In a recent interview with MTV.com, Tom Rothman, CEO of Fox has stated that “Not one frame of Prometheus will be cut“. He goes further and says “If that means it’s an R rating, so be it“. Good news indeed. You can watch the full interview below:
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Comments: 93
Rothman really comes across like a lying politician when addressing the ratings thing. I hope it's an 18s anyway. But if he's unsure then who knows what the hell they are submitting.
It's a hard copy but I'll see what I can do.
Strangely enough, Aeon Flux did really well on DVD as opposed to how it performed in the box office. It actually made its production and marketing budget back but this wasn't enough to convince the studios to release the original cut which, in my opinion, would have been far superior.
Just some of the changes in Aeon Flux:
Spoiler
- Scenes with Aeon's sister were cut and dialogue and reactions between the 2 were cut. When her sister gets murdered in the film, we don't feel anything because in the theatrical release, there's not much implied history between the 2 of them for us to care.
- In the original cut, when Aeon discovers her sister has been murdered there's a shot of her digging her nails into her skin and drawing blood while in shock.
- Sexual imagery. There were more shots in the original cut which acted as metaphors to creation and reproduction.
- A darker opening sequence with a moody tone. In this sequence we see a series of dark traditional paintings setting up the world with a voice-over explaining the events leading to what we see in the film.
- Certain scenes in the film (especially in the first half) are re-ordered in the theatrical release and were quite heavily cut.
- A lot of the action was cut down. In the original cut there were wider takes and longer takes of the action - you could actually see everything happening. You could see all the hits and kicks and stunts. In the theatrical release, everything was so hyper that you often couldn't tell what was going on.
- The original cut overall was more elegant, had more of a "samurai-epic" feel to it, it was darker in tone and relationships between all the characters were more complex.
- Aeon has a moment towards the end of the film where she has a vision that she may be pregnant which adds far more depth to the choices she makes at the end.
- The entire sequence with the Relical crashing to the ground doesn't exist in the original cut. After leaving the Relical, the film ends with more emotional weight. The big finale action piece was always meant to be the shootout in the courtyard, which was quite heavily cut down and where it was difficult to tell what was going on half the time. After that scene, the ending was to explore the revelations and what this could possibly mean for all the characters. It was intended to leave the audience with questions and it wasn't going to be a happily-ever-after ending either.
- Characters that suffered the most with all the cuts (aside from Aeon obviously) were Oren Goodchild, Giroux (who was in a homosexual relationship with a Monican and this caused a lot of conflict in the group of leaders) and Freya (Trevor's bodyguard).
- The original cut explored more of the world and the environments. There were a few moments of quiet inbetween as we see shots of the world with just sounds from the city which created a beautiful pace.
I've also been lucky enough to read the original shooting draft for Aeon Flux (and no, it's not fan fiction - it's the real deal) and I can safely say the original cut would have been a far superior cut. It just goes to show how much studio interference and the MPAA can affect what can be a potentially great film.
I did like Downfall, mind, which I believe was Hirschbiegel, correct me if I'm wrong.
The Invasion is damn near unwatchable because what ended up in theaters was a studio hatchet job of epic proportions. Original director turned in his cut, which was apparently too subtle and suspenseful and cerebral, and was immediately fired. The film was then shelved for a year. Then the Wachowski's and that hack who directed V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin were brought aboard to reshoot a third of the film, completely rewrite and reshoot the entire last act, add explosions and car chases, and brutally edit what was left of the original. One of the most egregious studio f**kups in history. Would love to see Oliver Hirschbiegel's original cut that so horrified them with its "artiness" and restraint.
PG-13 is both restrictive and fluid today, IMO. Yes, a lot of what was R back in the day might get 13 now. Or, a lot of what was 13 then might get R now depending on the whims of the MPAA that month. I think a PG-13 cut could still be quite fierce, and I could take it - they still let a lot of big studio shit slide with violence and intensity here, IMO it's often the smaller films getting f**ked. But I'd just as soon an R.
Yeah thats her. I guess the Studio execs hated the original cut of aeon flux, and made her make changes. Would of liked to of have it on dvd
I know this movie and own it. The director was fired and there were a lot of reshoots. The original director was a lesbian. MTV fired her and made the changes.
Alien would have made PG-13 in 1979 with little changes, yes.
But in 2012, the MPAA (consisting of a random group of conservative so-called parents, half of whom may not actually be parents) can decide which films to slap an R rating on or not.
I'm using this as an example even though I know not many people may like the film. Aeon Flux experienced hell with the ratings boards AND the studios. Eventually it was a PG-13 watered down version and at least 25 minutes was cut from the film. 25 minutes! The MPAA and the studios felt the original cut was too bizarre and in some scenes too intense for mainstream audiences. That wasn't 25 minutes of blood and sex. There were mature themes in it that maybe they didn't personally agree with... So the PG-13 cut got its theatrical release and got slaughtered and it's even more difficult now to get the original director's cut out there on DVD.
The MPAA is a corrupt ratings system. It's extremely subjective and there's no actual strict system they stick to when rating films.
Even back then Jaws wasn't supposed to be PG.
Tolerance to nudity seems to have gone way down since the 70s (Logan's Run and the original Clash of the Titans are PG despite bare breasts), but there's always been a lot of leeway with tone and violence.
Shit, look at any kid movie by Don Bluth and tell me you can't have an adult feel at lower ratings.
Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 got cut and edited 11 times for an R.
I believe Army Of Darkness got cut for an R. There are many other films. The point is bigger budget movies have less chance of being cut for violence or tone.
See my previous post, and the following, SiL.
Hell, I think that pretty much gives up that ghost. JAWS.
I did, and I think just showed where that's not entirely true. Yes, it's true that intensity can and is sometimes considered in ratings, it is not one of their higher tier deciding factors nine times out of ten. They'll look at explicitly nudity, language, violence and gore before they factor in a vague sense of dread or foreboding. Alien would have made PG-13, had it existed in 1979 with very little changes. You the bits of gore, and a few naughty words, and it would have made it under the bell curve just fine with no other distinct changes. if it can be broadcast on TV before 10 O'Clock when kids can still watch it, it's going to get by the ratings board.
Ratings today are f**ked.
As for PG-13 not being able to get the same mood, or make it scary enough, however, I call bullshit. Jaws is freakin' PG.
Read what Cvalda and I said about the MPAA above though.
You don't have to see for it to be considered intense. That was part of Ridley's entire creative idea with Alien. It was what you didn't see, or what you thought you saw, that made it scary back in 1979.
and there is nothing outside of the chestburster scene that wouldn't work in a PG13 movie. Hell, they used to air the film on TV all the time without editing much of any of the violence. I still have my old VHS of Alien from the mid 90's. "Brought you by Tylenol" for all thoes head-bite induced migraines.
You don't actually see anything in The Hunger Games what with all the shaky cam. That being said, I understand the need for The Hunger Games to be rated PG-13 considering the majority of the fanbase.
Some will probably laugh, but I felt Cloverfield did a very good job of creating high levels of tension, and it came in very smoothly at PG-13.
I'm certainly not denying that the rating system is buggered. As Geroge Romero pointed out with Land of the Dead, it was a matter of cutting just a few frames in some spots to achieve an R rating vs NC-17.
Gladly. Take any scene in an R-rated film where the situation is intense and stressful. A character might do something or say something or express something as a natural reaction an adult would have in that situation. The scene is a collection of moments with a frightening tone to it. But along comes the MPAA:
That's the MPAA for you. Watch a documentary called "This Film is Not Yet Rated." It's from 2006 but still extremely relevant to how the MPAA operates. 1 or 2 insignificant cuts might not affect a film but a collection of cuts can greatly affect the tone of a film. And it doesn't even have to be curse words or nudity. If they feel a scene is too intense, they can mess it up.
Edit: or if it features gayness. That really riles up the MPAA.
Please explain how.
Arguably 'The Exorsist'. But even that has one very infamous sequence.
That being said. I hope it's not the language/gore factor that push it into R territory. I don't want to see Dr. Manhattan Jockeys 'exploding humans' in a burst of bloody viscera. What will make this film scary will be how Ridley portrays that sicking feeling of suddenly being outmatched by a God. The possibilities are mind-bending for how this will play out. It will be down to the performances of the actors.
Has a film ever been rated for mature audience based solely on an unsettling, ultra disturbing performance and or theme?
I don't demand gore etc but i think with an R film your covered to do want you want with very few restrictions,less hard choices to make etc,anything lower and you are always stunted in your options.
PG 13 can work with a scary movie though,numerous examples through the years BUT this is in the Alien universe so i think it should be R/18
I don't trust him either. Besides we've all heard about the R-rated blu-ray version, even Scott himself has mentioned it, so why change things so late in the day. Rothman is just trying it on for me!
There are two reasons to make films, however. There's the common reason, and that is to make lots of money. The other reason it because they see it as an art form, and they just want to make their masterpiece. Whenever a painter wants to make his masterpiece, he tries to make the painting as close to his envisions as possible, regardless if everyone else likes it. Scott should be able to do the same thing. If he wants his film to have certain scenes, it should have those scenes. It's his film. Unfortunately, the film industry doesn't work that way.
Indeed. This smells more like wordplay than anything.
"Not one frame was CUT... We just took the CGI blood out! HAW HAW."