Now that Star Wars falls under the Disney banner, some have wondered if the series is going to move in an even more family-friendly direction. Well, it seems as though that won’t be the case, as Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been stamped with a PG-13 rating. To date, the only other Star Wars flick to receive that rating is Revenge of the Sith.
The MPAA’s rating of The Force Awakens isn’t terribly descriptive, only saying that the movie will contain “sci-fi action violence.” So, no space cigarettes, dirty words, or gold bikinis, but then we already knew that.
Of course, the PG-13 rating wasn’t introduced until 1984, so none of the original Star Wars movies were eligible for it. Before the advent of the PG-13 rating, ’80s PG movies were allowed to be edgier than the PG movies of today, featuring some relatively graphic violence and language, and even brief nudity. At the very least, it seems likely Empire Strikes Back with its Tauntaun guts and graphic dismemberment would have been PG-13 had the rating existed in 1980.
That said, The Force Awakens‘ PG-13 is evidence the Disney Star Wars movies won’t be afraid to go dark or violent if they have to, which is a promising sign. Let’s play the prediction game – who do you think is going to get a body part removed by a lightsaber in Star Wars: The Force Awakens?
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
