Top 10 PG Movies that Should Have Been Rated PG-13

August 10, 1984 was a turning point in cinemas. It was the release of Red Dawn starring Patrick Swayze as the first film released in the United States with a PG-13 rating. It established some middle ground as movies that are okay to watch for older children. However, here are a few movies rated PG that should've been slapped with the higher rating. From movies released before the rating came into being to movies released afterwards that somehow managed to avoid the eyes of the MPAA, it's anything goes.
The Top Ten
1 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Ratings were very different back then. The rating had more violence, sex, drugs, language and scary content than usual today. Let's compare the 1980s with today. There are barely G-rated movies coming out in theaters today. A majority of today PG-rated movies are animated. PG13-rated movies have been toned down a bit and is the most popular rating, being the rating of Marvel and other cool movies. R-rated movies, I think are the same. And NC-17 (X)-rated movies barely come out in normal movie theaters due to their ban.

2 Gremlins

The other film that helped introduce the PG-13 rating, Gremlins shows us what happens when we don't take the proper precautions when dealing with foreign pets. There were only three easy to follow rules when keeping Mogwais as pets:
1. Keep them out of bright light, especially sunlight, because that will kill them.
2. Keep them away from water.
3. Never, under any circumstance, feed them after midnight.
Needless to say, Billy Peltzer and his friends don't exactly adhere to these rules with causes the titular Gremlins to wreck havock on Kinston Falls during Christmas. Probably the most graphic scene in the movie was where Billy's mother Lynn dispatches four of the gremlins in rather grisly fashion, a far cry from the cutesy poo movie parents thought they were going to see.

3 Watership Down

When we thing of animated movies starring rabbits, bunnies, hares and other woodland animals, we think of nice family friendly entertainment. However, Watership Down is the exception to that rule. When it was released in 1978, it caused quite a stir with its graphic violence of rabbits being killed in rather gruesome fashion as well as other disturbing imagery such as rabbits getting stuck in tunnels. Thankfully, the animated series which aired on YTV and CITV were a lot more family friendly.

4 Ghostbusters

Ivan Reitman's paranormal comedy remains a classic that's played on numerous T.V. stations every Halloween. However, it does contain some material that parents wouldn't want their children to see. For starters, this movie is about scientists who hunt ghosts, so it's going to get pretty scary. Probably the scariest scene is the appearance of the two demonic dogs who possess Dana and Louis. There's also sexual innuendo with the biggest example being where Ray dreams about a female ghost. And there's also quite a bit of smoking on the job. We usually only see villains lighting up. I know a lot of you might not like me saying this, but watch the original and the 2016 remake that got a PG-13 rating despite it not having as much suggestive content and you'll see how much has changed in 32 years.

5 Jaws

Steven Spielberg's horror about a great white shark terrorizing Amity Island during July 4th festivities remains a timeless classic, but it's not okay for the entire family despite what the MPAA ratings say. At the start of the film, we see a skinny dipper who meets an untimely fate and the violence simply escalates from there. And then we get to the end of the film where Martin Brody says "Smile, you son of a *bleep*! " as he delivers the gruesome cue de gras to the great white shark. Not exactly something to watch on family night.

6 Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking animated/live action movies, Who Framed Roger Rabbit remains a timeless classic about a cartoon rabbit who's wrongfully framed for a nasty murder. However, it's baffling how this was given a mere PG rating even though the PG-13 rating had already been in place. First is Jessica Rabbit, Roger's human toon wife who could go toe to toe with some of the sexiest anime babes in a beauty contest. There's also a lot of alcohol and drug use, particularly 'Baby' Herman who smokes a cigar and the movie's protagonist Ed Valiant who always seems to have a bottle of liquor on hand. And then there's all the bad language and suggestive jokes that shouldn't reach a toddler's ear. But easily the most disturbing scene was where Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) kills a toon shoe by submerging it in Dip. Even as an adult, I find that scene hard to watch.

7 Poltergeist

While Poltergeist might not have any gruesome deaths in it, there's still plenty of nightmare fuel. When the Freeling's youngest daughter encounters some other worldly visitors from the other side, it sets off a chain of events that escalate into total paranormal mayhem. There are plenty of scenes in this movie that children shouldn't watch, especially if they're scared of clowns.

It's very weird that it's rated PG instead of R. But it was 1982, get over it.

8 Airplane

This might be a funny movie, but it's not what you could call fun for the whole family, despite what the MPAA thinks. There's the inflatable pilot joke, Steve McCrosky stating that he picked the worst week to give up on alcohol and drugs, and a naked Kitten Natividad running in front of the camera. This is why parents should watch movies before they let their kids see them.

Raunchy Adult Humor, how was this even PG back in the day?

I even saw pornographic magazines in the movie.

9 Wizards

Ralph Bakshi's Wizards was an animated fantasy masterpiece and holds up incredibly well even today. But I doubt Bakshi would consider this a family-friendly film, despite the MPAA rating. For starters, Blackwolf uses some ancient film reels on Nazi propaganda to give his army the fighting spirit needed to conquer Montagar and there's naturally quite a bit of violence. And then there's the fairy Elinore, who has a nice shapely figure and a revealing outfit. If Ralph Bakshi waited until sometime after 1984 before releasing this, it definitely wouldn't have gotten away with a PG rating.

10 Spaceballs
The Contenders
11 Mommie Dearest

Based on the novel of the same name by Christina Crawford, Mommie Dearest deals with an actresses obsession with being perfect. Joan Crawford is a major perfectionist on everything, going ballistic if she finds even the slightest thing out of place. Because all her pregnancies have ended in miscarriages and she can't get approved for adoption, she decides to adopt children illegally and it really shows how unfit she is to be a parent. But it all comes to a boil when Joan discovers that Christina is hanging her good clothes on wire hangers instead of the fancy crochet ones. Not something little children should see.

12 Paranorman

Feels too censored with the PG rating.

13 The Goonies
14 Megamind
15 Earthquake
16 Tommy
17 Scooby-Doo (2002)

Too Scary For Most kids especially that scene that had bad cgi effects needs to be PG-13

18 Vegas Vacation

Stripper impersonation, gambling, alcohol,and crude humor aren't appropriate for kids.

19 Your Name
20 A Dog's Purpose
21 Live and Let Die
22 A Silent Voice
23 Summer Wars
24 Wolf Children
25 Beetlejuice

Well, there's swearing (they drop the f-bomb in a PG movie! ), scary moments, creepy bloody scenes. How was this PG again?

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