAA, which makes all that content “unrated”. This does not mean, however, that the bonus materials are any better or worse than that of the R-rated content found within the MPAA rated film itself.
However, some marketing guy decided that pee-brained viewers would be more likely to rent an R-rated movie which has “new bonus unrated content”, then they would if they released the original theatrical release. Which isn’t really any different than releasing the movie as R-rated, with bonus footage.
I’ll give you an example. The Girl Next Door which is Rated R for strong sexual content, language and some drug/alcohol use, was released on DVD with “the unrated gimic” tatooed all over the box. At Blockbuster, I believe the front of the box said something like “20 minutes of unrated bonus footage”. Those that saw the movie in the theatres, I was not one of those people, knew that there was some very partial nudity in the movie. The nudity in this movie could be likened to the nudity in Hanover Street which was relased as USA-PG, and wasn’t even rated by the MPAA. So I suppose you could release this DVD as “unrated” then huh? However, this movie, if rated by the MPAA today, would probably get a PG or PG-13 rating at best. Yet, there was more nudity in Hanover Street (1979) than there was in The Girl Next Door - and the girl next door was a porn star!
A word of advice
To all you horn-ball teenagers, or middle aged guys that like to watch Britney Spears videos, that think…
“If I rent an unrated movie I’ll see boobies.” - Moronic hornball
…you’re sorely mistaken. It’s a marketing ploy ladies and gentlemen, and you’re putting countless dollars right into the pockets of those trying to fool you. Think to yourself, prior to making your purchase/rental, “Would I buy/rent this movie if it wasn’t unrated?”.
If you don’t believe me, rent the unrated version of Dorm Daze by the genius minds of the National Lampoon collective. This movie is incredibly worthless and a waste of time, money and energy - yet since it was released as unrated - it’s hardly found on movie rental store’s shelves. Reason: Look at the cover, “people” think they will see nakedness and all types of debouchery in it.
Watch/rent good movies from good Directors. Watch/rent independant films which are made for the love of film making rather than the love of money. If you want to see “unrated content”, get a girlfriend and buy her chocolates.
I’ve written this entry to save a countless number of movie viewers from being swindled, as I have too many times. 
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